Track car: MR2, S2000 or 350Z? and should high mileage be a concern

zackai

Hi all,

I have been looking for a car for track day. And here are something I consider,
* budget: better be under 10k, could be a little bit higher
* handling first, I care corner more than speed
* should still be safe to drive around -- though I am primarily buying it for track, I would like to drive it on a sunny day around the city, mountain, and I want it to be safe for that purpose.

And 3 cars that are currently on top of my list.

* MR2 MKII turbo
Pros:
very cool car
mid engine
handles great.
kinda classic, maybe one day put into garage as collectible
Cons:
hard to find a turbo that hasn't been mod crazily
One that hasn't been mod crazily usually look super ugly
20+ years car and not sure whether it would cost a fortune when comes to maintenance.

* S2000
Haven't really tested driven one, but looks cool according to online video
Lots of people says it's a great track cars.
Doesn't seem so aero dynamic as the other two.

* 350Z
New and affordable. more up-to-date technology. For driving around city and mountain point of view, it should be safer.
Quite reputable for drifting, autox

Any suggestion?

Thank you very much.

kyfdx

zackai said:

Hi all,

I have been looking for a car for track day. And here are something I consider,
* budget: better be under 10k, could be a little bit higher
* handling first, I care corner more than speed
* should still be safe to drive around -- though I am primarily buying it for track, I would like to drive it on a sunny day around the city, mountain, and I want it to be safe for that purpose.

And 3 cars that are currently on top of my list.

* MR2 MKII turbo
Pros:
very cool car
mid engine
handles great.
kinda classic, maybe one day put into garage as collectible
Cons:
hard to find a turbo that hasn't been mod crazily
One that hasn't been mod crazily usually look super ugly
20+ years car and not sure whether it would cost a fortune when comes to maintenance.

* S2000
Haven't really tested driven one, but looks cool according to online video
Lots of people says it's a great track cars.
Doesn't seem so aero dynamic as the other two.

* 350Z
New and affordable. more up-to-date technology. For driving around city and mountain point of view, it should be safer.
Quite reputable for drifting, autox

Any suggestion?

Thank you very much.

I would think that a 20+ year old car would be a pain to keep on the track, even though that's my favorite car out of your three..

Convertibles are an issue at many tracks, so you might need a hardtop and roll cage to run the S2000.

The 350Z is the easy choice. Not as light as the other two, but still light, RWD and tons more power.. and, still handles like a sports car.

zackai

Thanks, kyfdx. I don't feel comfortable to put a roll cage on a car that would be occasionally used for driving around for fun. But I am referring to S2000 hard top.

Another reason for 350Z is that it's much easier to find, at least in west coast. MR2 is so damn hard to find, I can pretty much name all the listings within 100 miles.

Mr_Shiftright

There is actually a Honda S2000 Club Racer model, but you aren't going to touch one for anything near $10,000. But you can buy an early 2000s year car for that. I think that high-revving engine would be a lot of fun on the track.

zackai

Thanks, Mr_shiftright, I will do some research on the Club racer model first.

Mr_Shiftright

As for high mileage on the engine--if you're just out there for fun, use your common sense and stay out of the redline or don't be bouncing off the rev limiter. A good driver knows that there's no optimum power way up there anyway.

zackai

Hmm, it might be hard, because if I want to use it as a track car. It might be inevitable to rev up to red line some time. But I got your point. Thanks.

Went check out a S2000 + hard top, the car is really nice but the dealer is pretty firm on the price.