Originally Posted by A_Harman
$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.
Agree on all the above, w a caveat; is the Boxster S the right first serious track toy? Hardtops, if required, are silly money, and only $5K buys you a ratty 986 with many potentially very expensive needs... I'd say the rental idea is great or a Miata first, plus the pulling over is a great motivator.
For that $ range there are also the BMW e36 series; 325is, 323is, 328is or 318ti. I did my first HPDE in a '98 328is...fun and relatively forgiving.
$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.
Agree on all the above, w a caveat; is the Boxster S the right first serious track toy? Hardtops, if required, are silly money, and only $5K buys you a ratty 986 with many potentially very expensive needs... I'd say the rental idea is great or a Miata first, plus the pulling over is a great motivator.
For that $ range there are also the BMW e36 series; 325is, 323is, 328is or 318ti. I did my first HPDE in a '98 328is...fun and relatively forgiving.