944S2, MX5, S2000, Something else?

[thewildblue]

What about an RX8 ? Pick up cheap, get a rebuild and enjoy.

My car ownership with fun cars went RX8>MX5 NB RS>944 S2( still have it)> MX5 NB 2.5 Sport > MR2 MK3 ( Still have this).

Im using the 944 as my track day toy at the moment and the MR2 as the daily.

Out of those cars listed above I would go RX8, MX5RS, MR2, 944 and finally the MX5 Sport for order of preference for track days. Im only using the 944 as Ive owned it a lot longer than the MR2 ( 4 years vs 5 months).

The jap stuff always feels bullet proof and the RX8 wont be that much slower than the 944, will be more fun and has an LSD as standard. The brakes will be better and it revs to 9300rpm ( limiter).

[Richair]

Dakkon said:

...so I am looking for something where chassis dynamics are a little forgiving.

You've already eluded to the twitchyness of the S2000 in your original post, so given the above I think you've probably answered your own question on that one. Whilst I've not driven one I've had a few passenger rides in them and I think they're rep is well founded and in the wrong hands they can quickly land you in trouble (no offence, just giving an honest opinion). Unfortunately I've experienced this first hand from the passenger seat as I was giving a mate some tuition at Oulton Park who has what I would describe as a somewhat binary and 'spiky' driving style; he ignored my instructions which resulted in a spin on the exit of Cascades. Not a nice place to fall off... He went a little wide onto the kerb, panicked and lifted despite me telling him to keep his toe in. The resulting spin happened very quickly indeed!! He pretty much wrote the car off two weeks later at Curborough from a similar incident which saw him nose it in to the bank. Forgiving they certainly are not! Although I suspect some set up changes might help.

I run a 944 Turbo which has progressed from a road car right the way through to a full-on race car now and I love it. Very forgiving indeed and a car that is easy to pivot around when pushing on; the balance is lovely and all the old adages about this chassis are true. However they're not the cheapest to run, but then nothing serious is as I'm sure you well know! If you do decide to go for one then I'd strongly recommend buying a prepped car because you will want to modify it for the track. Something like Edh's car would be great for you by the sounds of things, plus when they do come up for sale they're generally for sensible money as everyone else seems to want the minters theses days!!



A slightly modded or even 'charged MX5 is hard to ignore and there's normally a few around. Costs of running one would be far more reasonable too... I'd stick with your suggestion as a mk3.5 as the earlier cars less than rigid without a full cage, which to do properly requires you to remove the roof to achieve safe head clearance (I built a mk1 Eunos track car which I braced up but I couldn't live with the elastic chassis).

An RX8 is a good shout also, however I've not driven or been in one so can't comment further.

I'd also look at 3-Series track cars, cheap and plentiful. Great fun and very forgiving. A ready built Compact Cup car sells for around £5k so would be worth looking in to...

[CABC]

Richair said:

A slightly modded or even 'charged MX5 is hard to ignore and there's normally a few around. Costs of running one would be far more reasonable too... I'd stick with your suggestion as a mk3.5 as the earlier cars less than rigid without a full cage, which to do properly requires you to remove the roof to achieve safe head clearance (I built a mk1 Eunos track car which I braced up but I couldn't live with the elastic chassis).

An RX8 is a good shout also, however I've not driven or been in one so can't comment further.

I'd also look at 3-Series track cars, cheap and plentiful. Great fun and very forgiving. A ready built Compact Cup car sells for around £5k so would be worth looking in to...

Rich, can you expand on the mx5's 'elastic chassis' and bracing you used. i'm running a mk1, and have been developing it over 2 yrs now.
The roll bar helps stiffen the upper body, but the real strength for a 5 is needed underneath. I added IL front and mid bracing which certainly changed the handling and i find it very stiff! NS2Rs and Meister Rs on hard and she feels great. I wonder whether you'd pushed things further on to slicks? what were your bushes?

The RX8 is certainly much overlooked.
S2000 doesn't strike me as the best starter for a track car. imo progressive power not a vtec 'turbo' hit.

[Richair]

CABC said:

Rich, can you expand on the mx5's 'elastic chassis' and bracing you used. i'm running a mk1, and have been developing it over 2 yrs now.
The roll bar helps stiffen the upper body, but the real strength for a 5 is needed underneath. I added IL front and mid bracing which certainly changed the handling and i find it very stiff! NS2Rs and Meister Rs on hard and she feels great. I wonder whether you'd pushed things further on to slicks? what were your bushes?

I'd fitted an Ultra-racing under brace and bought a set of P5 frame rails but didn't ever end up fitting them. To be completely honest I didn't go as far with the car as I'd planned as I decided to cut my losses and break it to part-fund buying my 951 which has been by far the most enjoyable and rewarding car I've owned...

It was on stock bushes, but then flex through the suspension never was the issue. In fact the suspension was hugely impressive with just a set of decent coilovers!! It was the flex through the mid point of the car; as you say they really need bracing around the sills and the best way being to 'put the lid on the box' as it were with a cage and from underneath. Don't get me wrong they're great fun cars and I had a lot of fun in mine, but I just couldn't live with it's quirks. But then I am a fussy engineer type!

[dern]

You could easily get an rx8 with a rebuilt engine for that money. That's what I did last year after getting a couple of passenger rides in one and running around occasionally in my wife's car. I fitted racing beat anti roll bars to mine, new brakes and a set of eibach springs. I haven't taken it on track yet as I was till running my kit car. The rx8 feels like it'll be a great platform.

If you can stretch the budget I'm selling my RX7 turbo engined SSC Stylus. You'll find it in the road going track cars section. Very very quick car that I no longer have enough time to look after.

[Dakkon]

I think I have decided to play safe and get an MX5 for now, but I just wanted to say thanks for all your thoughts, all very interesting reading and I might look at a 944S2 in a year or so's time.

[Helical]

I've got an S2000 which I use for track days. They can be a little unforgiving, but if you keep your foot in they are predictable and progressive. I wouldn't say I'm an exceptional driver, but if you can get past the instinct to lift off at the first sniff of 'trouble' and use the wheel to correct it rather the throttle, it is not an intimidating car drive. In fact, if you don't disrupt the balance with binary throttle inputs, its generates an awful lot of grip at the rear.