What race car to buy?

I get it "Search the forums", yes I have done that. Now I would like specific advice based on my preferences.

Price range: Up to $20k

Preferences:

• I like FWD but it's not necessary.
• I don't want to engine swap anything, that desire was beat out of me over time.
• Light weight or the ability to strip it to be light.

Previous race cars:

• Fiesta ST
• Gen 7 caged Civic
• many other cars not purchased specifically for racing.

Good day everyone, I took a year off racing my Fiesta and my Civic and now I'd like to get back into track days. I have my race license and was planning to do endurance racing with my Civic but I ended up selling everything fairly quickly and getting out of racing for a year.

My hope is to get back in but just for track days, no competitive racing quite yet, I am currently stuck in a fairly common position. Do I buy an 86, a Miata, a Civic, another Fiesta or something else? A 370Z, a Mustang, I'm just not sure.

I'm strongly leaning towards either an 86 or another FiST, I'm also actively looking for an older late 90's Civic hatch. I'm not against a Miata but I know I would really want to do the Exocet shell conversion to it and then why not just buy something else with that extra money. The FiST was amazing but I'm not sure if that's what I want again.

Open to opinions.

In reply to CodyD :

Welcome to GRM on your 8th post!  As a new guy, along with my welcome I want you to know we have a staunch policy around here that no one will ever tell you to search the forum.  

We welcome your questions!

Yup, there is no tolerance for “Do a search, noob!” 

Welcome and also eager to hear the suggestions. (Personally, I do have a thing for wishbone Hondas....)

I don't think you can really go wrong with any of the options you've listed, though some other users here might have some more constructive input.

Welcome! John's right--we don't bash people for asking questions. They never end up having the same answer, regardless of how many times they're asked, so it's always fun to entertain. 

If you just want to do track days now, that's all good, but do you eventually want whatever you buy now to become a race car in time? If so, it would still pay to think ahead to what kind of racing you eventually want to do. If you want to be in a spec racing field of 30 other similar cars, then you may want to consider the Miata. (Hey, there's an NA Miata buyer's guide over in the margin right next to where I'm typing...).

How do you want to go about making this thing into a racer? Do you intend to do HPDE stuff in it for a year, and then hand it over to a shop to build it for you? Or put it together piecemeal as you go along? Or, would you be willing to buy a ready-to-roll race car and just do HPDEs in it for a year to find your center?

Edited for spelling.

I am genuinely surprised to see Civic Type R values from the 2020+ model year still stubbornly in the 30s. Huh. I'm seeing some with higher mileage in the high 20s, but I really expected to find some at the 18-23 mark.

There's that already-engine-swapped Nissan here in the classifieds for well under your budget. However, if you prefer FWD I don't have a lot of suggestions. You've already mentioned the obvious ones: Miata, 86, etc. For just track use, how is your appetite for consumables? On Autotrader I'm seeing a number of '11+ Camaro SS (essesses?) at 20 or under, but anything heavy and powerful is going to chew up tires. 

If I were to buy/build a new car right now, it would be an SCCA Spec Mustang. 

Bang for the buck and the ability to be classed across road racing, TT, autocross, etc with one car is appealing. 

GRM is building one. 

confuZion3 said:

Or, would you be willing to buy a ready-to-roll race car and just do HPDEs in it for a year to find your center?

Edited for spelling.

 

ready-to-GO race car

Edited for safety.

Spec Mustang is a good suggestion.  

Also take a look at GridLife Sundae Cup which is wheel to wheel racing of econo-cars.  Start with that car at Track Days and go full competition a couple times a year once the car is sorted.  

https://www.grid.life/sundae-cup

L5wolvesf said:

confuZion3 said:

Or, would you be willing to buy a ready-to-roll race car and just do HPDEs in it for a year to find your center?

Edited for spelling.

 

ready-to-GO race car

Edited for safety.

I... can't argue with you on that one. 

Hmm. You might just want to buy this.

Toyman! said:

If I were to buy/build a new car right now, it would be an SCCA Spec Mustang. 

Bang for the buck and the ability to be classed across road racing, TT, autocross, etc with one car is appealing. 

GRM is building one. 

 

I might have done this had it been out prior to getting my corvette. Though I'd seriously consider finding something already built, especially if you want a cage. If they want to do w2w eventually I'd just buy spec miata that's already built. Or another cheap class that runs a lot around him. The spec mustang looks fun, but its not widespread yet, and I'd doubt used one are available. So you'd be building it, which is more expensive.

In reply to confuZion3 :

Wow. That looks like a rather good deal. I kinda want it, but I also need to finish my projects! 

In reply to confuZion3 :

I just going to suggest perusing Racingjunk.

Some ideas:

E36 for $12k

VW Rabbit for $5k

STL prepped RX-8 $20k

tube frame Prelude $9k

ex-Grand Am Cup Protege $15k

Since you mentioned budget and you like FWD I'd say go with the 8th gen Civic.

It's a solid platform that's easy on consumables.

A Club Spec Mustang is a great route but it will cost you more to run it.

My advice (and current hurdle) is to really evaluate the racing aspect. It sounds like you are unsure if you'll be doing wheel-to-wheel or not, but, if you are, you'll want to make sure that whatever you buy has a clear class to run in the future. I absolutely love my current DE car, but there are zero classes I could actually race it in. If you think you'll be racing it eventually, start there and work your way backwards. It doesn't have to be caged and race ready now, but something you could build into a classed car in the future makes more sense than having to shop around again next year. Unless that's a perk. 

For getting back into w2w racing, is that in a series where class rules matter or not?  Lemons/Chump/LuckyDog have minimal rules, you can race almost anything and success is more about being reliable and keeping your nose clean while driving at a consistent pace than about having the right car.  NASA/SCCA/GridLife have more class rules and the choice of starting vehicle matters more, and then of course there are the popular spec classes where there's only one choice.

Is $20K the total budget for ready-to-race form a year or two down the road, or just the purchase price of the vehicle now?

As others have mentioned, you need to decide what you want to do with it first. A "race car" and a "car you can drive on track" are two very different things. A race car implies a car built to a specific standard in line with a class for a specific sanctioning body, including all the required safety gear. Usually this also includes a log book.

If actual racing is on the agenda, I'd suggest starting with deciding what group (or groups) you want to run with. There may be many depending upon your location and desire to travel: BMWCCA, PCA, NASA, SCCA, all the endurance series, all the vintage groups, etc. After the group, and locations, see what classes are well supported in your area. 

It's way more fun to race in a supported group. For instance, at the VDCA event at VIR this weekend, there will be almost forty Formula Fords. That is way more fun than running with a group of 2-3. Large groups yield fun racing all the way through the pack, not to mention support off track if you need it. You lose the front runner in a field of 3, and it's just another track day.

So I'd start with HPDE or Track - Then the sanctioning body - Then the class. And then start to think about what to buy in that class.

brandonsmash said:

I am genuinely surprised to see Civic Type R values from the 2020+ model year still stubbornly in the 30s. Huh. I'm seeing some with higher mileage in the high 20s, but I really expected to find some at the 18-23 mark.

There's that already-engine-swapped Nissan here in the classifieds for well under your budget. However, if you prefer FWD I don't have a lot of suggestions. You've already mentioned the obvious ones: Miata, 86, etc. For just track use, how is your appetite for consumables? On Autotrader I'm seeing a number of '11+ Camaro SS (essesses?) at 20 or under, but anything heavy and powerful is going to chew up tires. 

 

 

And brakes and fuel.

In reply to z31maniac :

This is true, but the first time I spent $2k on a set of tires for a single particularly aggressive track day all the other consumable costs paled in comparison.

The Exocet option is pretty solid on bang for the buck IMO. They're a real riot to drive. Like a Miata but 900 lbs lighter. If you want light, it's light. And it has the advantage of an enormous aftermarket if you want to go faster - I can tell you from extensive personal experience that a mild turbo on a stock Miata engine in one is both quick and stupid fun, just the right power/weight to be accessible to almost everyone but still chase down a lot of fast cars. Very low consumables, cheap tires, no cooling problems thanks to the open bodywork.  They're even classed in NASA Super Touring.

Go here and scroll down to car #18:
https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a32131/miatas-at-mazda-raceway-miatagasm-mega-test/

There was a guy selling a world challenge Mazda Protege sedan near me for something like $7k. By the time I came across the ad, it had sold. I can't think of a cooler FWD track car than that. 

In reply to Keith Tanner :

That little blurb makes me want to make an Exocet out of my fryin' Miata. Great, just what I need, more bad ideas. 

Edit: It dawns on me that I should not be so cavalier with calling my external-combustion NB the fryin' Miata. I don't want to step on your toes or make it seem like FM had anything to do with the fire, it just amuses me to poke fun at my own financial misfortune. 

Thanks for the replies everyone, I really like that rule, I'm more of a reader than a poster mostly.

"How do you want to go about making this thing into a racer? Do you intend to do HPDE stuff in it for a year, and then hand it over to a shop to build it for you? Or put it together piecemeal as you go along? Or, would you be willing to buy a ready-to-roll race car and just do HPDEs in it for a year to find your center?"

• I want to buy a mostly stock car and then slowly modify it, in my time I've bought other peoples modified cars and it's hard to understand the little things if I haven't built it myself. I also like the process. My Civic I bought ready-to-roll with it being a race car for the previous 10 years, I liked it but it's not what I plan this time. With the pace of my life I can't add in actual racing quite yet, maybe when my kids are older.

"There's that already-engine-swapped Nissan here in the classifieds for well under your budget. However, if you prefer FWD I don't have a lot of suggestions. You've already mentioned the obvious ones: Miata, 86, etc. For just track use, how is your appetite for consumables? On Autotrader I'm seeing a number of '11+ Camaro SS (essesses?) at 20 or under, but anything heavy and powerful is going to chew up tires. "

• Ya, I've always liked the light cars, I just think about moving an extra 700 pounds around a corner at speed and the desire for light weight kicks in. Like everyone I like power but I also think that I want to continue learning in a momentum car, a C5 base model Vette interests me but I feel I need more seat time, even the Fiesta could get in me in trouble when I was tracking it.

"If I were to buy/build a new car right now, it would be an SCCA Spec Mustang. 

Bang for the buck and the ability to be classed across road racing, TT, autocross, etc with one car is appealing."

• I do like Mustangs, I'll probably not end up this route due to the older ones that I like would need chassis reinforcement and it would be hard to get the weight as low as I would like.

"Hmm. You might just want to buy this."

• That's a great looking car, my preference is for a common engine, something that I don't have to overthink if I crater it.
• Man that's a nice car... I do need it in Canada though, haha.

"Though I'd seriously consider finding something already built, especially if you want a cage. If they want to do w2w eventually I'd just buy spec miata that's already built. Or another cheap class that runs a lot around him."

• I do like the idea of a spec Miata, I liked my previous stock Miata quite a bit.

"I just going to suggest perusing Racingjunk."

You guys get the best selection, maybe have to travel south. This is where I've been watching. https://www.racing.ca/category/racing-cars/

"Since you mentioned budget and you like FWD I'd say go with the 8th gen Civic.

It's a solid platform that's easy on consumables."

• Currently this is I think my plan, I didn't know which gen is the right Civic. I'll look at 8th gens.
• Any K20 I should look for?

"My advice (and current hurdle) is to really evaluate the racing aspect. It sounds like you are unsure if you'll be doing wheel-to-wheel or not, but, if you are, you'll want to make sure that whatever you buy has a clear class to run in the future. I absolutely love my current DE car, but there are zero classes I could actually race it in. If you think you'll be racing it eventually, start there and work your way backwards. It doesn't have to be caged and race ready now, but something you could build into a classed car in the future makes more sense than having to shop around again next year. Unless that's a perk."

• I think for now I'm going to focus on just something enjoyable that can outperform my FiST's old times but not be too much for my skill level.
• If I get back into w2w racing I'll likely just buy a built car, I don't have the desire to go deep into a project.

"For getting back into w2w racing, is that in a series where class rules matter or not?  Lemons/Chump/LuckyDog have minimal rules, you can race almost anything and success is more about being reliable and keeping your nose clean while driving at a consistent pace than about having the right car.  NASA/SCCA/GridLife have more class rules and the choice of starting vehicle matters more, and then of course there are the popular spec classes where there's only one choice.

Is $20K the total budget for ready-to-race form a year or two down the road, or just the purchase price of the vehicle now?"

• $20k is just the original buy in budget, preferably with a seat and some RS4's or whatever is popular now.
• I should have clarified w2w is a low priority now, I understand I may eventually look into it but I'm good just doing "chill" track days now.

"It's way more fun to race in a supported group. For instance, at the VDCA event at VIR this weekend, there will be almost forty Formula Fords. That is way more fun than running with a group of 2-3. Large groups yield fun racing all the way through the pack, not to mention support off track if you need it. You lose the front runner in a field of 3, and it's just another track day."

• Oh ya, Formula Ford, I hope to do that one day. I looked at Radical's for a bit but currently I'm just looking to chase down some other guys in similar cars at a track day.

"The Exocet option is pretty solid on bang for the buck IMO. They're a real riot to drive. Like a Miata but 900 lbs lighter. If you want light, it's light. And it has the advantage of an enormous aftermarket if you want to go faster - I can tell you from extensive personal experience that a mild turbo on a stock Miata engine in one is both quick and stupid fun, just the right power/weight to be accessible to almost everyone but still chase down a lot of fast cars. Very low consumables, cheap tires, no cooling problems thanks to the open bodywork.  They're even classed in NASA Super Touring."

• Yes, this is exactly what I was thinking of, hard to get good reviews of them. This is now very high on my list.

"There was a guy selling a world challenge Mazda Protege sedan near me for something like $7k. By the time I came across the ad, it had sold. I can't think of a cooler FWD track car than that. "

• I always like the Speed 3, I think I want a more commonly tracked engine though, but I know nothing about Mazda's.

Thanks again everyone, current plan will be to research 8th gen Civics and how much it would be to get the scaffolding from Exocet up to Canada.

confuZion3 said:

Hmm. You might just want to buy this.

everything about that is just wacky, but I'm oddly attracted to it.