Phoenix Gold Phorum

Hey Everyone ! Here's what's new with me. I don't really post much anymore, not nearly as much free time since having kids which is great itself but eats up free time like crazy. I lurk here every now and then, thought I'd post something at least once for 2013. I do have some free time and here's how I plan on spending it: Going to the track and running some hot laps. Up until now I've run the Forester at the track, its great for what it is but it was never designed to be a track machine. One thing I learned with the Forester, sure you can upgrade to better parts and make it faster, handle better, more powerfull. But everytime you do this, you expose another weak link in the system. Suspension needs upgrading, need better brakes cause you're going faster, need better cooling because there's more HP under the hood... My time to tinker is limited so I wanted to keep it simple, its nice to have something with tons of HP and great handling that can run reliably at the track right out of the box. Very few production cars qualify. My short list was: Honda S2000, Lotus Elise, Z06, Mazda Miata. The Miata is too slow, here in Canada the Elise is too expensive ($30k is cheap). Initially I settled for the S2000 but the prices people are asking are better spent on Crack. This made the Z06 my choice, for a few $$ more than an S2000 I'd get 2x the hp, slightly less handling but still very good out of the box performance not to mention dirt cheap GM parts.

I've always wanted a dedicated track car and finally pulled the trigger last fall. A bit of a tease, I bought the car sometime in October and maybe drove it 3-4 times max before putting it away in the garage for storage. Now that the weather is starting to get past freezing I've started to pick up some parts for a refresh, sticky rubber, race pads , stainless brake lines etc.

I present to you my "new to me" 01 Z06 vette:

Here's some pics I took the day I bought it.

Being a die hard AWD Subaru owner I can see how you got to the point you're at. My 2002 WRX was modified with every bolt-on available at the time, 4-pot brake upgrade, front mount IC, larger turbo, suspension, wheels/tires, etc. it was a blast to drive on both the street and track....scared the pants off passengers and folks driving around with windows down if I did a full throttle drive-by. Since parting with that vehicle I still own a Impreza, unfortunately is my daily driver so it falls into the N/A category, it's A/T, has subtle bolt-on mods (Stromung/Prodrive exhaust combo), superior suspension (Koni adjustable, Gymkhana Coils), the 4-pot calipers off the WRX, etc. and I crave...make that down right need more power and torque. Just like you, upgrade one thing and another needs attention to keep up.

I've considered the similar same route, going S2000, S13/14 w/SR20DET, 1970's Celica w/motor swap or same era 240 with swap...even considered Mustang Cobra's and old vettes. I'm still unsure of which route to take, but give you props for going with the Z06 it's a nice compromise.