My sister is looking for a track day toy / weekend car

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Originally Posted by aquariuscsm
How about a Mitsubishi Evo or Nissan 240SX?


I didn't know those cars still existed.
 
Originally Posted by maxdustington
I'm not sure $5000 will buy an auto trans that is durable enough for track use, not to mention having to be registered for street use (not sure how tough they inspect down there).

Track toy and weekend auto trans convertible cruiser are pretty far apart.



I have a 99 E36 M3 vert auto in my shop right now for a customer that they'd probably let go for 5-6K, which I think is fair. Its not the best track rat money can buy, but I feel like its capable enough to do a few track days. I personally don't feel comfortable with the pop-up roll protection and think the auto trans of that era are a little slow, and thought a 135 would be a better fit.
 
Originally Posted by sloinker
Go ahead and invest some money up front and still have an investment quality vehicle that will probably be worth more in the future. Tell your sister to keep the shiny side up as she is beating the tar out of the Beemers and Porsches. It does have a manual but whats a clutch replacement or two between siblings. In your neck of the woods?
https://www.dupontregistry.com/autos/listing/2017/dodge/viper/2002047


Its within a tank of gas drive there. Probably take you 3 tanks to get back in that thing.

Cool car though.
 
Rated 19 on highway...not bad for an 8.4L engine...

Edit: IF you can keep your foot out of it.
 
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Originally Posted by sloinker
Go ahead and invest some money up front and still have an investment quality vehicle that will probably be worth more in the future. Tell your sister to keep the shiny side up as she is beating the tar out of the Beemers and Porsches. It does have a manual but whats a clutch replacement or two between siblings. In your neck of the woods?
https://www.dupontregistry.com/autos/listing/2017/dodge/viper/2002047
First and second gens might be worth something in the future, but everyone other than Gran Turismo players have forgotten the later models exist.
 
Originally Posted by ddombrowski
Originally Posted by sloinker
Go ahead and invest some money up front and still have an investment quality vehicle that will probably be worth more in the future. Tell your sister to keep the shiny side up as she is beating the tar out of the Beemers and Porsches. It does have a manual but whats a clutch replacement or two between siblings. In your neck of the woods?
https://www.dupontregistry.com/autos/listing/2017/dodge/viper/2002047


Its within a tank of gas drive there. Probably take you 3 tanks to get back in that thing.

Cool car though.


I have a '13 GTS with ACR brakes, wheels, tires, and some of the aero package. Strictly for the track the Viper W/ACR package is a great car, but the full ACR aero package provides so much downforce, that it slows the car down too much for some of the other things I've used mine for, namely open road challenges.

When it was stock, I could get 21 mpg just cruising. With forced induction and almost 400 rwhp more, it gets less mpg.
grin.gif


The 5th gen is a much more refined car than the earlier generations. Better build quality, much nicer interior, but it also handles better, and is just more pleasant to drive. It's still a bit loud, and the door sills can get warm, but not really hot like earlier generations.

It's a blast to drive, and you don't see others too often, but they do garner too much of the wrong kind of attention sometimes.
 
When she wrecks the viper, even minorly, the repair bill starts at 300% of her initial budget...and the tires are 50% of her budget, every track day. Talk about thread drift...
 
Originally Posted by Ws6
When she wrecks the viper, even minorly, the repair bill starts at 300% of her initial budget...and the tires are 50% of her budget, every track day. Talk about thread drift...


True. But since it was suggested, I thought I'd give a bit of input as an owner.

And she may decide she really likes trackdays, and might decide she has a bigger budget than initially planned...

The car linked is one of several special editions that were produced near the end of the 5th gen production run. So it may prove to be collectable as alluded to.
 
Originally Posted by 02SE
Originally Posted by Ws6
When she wrecks the viper, even minorly, the repair bill starts at 300% of her initial budget...and the tires are 50% of her budget, every track day. Talk about thread drift...


True. But since it was suggested, I thought I'd give a bit of input as an owner.

And she may decide she really likes trackdays, and might decide she has a bigger budget than initially planned...

The car linked is one of several special editions that were produced near the end of the 5th gen production run. So it may prove to be collectable as alluded to.




A Viper isn't the car to learn on. Especially if residual value matters. Miata.
 
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Tell her to buy a nice MGM and put the money she'd waste on racing in an IRA.
And pay cash for everything.
 
$5000 is a woefully insufficient budget to get into high performance track days.
Maybe do a couple of events renting a prepped cheapo econobox to see if she really likes it.
In the meantime set her up to drive a manual car of any type on the street for a couple of months.

Then if she really wants to get into the hobby, a nice used Porsche Boxster S.
With a manual transmission.
You really have to work on her to get her to take a manual.
Tell her she's not really driving unless she has a manual.

With a Porsche, she can also join the local Porsche Club, who are generally nice people.
And they do social events, and have good driver education programs. Sometimes they put on women-only events.

And absolutely nix any inclination toward a Miata. They spend so much time pulling over for faster cars that their drivers never get a clear lap.
 
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