hwyix

If you could do it over again what would do? What is more reliable and faster around road race track than S2000 with bolt ons that is about the same value or little bit more money?
(example 15k S2000 + 10k bolt ons just random numbers but you get the idea. so say you have 25k. what is faster and just a reliable for 25 to 30k? that's lotus elise, c6 area )

I am looking to buy a nice DD that I can track a few times a year.

I used to own, dd and a do a few occasional track events with fd3s/boltons, eg6/gsr, wrx wagon/stock. My fd3s was very fast and fun on the track. It was not reliable and I lost a ton of money on it. I would like to avoid that mistake. EG6 I had had just tired GSR engine that probably only made 150 with the long gear LS transmission. Gear ratios to far apart and not enough power to be fun on the track. It was fun in the back roads though. . Wrx wagon was stock except tires and wheels. I should have not taken the car to the track. Stock suspension had to much body roll. It was no fun at the track.

Bullwings

For $25K, my short list of track cars is (used):
S2000
BRZ/FRS
ND-MX5
C5-Z06 (maybe)

Everything else sounds cheap to buy, but expensive to maintain/fix:
E36 M3
987 cayman
E36 m-coupe S52 (clown shoe)
Elise
996 c2s (ugly but fun to drive - lots of steering feel and light weight. the performance is far above the air-cooled generations, but it still retains the feel and lighter weight as compared to 997 and 991 generations. too bad it's ugly and has dreaded IMS issues)

roel03

Not to sound biased, but I don't think there's another car that's equivalent in terms of fun, fast, and reliable for the price. I find the BRZ to be boring. If I did have to pick another car, I'd pick the ND.

freq

If I knew I was eventually going to W2W it would have been an Integra.

But I'm happy with what I have as long as I don't have to replace the motor in the next year or two.

miamirice

roel03

For a DD I would get the most fun car to drive around town. For a few tracks days a year, who care which one is faster. If you're competing then that's a different story.

hwyix

It's really hard to get a k24 civic bard legal in CA. Probably the same for k-miata. K-miata swap would cost a lot more than k-eg6 swap. ND-miata is that smog legal in CA? Most super chargers suck on road race track.

Seems like the s2000 is the sweet spot.


I have read some things that the brz is not that dependable on the track.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ft86/commen...k_reliability/
"You're going to see a lot of "mixed" information, as everyone's threshold for driving a car hard at the track is different. This is just my perspective.The early models were bad. The factory tunes had issues that ultimately caused catastrophic engine failure. Later models (2014+) have this issue fixed. If you buy an older car, it will most likely have latent damage that will eventually cause a failure. If you catch the failure early, you can get away with merely replacing parts, but the real fix is a tune for the older cars.An oil cooler is absolutely necessary if you're tracking the car. There's no need for an AutoX'd car.Heat degrades the coil pack enough to throw a code. Easy fix; swap with another cylinder (typically with the driver's side rear, since it's the easiest to reach), and then replace the "bad" coil pack when you get home. It's about $90. The "bad" coil pack will function fine in any other cylinder... go figure. If you get an AT, and track it, replace the stock transmission cooler (or add on to it) with a larger one.

I/E/H/Tune/E85 will yield a solid 50whp gain.The Miata will run "forever" as long as you don't overheat the engine. The engines do get tired with racing, and will require a rebuild every 20 weekends or so, if you're looking to be competitive with other Miatas that have "big" budgets. A race SM engine can cost you 30k. For a casual AutoX/HPDE/TT car, you can "run it till it dies".The S2000 engine only dies if not maintained, or mechanically overrevved. They do not "get tired". My personal S2000 has over 134k miles, and literally 20% of those miles have been over 6000 RPM.Do you have any specific aspects of the car you're interested in, in terms of reliability? I would venture that I literally have more seat time in a FRS/BRZ than anyone else in North America. Bonus picture from this weekend (I'm typing this from a McDonalds while I take a break from the drive home)"

hwyix

@freq Why an integra for w2w? Is the car class better? Cheaper to run?

hwyix

I agree with you. I am not trying to be the fastest. I am mid pack guy at best. Let's say I bought a fox mustang instead. I could have easily sunk 25k into only to have my friend in s2000 run circles around me, have more fun and be more reliable. Instant regret and I would lose so much money on my modified fox mustang if I tried to sell it. I am just trying to avoid these things. I figure lots of people here modify their s2000 and take them to track. They have a good idea how fast their cars are compared to others. If a 60k+ car blow by you think nothing about it but if 15k to 25k car is a lot faster, cheaper and more reliable you want to look into that car.

I bought my fd3s new, sunk at least 15k+. Then blew a seal. Part out car mods, sold car for 10k total. I had 50K+ invested. There where other cars faster and more reliable than mine at 50k plus. In hindsight I wish I did something different. When I bought the car I never heard of track events I just loved the rx7. A few years later I found out about track event. Then mod bug got me.

roel03

What I mean is I would get the car that's 1 or 2 seconds slower if it's more fun to drive. A stock 370z with the same driver as a stock S2000 will be faster around the track, but I find the S2000 is a ton more fun off and on a track.

​​​​​​In your case, I wouldn't be chasing the fastest car on paper, but rather the one you enjoy the most.

In regards to your standards though, the S2000 is still the best car for the money. I'm on 195k and still daily/track mine. It runs like the day I got it in 2011.