So I am trying to pick a car for about 6-10 track events per year, autocross and not really daily driving but a car that could drive around three days a week or so.

My price range is less than 13K

The cars I had in mind where:

Evo 8
04-05 STI
Honda s2000
FD rx7
E46 M3
RX8

I really really like the Evo but I am nervous about tracking it at the price point I will be buying it at. Found a few with freshly rebuilt engines for sale with around 100K on the body. What do you guys think about that?

E46 might just be to expensive to maintain for what I want to spend

The s2000 and the rx8 might be good choices for me because I have never done any track driving and I would learn more about track driving with the slower s2000 and even slower rx8. Maybe?

Let me know!

 

well let me throw those ideas by you not to discourage you. Had an rx8 nice cars, handle good, wont make ish for power with boltons unless your turbo it, which in case be prepared for here and there engine rebuilds. Evo with 100k+ are good but can be a ticking time bomb with other parts that wear and tear even with the best evo owner. The STi's well, they take more money to make the same power as evos. S2000s are nice hopefully your little or youll be claustrophobic in it haha. Fd makes good power, good handling but has more engine issues then the rx8 with some hp thrown in it. M3, there nice but good luck trying to find one in the 13k range, thats not been beat up.

IMO id say your best bet for those options, would either be the s2k, the evo or the sti, all a good stout platform where theres room to grow without breaking the bank.

 

i dont see too many good condition evos out there for 13k. you can however, get a fair condition s2k. fd rx7 you can bank on will cost more than 13k over the year or two

 

 

How about a clean GSX

 

I have owned 4 of the cars you listed and have worked on and driven all 6... If your a DIY kinda guy steer away from the rotarys and the boxer engines as they are a pain to work on/maintain unless you have a lot of expierence with them. BMW parts are very expensive but its a well made car that is a pleasure to drive and the s2k only fits tiny people under 5'10 comfortably. If your small, go with the s2k as they are somewhat easy to work on, extremely reliable, and make great track cars... But they are pretty much maxed out on power from the factory so if your looking for a fast car you'll need to boost it.
The Evo is a very well rounded car and has the most potential per $. Somewhat easy to work on, it's a track super star, can have tons of power, no traction issues, can fit 5 people with a large trunk, and if maintained it has been proven reliable. I have had my Evo for 3 yrs w/o any problems and has over 20 track days and several trips to the drags strip. I may never get rid of my Evo, it's my perfect car that does it all.

 

I am not small for sure. 6'1" and 235lbs. Headroom in the RX8 was terrible so add a helmet to that and I may not fit.

Last week I drove 4 RX8s and while they where very slow (about as fast as a basic suv) I have never been in a car that felt more nimble, balanced and controllable. But my god, its slow.

Only thing is I have talked with some HPDE instructors and they ask me "How fast do you want to be going when you crash?" I always think not that fast.

But the rotary as amazing as it is to me is still just waiting to fail I think. Can't argue with 3 moving parts in the rotary though. As soon as they fix the apex seal issue I will jump on one.

E46 is out.

Going to drive a s2000 today.

Don't have an evo around me in my price range to test drive yet.

RX8 I am thinking of checking out.
http://www.sccaforums.com/forums/for...28/scope/posts

 

I'm 6'1 at 205lbs and had my s2k for about a yr, i found the factory s2k seats (which are great seats btw) way to small for me and the car had no room to wiggle in (esp with a passenger in the car). Awesome soundtrack of an engine, well built car and drivetrain with a tight chassis, and good timeless looks made this my 2nd favorite car I've owned behind the Evo.