I want to move from MN to AZ so I can enjoy my 86 more
 

So wife and I have had enough snow and cold and are looking to move somewhere warm. She loves Florida and we have visited several cities there but I am dead set against FL because hurricanes, lack of parks and straight boring roads... I am trying to steer her to AZ since I know there are lots of good twisty mountain roads, and the West just seems more fun. We are coming to visit Tuscon and Phoenix in a couple weeks so hopefully it will win her over. Thoughts? How do you guys like it here in AZ? Is e85 readily available? Are there twisty roads snow free in winter? Any good race tracks/track day events? AutoX? Any special mods you guys do to deal with the summer heat?
Thanks!

AZ is MN but the opposite. My girlfriend is from MN and we both live in AZ currently. I am from FL.

There is not a day both of us wish we didn't have to be here any longer. We can't wait until our contract is up so we can move to the East Coast.

AZ sucks balls, in our opinion.

E85 is hard to come by, E55 there are around ~4 places scattered around that have it.

Twisty roads are usually snow free unless we get a big storm. Some roads to check out would be the 89A up Yarnell Hill into Prescott, Tortilla Flats, and I have heard Mt. Lemon in Tucson is good too. There are more but if you are staying in the cities all the roads are flat and straight.

Tons of track days, the 2 organizations I have been with is NASA and Pro Autosports. They both do a track event one weekend a month. Track wise we have a few, Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park (consists of 4 tracks), Arizona Motorsports Park, Inde, and then Chuckwalla which is technically in California but both organizations have events there once a year.

Autox I have never participated in but I know there are a lot of events usually with the Porsche clubs. You'll have to research this but I know they have them.

Mods if you are going to track its just the same typical stuff everyone recommends oil cooler and heavier weight oil. I run 5w30 year round except for the 3 months we have cold weather.

Curious why you think that? Too hot, no good jobs?

That sounds so awesome. MN has like 1 race track. Never been but have done some autoX. My buddy lives in CA and does alot of track days so it would be really fun to have some many options. Plus there is very few twisty public roads in MN and the ones that are have pot holes and bumps everywhere so cant even enjoy it.

Too hot. Don't listen to "it's a dry heat" or "the winters make up for the summer." No, it's trash for 8-9 months out of the year, and while the winters ARE nice, they don't make up for anything.

Too much dust in the air, the rain doesn't actually "clean" your car (it makes it worse instead since it rains dirt). People drive like pure shit, everyone wants to run you off, gas prices and quality sucks, E55-60 only at selective places, too many rocks flying around hitting your car (got windshield replaced 2x in 2 years). Cars get skin cancer so damn fast over here, it's stupid.

Yes, Cali is a few hours away if you don't mind driving for those huge car events, but man it hasn't been worth it.

Also, I'm Brazilian and tan, so I can handle sun better than others. I have a condition that under low temperatures, my extremities get cold due to lack of blood flow, and so I can't handle cold very well. My joints lock up and I can't move my fingers. But even with these things, I'd rather live somewhere cold than have to be stuck here.

Not trying to scare you, just trying to be realistic. And yes, this place makes me bitter.

The 86 community in the Phoenix East Valley is very inclusive, at least when I lived there. You will enjoy it.

Try Austin and surrounding areas. Hill Country with some decent twisty roads next door. Five road racing tracks in a 3-hour radius. e85 available at some gas stations. Cheap gas prices overall. No state income tax. If you live a bit outside of Austin, no emissions checks. Traffic moving at +80 mph on most major highways. No winter to speak of.

I'd second that.... I'm on my 3rd windshield in 3 years. My front bumper is destroyed from rock chips. As far as roads go, the 89a "can" be fun, though it is 1.5+ hrs away from PHX but a lot of times there's a ton of traffic going reaaaal slow (it leads to touristy things). Tortilla Flats I hear is great but that's also an hour east of Phoenix. South Mountain is decent but a liiiittle tight for my tastes (like it's just nutty tight like a go cart track). Can't really speak for Tucson. But yeah the fun twisties are far away and few and far between. You will be driving the straightest, flattest roads in existence in a perfect grid pattern 99% of the time. I basically get in my driving joy when I go to CA like 6 times a year. Then yeah E85 is basically non-existent and yeah the gas is poop. I heard there's like 1 station in tempe that has it, and every other station apparently selling it is actually more like e40-60. But hey some people really like it here lol.