Any Tractor Guys Into Sports Cars Too?

[art]

My older brother had a 59 alfa spyder and it sure was fun to go out with him on a curvy road! So from there it was tough as the raw feeling of horsepower over cornering took over for a few years.
I had my run of 55 to 57 chevys getting started with a few others makes mixed in before I went to mopar. While in the service I developed a passion for Triumph TR-3's and my last was actually a race prepared GT-6 which had the bark of a Jag!
Sure do like the torque of a big block, and I'm trying to buy one of my old cars back a 65 plymouth Satalite with a 440 four speed that I had to sell.
My oldest son put me through a bit and I had to sell that and a Jag XJ-12 that I enjoyed to drive quite a bit. It wasn't fast out of the gate but could do everything else well enough.

Today I'm playing with a tube chassis ferrari 365 spyder with a 406 chevy small block. It was originally built by someone else in Chicago in 93 and I'm just kind of perfecting it to the best of my ability. I call it my world car and feel that someone cleaned out their garage while building it. When I got it, it only had 700 miles on while now it's sporting about 7,000 miles and growing nearly daily.

 

[N80]

As a guy who has driven lots and lots of modern "sports" cars (most of which I consider to be GT cars really)

I think that is a CRITICAL point. Guys like me are not really looking for a true sports car. We aren't going to spend much time, if any, at the track. And all the things that make a car good on the track make it miserable to take on a road trip with your wife. We don't want a buckboard suspension. We don't want loud, dusty brakes. We don't want tons of interior noise. We want a car that is sporty, but comfortable and with enough room for luggage for two. (The Cayman would be the bare minimum on space for me.)

Nissan's GT-R is the fastest piece of lame, boring crap I've ever driven. It's so hard to teach a GT-R owner to drive one well because it does everything for you and has almost no feeling. Lame.

The GT-R seems to have put the whole sports car world's panties in a big old wad. Everyone hates it. I hate the way it looks. I hate all the techno/computer game crap. I hate the interior. But, I think a lot of people hate it because it puts world class performance in the hands of Ferrari and Prosche wannabes. And regardless of how it feels and how much its techno does for you, in the hands of good drivers it is clearly a stellar performer at a ridiculously low price. And that's going to chap folks who spent 5 times as much for a car that hardly performs any better. I think the fact that its one of the best and still most looked down on cars is a tribute to Nissan. I'd love to have one for that very reason!

It seems like the whole sports car world is having to come to grips with technology that obviates some skills that used to be critical to performance driving. Do 458 drivers really wish they still had to heel-toe?

Not nearly so lame as the GT-R but they do lean a bit more in that direction than a real sports car.

What is a real sports car? Seems to me its the one that goes around the track the fastest given comprable driving skills. And it seems that when folks disagree with that they're pretty much just stuck in nostalgia mode.....except when you throw FUN into the mix. I see a lot of guys at the track having fun in Mustangs, Miatas and 350Zs. My partner has fun racing his Porsche 944. There is a big difference between absolute fun and absolute performance though.

In any case, those are my thoroughly uneducated thoughts on the matter.

I guess I should have said GT rather than sports car in the original post, but its cool to hear from folks who have been into and driven real sports cars.

I do hope to track my coupe in the near future. It will be mostly stock. It already has stiffer than stock springs and beefier antisway bars. I will be getting new rotors (its time), track pads (open to suggestions), stainless brake lines and a flush and Motul.

I think those changes will be enough for me to try it out and see if I like it. I'm not wanting be be a race car driver but would like to learn a little performance driving.

My biggest concern is that a day at the track is going to ruin my new tires.

 

[N80]

Today I'm playing with a tube chassis ferrari 365 spyder with a 406 chevy small block.

Pictures please!

 

[dfkrug]

What is a real sports car?

To me, a "sports car" is a 2-seater designed to corner and handle well.

I have owned/driven many, and used to go to track days to test out
modifications, or just get to drive fast road courses in controlled situations.
Everyone should take a driver's school or 2, IMO. I have most of
my track time at Laguna Seca, but the most amazing/scary-fast track
was Riverside International (long gone).

I have owned 240Zs, 280Zs, all 3 generations of MR2s, a Ferrari 308GTSi
QV (twin-turbo), and a first gen Miata. I have driven a Boxter, which
I rate highly, and a Tesla Roadster (essentially a battery-powered Lotus
Elise).

I also had an M3 coupe, which I found to be unreliable, and NOT a sports
car (heavy!).

If I bought another today, I would get a newer Miata. I currently drive a
2000 MR2 Spyder (no longer made!), and it handles very well, is very
civilized, and totally reliable. If I could get a deal, I would buy an Ariel Atom.

As for the Ferrari, it was also unreliable, but handled well. I had to rebuild
the engine due to the stress of the turbos, and it was a nightmare. Every
engine seems a cake-walk after that one! This car was also quite heavy
at over 3200#. I find that cars that weigh a half ton less are somewhat
more fun to drive hard, surprisingly.

 

[N80]

That Ferrari is beautiful. Magnum PI? I always thought the 240Z was a great looking car.

And that's another part of it all for me. I like a good looking car. I know it is subjective but some cars are just butt ugly and to me, that's a big drwaback no matter how good they are.

And even though my coupe is a 2+2 and is a pig at 3500#, I think it looks fantastic. I like the classic look of the front quarter panels which reminds me of cars like the TR-6, the old Jags, etc. That's one of the reasons I got it rather than a 350z....a back seat (for stuff not people) and a trunk had a lot to do with it as well.

Wish I had the time, money and know-how to really get into this but in truth, whatever GT or sports car I own is also going to be my daily driver.

I am fortunate to have a nice road course about an hour away. I've just got to find the time to do it.

 

[RoyJackson]

What is a real sports car?

Prime point in this discussion...

That Porsche 911S was the closest I owned to my definition...which is nothing on the car that doesn't make it go faster or handle better...for all intents and purposes, a motorcycle with 4 wheels.

I'd written I'd like to have another Porsche one of these days, but others I'd like to have would be a Morgan (late 1950's through mid-1960's vintage), a late 50's Porsche Speedster or 550 Spyder.
They're all way above my budget though...way above!

 

[foggy1111]

We bought a slightly used 2003 Mazda Miata a few years back. Kinda consider it our motorcycle on 4 wheels (with air and a roof when needed). Fun evening drives and the red color gets lots of looks from the kids. :laughing:

THe car only has like 13,000 miles on it.....it needs more driving.

Mines a 6 speed.....so it satisfies my need to shift....kinda like my old 790 JD. :laughing::thumbsup:

 

[xtn]

What is a real sports car? Seems to me its the one that goes around the track the fastest given comprable driving skills. And it seems that when folks disagree with that they're pretty much just stuck in nostalgia mode.....except when you throw FUN into the mix.

Everyone's definition of a sports car is different I guess. I'll answer like this: For similar money, one can choose a GT-R, a Z06, an Exige, a Cayman S or older 911 variant, and several others. At the track I have only seen 2 of the Nissans, while I see several of the others all the time. I figure that sorta shows what people choose when faced with the question of going fast and having fun doing it.

A roller coaster is a lot of fun too. But here are guys spending money that could buy them roller coaster rides every day for the rest of their life on a car instead. They're paying to control the ride instead of being a passenger. The GT-R just doesn't have the feeling of control the way the others do. It would be an exaggeration to say you're just a passenger when you drive it, but if a car can lean in that direction, the GT-R does. That seems to make a lot of difference to the guys that have taken up road course driving as a sport.

On my car I use Pagid RS14 brake pads. They're pretty much full race pads. Pagid makes their RS4-2 pads, which are excellent as a street/track pad in my experience. Don't know if they make a fitment for your car. Other popular street/track pads around the track are EBC Yellowstuff and Hawk HP Plus. Be advised any of these is going to dust more than your OEM pads and may be a bit noisier too.

Don't worry about your tires at all. A new driver isn't going to do much damage to them in his first weekend. If you decide you love it and are going to come back to do it again and again, then of course your tire wear will begin to increase and there isn't much you can do about it. You just accept the idea of buying expensive tires a lot more often than you used to.

xtn

 

[dodge man]

Not really a sports car but a modern muscle car, a 2010 Dodge Challenger. I've done a couple of things to it and it makes about 375 hp and 410 ft-lbs at the rear wheels.

 

[Kyle241]

I like the Shelby Cobra and actually most of the replicas. I've been dreaming of building a Factory Five replica and dropping a 390 into a 2000lb car. It's mean, it's smelly but it's all so much fun. Perhaps one day I'll jump in and do it but it's a lot of money and time to make one.