Counterpoint: If you are doing 10-15 DE's per year, it sounds like you really want to race. Get a spec Miata. DE days put wear and tear (tires, dings, brake pads ...) on your nice daily driver and after awhile it gets tiring driving around in a line.

 

+1

If you REALLY want to do DE's, there is no wrong choice between a Cayman or an Exige. Both are more than capable. I would probably lean towards the Cayman just because the PCA is a much bigger organization, (more turnout, events, great org, good instructors, etc). PCA will let you drive your Lotus, but you will always be the red headed step child. In the Cayman you can find out what the other half dozen or dozen Caymans are running/doing (economics of scale).

Now if you decide that racing would be more fun that DE's, the spec Miata would be cheaper, ton o fun, racing.

 

I know several running caymans and here is the thing. Performance wise they are similar at most tracks unless there are longer straights and the cayman will out run an exige all day long (in stock form). Now the lotus is cheaper to run from a consumables stand point. Tires, pads, rotors, etc. So there is money savings there but if for some reason you go off-roading and hit something the Lotus will kill you on cosmetic damage to the clam.

I have been told spec. miata all the time and with good reason but after driving one I just can do it. To each there own on what they like to drive...

 

An Elige is a better DE car than a Cayman. For street use the Cayman is better, but the Lotus is easier on consumables, engine and transmission is cheaper to replace if you blow it, and more responsive handling. Older versions of the Cayman had engine issues as well (Intermediate shafts, oil evaporators).

One of my best sessions was spent running with a Cayman R. We traded positions several times but spent the whole session within ten car lengths of each. Afterward, the Porsche driver asked me if I had the 240 or 260 HP version. He was surprised when I told him it at 190 HP.

 

Great info, thank you guys. I'm really torn, as do enjoy having power on the straights, but that is (of course) subsiding the more I track, but that's my main reason for not going spec miata. The other issue is I am familiar with a few race shops in the chicago area that to do a lot of porsche work, but am not as familiar w/ shops that specialize or at least do work on lotuses. I wouldn't be doing much street driving, have a 991S (and soon to be 991TT in Dec) for that.

 

Great info, thank you guys. I'm really torn, as do enjoy having power on the straights, but that is (of course) subsiding the more I track, but that's my main reason for not going spec miata. .

I don't know how budget drives your decision. I think an exige-s is cheaper and probably more fun to track. Exige bodywork is very expensive and fragile though Im not sure tapping the sheetmetal on a cayman would be a whole lot cheaper.

Anyways if you like power and speed, and are budget conscious I say buy a 25k c6 corvette and spend 5k prepping it for the track.

If you really want to track a porsche, I say buy a nice 964 C2 and turn it to a track car.

 

Not chicago but in Mi, V2 Motorsports is the place to go for lotus. V2 Motorsports - Spec. Miata, Lotus Elise, Exige, DSR, Race and Sports Cars

 

Depends on you man. I would not be seen on the street in a P car much less on a track. They are everywhere. Especially the silver-grey ones. Some exclusivity is important to me. And I'd wanted a Lotus since High School. The opportunity to sorta simulate racing has been a wonderful experience.

An Elige is a wonderful car almost designed for track day use. As said the expendables and basic drivetrain aren't that badly expensive. There are a world of mods that have been widely done and developed. I've never worked on a P car but the Lotus is built like a WW II airplane. Simple tools and bandaids are about all you need.

Just wonder, what DE groups have you/do you look to run with? Higher level groups with open passing are fun. If you get into red group with CHIN it won't be driving a line over and over!

 

you haven't stated what is required for a 'better' DE car. Are you looking for cheaper? Faster? More satisfying to drive? Depending on your criteria for 'better' the answer for you could be either car.

 

By better I mean lighter, better balanced (mid engine), and less expensive and cheaper consumables. I don't need more power for the track. I do want a car that I can drive to the track, I'm not interested in doing the truck/trailer thing. And that may mean driving 3 hrs to Road America or Gingerman.

Since I've done 5 track days w/ the PDK on the 991, I'm open to a dual clutch. I'm going to see if I can ride shotgun w/ instructors in a cayman and exige at the next LAPS event in a couple weeks. I've predominately done PCA events, but have also done CHIN, HoD, and LAPS in the past.

 

i agree, as a dedicated DE track only car - id get a spec miata. since its a DE car... then you are not restricted to real spec miata rules and can build something more mean and lean.

 

i would think cheaper to run would be lotus pretty easily, but I haven't cross shopped a cayman. Going to a laps event is a great call and should answer this for you. As mentioned above, cheaper still would be a miata... if it was a purely a financial decision that is what I'd have, but its not and to put it bluntly, the miata doesn't do it for me.

also, in response to someone elses comment above, I've been to PCA events and never felt like the red headed step child. Maybe its your region?

 

IMO - the miata option is not really financial. i can assure you a very fast miata is a simple prospect... i think its a "simpler" answer. a full cage is easy, all the racing bitts are easy, you can chop the windscreen off if you like easy, gutting the interior is easy... and on and on - its just much EASIER to make it a better "race" car. IMO. it just a vote... doesn't really matter... they make fantastic track cars, more so than a caymen IMO - although there are a lot of spec caymans out there, those are kinda cool.

 

Porsche 911 997 987 Cayman Boxster Carrera 3 8 Liter Motor DFI Engine | eBay

00 05 Toyota Celica GTS 03 04 Corolla s Matrix XRS 1 8L Engine ECU JDM 2ZZ GE | eBay

I'm not up on the Porsche stuff anymore. When i was quoted $7,000 to rebuild my trans and $13,000 to rebuild my engine I got out of the brand. That was in 2007 and I think parts have gone up since then.

 

I would buy Robb's 2-eleven and spank them all.

 

Or a Spec Atom? Very cheap and economical to run. And no body panels to repair if you bugger up a turn!

Sent from AutoGuide.com App

 

Drive both on a track and the choice will be clear. The Exige, while extremely quick isn't about speed - it's about the experience. They are night and day different - one is a street car, one is a race car. Pick the race car.

 

There are drivers and there are car people. I learned that I am a driver. I didn't know that at first, but looking back, it's now obvious. At this point, I would rather drive a riding lawn mower than show a car, go to the drag strip, or auto-cross. I'd rather race a team car on a road course, than own any cars at all. So that is my bias. If that sounds like you, then I can respond more to your original question.

The driver can make up 100 hp, especially in a track-day scenario, so the hardware differences aren't nearly as important as getting the miles under the belt and finding a ride that suits your driving style.

It just occurred to me that of my 4 track cars, I haven't upgraded the power on any of them, only the safety, reliability, brakes, and suspension - probably in that order.

 

I am driving a stock motor elise. I havent seen any caymans pass me, the reason is simple, even on big track like the glenn you have so much speed in an elise through the corners that any extra speed a cayman may have is irrelevant. Most tracks are shorter than the glenn which is 3.4 miles.

Now if youa re talking a GT3 or a z06 vette then I would say the GT3 will be quicker than you everywhere and you may be quicker than the z06 through the bends but after that it will dissapear into the horizon.

Now you can suopercharge the little lotus and get around 300hp do the shocks brakes and aero etc a pretty much nothing will stay with you.

For comparative purposes I changed the rotors and pads on the elsie (calipers are fine) did a baffled sump for oil. You have to do the rear toe links as its a weak point, add a harness bar and 6 point belts and youa re good to go.

Pads easily last 10 days, on a vette its 1 day. Tires around 5 days and I change the oil every two days and do tranny and brakes once a year.

All in I would say its about $400-500 in consumables per day amortised over the 10-15 De days I do per year.

This year I spent 3k on some double adjustable shocks and did corner blancing and ride height which made a huge dirrerence. I also run slicks although many run the street legal yoke 048Rs.

Now the Gt3 guys tell me that its around $1200-1500 to run per day.

The lotus is simple and 3 years on other than consumables its needed nothing.

Cayman sounds great, but its a lot more money to run, you have to do a lot more to it for it to be really trackable and its going to be no faster, plus a lotus forces you to drive properly because you dont have excess power as a crutch.

As to a spec miata, they steer great and are inexpensive, but they really are gutless. Compared to an elise a spec maita on slicks is s speed cone.

Supercharge and aero an elige and pretty much nothing streetable will stay with you.

Another great choice for a car you can drive to and from the track is a worked over e36 BMW. In fact at a fast track day you will see lots of e36's some Gt3's vettes and eliges, everything else is a just a smattering.

 

Some great and very unbiased responses here. Very cool.

Several of us have gone from Boxsters to the Elise including me. The Porsche is very well balanced and easy to drive fast. It's so well designed that it can be very lenient of mistakes. I had tracked mine a couple of times and loved it.

BUT, it's easy to drive. To me, the purpose of a Driver's Ed track day is to learn to drive a car, not to go faster than anyone else. The better tool for that job is a car that takes concentration and skill to master. A car that won't bite you also won't force you to be a better driver. Also, the car with the most chassis communication will teach you to feel what's going on under you.

I think an older, air cooled 911 is a much better learning tool than the computer-assisted modern Carrera (in addition to being more fun to drive) and for the same reason, I would prefer to hone my skills in an Elige than a Cayman. I'm also a big fan of the manual transmission for the involvement and skill required.

I ended up getting a little slower, but more tail happy MR2 for DEs so I could learn to drive in a car that I won't miss when something happens to it.

If I were in competition and looking for every edge to beat out the other guy, my answer would be different, but for learning to handle a car at the limit, the Lotus is the better car.

 

+1, I have a Boxster and an Elise I would never track My Boxster as much as I like driving it. I prefer to track the Lotus, it's cheaper to run, way less things to go wrong and cheaper to fix. Plus it's quicker around the track.

 

Observations from my limited track experience....

The simpler the car, the better. In the last year I have seen:

1. An experienced driver get confused about the traction control settings on his Boss 302. It ate a complete set of new race pads and slotted the rotors in two sessions since it was not all the way off.

2. Two very seasoned drivers get rid of GTR's due to consumables and disconnected driving experience.

3. Two cars deploy air bags in a mild off. The computer determined the car was not traveling the direction the nose was pointed.

Not sure about the Porsche, but a simple car is a consideration. That is one reason heavily tracked cars have everything removed that might go wrong, oh and the weight savings too. The Elige is pretty basic.

I have been to some PCA events. At the last one, I was in the huge intermediate group. They put an instructor with me (boxster guy) for a check ride....His only comment was at the end "It sure was fun to roll up on those turbo 911's and get the pass". That made my day.

Like Me73 said, the older, air cooled 911 would be good. I know people that run that car and they are having almost as much fun as I am I think the Cayman is a very beautiful car.