white924s

I'm hoping you guys can help me out with some advice or just another perspective on my next car purchase. To give you all some background (hopefully without getting too longwinded), I'm getting close to buying a new car for street driving and DE events - the big hurdle to that, buying an apartment and clearing the coop board, should be done soon - but my budget will be a little tighter than I had initially planned for (now looking to spend $15-20k or so).

As a result, my Plan A, buying a Cayman, is probably out, and I've been considering some non-Porsche options. The car needs to be modern (<15 yrs old per the Mrs.), reliable, and fun to drive. One model that's caught my eye is a 2005-08 Mercedes SLK350 with the MB sport suspension and 6-speed manual transmission. It has 270hp, got positive reviews for handling, and I think that it looks really sharp. My initial impression is that it would be a fun car on the street, comfortable enough for road trips with the wife, and it could still be driven on the track on occasion.

Before I sold my 924S, I bought Recaro buckets, Schroth harnesses, and a HANS device. From my internet research so far, however, it seems like an off-the-shelf solution may not exist to install my safety gear in the SLK. While I know that the safety gear isn't required for DE, part of me feels like I should use the gear, and therefore, I should really look for cars that are more often used for track events and for which an off-the-shelf solution exists for mounting safety gear (ie a 2.7L 986 or a BMW 128i).

On the other hand, my fear is that I wouldn't be as excited about those cars at my price point, and I think I could still learn a lot in a street car with 3-pt belts/street suspension. In a couple years, I would probably plan to upgrade to a more track-focused car (997S or 987R perhaps?) that has the safety and performance gear to go along with it.

So...what do you guys think? Should I get a less-pure DE car that I might prefer driving on the street or would I be crazy to make my next car an SLK rather than a more commonly-used track car? Would appreciate any thoughts you guys can share about this.

Thanks!

J richard

E36 M3

rlm328

Heresy I know but a Vette.

Veloce Raptor

or E46 M3

Upstate101

You can put all you safety gear in an e36 M3 with a half cage. Should be right in your price range.

TXE36

E36 M3 is easily within your price range. Haven't shopped in a while, but $10K ought to be more than enough for one in track condition, likely less. There are $5K M3s out there, but they will likely need refreshed suspension, cooling, and maybe head gasket work.

Add a Kirk bolt-in roll bar and your safety equipment should go right in, although a seat install with interior is a bit tricky, but doable. I managed to fit two Ergo Larges in mine, but I had to fab custom floor mounts. Stock brakes work well with track pads such as PFC 08s, but it is advisable to cut the dust shields off.

It's a rewarding car to drive on the track. Driven well, it can keep up with most of the big dogs and it is about as good as you can get for a dual purpose car you can drive to work and take to the track.

I suspect an E46 M3 is in your price range too, just watch out for the consumable costs.

-Mike

Frank 993 C4S

Boxster S ??

I have no experience with setting these up for the track but you can buy them used for $10k or below.

Gary R.

I vote for a Boxster, slowly convert it to be more track capable over time. All of the Boxster race classes are fun and competitive. 97-99 is Spec Boxster or E Stock, 2000-04 Non-S is Stock E, 2000-05 Boxster S is Stock F, 2005-2008 Boxster Non-S is Stock F.. It's a fun car to drive every day in the meantime, can't go wrong. Plan on the IMS upgrade and a Motorsports Air-oil separator in your purchase $$ so you can get that done right away, good insurance.

Part of staying with Porsche is I know we have the most track days here in the Northeast with very good DE instruction and IMO the best racing with the most track time at races. With a Porsche you can run with anybody, with a BMW your choices are reduced (though some PCA Regions allow any car).

Mark Dreyer

Here are a few pics of my 02 Boxster S. Up to now I've only done DE's but plan to start racing her. It is such a nimble car. I love it!

white924s

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

That's a good point I hadn't paid enough attention to. I know that Metro NY allows non-Porsches, but they wouldn't necessarily have instructors who are familiar with those cars. Obviously some aspects of performance driving are universal, but I think it always helps to have an instructor who knows my car well.

Although I'm not planning to go racing (yet), I like that the path of turning a Boxster into a full race car is pretty well-trod and well-documented, so there is a lot of expertise to tap into along the way.

Functionally, it seems like a Boxster would do a lot of what I want, but I honestly go back and forth between preferring the Boxster and the SLK from an aesthetic point of view (and because I'm not looking to race with this car, I'm not sure that I can allow myself to be purely utilitarian about this decision, even if that may sound a little silly)

I'll take a closer look at M3's. My fear is that the E36 will be a little too old/require too much work to keep it reliable, and E46 M3's in my price range may have too much wear and tear, but maybe there's a good deal to be had on an E46 M3. I'll also do some more research on that and look into the consumable costs. Would a seat install in an E46 be more straightforward? I have Recaro Profi XL seats.

Funny you mention that - a good friend of mine is a big Corvette fan, and he has been trying to talk me into one for years now. I've driven his C6, and the torque is pretty amazing. If I went the Vette route, I would want either a C6 or a C5 Z06, and I'm not sure those are down in my price range. I'll look into it though.

TXE36

I have to admit, I'm tempted by a Boxster. Here in the south, Spec Boxster is very popular and they are fun cars in their own right. More expensive to buy and run than an M3, but not that much more. "Economical" for a Porsche. The BMW is also a dead end wrt PCA club racing.

E36 and E46 seat installs are similar and both challenging. The seat mounting bolts are not centered on the seat and it is difficult to get the seat close to the transmission tunnel. I would search through the numerous BMW forums for seat installs, I'm sure it's been done.

My E36 is pushing 160K miles, and 60K of those have been in the last 5 years where it hits the track a dozen times a year. They are getting long in the tooth. Sometimes it's better to get one in worse shape so you can do the refresh with what you want. Boxsters are a bit newer as are E46s, both are more expensive. I suspect a Boxster with an IMS failure or D chuck failure is going to be *a lot* more expensive to fix than a blown S52 or S54.

All that said, you really can't go wrong with any of them.

-Mike

J richard

The boxster S is a good option, my only deal is for me a chop top needs to have at least a half cage and hard top to DE. I know it has the integral hoops but not enough IMHO. Look at Marks cage, mines the same. Then the other side is as good at they are on the track just not in love with them as everyday transport. The Bimmer is a good street car and good on the track, and build costs are much more reasonable than a Pcar.

If you can get your hands on one an aircooled 911 is IMHO the best of the lot. But they are all sliding into that point on the curve where value/risk starts messing with the equatio.

I would not consider the Benz for track use, square peg round hole, the motorsports parts and equipment is thin and $$$ by comparison. More tuner stuff than MS.

Gary R.

I agree..

hf1

Boxster. No brainer.

rlm328

The Vette has the largest after market out there. Bang for the buck a Vette is hard to beat. An E36 is also a good option, more of a sedan type car. Makes it much easier for wives to get in and out of. M3s are known for overheating on the track.