Cheapest "cars to have/setup" in SCCA Solo / autocross classes?

So, let's assume a person was planning on purchasing a car solely for the purpose of competing in an SCCA autocross class. If you were trying to be in the most competitive car possible for the least amount of money, what would you buy? Let's assume that includes the cost of all modifications needed to make the car competitive. 

The way I see it, most of the Street classes require the least amount of money to setup a car competitively. The only exceptions I can see are maybe Solo Spec Coupe and STS. I've been brainstorming and feel like the following cars are the cheapest ways to be in "the car to have" in an autoX class: 

-E-Street: either a 1999 or 2000 Miata with Sport/Hard S suspension package or a 2003 Toyota MR2 Spyder. I feel like this is likely the cheapest way to get into "the car to have" in an SCCA Solo class. Finding a 1999/2000 NB1 Miata with the Hard S suspension package seems to be tough, but I suppose you can convert a non-Hard S package car; it just might take a while to source all the parts needed. The 2003 MR2 Spyder might be a better/easier place to start, although prices on them (and all cars) have gone up substantially. 

-G-Street: I feel like a Ford Focus ST might be competitive enough for a car that is getting relatively inexpensive. I think the 2017+ Honda Civic Si is probably the "car to have", edging out the FoST a bit... but the prices on the Civic Si are substantially higher, making it a costlier proposition. 

-H-Street: I think the Ford Fiesta ST is likely the "car to have" here and is relatively cheap to purchase and setup. 

-Solo Spec Coupe: the cost of a 2013-2016 Subaru BRZ/Scion FR-S might be a bit higher than some of the cars on this list (although not much higher!), but the fact that all of the Spec mods can be purchased brand new for under $3000 (even less for used parts!) is appealing. There are some people in Street classes that literally spend more than $3000 on shocks alone, much less their entire setup. 

-Street Touring Sport (STS): the 1990-1993 Miata is going up in price, but traditionally, they're about the cheapest cars I can think of that would make this list. I feel like the costs of a 1988-1991 Honda CRX are a bit higher, but maybe I'm wrong? Either way, the NA6 Miata is dirt cheap compared to many of these cars. Granted, in ST, you'll have to spend quite a bit of cash to make the car competitive, but some of that is offset by the low cost of entry into the car. Is the cost of fully prepping a cheap STS car less than spending more on the car in Street, but less in mods? 

If you were going to purchase a car for the sole purpose of being as competitive as possible in an SCCA autocross class, what would you buy and setup for the least amount of money? Are there any other cars or classes that I'm missing? 

CSP Miata?  I guess you probably need to factor in a Hoosier budget for that, hm.

I think I would need to factor in your intentions for where you will be competing. Local, state, regional, nationals? 
 

In some areas even local events can be very challenging. We've got several National level drivers in our local clubs here in central Florida, but not in every class, obviously. 
 

I spent some time on this question a few years ago. I got lucky enough to buy a 99 Sport that had trophied at Nationals the year before, all further spending has been tires and maintenance. 
 

It's only got off the shelf single adjustable Konis, so it's not setup as an ultimate National level ES car, but it's very good for local events. The advantage for me is that I've been able to work on my driving skills instead of car setup. 

E/Street, I would say. You can pick up a scruffy-ish NB or MR-S, or even an NAY, chuck good tires and a big sway bar on and be pretty damn competitive for minimal outlay. I always joke the E stands for Economical.

Some guys in a neighboring region have been buying secondhand STS Miatas, CRXs and EF Si that were built and run at a national level for pretty reasonable amounts as well. Let someone else do all the homework, chuck fresh tires on and go kick ass.

NickD said:

E/Street, I would say. You can pick up a scruffy-ish NB or MR-S, or even an NAY, chuck good tires and a big sway bar on and be pretty damn competitive for minimal outlay. I always joke the E stands for Economical.

Some guys in a neighboring region have been buying secondhand STS Miatas, CRXs and EF Si that were built and run at a national level for pretty reasonable amounts as well. Let someone else do all the homework, chuck fresh tires on and go kick ass.

Buying a car that's already sorted is usually the best value. I chose ES specifically for the low cost of consumables.

What would I purchase? I bought a Formula 500 (F-Mod) becuase they can be had cheap and $200 will buy anything you ever need to.tune it.

My friend Scott bought a CRG Road Rebel shifter kart and it cost, including shipping from Las Vegas to central New York, $3500. A set of slicks was about $200 and he bought 7 gallons of race gas for a season. It was pretty much instant FTD and no slouch for PAX. Just need a pickup truck or van to transport it. Insane speed for the cost, but it does require a certain amount of commitment

Tom1200 said:

What would I purchase? I bought a Formula 500 (F-Mod) becuase they can be had cheap and $200 will buy anything you ever need to.tune it.

I agree but the OP may have to add a trailer and tow vehicle, plus garage space. 

1988 to 1991 Civic Hatch.

ES Miata is for sure the easy button IMO. '99 or '00 with hard-s, or heck, even just a '99 PEP with fresh shocks and tires. I've been eyeballing a PEP on the local craigslist for exactly this reason. Consumables are stupid cheap and the formula is very well known.

The suggestion above to buy an already-prepped STS car from someone would be my 2nd choice for low-buck.

Timeline and future plans for the car are a factor too. The buy in to SS is super high but if you get a reasonable deal on a car and only plan to keep it for a few years you can probably end up with a negative total cost of ownership. And for most of them prep is just a set of wheels and tires...or even just tires if you're adventurous. Of course if you plan to keep the car forever and/or run it into the ground that's not going to be the route you'd want to take.

The other good thing about E/Street and STS is that they are both very stable classes. Unlike some other classes where the hot car seems to change every year or so, the SCCA seems pretty content to leave those two classes pretty static. So if you buy a car for either of those, you'll likely be set for a long time, rather than buy a car and have it immediately rendered irrelevant by some new car coming out like, say, B/Street

Yup, running a basically stock 1.6 Miata, get spanked by the mildly prepped 99 NB and the couple of MR-S that come out. They also get up in the top 10 PAX regularly.

Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:

Tom1200 said:

What would I purchase? I bought a Formula 500 (F-Mod) becuase they can be had cheap and $200 will buy anything you ever need to.tune it.

I agree but the OP may have to add a trailer and tow vehicle, plus garage space. 

However, the car weighs 650lbs without driver. An open trailer to tow that is very cheap and very light. 

I'm full bore with a enclosed, but I get away with a single axle trailer similar to a landscapers that loaded is about 3000lbs.  

You can do an autocross only FM competitively for well under $6k. Tires are only $800 a set and good luck cording them before they age out. Parts are mostly stupid cheap, but there is an occasional fabrication project.

In reply to Apexcarver :

I've got an 800lb single axle trailer, my all up weight is 1440lbs.

Additional our cars are 4' 7" wide and 12' long they don't take up much space either.

I considered a shifter kart but they tend to beat me up and so F500 was the way to go for me.

I am biased, but Fiesta ST for HS. It is a real overdog for the class, they can be found used for close to $10K, and all they need is a rear bar, shocks and tires. They even PAX pretty well. The limiting factor is that you can't fit much rubber under them, so if you want to move up to STH, you will be crushed. 

The Civic in GS is also pretty tough to beat. Not sure about prices, but you can put a lot of tire under them as-is, and moving to STH allows you to run 265s under stock fenders. The Civic might cost more to start, but you can stay competitive longer.

ES and STS are the most bang for the buck classes.

ES cars are fairly easy to come by and you can build a competent ES car out of basically any 99-00 miata for not a ton of money.

STS cars change hands fairly often and are fairly reliable, but not perfect.

a GS civic Si would be some money, but not awful and are fairly reliable, but be mindful of the 1.5L oil dilution, do some research on it.  the 10th gen Sport hatch is competitive in HS and faster than the Fiesta and doesn't pose a rollover risk whatsoever unlike the Fiesta that can rollover.

Building a competitive STH car means buying a $25k turbo car and then dumping $10-15k into it in mods.

the issue with both STS and ES is that both classes are DEEP in competition, the cars leave zero room for imperfection and they're both now fairly old platforms.

I have played in STS, ES, GS, STH and driven HS cars.

there is no single easy answer..


 

I respectfully disagree on sts being more bang for buck than FM. By the time you factor in getting a tune and all that...  The competitive sts car is more expensive than FM and a nationally competitive sts car is 9/10 trailered to events. Yeah, my tires cost a few hundred more per set, but they also age out before wear out. That's not even getting into crack addict speed arguments...

I was in an sts miata before I got my FM. 

In reply to Apexcarver :

If you run an F-mod.. you have to be willing to accept that everyone hates your car being on course or running in paddock.

Adam Barber drove his CRX from MN to Nebraska in 2018, won a championship and drove it home.. you do not HAVE to own a trailer and tow vehicle with a nationally competitive STS car.. most people just choose to..

The vast majority of people outside of street class don't drive their cars to national events from what I've seen over the years regardless of class.

ES MR2 is the easy button.  A 2003 would be ideal but a 2000 to 2002 is close and is generally quite a bit cheaper.

spacecadet (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Apexcarver :

If you run an F-mod.. you have to be willing to accept that everyone hates your car being on course or running in paddock.

Adam Barber drove his CRX from MN to Nebraska in 2018, won a championship and drove it home.. you do not HAVE to own a trailer and tow vehicle with a nationally competitive STS car.. most people just choose to..

The vast majority of people outside of street class don't drive their cars to national events from what I've seen over the years regardless of class.

Really once you have a codriver towing makes a lot of sense no matter what you're driving just logistically speaking. Going long distances for events too. Autocross is safe but still the risks are nonzero. Plus the risks involved with driving long distances on the competition tires if applicable.

In reply to spacecadet (Forum Supporter) :

With an F-mod car we are only talking about towing 1500lbs.  Most people have daily drivers that would handle that. A 12ft landscape trailer will set you back all of $1500. You can buy an F500 for 4-6K.

A shifter kart is the ultimate bang for your buck but like I said previously they do tend to beat you up. F-mod is the next cheapest class.

As for everyone hating your car; that's a bonus. It's petty and small but I like the fact that our little weed whacker powered cars are so fast.

So, sounds like my friend just did the thing I recommended: he bought an old STS Miata. Came from the New England area (Vermont, I believe) where it was apparently quite competitive and may have done Nationals. A guy we know bought it years ago, never raced it or drove it, sold it to another guy we know, who put it in his barn of Miatas where it has sat for 7 years and was never driven or raced then either. It's a low-mileage Mariner Blue car, has a color-matched hardtop, some sort of crazy 3-way adjustable coilovers, NB hollow-spoke wheels (with 12 year old tires!). I don't know the exact price but I'm pretty sure it was sub 5-figures.

I think it's a tossup between SSC, STS and ES for street-driveable answers to this question, and really the first post answers its own question very well.  Those 3 in particular are cheap AND stable.  SSC is a newer car and minimal prep effort.  ES is perhaps the cheapest total cost, though you can spend absurd money on shocks.  STS if you want to tinker/build/tune a bit and have proper spring rates under you.

On that note, SSC, STS and ES are the largest three classes at nationals literally right now as the event is this week.  I don't think that is a coincidence.

-E-Street: How is the camber/tire wear on these?  I haven't autocrossed one since the change to 'street'

-G-Street: how is the Focus with respect to front tire wear?  Does it have camber?

-H-Street: too much rollover risk

-Solo Spec Coupe: What is the cost to get into one of these?  This is the most appealing car on this list.  New enough to comfortably daily, but on solid competitive footing - not about to be unseated by anything

-Street Touring Sport (STS):  these are old, often rusty, beasts but they trade hands for waaaayyyyyy less than it costs to build one.  Like $5-6k.  Definitely a great option if you find one for sale.