Need ideas for 2 day a week commuter + rallycross

So seeing as I have put 12k miles on my Crosstrek since August I need a car to drive 1-2 days a week just to take some miles off the daily. I have been looking for a rallycross car as well so I might as well combine them.

budget $7500 max From a dealer. I am not dealing with Craigslist. Might deal with GRM classifieds.

It won’t be purchased till May at the earliest.

I drive 80ish miles a day and the rallycross location is 110 miles away one way.

needs:

Gas Mileage >24mpg combined

Can carry all its rallyx stuff inside or on top of(full set of tires, jack, bag chair, cooler, etc)

LSD availability(or stock lsd)

Reliable

Can fit inside with a helmet(headroom needs to be >38in)

wants:

Not completely uncompetitive

Hatchback

<3000 lbs

Good Aftermarket

Would prefer an SR legal car to a SF legal car but I know my options are slim.

Cars I do not fit in with helmet:

Any Civic Coupe

EP3 Civic Si Hatchback

Miata with a hardtop and stock non foamectomy seats

Cars I might fit in with helmet:

Civic or integra sedan (sat in one with a sunroof and it might be close with one.)

Cars I do fit in with helmet:

Fiesta

Fit

Yaris

350z

Cars I am considering already.

yaris 3door, 09+ fit, 1.6na fiesta, Mazda 2, 8th gen Si sedan and maybe budget stretch to a frs/brz( though I'm not the biggest fan of the reliability of raced Subaru engines.)

BMW 318ti.  They will fit 8 tires or four tires + gear: https://i.imgur.com/7ZgqHvj.jpg

Otherwise, RWD and roomy hatchback is tough.  I agree with a later Civic Si for a daily/rallycross car.  Fiestas occasionally roll.

Toyota Matrix / Pontiac Vibe?  Not sure about an LSD being available, though

Sounds like you just described a first gen Mazda 3. 

Not a true hatchback, but a Celica GT or GTS falls in your requirements. You'd want a non sunroof to ensure helmet clearance. I'm 6'6" and can just fit with a helmet. Probably not Nationally competitive in SF, but definitely regionally. If you go GT, you want an '03-05.

I have looked at the matrix/vibe I would likely only go with an xrs/gt if I did. The lsd from the Celica gts fits those.

I'm not the biggest fan of first gen 3's since most are rusty here already.

The e36 is interesting but all the ones here are beat.

I'll look into the Celicas but it seems they all have 200k miles around here.

I am somewhat interested in cobalts as they seem like a decent enough option and even the NA and SC SS' are close to my price range.

Also as to the competitiveness of the car, it doesn't matter that much since there is only like 1 car that runs fwd in the region I will run.

I have a 2007 Civic Si sedan that I've been on the fence about selling. Is Chicago too far away from you? 

Pursuant to GRM regulation, it is my duty as a champion of Dorkdom to point out the Miata.

I'm tall, and I'm not so much gangly anymore as "avoiding wrinkles by getting fat instead", and I fit better in a Miata than I do in, say, a Volvo S60, to choose a car entirely at random and not something I have been driving every day.

If you are running in Stock, you don't need to carry tires and jack and paraphernalia.  Drive in on Stock legal tires, put on your numbers and helmet, and go drive.

Yeah, BMW 318ti checks your boxes. It will be competitive at rallycross in stock class (unless there are a ton of Miatas in your region). It will get 30+ MPG easily (my M42 e30 gets 35 while towing a tire trailer!), and it has the space to carry all your tires and gear with ease. Plenty of headroom, especialoly if you find a non-sunroof model. LSD is easily available if it doesn't already have one. Very reliable if the cooling system is kept up.

With $7500 budget you can get a VERY nice example with working A/C, sport seats, etc and still have plenty of money leftover for a second set of wheels. I see nice 318ti's around here weekly for half that price.

Alternately, a $2500 e30 or e35 325i woudl be equally competitive in rallycross, and spend the other $5k on a decent Civic to drive to work.

Or any number of FWD things can do fine in stock class for that price....Mazda3, Focus, etc etc. 

What region to you run in? Just asking because (for instance) our stock 2WD classes are pretty empty. SR is basically a couple Volvo 240s. SF is.....mostly a bunch of slow stuff. So competitive all depends on what the hot class in your region is (in ours, it's M4, PA, and MR)

In reply to irish44j :

i will run in etrscca where the hot classes are SA and SR. Where a 4th gen F body wins most of the time, i assume its an ls car but with the elevation change that they run it just destroys the miatas on the straights and uphill sections.

The class is 80% Miatas, 1 4th gen F body camaro, maybe an e36, and then whatever truck shows up. SA is what you would expect of nothing but 2.5rs, WRX or Sti's. only 1 runs any FWD class regularly and PR/MR is usually 1 miata. MA is 2 2.5rs' and PA is a wrx.

Volvo 2xx/7xx/9xx wagon?

There is one 240 wagon that is an auto with 200k miles, poor paint, non working a/c and some body damage that the guy wants $3k for. And no other 2xx/7xx/9xx Volvo's wagon or sedan within 50 miles.

In reply to MrChaos :

So on Craigslist there is 1 super rusty e36 for $2500, no e30's, no e28's, no e36's except the rusty one.  The 1 overpriced 240 wagon. Over priced beat sn95/new edges gt's. No v8 f bodies. Decent number of c4 Corvettes though.

In reply to MrChaos :

Have you checked search tempest?

Search tempest

Search all the Craigslists, within your preferred distance...

Civic SI or GTI or regular Golf/Rabbit?