best bang for your buck race car?

[rocknrace03]

so im wondering just to see what you guys think would be the best production car to turn into a race car at low cost, basically stripping interior, adding a racing seat, roll cage, simple suspension,engine mods and just having a good old time =]

edit: for autocross/road racing

[Big_Jim]

First question I dont see answered is this:

What type of racing do you want to do? Drag, road, autocross?

[jpalamar]

^ this.

[oneday]

Really depends on what your goals are with said car. Do you want to compete? Are you just going to do track days? If you want to compete, decide what sanctioning body(s) you want to run in, buy the rule book(s), choose a class, pick a car and build to the rules. Without a goal or class anything can be a race car, from a Yaris to a Porsche.

If you want to just do track days then pick your favorite car and build it.

[rocknrace03]

autocross, road racing, im really just asking for general boredom, i dont intend to build anything, just thought itd be fun to see what people thought is the all around best road race car. i think it would be 2dr 98-01 impreza 2.2l or 2.5rs with a good set of coil overs and sway bars

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

IHO...

Drag: C5 corvette (can picked up cheap and the LS2 makes huge power stock/na even before modding)

Auto Cross: Miata (the proverbial Auto Cross king, inexpensive, well balanced, and short turning radius)

Road Course: Evo VIII or IX (very well balanced power & handling, huge aftermarket, has been known to beat exotics on road courses)

[Scapegoat]

2011 mustang gt

capable of handling the above three mention types of racing and will do very well within it's stock class.

[Got Insulin?]

Depends on your budget and how competitve you want to be. I know of a realitively local MINI that consistently beats up on Porsches and Lotuses (Loti?) on the track, and it's the non-S version and a daily to boot. The same argument could be made for any make or model though.

[Scapegoat]

wait for the 2012 boss 302.

[jpalamar]

Originally Posted by Bubba Ho-Tep

IHO...

Drag: C5 corvette (can picked up cheap and the LS2 makes huge power stock/na even before modding)

Auto Cross: Miata (the proverbial Auto Cross king, inexpensive, well balanced, and short turning radius)

Road Course: Evo VIII or IX (very well balanced power & handling, huge aftermarket, has been known to beat exotics on road courses)

C5 Vettes have an LS1(C6 05-07 had the LS2 and 08+ is LS3)... makes me sad you don't know this being your a Vette owner...

Originally Posted by Scapegoat

2011 mustang gt

capable of handling the above three mention types of racing and will do very well within it's stock class.

Sadly, I agree and I've been an anti-Mustang guy for a long time but they really have a solid car for 2011.

[Scapegoat]

Originally Posted by jpalamar

C5 Vettes have an LS1(C6 05-07 had the LS2 and 08+ is LS3)... makes me sad you don't know this being your a Vette owner...



Sadly, I agree and I've been an anti-Mustang guy for a long time but they really have a solid car for 2011.

well, to be fair... the 2010 and 2011 suspension is exactly the same. granted, the 2011 puts down about 80-90 more hp to the wheels and that obviously is a huge difference in making it a very formidable race car for stock classes

[jpalamar]

Originally Posted by Scapegoat

well, to be fair... the 2010 and 2011 suspension is exactly the same. granted, the 2011 puts down about 80-90 more hp to the wheels and that obviously is a huge difference in making it a very formidable race car for stock classes

Thats pritty cool. Didn't know that about the suspenision. I had a 2011 A6 V6 in my eye but just don't feel like pull the trigger on any more debt.

[marshallpre1]

240sx. Good chassis, great aftermarket, cheap to fix if you mess something up. At least that's my reasoning...

[Scapegoat]

Originally Posted by jpalamar

Thats pritty cool. Didn't know that about the suspenision. I had a 2011 A6 V6 in my eye but just don't feel like pull the trigger on any more debt.

yup! and the slight HP increase for the 2010 and that suspension are from the bullitt set up.

of course, there is always room for improvement.

I've got my eyes on the 2012 boss 302... perhaps in 2013 or 2014. that is if i don't just sell the mustang to get a cheaper car and start saving for my dream vehicle

[jjm4life]

miata.

/thread.

[lepichichi]

miata 13B bridgeported PERIOD!

[92awdtsi]

Note: my opinions are for a practical persons budget. Obviously you can find better cars, but for the average persons wallet I think these are your best bets.

Drag : (hard to say since I love corvettes) Camaro/Firebird comes with factory LS1 and they run low low low 13s out of the box. You can pick them up for under 7k

AutoX : Miata hands down.

Road Course : Trying not to be biased here since I like dsms but, talon/laser/eclipse/galant vr4.... all come factory awd and turbo. An excellent base to build from and you can find them cheap.

[oneday]

Originally Posted by rocknrace03

thought itd be fun to see what people thought is the all around best road race car. i think it would be 2dr 98-01 impreza 2.2l or 2.5rs with a good set of coil overs and sway bars

As long as you don't mind losing at whatever kind of racing you enter you wouldn't be wrong....but if you want to be competitive you are very wrong.

As mentioned before, a Miata is never a wrong answer (unless you are lame and like drag racing--even then just drop an LSx and you will win). New Mustangs are great, C5+ Vettes are also good (particularly the Z06).

The Elise, STI, Evo, Mini, Integra, Civic, 350Z all make for stout starting points to build a race car from.

If I were to pick one brand new car to dump money into and convert to a race car it'd be a 911 GT3 RSR. The great thing is I wouldn't need to spend any additional money to make it competitive...the bad news is it costs twice what my house did.

[jjm4life]

911 gt3 rs is an awesome bang for the buck racer considering what you get... but you got to have the bucks.

i want a "regular" 997 gt3 next.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

Originally Posted by jpalamar

C5 Vettes have an LS1(C6 05-07 had the LS2 and 08+ is LS3)... makes me sad you don't know this being your a Vette owner...

I meant early C6 pre-LS3, they are pretty cheap now and make a ton of power. That said- I'm relatively new to the Domestic scene, this is my first V8 vehicle and certainly my first Corvette. I'm loving that it blows away my previous modified STi's performance in EVERY category even in it's stock form- including 0-60. Once the cam/heads are done this spring it should be putting down 500 to the rear tires.