What to buy for $15K

I need help. I am selling my cts-v and I am now in the market for a car that I can use on the track and street. I perfer something with a back seat for my 4 y/o. I really want something that is tuneable and not to expensive to make fast for HPDE's. I dont care if it is RWD or FWD. The vehicles I have in mind are 335i, solstice gxp/sky (no back seat), cobalt SS/TC, GTI, A3/A4, older S4, CTS-V (kinda want something cheaper to mod), mazdaspeed? What is most important to me is what is going to be cheapest on tires and brakes. I want something that I can make quicker as I get more experienced with driving skills. This vheicle will not be my daily driver. I want to keep it under $15K. I will buy someting faster when I aquire more experience. Let me know what you think. Thanks,

Miata?

Where will you get a 335i for 15 grand that's not haggered?

I paid 12k for my 05 mustang GT 5spd and for the 15k I currently have into it I can beat down a lot of supposedly "faster cars" on the track and @ autocross + I drive it through Canadian winters without an issue. It takes regular gas, parts are cheap and it makes all the right sounds.

Evo 8s pop up in that budget occasionally.

In reply to AutoXR:

I have a dealer license. Any vehicle I purchase will be through the manheim auto auction. Auction prices on average for a 07 335i sedan 6spd are falling between $15-$16,850. The mustang is a good sugestion. I will look into that.

In reply to Jarod:

Evo's are pretty sweet. There is a local shop here in Central Florda -(performance racing solutions) that praises them. They build some pretty impressive Evo's. I ve always liked the evo's but have had some freinds that had GST's that were always broke and I am kinda scared of mitsubishi. How reliable are the evo's?

Go for the best Corvette you an get in that price range.

In reply to tim:

The engines are rock solid, I had a friend that was pushing over 400 horsepower to the wheel on stock internals. The transfer cases seem to be the weak link, but only for people who launch them regularly. The aftermarket can cure that also. In all honesty, it seems the young guys that abuse them are the only ones that have problems with them.

But keep in mind you will most likely be buying from a young guy that abused it.

Yeah, most of the good cars in this range have been abused by young idiots

Audi tt? Should be easy to bump up the power. Brake upgrades are available.

996 porsche? always amazed how the bottom has fallen out of the pricing. auction value should be around 15k or so.

The problem with Evos in my experience (usually with the older ones that aren't really available over here) is normally the owners. I'd consider a stock one that's been looked after but I'd run a mile from one that's been modded.

For 996s my guess is that the money would get the OP a 3.4L one, so that would require some care when purchasing to avoid an expensive "made in Germany" paperweight.

pigeon wrote: Miata?

Seriously. Keep the Spec-V and pick up somebody's track-ready Miata (or RX-7, E30 or GTI) for a few grand. If you're serious about performance driving, you're never going to be happy with (or as safe in) your daily driver as a dedicated track car.

In reply to timfd024:

cant see why you're selling the cad, modifying anything else costs $ and you already have a good starting point.

plance1 wrote: In reply to timfd024: cant see why you're selling the cad, modifying anything else costs $ and you already have a good starting point.

/thread.

Pontiac G8? Can you get those for under $15k now?

nderwater wrote:

pigeon wrote: Miata?

Seriously. Keep the Spec-V and pick up somebody's track-ready Miata (or RX-7, E30 or GTI) for a few grand. If you're serious about performance driving, you're never going to be happy with (or as safe in) your daily driver as a dedicated track car.

Agreed. Keep the daily rocket and buy something to learn how to drive fast for cheap. It seems Miata is the answer here.

A light car won't eat brakes/tires. Miata/RX7 or a plethora of front driver 4 bangers exist including cheap former race cars. I bought my caged mk1 Rabbit former SCCA ITC racer for <$1500 with spares. There's a nicely built 16V VW mk2 GTI ITA car near me for $2K with spares.

Don't take a car on the track you can't afford to fold up and wreck.

Keep the Caddy and I'll sell you my turbo Miata track car pretty darn cheap (and I'm in FL too!). It's a blast to drive out on the track.

C5. With a dealer license you should be able to get a Z06 if you wanna go fast, or a regular 6 speed Z51 coupe if you want a sweet driver that will run good on the track as well.

I have seen earlier, high mile C5s trading hands in the $8-11k range, I paid $15k for a super nice 2002 with a ton of work done to it, but it did need a transmission.

a friend of my older brother is selling his '06 GTO, the burgundy-ish red with charcoal or black leather (couldn't tell from the photos, but it's OE), 55k miles, never hit, very clean car.

it is an automatic.

'06 GTO in Maryland

nderwater wrote: Seriously. Keep the Spec-V and pick up somebody's track-ready Miata (or RX-7, E30 or GTI) for a few grand. If you're serious about performance driving, you're never going to be happy with (or as safe in) your daily driver as a dedicated track car.

This is truth. If you pay attention at HPDEs you notice all the Noobs have sexy, expensive machinery... new bimmers, heavy things like M5s and 6s, Ferraris, Benz Blacks. Porsches.

The intermediates are a mix of people from the Noob group and people who have already bought second cars with maybe a rollbar... extra wheels... but still nice newer stuff.

The advanced guys are coming off trailers. Some newer cars - but things like Porsche GT3s along with M3s and some rough looking older stuff with race suspension and power.

Then you see the instructors. A sea of 20 year old cars with full cages and almost no original parts at all. Some with log books. The whole field can usually be bought with the money of the one Ferrari in the Noob group.

You can leapfrog the whole process and just buy a Miata with a roll cage and look like you belong!

E36 M3 Sedan is the answer

Well maintained examples under $8k. Junk that needs everything under $5k.

Back seat - check,

Easy on tires and brakes (2950 lbs) - check,

Fast 5.3 sec 0-60. 50/50 weight distr. - check,

Lots of aftermarket support and easy to fix. - check

Track ready (big brakes, 7* caster, over engineered suspension duty, agile steering, supports big tires) - check

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/cto/2830937662.html

In reply to RandyS:

that could be the thread-ender right there. looks like ass with half-black / half-brown interior, but that can be fixed for a few hundred bucks. atlanta craigslist wins again.

I'd sell you my Si sedan for $15k if you weren't so far away.