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Or, hell, get a Miata. Every muscle car guy scorns them as "chick cars" or "hairdresser's cars", but on track day they can't keep up with them.
If you could ask a group of professional race drivers, I think you would get a lot of votes for the Miata. And this coming from people who know what they are talking about.
Coworker of mine had a 600rwHP '04 Cobra that he regular autocrossed and routinely came in 1st. Guy could drive, and riding with him was the only time I've ever felt carsick in my life.
He sold it, and bought a roots-blown Miata with a cage. He was even faster with that car and has a blast racing it.
when you can buy a newer, lightly used V6 Mustang that is nearly as fast as the old supercharged V8,
03/04 Cobras are mid to high 12 second cars stock, and into the 11's with a pulley, tune and exhaust. Newer V6's are in the low 14's. The ecoboost's are in the high 13's stock.
03/04 Cobras are mid to high 12 second cars stock, and into the 11's with a pulley, tune and exhaust. Newer V6's are in the low 14's. The ecoboost's are in the high 13's stock.
That's not really close at all.
Not really. Unless it's a prepped track and ideal conditions, those old Cobras were 13.2-13.5 second cars in the real world.
They got 13.2, and in my own track experience going up against one, I was always a few car lengths ahead in my car at the time, which was a consistent 12.8-12.9 car @ 110-112mph.
Even though the Cobra ditched the solid rear axle, if you weren't running slicks it was very difficult to get the times Ford claimed.
03/04 Cobras are mid to high 12 second cars stock, and into the 11's with a pulley, tune and exhaust. Newer V6's are in the low 14's. The ecoboost's are in the high 13's stock.
That's not really close at all.
The Ecoboosts shave off a full second ET with just the Livernois tune (no other mods at all). I think the tune is about $800.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lagaroth
Yes i'm thinking more along these lines now. The Cobra was a dream car when I was still growing up. I do expect them to hold their value well, but probably never increase. With that in mind, the smart money is probably on a modern GT if I go that route. Waiting for a perfect 968 to come along seems more appealing though. Or something with a similar uniqueness and potential collectability, while also being fun to drive on a nice day. I'm open to more suggestions in that vein. Thanks.
Have you considered the RX-7 (FD)? 20K will still buy you a nice example although the prices have been getting a bit crazy over the last 10 years. Also getting pretty scarce to find one that hasn't been beat/modded to hell and back. (Not as bad as Fox body Mustangs though, all of which seem to have been previously owned by a gang-tatted inner-city pothead with a penchant for faux-supercharged fiberglass hoods and JC Whitney add-ons).
They're 50/50 weight-balanced like the 968, all aluminum body, crazy quick....tons of fun on both street and track. You do have to keep on top of maintenance, especially oil changes, of course, because of the rotary and turbo.
The Ecoboosts shave off a full second ET with just the Livernois tune (no other mods at all). I think the tune is about $800.
Have you considered the RX-7 (FD)? 20K will still buy you a nice example although the prices have been getting a bit crazy over the last 10 years. Also getting pretty scarce to find one that hasn't been beat/modded to hell and back. (Not as bad as Fox body Mustangs though, all of which seem to have been previously owned by a gang-tatted inner-city pothead with a penchant for faux-supercharged fiberglass hoods and JC Whitney add-ons).
They're 50/50 weight-balanced like the 968, all aluminum body, crazy quick....tons of fun on both street and track. You do have to keep on top of maintenance, especially oil changes, of course, because of the rotary and turbo.
I actually had, but I couldn't get comfortable in one. I think I'm just too big for that car. Thanks for the idea though.
I was searching from a "fun" weekend toy (at a lower price point than you however) earlier this winter. I'd narrowed my search down to three cars.
1. Porsche Boxster
2. Chevrolet Corvette (C5)
3. BMW Z4
I was selling my 1992 Chevrolet Camaro, which had a 1998 LS1 V8 installed with a 4L60E. It was a bruiser, mostly straight line cruiser of a car. Nothing that got crazy when you were romping the gas, but it was still a great car. Drove harsh, rode harsh, point and shoot type steering. Get into the twisty roads and you realized how much the chassis (great for the time) needed regarding stiffening...which would only further compromise the ride....blah blah blah - I decided to sell it. Sold it for more than I bought it for 5 years earlier (big win) and then was on the hunt for a replacement.
After a month or so, I settled my argument and purchased a 2002 Boxster. The Porsche was NOT the fastest car in that mix, and the corvette would have paired the very reliable (and cheap) LS1 to a significantly improved chassis/suspension allowing it to really live. But I just wasn't all that interested past it's "reliability". I found myself thinking the only thing really exciting about the BMW was saying "It's a BMW" and driving with the top down...But the Porsche offered something special...a true purpose built sports car, mid engined, and flat six powered. Easy to find with a manual transmission, and superb handling, great suspension, great ergonomics, and an amazing value...I mean, besides a 944, it's the cheapest Porsche you'll find, and it comes with a flat six engine jammed in the middle!!!
I found my perfect Boxster from an older couple, they'd been the second owners of the car, and had it for the last 3 years. They'd managed about 1500-2000 miles of driving a year, and the owner had recently replaced the clutch, and installed the IMS solution kit which makes the IMS bearing not a worry for the lifetime of the car! Huge plus!!!! I could have found a cheaper Boxster than this one, but, this one ticked off the boxes I wanted, but most importantly the IMS (which was my biggest hangup) was already addressed.
I've owned this car since January, and have already put 1,600 miles on it! Being a base model it only has the 227HP six cylinder as opposed to the S models 250HP, which means it's not a rocket in acceleration. But it's still PLENTY fast for weekend driving. It's more than competent to move out of it's own way, but I'm not going to win any drag races against high school kids in tricked out mustangs, lol...but I'm not in high school anymore. So far, most enjoyable car I've ever owned!!!!
I was searching from a "fun" weekend toy (at a lower price point than you however) earlier this winter. I'd narrowed my search down to three cars.
1. Porsche Boxster
2. Chevrolet Corvette (C5)
3. BMW Z4
I was selling my 1992 Chevrolet Camaro, which had a 1998 LS1 V8 installed with a 4L60E. It was a bruiser, mostly straight line cruiser of a car. Nothing that got crazy when you were romping the gas, but it was still a great car. Drove harsh, rode harsh, point and shoot type steering. Get into the twisty roads and you realized how much the chassis (great for the time) needed regarding stiffening...which would only further compromise the ride....blah blah blah - I decided to sell it. Sold it for more than I bought it for 5 years earlier (big win) and then was on the hunt for a replacement.
After a month or so, I settled my argument and purchased a 2002 Boxster. The Porsche was NOT the fastest car in that mix, and the corvette would have paired the very reliable (and cheap) LS1 to a significantly improved chassis/suspension allowing it to really live. But I just wasn't all that interested past it's "reliability". I found myself thinking the only thing really exciting about the BMW was saying "It's a BMW" and driving with the top down...But the Porsche offered something special...a true purpose built sports car, mid engined, and flat six powered. Easy to find with a manual transmission, and superb handling, great suspension, great ergonomics, and an amazing value...I mean, besides a 944, it's the cheapest Porsche you'll find, and it comes with a flat six engine jammed in the middle!!!
I found my perfect Boxster from an older couple, they'd been the second owners of the car, and had it for the last 3 years. They'd managed about 1500-2000 miles of driving a year, and the owner had recently replaced the clutch, and installed the IMS solution kit which makes the IMS bearing not a worry for the lifetime of the car! Huge plus!!!! I could have found a cheaper Boxster than this one, but, this one ticked off the boxes I wanted, but most importantly the IMS (which was my biggest hangup) was already addressed.
I've owned this car since January, and have already put 1,600 miles on it! Being a base model it only has the 227HP six cylinder as opposed to the S models 250HP, which means it's not a rocket in acceleration. But it's still PLENTY fast for weekend driving. It's more than competent to move out of it's own way, but I'm not going to win any drag races against high school kids in tricked out mustangs, lol...but I'm not in high school anymore. So far, most enjoyable car I've ever owned!!!!
I saw your thread and read it through lol. Thanks for the reply. I'm still kicking some ideas around. I love the XLR-V because I assume most of them were babied, but it's out of my budget. I'm still strongly leaning towards a Porsche.
My concern with any older, higher mileage Porsche is maintenance, and repair costs which is going to be very expensive. 968, and Cobra are about as opposite as you can get. Maybe take a step back, and examine what your goals are for the car. If you have a large emotional attachment to either one, then that may also make the decision for you.
For ME the priorities are:
Convertible
Fun to drive
Reasonably quick
Reliable
Relatively inexpensive to maintain
Yours may be different, but all those point to a Miata.
My concern with any older, higher mileage Porsche is maintenance, and repair costs which is going to be very expensive. 968, and Cobra are about as opposite as you can get. Maybe take a step back, and examine what your goals are for the car. If you have a large emotional attachment to either one, then that may also make the decision for you.
For ME the priorities are:
Convertible
Fun to drive
Reasonably quick
Reliable
Relatively inexpensive to maintain
Yours may be different, but all those point to a Miata.
Your first three definitely align with mine. Both cars would be fun to drive, but in different ways. Of course reliability and inexpensive maintenance would be great too. I've been looking at Cobra listings and it actually seems harder to find a low milage cobra that isn't abused than a 968 lol.
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So far, most enjoyable car I've ever owned!!!!
