What's a halfway affordable race car that's available with a paddle shift?

The Formula FST is going to a shop I trust this week to see if they can fix the car side of the clutch issue[1] I mentioned in another thread. If I had time to learn some new skills I may have considered having a go myself, but I absolutely have to have the car race ready by the end of the month, so it is time to call in the pros.

If we can't address the issue, that leaves me with a dilemma - I've already had to sell the Mini as my foot and the clutch didn't agree. I can drive my Miatas (but probably not in rush hour traffic), but I don't want to race Spec Miata. So one avenue I'm looking at would be an IT car, but what I really want to run is a formula car or a sports racer.

I know Radicals usually have paddle shifters, but I don't fit them very well. They're also likely to be out of my budget. I suspect that a bike-engined sports racer might fit the bill, though.

Is there anything out there in the, say, sub-25k range that is reasonably common (at least for race car values of common) that would fit the bill?

Edit: I realise that it might be possible to convert an existing D or C Sports racer to paddle shift and potentially an m/c engine. However I don't want to sink a large chunk of change into the re-engineering work and then find out that it still doesn't work for me.

[1] I'm also trying to fix the "broken driver" part, but that seems to be harder and take longer that I'd really want. Right now we're at about 15 months and counting, the light at the end of the tunnel is almost at the same distance as it was last October and it might be Diesel Electric powered.

How about one of the old TDI cup cars?  Is there anywhere for those to race these days?

You can easily find a good E46 M3 with SMG II transmission for that kind of money. They’re worth significantly less than the 6-speed manuals. Not a fun transmission on the street (hard to drive smoothly at low speeds), but OK for track work. You may even find an E90/92 M3 with DCT transmission for about $25k

Lots of guys race Boxsters, too. They’re available with Tiptronics. Even though that’s a slush box, they say they’re not too bad. 

So the Supermiata guys put a quaife trans into bullet the car they brought to UTCC with 400 turbo whp. Can you consider looking at a group/racing series that runs near you and find one that would let you swap a trans?

What about thunder roadsters? They are not paddle shift, but they use a motorcycle drivetrain with sequential transmission. I know you have to use the clutch to get started, but I think you can shift without the clutch from there*.

*DISCLAIMER: I am not 100% sure about downshifts, I am not an expert, I have never driven one, I did not stay at a holiday in express last night.

LanEvo said:

You can easily find a good E46 M3 with SMG II transmission for that kind of money. They’re worth significantly less than the 6-speed manuals. Not a fun transmission on the street (hard to drive smoothly at low speeds), but OK for track work. You may even find an E90/92 M3 with DCT transmission for about $25k

Lots of guys race Boxsters, too. They’re available with Tiptronics. Even though that’s a slush box, they say they’re not too bad. 

Careful with the Boxsters - the early models were a true torque-converter automatic with Tiptronic, whereas the later (and current) two-pedal variant is PDK, a dual-clutch auto. I would worry about slow shift speeds and burning up the fluid on the torque-converter models. People with the PDK Boxsters/Caymans claim they are fastest when left in "Drive" and no paddle use, even.

Another option could be a GTI, although I have no idea where it'd class and for what sanctioning body. Their DSG is very good.

Formula 500s use snowmobile CVTs.

MadScientistMatt said:

Formula 500s use snowmobile CVTs.

Thanks for the reminder - I was ogling one at Sonoma on Friday, no less.

tomtomgt356 said:

What about thunder roadsters? They are not paddle shift, but they use a motorcycle drivetrain with sequential transmission. I know you have to use the clutch to get started, but I think you can shift without the clutch from there*.

 

*DISCLAIMER: I am not 100% sure about downshifts, I am not an expert, I have never driven one, I did not stay at a holiday in express last night.

I've looked at a Thunder Roadster in the past - not a big fan of the ergonomics. Bike transmissions usually allow clutchless upshifts, downshifts may require the use of clutch.

Getting started with a clutch shouldn't be that big an issue unless the clutch is heavy or at an awkward-for-me angle.

F600, which F500 is evolving into is the same car, but with a 600cc sportbike motor.  I have seen some people doing paddleshift on those.

the bike motor is more expensive to get into, but there are pros/cons

Pro 600

• Efi instead of Carbs
• lower rebuild interval
• no CVT clutch tuning (apparently a bit of a black art)
• Higher resale value of the car. 
• SOUND
• no 2 stroke exhaust or dealing with that oil

You need to define semi-affordable and also look at where you want to race.  A Pro Challenge car can be pretty affordable but I don't know if there's a series near you that'll alow you to run one.  A formula 1000 is closer to what you're describing but they're more expensive and may have the same issue with finding a place to race. 

I'm not aware of any Japanese motorcycle that cannot be shifted clutchless so any bike engined car should meet that part of your criteria.  I'm drawing a blank on the manufacturer but there's at least one company that makes paddle shifter kits for bike engined cars that cuts ignition on upshifts and blips the throttle on downshifts.

I have seen setups where a mechanical clutch has been set up to use a motorcycle style clutch lever mounted on the shifter.  I would think that it probably required some extra bellcranks to get the effort and motion length correct.  

I would think any bike engined car could be setup with a Rekluse auto clutch to allow for clutchless shifting up and down. I still think the cheaper path is going to be pick the race car you actually want to drive and then put a trans in it and run whatever power/weight/more open ruleset series you can

Edit looks like there are numerous autoclutch options

I'm with LanEvo, you can buy a really nice E46 M3 SMG in your budget and that transmission works pretty darn well on the track.

Nicest 2009-2011 porsche  cayman with PDk...came with PDK but not paddle shifter.  Theyre out there in the high teens low 20k range.  For $1000 a paddle shift steering wheel is available after market.  Have something easy to sell when you Tire of it. Enjoy the Porsche tax during ownership.

Ovid_and_Flem said:

Nicest 2009-2011 porsche  cayman with PDk...came with PDK but not paddle shifter.  Theyre out there in the high teens low 20k range.  For $1000 a paddle shift steering wheel is available after market.  Have something easy to sell when you Tire of it. Enjoy the Porsche tax during ownership.

Going to suggest the same thing. 

Formula car with a hand clutch would work as well. I know of at least one guy with no left leg using such a thing in his 2000ti. Takes installing a hydraulic conversion sometimes but its fast and easy and you still get to shift. not competitive in the least though.  

Or a duck clutch. 

https://totalability.com.au/products/driving/electric-clutch/

Hand clutch is definitely a possibility (the Radical I tried for size had one as the owner had some issues working the clutch with his leg).

Budget depends - we're looking at a house out East and if we're able to make a deal on that, my budget will likely be microscopic (F500/F600 sized) for a couple of years until we sell the house here in NV. Assuming the deal with the house doesn't come off, it's likely to be in the $25k all-in range. That's for a fully converted, race ready car, not a street car that's OK for Time Attack or HPDE.

Oh, and I do have a strong preference for a purpose built sports racer or formula car rather than a converted street car. Converted street car is an OK distant second if I can't make the CSR/DSR/Formula car work.