Well, OK, it needs to be street legal and able to negotiate average-sized speedbumps and driveways, at least with careful, crawl-speed negotiation. Oh, and I guess I want it to be tolerable to drive on the highway for a few hours at a time every once in a while to hit the racetrack (either that, or at least enough of a flyweight to be reasonably towed on an open trailer behind a Jeep CJ or TJ)...and I want it to have 2 seats, so I can have an instructor ride with me on DEs or take friends for rides (i.e., I'm not going to try to put lights on an SCCA sports racer like a DSR and try to slyly get it registered for the street...but I am willing to go up to just a step or two below that on the hardcore scale).


Once I move into my house in a few weeks, I'm going to have a > 30 mile commute each way to work (not what I would have chosen...wasn't any acceptable alternative). I did the math about a week ago; if I were to pick up a decent used Prius or TDI (and I would finance it due to the super low rates right now), the fuel savings alone--not to mention tires/insurance--would cover the monthly payment. In other words, I can have it with no impact to monthly cashflow (and ultimately make money from the equity built). With having my daughter around so much more, I could kinda use something with a backseat, too...so all around, it makes sense.

That said, I know me, and there is NO WAY that I could be satisfied with a damned Prius being my only ride. However, with a really practical DD like that, the door would be wide open to getting something totally mega berserk that wouldn't necessarily need to bow at all to any sort of practical concerns.

Things I've thought about:

-Locost 7

-Cobra replica

-maybe if I found a screaming deal on a late 2nd/early 3rd-gen Viper, or an earlier/lower-powered Ariel Atom

-maybe another FI or V8 Miata or gutted and/or FI S2000



What else am I not thinking about? No fixed budget...prob can't see spending more than $30k-ish, and really wouldn't spend that much unless it was for something REALLY cool. A Seven is really what I'm thinking hard about...best balance of fast but not overwhelming, cheap, and cool. I'm open to suggestions, though.

2/5/2012 2:37:10 AM

supercharged Elise

2/5/2012 10:12:44 AM

^... for 30k?

2/5/2012 10:49:39 AM

How about a Honda CR-Z? Its a hybrid AND a sports car combined into one vehicle! Amazing.

2/5/2012 11:59:25 AM

Hahaha, that's not even arguably a sports car, and it sucks dick at everything.

^^^ yeah 30k would be a stretch, even if I bought an older regular one and SCed it myself. That's not a hard ceiling, but an Elise isn't what wouldake me drop the bigger bucks. The damned things just haven't dropped in value for many years. They're expensive, and they have, what, 40% of my vette's power? I'd rather just keep and mod my car.

2/5/2012 12:57:36 PM

is this something you'd consider building yourself, since you'll have a garage/house?

2/5/2012 1:02:08 PM

why don't you just bite the bullet and get that 135 you've been talking about (so i don't have to be the first twwer to get one)

2/5/2012 1:23:00 PM

Buy a MY00 s2k with a ripped top and stolen seats from an insurance company for 6-7grand.

2/5/2012 1:58:30 PM

I have pretty much decided my next sport car will be the Nissan GTR. Think i can get one for around 50k nowaday?

2/5/2012 2:40:06 PM

lsx FD

2/5/2012 2:50:21 PM

Quote :

"supercharged Elise"

Quote :

"^... for 30k?"

Actually, yes... http://www.lotustalk.com On the forums there have been quite a few n/a elise for the low to mid $20k. Supercharged go for around high $20k.

[Edited on February 5, 2012 at 3:00 PM. Reason : .]

2/5/2012 3:00:19 PM

i'm kinda thinking about a cobra rep, the problem is all the good ones cost 50k+ for a rolling chassis

2/5/2012 3:17:44 PM

We need more of these threads

2/5/2012 5:07:19 PM

Quote :

"is this something you'd consider building yourself, since you'll have a garage/house? "

Nah, I want the instant (or at least rapid) gratification...plus, I don't really have the skills to build a car from the ground up--at least not without flailing and being miserable and frustrated for a lot of it. I think I could fab up something like a Locost Seven chassis without much trouble, but even on something like that, I'd be in a little over my head with a lot of the other stuff after that, I think.

Quote :

"why don't you just bite the bullet and get that 135 you've been talking about (so i don't have to be the first twwer to get one) "

Sweet cars, but nowhere near hardcore enough for what I want here. Don't need the practicality and luxury it offers--I want something more of a marginally roadgoing racecar.

Quote :

"Buy a MY00 s2k with a ripped top and stolen seats from an insurance company for 6-7grand. "

That exact idea has crossed my mind (and I think you could get one cheaper than that...my 2nd AP1 was intact, with a clean title, with about 95k miles, and in pretty decent shape, and I picked it up for $7700...and yeah, I'd take one with no top, most of the interior gone, and install a 4-pt bar or full cage, fiberglass race buckets, and 5/7-pt harnesses...and then probably turbocharge it.

Quote :

"lsx FD "

Maybe if I found one for a reasonable price that wasn't a half-ass conversion.

Quote :

"Supercharged go for around high $20k. "

Hmmm...I'll have to check into that.

Quote :

"i'm kinda thinking about a cobra rep, the problem is all the good ones cost 50k+ for a rolling chassis "

Yeah, for a really nice show-quality example. I don't care about that--I want a racer; one with all the right goodies for hauling ass. I can go get a slick paint job on it if I want.

2/5/2012 5:51:46 PM

i just don't want a glass body on it.

show quality is one thing, but having a light weight mustang with a fiberglass body and tube frame is another...


That and mine would actually need to fit a big block.

2/5/2012 6:12:40 PM

BWR Supercharged Elise: $30k
http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f94/2005-elise-w-bwr-supercharger-109184/

This one is priced high, imo, but price is nego:
$35k.
http://tinyurl.com/83p5nmm

There were a few more for sale a few months ago, but a few of those sold or were taken off the market.

2/5/2012 6:26:37 PM

most of what you named is less capable than your vette. just get a c6 z06 or gtr and be done

2/5/2012 10:33:24 PM

Does anyone here have experience with a viper around a track? I figured a Viper was close to being on par with a corvette, not just performance but also in driver skill and driver/vehicle chemistry (assuming TC is off in the vette for a more equal comparison). Other than it being more exotic, why a viper?

^ I'm assuming he wants something smaller, lighter, and more driver demanding; something the z06 isn't currently giving him enough of.

2/6/2012 12:01:00 AM

Mostly just because it's more exotic and makes my dick that much harder. It would have a little more power, but performance-wise, prob not much more than the C5Z...and stability control is actually the one thing that kinda makes me partial to the vette over any of these alternatives. I'm decent in the grand scheme, I guess, relative to all big-gun sports car owners, but definitely not so good that stability control might not save my ass, haha.

I mean, it's not all about lap times. I don't think anything will touch a C5 Z06 in terms of lap times for the dollar. Certainly not many things would.

If I never ever ever have to daily drive it, and the list of practical concerns is (1) Can I drive it on a public road to an autocross or track day or just for an hour or so for fun on a weekend without breaking it or being totally miserable, and (2) does it have a passenger seat...I just think it would be cool to have something a little unusual, very performance focused and responsive, and fast as shit.

A C5 Z06 is just so...routine. I see them everywhere. That's a big plus for a DD...Smokey (or your commanding officer, etc) doesn't recognize you specifically by your car everywhere in town and know it's you every time you romp on the gas and cut up a little. When it's just a toy, I'd sort of like to have it be absolutely, 100% focused on nothing but fun. I don't give a fuck if it has a top, doors, or a trunk. I don't care if it's loud. I don't care if the ride quality is like that of a wheeled jackhammer.

Plus, the C5 Z06, while I maintain is a great track car, barely even feels athletic (other than being ate up with engine) until you are absolutely hammering on it, like on a racetrack. I want something that is totally berserk whether idling (barely) out of my driveway, or in a 100-mph powerslide out of a corner on the track.

I could build my car into something that would do the trick (minus the unusual/exotica factor and cartoonishly cool looks that, say, a Viper would have), but it would be more cost effective to just sell it and profit several thousand bucks, then buy another one that somebody else dumped a ton of money into in mods.

[Edited on February 6, 2012 at 12:22 AM. Reason : I kinda see a Seven clone of some sort being high on the list, though]

2/6/2012 12:21:35 AM

yeah... the street athletesism is one of the reasons that i have been considering the new BRZ/Fr-S. Sure it's not really FAST.... but i bet the sucker is a lot more fun on the street then something that does set some record at the Nuremberg Ring.

Because however awesome raw grip can be... i think i'd rather have a gripless, well balanced car.

2/6/2012 8:24:07 AM

^then go pick up a first gen NA chassis Miata

Quote :

"I have pretty much decided my next sport car will be the Nissan GTR. Think i can get one for around 50k nowaday?"

Not likely. And if you've decided that I hope you have researched vehicle maintenance for that car. It's like $Ferrari.

2/6/2012 8:34:02 AM

ok.... needs a little more balls then that. lol

Plus for a dd i'd really like all the blue tooth/speaker phone/xm/ipod connect crap my wife has in her car.. it's sad i get gadget envy from a frackin kia.

2/6/2012 8:37:53 AM

^^ That sucks. I didn't know they were like that.

I would probably ante up for a 360 Modena if the upkeep costs weren't worse than a damned airplane. If I was going to get raped with $Ferrari maintenance costs, it would be to maintain a Ferrari, not a Nissan.

[Edited on February 7, 2012 at 7:38 PM. Reason : ^you can add all that junk via the aftermarket]

2/7/2012 7:36:41 PM

...buy an airplane?

2/7/2012 8:25:41 PM

medium-term goal (or at least a share in one)

2/7/2012 8:47:11 PM

it sounds like you want a street legal amusement park ride rather than a track tool. why not buy something like a miata and a crate motor, brakes, suspension, and drivetrain and then just pay someone to put it together and tune it. seems like the whole thing could be done for under 15k and you wouldn't lose much more than a few thousand when you were done.

2/7/2012 9:52:51 PM

Yeah i've always wanted a nemesis nxt with a big ass turbo *compensated lycoming

* compensated to 2 atm absolute am i rite?

2/7/2012 9:55:45 PM

^^ I'm gonna guess this is the main problem he'll have with that option:

Quote :

"you wouldn't lose much more than a few thousand"

he wants someone else to lose that few thousand

2/8/2012 11:29:40 AM

http://flyinmiata.com/V8/turnkey.php

2/8/2012 12:28:22 PM

^^ that's fine and good but not likely. buying someone's modified gear is a sure way to not enjoy it out of the box and be tracking down their poor decisions on the floor of your garage

2/8/2012 1:35:06 PM

It's also a good way to buy a project for pennies on the dollar. You won't get a deal from Flyin' Miata, of course. It's good to see they've abandoned those Ford boat anchors though. 430hp in a miata is insane.

My vote is for some sort of open wheel street-legal racecar.

[Edited on February 8, 2012 at 2:19 PM. Reason : .]

2/8/2012 2:18:12 PM

I say build it, that's the best way you'll get what you want for less, and you'll know what to do if/when you break it

2/8/2012 2:24:43 PM

yeah and you (if you give a crap about what you are doing) won't end up with some hacked up piece of junk.

2/8/2012 2:27:35 PM

and you'll get to drive it maybe 1/10 of the time you put in it, if you're REALLY lucky.

fun times..

2/8/2012 4:18:33 PM

depends on your skillz

2/8/2012 4:31:24 PM

consider that a given track event you MIGHT get 2 hours of seat time per day, assuming no red flags. at ~4hrs/~$600 assuming a road course weekend, it will take ~$9000 + $consumables and 15 free weekends when you aren't watching your daughter and there's good weather and a localish event to recoup the time of something like an engine swap

2/8/2012 4:54:20 PM

I thought he was wanting to dd drive this

he'd get more than 10% use out of it then

2/8/2012 5:18:31 PM

this thread will die. and in another 3 months duke will make another thread just like this.

get a civic. you'll have just as much fun

2/8/2012 5:55:41 PM

^^ OP mentions a prius or tdi

2/8/2012 6:28:48 PM

Do a Chin Motorsports event, $600 entry can net you roughly 8 hours of seat time over the weekend, which.. is more than most people want to drive on track over 2 days when it comes down to it.

The cost/fun breakdown doesn't have to make sense from a mathematical perspective, but few things that are fun in life do. Consider golfing, an activity I'd have to get paid to do... Yet plenty of people take the time, and spend the money to do it. To each his own.

2/8/2012 7:51:30 PM

Quote :

"it sounds like you want a street legal amusement park ride rather than a track tool. why not buy something like a miata and a crate motor, brakes, suspension, and drivetrain and then just pay someone to put it together and tune it. seems like the whole thing could be done for under 15k"

I mean, I kinda want both...I want the track tool, but I'd actually kinda prefer it to be not very daily-driverish...that accentuates the "amusement park" factor, and makes me less tempted to drive it to work and on errands so much when I should be driving the boring, efficient car.

Quote :

"he wants someone else to lose that few thousand "

haha, for real...it's been many years since I haven't MADE money on a car (or motorcycle, etc). In fact, that's one reason I want to sell my Z06...turn the profit and get something else again.

Quote :

"Yeah i've always wanted a nemesis nxt with a big ass turbo *compensated lycoming * compensated to 2 atm absolute am i rite?"

Nobody else in here probably knows what all that means, but hell yeah, that would be mega badass...in fact, it would be so badass that I would be scared of it at this stage in the game. Yeah, I have >1000 in jets, but that's all navigator time...so, like, my mind works at big airspeeds without any problem, but in terms of stick & rudder skills, I probably don't really have any business at all with an airplane like that yet. I kinda have my heart set on a partial share in an RV-4.

Quote :

"My vote is for some sort of open wheel street-legal racecar."

I can't really think of anything that fits that bill, unless you count an Ariel Atom as a racecar or a Seven as a racecar and truly open wheel. Radical SR3 is a street-legal racecar, but it's not really streetable, and in any case, too expensive. There are those Indy-car looking tandem-seated open wheel street-legal things, but I don't know if they're worth a damn on the track or if they're just for looks, and they'd definitely be a problem on the street with the front wing and stuff hitting things.

Quote :

"I say build it, that's the best way you'll get what you want for less, and you'll know what to do if/when you break it"

yeah, that's my hesitation about something like a Locost Seven, is what to do when it breaks (or if I break it). It might be tough to have it worked on, and it might be a pain in the ass to figure out how the hell the builder did stuff in order to repair it.

...but again, I really don't have the skills to build a car, I don't think. I think I could fabricate up a trellis frame without much trouble, and if I had a true kit with step-by-step directions and a pre-fab body, then maybe I could struggle through it...but regardless, I have a full time job, will have a house to maintain, too many other hobbies, a 5-year old daughter, and plan on starting my Master's degree...so I really don't have the time, either.

That, and I know my personality...I'd fab up the big-picture stuff, end up with 80% of a car reasonably quickly, then get bogged down in the little detail stuff and struggle to finish it.

Quote :

"I thought he was wanting to dd drive this"

Oh HELL no. I have a great car for that in the Z06. The impetus here (aside from wanting to take profits on the 'Vette) is that I'm about to have a LONG work commute where a Prius or TDI would pay for itself if I just drive it...so if the sports car is going to be relegated to toy status, I might as well get something really hardcore.

Quote :

"this thread will die. and in another 3 months duke will make another thread just like this. "

I don't know, I think I have a pretty decent history of following through with a pretty good chunk of the stuff I float ideas around on.

2/8/2012 9:44:51 PM

Quote :

"Radical SR3 is a street-legal racecar,"

I thought this was only street legal in Europe? Not the US.

2/9/2012 9:07:06 AM

agreed but maybe it can slide by under the kit car laws that allow big block shelby cobras built last year to drive on the street.

2/9/2012 9:46:38 AM

http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f94/2005-elise-ardent-red-109364/

05 Elise in Eastern NC, seller wants $22k. Would leave you a LOT of money to get a 280hp Vision Function supercharger kit + installation (http://visionfunction.com/product.php?id_product=2) and a set of track wheels + r888 tires.

It'll net you a car that will pull 0-60 in 3.5s, and still wreck house in the corners. Yes you'll still have that pesky 150mph-ish top speed, but there aren't many tracks you're ever going to have a problem with that on. Basically it will wipe your Corvette on the track.

And you can pretty easily push it to a 300 or 320hp stage2/3 for an absolute track monster.

2/20/2012 12:29:25 AM

http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f94/rebuilt-2006-solar-yellow-exige-109924/

Here's a 2006 "rebuilt" exige for $19k

2/20/2012 12:31:19 AM

I'm just kinda gun-shy of rebuild/salvage cars. Sure, some of them are just repairs of some minor cosmetic stuff, but it's hard to know what really was fucked up, and if all the important stuff is straight...not to mention the potentially difficulties in reselling it.


I did bid on eBay tonight on another Seven...this time not a Locost, but a Brunton Stalker (original Stalker, not the Super Stalker with more engine). I'll only buy it if I can grab it for a giveaway price, though...I really don't care for the use of the GM V6. The pedigree is unbecoming, and more importantly, they sound like shit. I'll grab it for the right price, though...maybe look at tossing an I-6 or LS1 in it someday, or just play with it for a while until I sell it for a profit and buy a Seven more to my liking.

2/26/2012 11:09:40 PM

Quote :

"I'm just kinda gun-shy of rebuild/salvage cars. Sure, some of them are just repairs of some minor cosmetic stuff, but it's hard to know what really was fucked up, and if all the important stuff is straight...not to mention the potentially difficulties in reselling it."

I don't understand how this EXACT logic doesn't apply to buying someone else's project car vs something available on a showroom floor.

2/27/2012 1:59:22 AM

Quote :

"I'm just kinda gun-shy of rebuild/salvage cars"

Pre-Purchase Inspections should cover your concerns. I personally would be more cautious of salvage titled Lotus Elise/Exige because the frame is irreparable. People can and have fixed their frame damages (some reporting no ill effects post-disaster), but Lotus does not recommend it. A plus is if it is indeed track only and something happens (crash/accident), at least the car wasn't "pristine" before the disaster . smoothcrim has a very valid point. You can PPI that Lotus. I don't know how one would go about doing a PPI on a Seven/Brunton Stalker unless you know of a reputable garage that builds/sells these and would be willing to do a PPI. Same with custom builds (ie: swapped drivetrains).

[Edited on February 27, 2012 at 5:23 AM. Reason : .]

2/27/2012 5:20:37 AM

yep, that's another reason I especially am concerned about a salvage/rebuilt Elise/Exige. Monocoque can be easily ruined and is very difficult/impossible to repair.


although...yeah, the same concerns apply to a Locost-type car. Someone could have built it crooked, or made some shitty welds, etc. It's just mitigated by the fact that it's a simple trellis frame that could be straightened/repaired/re-welded if really necessary (or transplanted to another frame sourced from someone's unfinished project), and the fact that it's at least just a $12k car to start with instead of generally a $25-30k car. In general, if everything about the build looked meticulous, I'd be pretty confident that the frame was built well...and really, you could inspect a good bit of it reasonably well.

2/27/2012 5:48:50 AM

anything i got that was hand built by a non-pro i would have looked at by a chassis guy.

2/27/2012 8:11:31 AM