Certified Pre-Owned, New or Used for a crazy Mustang owner
 

First of all, I'd like to throw out that I like the FR-S for what it is. I took my friend's FR-S for a test drive right after he bought it shortly after the car's release. It was an extended test drive, and I really loved the car. The steering feel, driving position and general dynamic of the car really appealed to me. At the time I had an E36 M3 Sedan, and I just couldn't justify the price of a new FR-S when in my mind the M3 did everything better and was easy to get my son in and out of. I eventually sold the M3 because I felt like I was spending more time underneath the car dealing with the previous owner's lack of maintenance than I was driving it.

Searching for a new vehicle I purchased a 2011 Mustang GT 5.0. The Mustang is an extremely easy to drive car but what I have decided is that 400+ horsepower is too much for a car that doesn't regularly go to the drag strip or the road course. Ever take a 3600 pound, 400 horsepower car to the track? Expect to be buying new tires and break pads regularly. Want to keep said 400hp car on the road? Better get 275+ width tires on 18+ inch wheels. That isn't cheap.

I'm now back to the drawing board. I have a legimately fast car that I can't drive anywhere close to its potential. Step on the gas = breaking the law. I feel like I'm coming full circle. I owned 2 ae86's around 10-12 years ago and I love the look of the GT86 twins. I really want to get back into autocross, and from the 4 events I attended this year, the twins seem to be really competitive locally in STX which is actually an affordable class to race in. I think I will go test drive another FR-S. I'm seriously thinking of going the certified pre-owned route given the savings and generous powertrain warranty.

Anyone else gone this direction?

before i bought my frs, i was deciding between an E92 M3 and a FRS. completely different price and class and cars, but i love BMW's and have always wanted to own a new M3 fresh from the factory. i was unable to afford one new until finally in the recent couple years... which is why i had just a regular e92 328 before. lol. anyway, after a few times driving a new m3, i knew that was too much car for what i need right now. i would either crash the car, get multiple speeding tix or go broke buying all those mods with the stupid M-tax. so the next best thing imo? i got an FRS. i test drove one and bought it on the spot. still fun as hell to drive but not too powerful to get me in trouble often. and i did 90% of my mods within the first 2 months and still have plenty of play money left over!! LOL

i totally get what you mean by having a daily driver that has too much power than needed on the daily. and the whole "pay to play" bs that some people spout, well then i'd rather play later with two cars instead. i'll get my m3 later in the future when i have enough space to garage my cars. :)

and if you're considering going back to auto-x, then i definitely recommend the frs/brz. these cars are so fucking fun even bone stock! and a lot of the kids and noobs will say the prius tires suck and this and that, but i see that as lack of driver skill. the stock suspension set up with "prius tires" still handle awesomely and still more than what the average person is capable of.

Used. Because your probably gonna not benefit too much from a warranty if your competing in STX.

Also you won't lose your ass if you decide to sell the car soon.

I hear you and this is why i avoided the Mustang. I was looking at some of the track builds, specifically Vorschlag's, and that was going to be some serious money if you really wanted to wring out every ounce of performance out of 400 hp. They were running 315s with a wing and "all" they had for engine mods were headers.

[/quote]I'm now back to the drawing board. I have a legimately fast car that I can't drive anywhere close to its potential. Step on the gas = breaking the law. I feel like I'm coming full circle. I owned 2 ae86's around 10-12 years ago and I love the look of the GT86 twins. I really want to get back into autocross, and from the 4 events I attended this year, the twins seem to be really competitive locally in STX which is actually an affordable class to race in. I think I will go test drive another FR-S. I'm seriously thinking of going the certified pre-owned route given the savings and generous powertrain warranty.

Anyone else gone this direction?[/QUOTE]

Resale value on this car wasn't as good as I was hoping (delusional dream I guess). I think as long as you got one of the later year 2013s, and it was unmodified, you would probably be fine. That or maybe a clearance model 2014; I don't imagine the price would be much different versus a certified used.

STX seems like a solid choice to be in. Stock class is not a great option on these cars due to the lack of adjustable front camber. There are some quirks with lowering the car (rear axles), but aslong as you don't go crazy you should be able to run STX without much effort. The rear is pretty sensitive due to the torsen, so you shouldn't go crazy with lowering it anyway.

Thanks for the heads up. I will definitely look into the axle issues. I've never owned, nor will I ever own a completely slammed car. It's something that is fun to look at when other people do it, but I'm not a huge fan of scraping my undercarriage and busting the oil pans on my own vehicles.

There is a really good FT86 community in my area (Seattle area) and at least one great shop where I will be able to bounce ideas off of and possibly test out different suspension options.