Dizings2k

Heh, maybe, my partner just bought an mp4 spider over the summer and whew… what an exhilarating car to drive. I’ll tell you want, top down on a windy road with a couple long stretches and you’ll quickly forget about maintenance costs on them! Haha. The thing feels like a glass smooth missile that would go 300mph if you had the guts. Awesome car.

Dizings2k

Have you driven some of those wild civics at your friends shop? You definitely should before pulling the trigger on that project, and it sounds like you’ve got a pretty good “in” to do so.

ssbfgc

I guess I don’t understand the objective. Is this something you actually want to work on yourself or pay to have the work done? It sounds like you just want to pay to have it done. I think that would be exciting for a short period of time. Once the build is done, then what? It’s like going on a new date. All exciting and fun at the beginning! I would just drive your friends 800hp civic for kicks.

I say slap a V8 in an ND Miata. Looks good and you could melt the tires in any gear.

rwheelz

Mr.E.G. we are on the same page in terms of your full details and things that matter/don't matter. If money were no object, I would be driving a Singer 911. That said, here is my 2 cents: Don't underestimate the fun-to-drive factor and the cost of consumables. C6Z is the easy choice here IMO. Cheap, reliable, technicians everywhere if you don't want to work on it yourself, much more comfortable and luxurious when compared with your built civic so your wife won't complain, makes glorious noises with a cam, LS7 is a genuine blast for an import guy who enjoys a motor that really winds out... man I love the C6Z! I miss it more than any car I have sold. C7Z, though overall a superior car, was a disappointment by comparison for me because it simply wasn't as much fun to drive. C6Z is light at ~3100 lb and has a low coefficient of drag so it gets great mileage even at 100. Really not that hard to launch once you do it a dozen times, and late models came with traction control/launch control/magnetic shocks etc if you want all of that. I had zero complaints about the gearbox in that car. It also flies under the radar, relatively speaking, compared to other modern sports cars. I don't like drawing attention myself. The GTR is the worst for this. Another great bang for the buck choice though. It meets most of your criteria aside from low curb weight. If you want an AWD automatic, it is fantastic fun in terms of the driving experience and is just effortlessly quick.

I bought a Lotus Exige S260 Sport (the penultimate "elise" so to speak ~ $80k) after owning dozens of MR2's over the years. I was planning to consolidate and sell off my MR2's since this was the obvious MR2 replacement for a middle aged guy who now has more cash. The lotus is simply a lesser MR2. Save your money and buy the Toyota!

SlowTeg

Cool thread and different choices.

Just throwing something else out there that I haven't seen mentioned. What about an LS swapped previous gen BRZ/FRS? Those things are lying around with blown engines.. that's high on my list of my next project car. Not that expensive and should be a lot of fun.. Of course the issue is you'll end up upgrading everything on the car after the swap (suspension, brakes, etc. etc.) that friends tell me you might as well just buy a Vette. Probably true.. but I'm not a big fan of the visibility and feel of them personally. Maybe I'd get used to it.

It sounds like you really wanna do an AWD civic to be honest and if that's what you want to do I say go for it. You're not that old and plenty of time to add another project car down the road. I modded my s2k with the mindset of having a fun street/track car and I love it. Was it smart financially? Of course not. I could easily get a nice Cayman instead (or also), but I really couldn't care less what other people think.. similar to your sentiment. I modded mine with the thought of keeping it streetable and comfy enough for the street. An AWD civic will likely have a helluva lot of NVH, but I'm early 40's and our tolerance for that stuff changes over time. I'd just say be honest with yourself about that. As Dizings2k pointed out above even my s2k I can't be bothered to drive it on the street a lot of the time unless it's a planned drive. Traffic, noise, 2 seater (I have kids), etc. make it less desireable for daily driving. If I was 20 I'd say my s2k feels like a cadillac but our perspective changes over time.

Oh ya.. not sure if someone mentioned it but one advantage a cheaper car will have over something like a Mclaren is you wont be scared to really drive it on track etc. If you put a $100k Mclaren into a wall it hurts a lot more than a $30k car. That is a big factor to me in terms of being able to have more fun. Really pushing a car to the limits is part of the fun to me. I have some friends with exotics and they're mainly treated as a trophies. Really just depends on what you want.

TheDonEffect

Yeah I figured you still had at least one fun, factory car, so I figured this prospective purchase to fulfill a more specific urge.

End of the day, all of the choices are not needs, and with a few exceptions none of them are wise financial moves as these tend not to be, so really just comes down to what you really want. There's always going to be something faster, cooler, whatever, so with this spot in your garage it's really more about what resonates with you most.

Flex wise, McClaren, performance bargain wise, C6Z, investment wise NSX, etc etc. End of the day though you gotta get what makes you happy, I'm inclined to believe this is an itch that needs to be scratched.

I think we're old enough to know what to expect, the days of us believing hey a Civic can be built to be a McClaren beater in every since of the word are gone, we know better now. Cramming that much power and aftermarket engineering does not equate to a better exotic car, and I know you're aware of that as well.

vader1

What do you mean by "relatively" low curb weight? The cars you list are under both of these two suggestions, but they are something you could actually daily and put people and stuff in.....

M3 Comp, Giulia Quad. The Giulia sounds marvelous.

3700-3800 pounds. Not light, but by today's standards not super heavy either. About what the Vette now weighs. Replacement engine costs are not $50k but they are not cheap.

vader1

This.

Mr.E.G.

Admittedly it's subjective. But the way I look at it is that I'm willing to take a penalty on weight for things like a big engine, a robust drivetrain, a sequential transmission, extra drive wheels, etc. So, by way of example, a 3,100 lb. Corvette is relatively light, considering it's a biggish small car with a beefy drivetrain and a large displacement engine. Plus it's got a great suspension design, etc. I accept that its not as light as an Elise, but it's on the lighter end of the GT spectrum. Similarly, a TTRS is relatively light, considering that it has AWD and a sequential. So, it's maybe 100-200 lbs. heavier than a C6 Z06, but it has some definite advantages. Something like my ATS-V is 3,800 lbs., and that I consider too heavy for what you get. It doesn't have AWD, nor does it have a sequential. So, it's just what you get when they don't bother to make a lightweight car. Similarly, a 3,200 lb. Civic Type R seems heavy.

Again, fairly subjective. But in my mind a C8 is heavier than it should be, as is a GT500 Mustang, as is a GT-R, as is the new NSX, etc. It's not so much any specific curb weight target as it is what you get for that curb weight.

Mr.E.G.

I want to farm out some of the annoying stuff. Things I like doing on cars include designing custom heat exchanger ducting or making a replacement radiator support that is more to my liking. But I would get no joy out of the AWD conversion.