The Dark Side of Will wrote:You'd go for an M3 over an Elise/Exige?
Yes.
I haven't driven an Elise yet, but having another small midengine car like mine doesn't interest me much for Time Trials racing. The Elise is a poor choice for wheel-to-wheel since the chassis is basically unrepairable, and body parts are ludicrously expensive. The cost of consumables for that car is extremely low, but I don't know if it's low enough to make up for the extra costs for parts. to Power is also extremely limited on the Elise without boosting it, and then control is a serious problem.
If the FF 818 gets a spec class; then maybe I'll stay midengine and build one.
Otherwise, I'm sticking with time trials in the Fiero (once I get my TT license) and then eventually an M3 once I find one and build it.
I drove my friend's Cayman S at an autocross earliest this year. It felt more refined than my Fiero but also more dull and boring. I actually enjoy autocrossing the Fiero a lot more... and when we traded cars, he did too. So much so that he said he wanted his 5 year old Porsche to handle like my Fiero. That's probably not the case on a road course though
. Next time we're out we should have some open track and my cooling system problems solved, so we can see how our lap times compare.
BTW I've done 4 days of autocross and 4 track days on my current wheel and tire setup, along with ~3000 miles of street driving. Fronts and rears are at 50%, but I did have to flip the fronts (they wear on the outer 1/3; I need more camber).
I ran into a guy from Lotus of Bethesda at the Washington Auto Show back in January who said Lotus makes a subframe that bolts to the Elise/Exige body and allows mounting the Evora powertrain. If I fit into those cars, I'd be looking at one...
The subframe and drivetrain probably cost more than a used Elise.