Okay fine, what's a good cheap RWD car then?

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Viper007Bond said:
If the heater core goes out, I'd get it fixed hard top or not. Too damn cold in the winter either way.

Flex is understandable, but then again probably worth it for being able to have a convertible. Convertibles are fun! :(
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The red 01 looks promising. I want a convertible myself so after reading about that heater core issue maybe I should reconsider.

For the convertible there is a rollover bar that can be installed to provide a small amount of strength, at the least it looks good. :D The idea of hearing the V8 rumble in a convertible is tempting...
 
xlr231 said:
How about a C5 (97-04) Corvette? I have seen a lot of them in the $10-14k range. I wouldn't think they would loose much value if you sell it after a year or two.
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That's actually a rather interesting suggestion, although they're more in the $20-30k range. Even though it's more money, would they hold that value? Hmm.

Then again it's getting up more towards being a Viper and I'm looking to get a Viper trainer. If I was gonna get a Corvette, then I might as well just buy a Viper (which I don't want to do yet).
 
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C5 Vettes are not that expensive. My friend bought his for $10k (granted, it's not exactly mint but zero mechanic issues over the past year and a half). C5 Z06s are around 20k so regular C5s should be less.


Oh wait, it might be hard to change a spark plug :rolleyes:
 
Not on the C5. You can actually get to most everything due to the clamshell hood.

Instead, the interior was lifted straight from an Impala rental car and many are problematic - my friend's C5 Z06 had such things as a steering column that wasn't installed properly, missing oil rings in the engine, and it creaked, rattled, groaned and chattered as it got older. Electronics start acting weird, too. The C6 is much better, but it's out of the ostensible price range.

Put it to you this way. Used to work for a Corvette specialist dealer. They didn't recommend the C5s. Didn't say to run away from them either (C4s, they did) but the C5 was something they didn't really like all that much. Well, except for the service department - they loved them as they provided much income.

Which is a shame, because I like the looks of the C5 over the C6.
 
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If you want my opinion, just buy the Viper.

If you're not going to do performance driving with whatever trainer car you get, it won't do you much good. That money would be better invested in a high performance driving school prior to your taking order of said Viper. 10 grand will buy you quite a lot of tuition, and I guarantee you'll learn much more valuable lessons. Lots of people have very expensive and powerful cars on the street, and even do some idiotic public drifting and such, some even dabble in track days (below-adequately). Most of them are still complete hacks.

Driving a 350 horsepower C5 on the street won't learn you anything about car control, unless you're completely irresponsible to the point of suicidal. 3500 will get you two days of hard driving in Porsches and Lotuses and BMWs and various other powerful cars at Skip Barber, or a similar program at the AMG Academy (probably more powerful cars, C63s and SLSs specifically), or some other organization that offers powerful RWD sports cars, and you'll learn more in those two days than you will in a year of driving a C5 on the street. Or you could do an actual racing school which will teach you more about handling dynamics but less about pedaling a high horsepower car (not what I'd do honestly). I realize you don't want to outright lose the money but I can't tell you you'll learn anything driving on the street.

Too bad Skippy doesn't use Vipers for their HPDS any more.
 
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That's certainly true, but I also just need more experience in general. For example narrow streets scare the hell out of me -- I think I'm gonna hit something even if I'm 3 feet from it. Or sometimes I actually do hit stuff (I have a bit of pain transfer on my bumper :lol:). I just don't want to switch to a Viper quite yet.
 
Why don't you just buy an old RWD clunker on the cheap and then go from there? Low traction situations can teach you a lot about car control, you just have to have a car that can respond well in that type of situation.

MadCat360 really made an excellent suggestion. Skip Barber even offers classes for novices.

http://www.skipbarber.com/mazdadriving.asp
 
Sounds you need experiance on the road, reguardless of car. If you were doing HPDE than all this "buying trainer car" would matter, but you might be better off just driving the 88 crapsica and gaining experience. Mustang or viper, you shouldnt be kicking the tail out on the road anyway unless your a hoon. We all learned on a crappy car first, its a rite of passage.
 
FWD Corsica won't exactly give the same type of experience a RWD car would. I'm sure there must be something that won't have the electrics issues of a 20 year old Volvo 240 DL sedan or BMW 3 series that will be low on power, cheap, and handle in a predictable way.

Edit: And also be available with a manual transmission.
 
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Mr. Nice said:
Why don't you just buy an old RWD clunker on the cheap and then go from there? Low traction situations can teach you a lot about car control, you just have to have a car that can respond well in that type of situation.

MadCat360 really made an excellent suggestion. Skip Barber even offers classes for novices.

http://www.skipbarber.com/mazdadriving.asp
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I did the Mazda driving school. It's a lot of fun, very safe, well thought-out exercises. Includes autocross in MX-5s and drifting RX-8s in the wet.
 
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