Although I tend to agree that it's a silly question, I can't help throwing in
my two-cents worth.
First I should say that I drove a '94 Miata in CS for a couple of years. I
still have it, but haven't competed since moving to Europe in '98. The Miata
is a fantastic car right out of the box. And it won't cost you an arm and a
leg to do just about everything allowed in stock. It doesn't have much torque,
but it's also much, much lighter than some of the other cars that have been
mentioned. To my mind, the Boxster and the Z3 suffer on weight. The M version
of the Z3 might make up for it -- don't know, haven't driven it -- but that's
still a lot of metal to carry around a tight course. I would recommend a bare
(no AC, ABS, power steering, etc.) '94 or later, if you can find one. Please
note: I'm not saying it's not possible to win in some of these other cars, I'm
just saying that, in my personal opinion, a lighter car is much more fun to
drive.
I realize this is not a serious option on your side of the Atlantic, but,
having retired the Miata, I'm returning to autocross in Germany this season
with a Lotus Elise (www.stuart.strickland.net/elise.html). This is the only
car on the market here that I could have imagined buying. If anyone's
interested, I'll post an occassional report on how I'm doing against the local
competition.
On the other hand, if by "all around" you mean that it has to have enough trunk
and/or passenger space to carry your tires (or even a bag of groceries) to an
event, maybe you're better off with the Miata after all.
Cheers,
Stuart
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Chris Eckles schrieb:
> I tend to agree with Mark. . . You need to be a bit more specific. Since
> this is an autocross list, I assume that you are asking which is the best
> autocross car.
>
> Well, evidence is that the Porsche Boxster S is the fastest, as Rob Falkner
> co-drives one now. The regular Boxster is also quite fast. But these are
> quite, quite, quite expensive. Seems to me that the list price (which
> Robert Houser, owner of said Boxster S, just told me) is $49k. But, being
> a Porsche, for that price you get a wood box filled with parts, and four
> wheels on top. . . Tires, coolant, spare, etc. are all add-ons. (grin, but
> still mostly serious) One was recently advertised in Atlanta in large
> dealer ad for $74k.
>
> My car is probably the next fastest - a BMW M Roadster. Like a Z3 on
> steroids. Fast, but you need to spend a bit of money to get it fast (in
> stock class). But then if you begrudge a few thousand dollars, stop
> reading. An underdog in SS this year, but will be quite good in AS next
> year, assuming that the change goes through. I LOVE my car. No longer
> made, waiting for new engine - Spring/Summer. Hard to say how much faster
> that version will be. Waiting lists are a year or two long.
>
> Then I would go for a Miata. I owned a '92 for 6 years. Still tell people
> that it is one of the best designed, best built cars ever made.
>
> The S2000 seems to be a very hard car to drive fast. I have seen a number
> autocrossed, but only one was fast as I recall.
>
> Chris Eckles
> White M Roadster
> Pink & White 1960 Metropolitan Convertible (a less modern roadster)
>
> >
> Which roadster is best all around? Miata, Z3, S2000, MR2 Spyder?
>
> <
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