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Like several others have already said, dollar for dollar - pound for pound, it's hard to beat the S2000 in terms of fun / reliability / cost as a track car.
I think a lot of the enthusiast owners that have well kept, well modified and well maintained S2000's drive a large percentage of their mileage on the track. Meanwhile the other contingent of S2000 owners might be busy "stancing" their rides to Hella Flush status.
I don't agree with your assessment. Yes, a couple people have had issues, but nothing widespread. That's despite people like myself and Orthojoe putting MANY track days on these cars. Joe and Ben even do days where they both drove it. 10+ sessions in a single day. I've personally done something like 40 days, and couple of which were 8-10 sessions. I think they are as rock solid as any track car made from 2015 on.
I guess it must be Texas then. Too many instances of cam issues.
Like several others have already said, dollar for dollar - pound for pound, it's hard to beat the S2000 in terms of fun / reliability / cost as a track car.
I think a lot of the enthusiast owners that have well kept, well modified and well maintained S2000's drive a large percentage of their mileage on the track. Meanwhile the other contingent of S2000 owners might be busy "stancing" their rides to Hella Flush status.
I echo what golfnutintib said: every car i've tracked has had at least one fatal flaw. If remedied, they have been fine. Limited view:
EVO VIII: 68K miles, 40 ish track days, heavily modded to 100hp over stock for most of it's life. With regular maintenance and consumables, was VERY reliable. Engine was within 1psi across all cylinders at sale; never replaced tranny, diff or anything else. Started throwing heater cores though towards the end.
987.2 Cayman S: 17K miles, 10 track days. Needed brake cooling badly. Overheated in very hot SoCal summer weather. Did not address before sale. Otherwise, add consumables, fluids and drive.
997.2 GT3: 32K miles, 20 ish track days. Had diff built with guard internals, lines pinned. 0 failures on track or otherwise. Most reliable track car I've owned. Still happy and healthy with new owner. Point taken though that if/when it fails, the bills are breathtaking.
GT4: 11K miles; 15 track days. 0 issues and it was not babied.
991 GT3 RS: 10K miles; 6 track days so far and the engine hasn't exploded I tend to think if Trak Car hasn't killed his by now, the hysteria over engine failures may be overstated. Hard to tell with so few getting serious track miles. Time will tell.
My guess as has been already posted, is that the S2K, Miata and E36 would be the most solid, lowest cost to run. Have thought about going that way many times but I just don't enjoy driving those cars as much.
E46 M3 was hit or miss for me. Overheated in the summer on the stock cooling system and had some diff issues. Plus plan to spend big to properly do preventative.
My F80 M3 seemed bullet-proof but only a couple of summer track days tested.
My Fiesta ST tore one CV boot and then overheated in the summer. Seized brakes another track day.
I have had success with my E90 M3 (over 30 track days and just factory rotors and consumables so far, it is also my daily driver with over 130K miles. It has basic Mods KW3s, rims, intake, tune exhaust, race pipes) and my 2003 350z (20 track days, it has factory Brembo's and Nismo s-tune suspension, again just brakes, rotors and tires).
My GTR (transmission, brake calipers, suspension, fuel pump) and EVO X (overheating etc.) were not reliable for me.
I only did 3 track days in my 991 GT3 with no problems, so not much to judge.
I have not tracked the GT4 yet, first track day will be Jan 21.
Both my GT4 and F80 M3 have been very reliable on track even in very hot weather. Just fluids, tires, pads, rotors.. rinse and repeat.
Others:
2002 Z06 - Brakes not up to the task, needed full aftermarket braking system.
2008 Corvette - Brakes not up to the task, needed full aftermarket braking system.
2011 Z06 - Brakes not up to the task, needed full aftermarket braking system.
2013 Camaro ZL1 - engine overheated
2014 Stingray - brakes not up to the task, needed full aftermarket braking system
2015 Z06 - complete disaster. Limp mode, fuel delivery issues, broken control arm, overheating
2014 GTR - transmission overheated
Both my GT4 and F80 M3 have been very reliable on track even in very hot weather. Just fluids, tires, pads, rotors.. rinse and repeat.
Others:
2002 Z06 - Brakes not up to the task, needed full aftermarket braking system.
2008 Corvette - Brakes not up to the task, needed full aftermarket braking system.
2011 Z06 - Brakes not up to the task, needed full aftermarket braking system.
2013 Camaro ZL1 - engine overheated
2014 Stingray - brakes not up to the task, needed full aftermarket braking system
2015 Z06 - complete disaster. Limp mode, fuel delivery issues, broken control arm, overheating
2014 GTR - transmission overheated
Ug...that truly is frustrating. Texas/COTA is also not very nice to cars. That's one nice thing about Porsches, even if the ECU pulls a lot of timing, they *usually* handle the heat pretty well.
As a pleasant to drive normal sized street car, the 981 Cayman in all its variants, is beyond compare IMO. My experience owning one of each - ZERO failures of any kind.
I always contended that the GTS model was the perfect balance between the competing factors of weight / horsepower / and brakes.
Whereas, the GT4 has some extremes - the hp can develop speeds that can overdrive streetable tires, and the brakes are waaaay more capable than would otherwise been needed on a 3,000# car. The GT4's extremes do require more driver skill to manage the car, where as the base, S, and GTS you just drive.
Ug...that truly is frustrating. Texas/COTA is also not very nice to cars. That's one nice thing about Porsches, even if the ECU pulls a lot of timing, they *usually* handle the heat pretty well.
Yes! It was when I was always in the paddock fixing/cooling/diagnosing my C7 Z06 while the Porsches on track kept going all day that the light bulb finally went on, and I thought maybe I should buy a Porsche myself!
01-01-2017, 10:48 AM
I tend to think if Trak Car hasn't killed his by now, the hysteria over engine failures may be overstated. Hard to tell with so few getting serious track miles. Time will tell.
