Another car thread. Wanting a sports car. Which one?

I just think that it is great that we have so many choices to choose from whether they be American or from another country. My favorite cars are Ferrari, Lamborghini, McClaren and Aston Martin but I don't have the money to play in that league so I picked up a 2018 Corvette Grand Sport in November 2021. Yes, it is an automatic because I have had surgery on my left knee and my left hip replaced due to 36 years in the Army, growing up on farm and over 40 years of having fun with bikes on the street and track. I say get what makes you happy, enjoy it and by all means take care of it. Life is too short and the hell with what somebody else thinks.

 

I agree. I had a 2017 BRZ that I only kept for a year as an experiment on whether or not I was ready for a fun car while still enjoying motorcycles. I learned two things; I didn't have enough time for it while still riding, it was underpowered for what I wanted from it. It was light, stopped well (Brembo brakes), handled well, but on the street it was harder to pass someone than I wanted it to be. The next sporty car I get will have a more horsepower and will be when I hang up the leathers.

 

They are a lot faster on track. The 2nd generation are beating turbo AWD times. Toyota is really pushing motorsports with the GR Corolla, Supra, and GR86

 

I never tracked mine but I am sure you're right - momentum car. The new ones without the flat spot in the torque curve and a little more power should make some difference, but I would prefer a boosted version, too bad they don't make those! It was a fun little car to drive, and thankfully I still pee standing up so it had the 6mt which is my preference slower or not, just more enjoyable of a driving experience.

 

I agree with Bird. When I tracked mine I passed errythang with "powah"...chargers, mustangs, Camaros, BMW, etc.

The BRZ isnt a muscle car. It excels in corners. But add flex fuel, turbo, etc and now you have a corner carver with 300+ rwhp.

 

I found this article yesterday about the GR86...it's the little things that add up.

https://www.thedrive.com/guides-and...es-more-clever-engineering-than-meets-the-eye

 

It certainly looks nice!!

 

I too own a BRZ, bought one new in 2013 when they first came out. It is a fantastic little car. In many ways the antithesis of a Hellcat type of muscle car from a performance standpoint. I love to DRIVE it. The new ones are quantitatively better in just about every way as well. The bigger issue I find is something Mike alluded to (I think) - I don't have time to really enjoy bikes and the BRZ. When I have a free minute and the weather is nice, I can't really do both and I would rather be on the bike. So the BRZ sits a lot (less than 2-3K miles a year on average).

 

Do you know if they make kits that are CARB legal for smog? I liked the FRS my son had before he moved to NY.

 

yes. here is one i found with quick googles...more out there.

https://store.worksmotorsports.com/WORKS_FR_S_BRZ_Stage_2_Turbo_Kit_p/142.212c.htm

 

Depends on what you're selling. Ferrari and Lamborghini manuals bring in a lot more cash than the same car in automatic. Like, A LOT.

And if your car overwhelmingly sells with auto transmissions, the same thing might happen to it some years down the road when it becomes a "classic." Manuals could possibly trounce it in resell value, although I think it's more likely with a sports car than with a muscle car.

 

Part of that is you simply cannot buy a manual transmission Ferrari or Lamborghini anymore. Lambo might release a super special limited edition manual from time to time, but not usually.

 

I completely get that . I have several friends with Ferraris and lambos and the “economics” of the super car world are really bizarre at times. Lol

My post is about a Dodge Challenger . That’s what I suggested he buy. When I was car shopping the resale value of the automatics was always a little higher than the manuals unless it was a special edition.
This car isn’t some special super car so the more people who can drive it makes it easier to sell and adds sone value from what I saw.

 

I'm not convinced that it will still be true for the Dodge Challenger 15 or 20 years from now. Same thing might happen to it that happened to Lamborghinis and Ferraris from the 2000's. Guys nostalgic for an older car with a manual transmission, very limited supply of cars.

 

Former BRZ/FRS owner here.

For the street, absolutely NOT. They are terrible.. Like, literally need to say a little prayer before pulling into traffic.

For the track they are a weapon. I ran circles around higher HP cars constantly. I built mine for Time Attack and stopped driving it on the street entirely after it had about 10K miles on it. built a cage, installed seat/harness, wheel, fire extinguisher, really good suspension, upgraded the brakes to Cadillac ATS Brembo caliper and 2004 WRX STI rotors in the front using a kit I helped develop. I also upgraded the rear to Lancer Evo X calipers and STI rotors. Had the car tuned on E85, eventually built my own equal length header, and titanium exhaust system. Also ran R-comp tires. (Toyo R888R)

Car was DEAD nuts reliable. Only issue I ever had was the occasional smoked coil pack, and I spun out and backed it into a tire wall, destroying the rear bumper.. Had the car from 2014-2019. did 25-35 days a year on track. Sold the car with 41K miles on it. So I put 31K track miles or something on that damn thing. Never did the re-call for the valve springs either. It was either gunna blow up due to the springs breaking, or it was gunna blow up due to the tech's being over-liberal with the RTV sealing it back up lol either way, it was gunna happen on track so I'd have been the same amount of SOL. Car consistently ran mid 1:43's at Gingerman, high 1:28's at Grattan and was competitive in a class with people who had much more car than me. I also did a few drift events with it, but quickly realized that drifting is a very stupid sport. lol

I bought it pretty much solely to be a track car while I was building a much more serious unlimited class car. My plan once the serious car was done was to actually build the short block, put a Borg Warner EFR turbo on it, as much slicks as possible under stock body panels, suspension re-fresh, Motec M150, a sequential gear box, and a winters rear end with custom sub-frame. Was gunna see how wild I could get it before playing with aero..

I accidentally bought a track bike in 2019 and I quit caring about cars for a while. So I sold everything... Now with bikes, your wallet cant really take you far at all, so it's nice just changing tires, adding fuel and ripping. I do constantly have the urge to go full crazy superbike build though.. lmao.

Just got back from Mugello and figured I haven't put a novel on the beeb in like 10 days.. so, here you go.

 

Agree to some degree about traffic. Its almost like riding a bike. People just dont see it. I drove mine mostly when I lived in ATL. The local 86 club there...like every few weeks someone posts a pic of their wrecked car do to some idiot lane changing into them...pulling out in front of them, the old left turn in front etc.

 

that looks like an awesome build. I'm going to do Gridlife for the 1st time in July. I'm out gunned in my literal grocery getter, but wanted some experience.

 

Nice trainwreck

 

Yea 15 or 20 years from now I have no clue. I was talking about resale value currently. Most likely once the warranty is up I’ll move on to something else.

I think just buying a few crate v8 motors at some point is going to be great investment in a couple of decades at the rate things are moving towards electric.

 

ICE isn't going anywhere.