Weekend/Trackday Coupe

[Deako]

At that budget you could just get an E92 M3.

[tony_danza]

Yup. 

[Scottymon]

Cayman S for me.

I'm sure a Stage 2+ TTS would be a hoot though.

Or curve ball, tuned S4:

[Pikey Motorsports]

Manual 335i with some chassis mods

[Baz300]

At that budget you could just get an E92 M3.

I was thinking that especially if it's 12-18 months time

[Scottymon]

TBH I really wouldn't mind an E92 M3 too.

[Mk5 GTian]

Litchfield supercharged GT86, anyone?

http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/subaru-brz-litchfield-first-drive-2013-10-16

[Scottymon]

^ bet that would be a blast, but more than 18k for sure.... and:

Power to Weight ratio

E92 M3: 262 bhp per tonne
BRZ/GT86 Supercharged: 226bhp per tonne

[rdfcpete]

Hmm.

The e92 M3 speaks for itself, I suppose it won't break the bank anymore than a Cayman S/Z4M. £22k seems to get a good e92, hopefully by the time I'm looking that'll have dropped by another £2-3k.

You don't see Z4M's much, I guess they're totally superior to the 3.0si in reality.

F*ck the running costs, E60 M5? 

[Deako]

Hardly a weekend car though.

I'd still go Cayman or Boxster. The E92 M3 is an amazing car and sounds glorious, but the Porka will be infinitely more chuckable with higher sense of occasion IMO.

[sub39h]

My money would be on a Cayman S or maybe a Nissan 350Z with some mods? Nissan won't be as special as the others but imagine its maintenance costs will be lower due to being a non-premium marque and they can be had inexpensively so money left over for tuning BUT the Porsche will be special enough straight away and it'll always feel more special to step into a Porsche. 

[rich83]

How much for a Toyota GT86?

[tony_danza]

Still around 17s, so you'd be buying it with a view to keeping it for a while.

Abbey, Cosworth and Litchfield doing big power mods at around £5k for a 270ish hp 'charger solution, only a matter of time before cheaper options from the States/Japan start flooding into the UK. When they drop in money, I doubt you'll find a standard one - such is the potential of these.

[rdfcpete]

Still around 17s, so you'd be buying it with a view to keeping it for a while.

Abbey, Cosworth and Litchfield doing big power mods at around £5k for a 270ish hp 'charger solution, only a matter of time before cheaper options from the States/Japan start flooding into the UK. When they drop in money, I doubt you'll find a standard one - such is the potential of these.

That's fair enough, the GT86 is obviously a great drive.

I was thinking with plenty less than £5k, a 335i coupe with the N54 would be stepping towards respectable power and nearly M3 performance for a loss less to buy (seen them as little as £12.5k in M Sport with 60k miles on a 2008 plate) upfront, and lower running costs assuming you look after the turbo and block? Can't imagine the V8 servicing is as low-cost on paper. To me the 335i is the easy entry option which is all I need really, but I don't expect it to drive like the other strong suggestions on track, for sure.

The Toyota is very cool though, can't ignore it's looks or all round driving appeal.

[tony_danza]

The 335i is an easily tuneable car for sure. 

For a 2nd car with a brief of 'sunshine and track days', I'd want something a bit more impractical and lighter on consumables.