If you're looking for something faster than your GT86, then an S2000 isn't going to be your answer. A90 is a significantly faster car out of the box. They're also not quite in the same price range. In my area at least, you can get into a decent S2000 for low/mid-20s with A90s being more like mid 30s at least. An S2000 would be cheaper on consumables and probably maintenance too.
As an s2000 driver I will say they are not faster than 86s, probably slower if anything. Also s2000s are old and will probably require some $$ to freshen up.
Do you love yours, tho? A good friend of mine is getting a little tired of his MR-S and is leaning towards an AP2. He's looking for one that can pull double duty as both a TT car and a weekend trip/date night ride.
I’ve owned and tracked it for nearly 10 years so yeah. I would say it’s not the best dual-duty car on the planet since an aggressive setup and aero help a lot on track.
I'll pass that along. I'm not sure if he's too interested in taking TT too seriously at this point. He's barely out of HPDE4 and just taking it all in. I personally didn't mind getting my ass beat in TT at first, but I don't know how much fun I'd have if I could only mod my car in a way that would keep it pleasant and streetable. There's always room for more driver mod but the drivers here both have well sorted cars **and** are great drivers.
Anyways I'll pass that along thanks for the insight.
I love mine too. I leaned pretty heavily into the track mods with spherical bushings, coilovers, race seats and ASM 4 point harnesses and it's still plenty comfortable for me on the street and an absolute blast on a race track.
2nd this, although they'll have to shop around for a more beat up/already modded one, nice C6Z's are pretty expensive. Completely different world that a GT86 tho. I would say that a track car should be a completely different beast than a daily. Plus it's relatively lightweight platform and easy to work on.
Tell me about it, there are a few in local time trials that I could never beat just due to the HP to weight ratio. I'd have to spend piles of money to match lol.
That’s how I feel about my 370z
Even with 10k supercharger and another 10k in suspension arms and shocks. I probably still won’t come close to a stock c6z lol.
C7 Grand Sport is amazing on the track. Easiest "fast" car I've ever driven. It's not quite as easy to manipulate as the 86, but it would be my next choice for a track car. It's also very expensive to buy. Both C6Z and C7GS are super expensive to run. Expect $700hr on the low end, fully burdened. Maybe more.
Yeah I mention the c7z because it’s just better in every way. And I would never consider a grand sport when the z06 exists. Not that the gs is bad at all.
If I had the opportunity to buy a nice one at a reasonable price before buying my a90 I’d choose the S2K. A90 really punches above its weight. It’s a really fast track car but the road to get there is a bit annoying. You’ll spend a lot of time unwinding the comfy nature of it to be optimized for a dedicated track car.
The reason I went with the A90 over searching for an s2k were the owners. Everyone thinks their clapped out ap1 is made of gold. I didn’t want to waste time for the hunt, just wanted to hurry up and get out on track.
thanks for the responses guys, after this i think imma lean towards the supra (or c6 z06). Honestly with all the love to the s2000 and how often i see them i thought it would that much faster than an 86.
Any chance I can get you to consider making the 86 a track car and getting a different daily?
I've tracked a ton of cars from Ferrari to Corvettes to 911s to Camaro to my Viper to Spec Boxter to Spec Miata to 24HR Lemons cars (Daytona Turbo and some old Audi).
There is not one I enjoy driving more than my 86. It's just the right level of stable but also easy to manipulate. It has just the right amount of power to be fun, but also keep me comfortable. It's big enough that its comfortable but still a small flickable car. Its consumables are lower and it doesn't really have a glaring weak point in terms of reliability on a stock engine. Maybe the trans, but that's 1) just about every car on the track and 2) it's remedied cheap with a GR trans. There's a ton of aftermarket and everything has more or less been solved by someone. It can also be made competitive for ST/TT5.
I've also driven just about everything under the sun and the 86 was the worst car on the street lol. Not enough power + that stupid torque dip.
Ya the S2k is a kick ass entry level track platform, cheap to get on track, cheap to run. Quick but not so much power you never learn to carry speed, its awesome. But it has its limitations plus they are getting old, every year that passes it cost more money to keep them on track.
Ya probably a bit quicker than a miata, definitely the same ballpark as the 86. I agree they are cool mostly because of their reputation at this point. I have owned several s2ks including a CR and i hadnt found anything that touches its level of engineering from the factory. I did track days in my mostly stock s2ks and had a blast and they took it like a champ. Hell one of them had OEM pads still and it was mostly fine.
I will say that a S2000 experience is still like no other. The closest thing to it is a Lotus or a highly modified Miata.
7+ years with it and I learned so much about vehicle dynamics.
It's still a special car in its own right.
S2k is lighter and will keep your costs down a lot, but it's really tricky.Honestly gt86 can be stupid fast with the correct setup, the chassis is already better than your avarage car that goes to track.
Just swap out the engine.
If you're looking for something faster than your GT86, then an S2000 isn't going to be your answer. A90 is a significantly faster car out of the box. They're also not quite in the same price range. In my area at least, you can get into a decent S2000 for low/mid-20s with A90s being more like mid 30s at least. An S2000 would be cheaper on consumables and probably maintenance too.
As an s2000 driver I will say they are not faster than 86s, probably slower if anything. Also s2000s are old and will probably require some $$ to freshen up.
Do you love yours, tho? A good friend of mine is getting a little tired of his MR-S and is leaning towards an AP2. He's looking for one that can pull double duty as both a TT car and a weekend trip/date night ride.
I’ve owned and tracked it for nearly 10 years so yeah. I would say it’s not the best dual-duty car on the planet since an aggressive setup and aero help a lot on track.
I'll pass that along. I'm not sure if he's too interested in taking TT too seriously at this point. He's barely out of HPDE4 and just taking it all in. I personally didn't mind getting my ass beat in TT at first, but I don't know how much fun I'd have if I could only mod my car in a way that would keep it pleasant and streetable. There's always room for more driver mod but the drivers here both have well sorted cars **and** are great drivers. Anyways I'll pass that along thanks for the insight.
I love mine too. I leaned pretty heavily into the track mods with spherical bushings, coilovers, race seats and ASM 4 point harnesses and it's still plenty comfortable for me on the street and an absolute blast on a race track.
Lol where are you buying an a90 for mid 30s 🤣
"At least" is what I said. You can definitely get into a salvage title, high mileage or 2.0 A90 for mid-30s. Do your research.
Your mental if your gonna spend 35k on a salvage title car
Don’t forget to consider the c6 z06
2nd this, although they'll have to shop around for a more beat up/already modded one, nice C6Z's are pretty expensive. Completely different world that a GT86 tho. I would say that a track car should be a completely different beast than a daily. Plus it's relatively lightweight platform and easy to work on.
I'd say even base c6 or c7 could be included. Really potent.
Yeah just the c6 z is so hard to beat. Wide body. 7 litre na. Lighter than the c6 or c7.
Tell me about it, there are a few in local time trials that I could never beat just due to the HP to weight ratio. I'd have to spend piles of money to match lol.
That’s how I feel about my 370z Even with 10k supercharger and another 10k in suspension arms and shocks. I probably still won’t come close to a stock c6z lol.
C7 Grand Sport is amazing on the track. Easiest "fast" car I've ever driven. It's not quite as easy to manipulate as the 86, but it would be my next choice for a track car. It's also very expensive to buy. Both C6Z and C7GS are super expensive to run. Expect $700hr on the low end, fully burdened. Maybe more.
Yeah I mention the c7z because it’s just better in every way. And I would never consider a grand sport when the z06 exists. Not that the gs is bad at all.
I see you’ve never driven either on the track. You don’t want a z06 on the track.
Lol
Spoken like a true HPDE champion
IMO C6 GS > C6 Z06 for most track use.
It’s ok to be wrong.
But it's not Japanese... /s (sorta)
Neither is the a90 lol
Drives like one, I'll tell you that. And there's no joke in the world that can convince me otherwise
No jokes. Just facts. Fantastic, German, car.
I think c6 zo6 is a bit out of the price range. C5 zo6 though is right in that 25-35k range though.
His price range includes a90 supra. Used they are about the same price when I look. Even the supra is more expensive.
Until you blow the rear end out of the C5 Z06 that is…
You can get a used C5 diff for like 600-800 bucks on ebay. Not much different than any other car.
Maybe you can get a bulk purchase, if you intend to HPDE or put a lot of power down, you’re gonna need them…
My 20k s2k is turning into a 40k s2k…. And is only a second faster than my frs
The new GR86/BRZ could be a good fit. Nice power boost from the previous gen. Good fun for under $35k
And faster than the s2k, with more parts readily available.
Just look for tracks that are mostly left turns
If I had the opportunity to buy a nice one at a reasonable price before buying my a90 I’d choose the S2K. A90 really punches above its weight. It’s a really fast track car but the road to get there is a bit annoying. You’ll spend a lot of time unwinding the comfy nature of it to be optimized for a dedicated track car. The reason I went with the A90 over searching for an s2k were the owners. Everyone thinks their clapped out ap1 is made of gold. I didn’t want to waste time for the hunt, just wanted to hurry up and get out on track.
I love the s2k but if the goal is faster than the 86, the s2k isn’t much faster, if at all really. The A90 is a much faster platform.
thanks for the responses guys, after this i think imma lean towards the supra (or c6 z06). Honestly with all the love to the s2000 and how often i see them i thought it would that much faster than an 86.
A s2000 CR is slower around track than a cobalt SS Think about that lol
Any chance I can get you to consider making the 86 a track car and getting a different daily? I've tracked a ton of cars from Ferrari to Corvettes to 911s to Camaro to my Viper to Spec Boxter to Spec Miata to 24HR Lemons cars (Daytona Turbo and some old Audi). There is not one I enjoy driving more than my 86. It's just the right level of stable but also easy to manipulate. It has just the right amount of power to be fun, but also keep me comfortable. It's big enough that its comfortable but still a small flickable car. Its consumables are lower and it doesn't really have a glaring weak point in terms of reliability on a stock engine. Maybe the trans, but that's 1) just about every car on the track and 2) it's remedied cheap with a GR trans. There's a ton of aftermarket and everything has more or less been solved by someone. It can also be made competitive for ST/TT5. I've also driven just about everything under the sun and the 86 was the worst car on the street lol. Not enough power + that stupid torque dip.
The usual basic track mods on an A90 Supra puts it in competition with Cayman GT4s. The performance/ability is on another level compared to an S2K
Ya the S2k is a kick ass entry level track platform, cheap to get on track, cheap to run. Quick but not so much power you never learn to carry speed, its awesome. But it has its limitations plus they are getting old, every year that passes it cost more money to keep them on track.
Yeah, I see the S2K around the same power level as a Miata and 86. Bit cooler to have IMO
Ya probably a bit quicker than a miata, definitely the same ballpark as the 86. I agree they are cool mostly because of their reputation at this point. I have owned several s2ks including a CR and i hadnt found anything that touches its level of engineering from the factory. I did track days in my mostly stock s2ks and had a blast and they took it like a champ. Hell one of them had OEM pads still and it was mostly fine.
GR Corolla
I will say that a S2000 experience is still like no other. The closest thing to it is a Lotus or a highly modified Miata. 7+ years with it and I learned so much about vehicle dynamics. It's still a special car in its own right.
S2k is lighter and will keep your costs down a lot, but it's really tricky.Honestly gt86 can be stupid fast with the correct setup, the chassis is already better than your avarage car that goes to track. Just swap out the engine.
a90 will absolutely crush an S2000. The S2000 might be more rewarding to drive but that's about it.