Reverse Mid Life Crisis: 2 Porsches->0 this week
 

I never understood those who went back after tasting W2W racing, but after 8 years of being "all in" on 944 Spec Racing, I get it, and am going on a racing sabbatical for a year or two. I need to catch up on some time, and trips with family, and medical boards coming up.

I also sold the Targa, as I am looking for a better dual purpose car to scratch the itch every now and then on track.

Now I need the collective RL P&C wisdom on where to go next with my $10K - $25K My thoughts are wide open.

Do I go with the new cheap car route like a BRZ? A easy, relaible, and by all accounts fun option. Modern safety structure, too. Can do donuts in the winter, as a bonus.

Do I go nostalgia old school and go aircooled? I got married in a borrowed '86 911. They seem to be appreciating, too.

Middle ground and get an E36 or E46 M3?

What about a Boxster? fun: it's a convertible. Even 'S' models fit in your price range

Current dream car is a Syder, or Cayman R, but those are too dear.
I'd really want a DFI motor 987, and those are just out of reach. For the next car, for sure.

E36

+36

These days $10K is enough for a decent E36 M3 and maybe less. Don't forget E36 non-Ms. A guy I track with has a Spec E36 and I have to pedal very hard to keep up with him in my E36 M3. We have lots of E36 M3 street legal cars showing up to track days in TX.

The E36 issues are well known and Bimmerforums as well as other BMW forums have lots of technical info. Bimmerforums has a pretty good track subforum as well. The cars are simple and cheap to maintain.

The only real difficulty is finding a good one. They are cheap enough that the young kids get them and rat them out, drive them hard, and put them away wet. A $5K E36 will likely need $3-4K in repairs to be track worthy.

On the track, it is a wonderfully balanced car with decent power. It rewards good driving habits and doesn't really have any vices. It's also fun to run down somebody's $100K machine in it :D .

Boxters are popular too, but that will cost more and hurt more if you break suspension and driveline stuff.

-Mike

964 C2

I saw the title and thought you were getting into flying... :)

You probably have enough friends to borrow a ride for a DE or 2... Wait a few years and get the DFI Cayman!

If you buy one you'll want to track it......:)

At the risk of being branded a heretic, I second TXE36's comments on the E36 M3. Really can't go wrong with one as a track car.
In the category of newer, light-weight, fun Japanese imports I'd add MX-5 Cup (or reasonably similarly modded newer MX-5) to the BRZ/FRS category.

That is the idea, and why a modern safety structure, and roof crush standards is appealing.

I'm finding some nice M3's out there, though. How much more expensive is an S54 to run than an S52 motor?

And then there's this one:

https://images.craigslist.org/00h0h_...Hf_600x450.jpg

E30

And when you get bored you can cage it and race SpecE30 with Kyle!

LOL

^^^this^^^

Yea the BMW is more cost effective but there is no comparison...

S54 motor in an E36 or E36 vs E46?

S54 motors have a good reputation if the main bearing issue has been addressed and an S54 swap into an E36 is doable, but pricey. The S54 winds up real nice to 8K RPM. An E36 with an S54 already would be mighty tempting as the E46 is about 500 lbs heavier.

E36 vs E46? Data points: The differential fill for the E46 M3 is something like $80/litre and you need 1.5 litres. The E36 M3 just uses plain jane limited slip stuff. Oil for the S54 is pricey as well, at $12/quart for the 10W-60 Castrol that it requires (8 qt fill). I run Mobil-1 15W-50 from Walmart for $4.80 qt in my E36.

The E46 M3 also uses 18" tires, where I run 17s. Nitto NT-05s in 235/40-17 run about $130 each and I go through about two sets a year running about a dozen track days. Last time I looked 18's were a lot more expensive.

I have a friend with an E46 M3 Vert. After looking for a track/street Miata and not finding what I wanted he talked me into driving his car and my thoughts were if an E36 M3 is anything like this, then that's the car for me. At the time low end E46 M3s were in the $17s. I bought my E36 M3 for $14.5 - a high price, but it came from an instructor friend as was well sorted, track ready, and came with extra goodies that I wanted. I could have bought an E46 as well, but the running costs sealed the deal.

I drive a BMW, but post here because I drive a lot with PCA and someday would like to track a P-car. My gut feeling, is unless your really want to track an E46, I'd get an air-cooled P-car for a bit more money. If you want to save money, get the E36.

An air-cooled 911 would be more reliable at the track, but it will be much more expensive if it breaks even if you do your own wrenching.

VR drives an E36 M3 with suspension, safety, and brake upgrades and he does very well mixing it up with high end Porsches. As I stated before, it is a car that rewards skillful driving.

On the street, it gets surprisingly good gas mileage. At 70 MPH steady I get about 26 MPG and 21-22 MPG around town. I've sometimes driven it to work when gas goes north of $4 and my Jag quaffs it at a rate of 17 MPG.

E30 is not a bad idea either. My view is either save the money and go E36-E30 or go the other way a bit and get a low end P-car. That said, the E46 is no track slouch, and if you really want one, it isn't bad choice either.

-Mike

I've just done this, too.
I looked hard at M3s but ended up with a 996 C2. That Targa you sold was a beautiful car.

964 C2
 

This is a "late model car" in the sense that it has ABS and airbags. With headers, muffler(s) and a chip these 964 motors are good for 250 HP to the rear wheels. Put 8" wheels on front, 9" on the rear, run 235 front, 275 rear, Nitto NT-01 of course. Next some new coil overs, KWs, PSS 10, or? Add some bigger sway bars, add a 964 RS front splitter, a RS America tail....and now you have a car that is good on the street, and could easily go club racing with seats and a cage. While you are at it, take some weight out of the car to offset the weight of the cage.:thumbsup: