Contemplating FRS for track car

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by GrandSport

I disagree, especially if you're doing short trips.

I would agree with you, for short trips, where the oil is 160F without the thermostatic plate open. If it's a stabilized 160F, water will not accumulate.

Now, that being said, if you're getting moisture accumulation in your oil, you have bigger issues to worry about.

[GrandSport]

Originally Posted by CSG Mike

I would agree with you, for short trips, where the oil is 160F without the thermostatic plate open. If it's a stabilized 160F, water will not accumulate.

Now, that being said, if you're getting moisture accumulation in your oil, you have bigger issues to worry about.

Well, condensation happens. Take air from hot temps to really low temps in the winter and it happens, especially on short drives (where the cold air also prevents oil from heating up quickly). If you start the car and drive 4 hours with the oil temp at 160 and that's all you do, sure. If your'e driving shorter hauls, not so much.

[GrandSport]

Took frs to the track. Fell in love. Bought it. I'll give full review later. What a dream to drive. One of the most fun cars I've ever driven.

[GrandSport]

Okay, so thanks everyone for the help. The track day was pretty wild. From all the rain North Texas has been getting the track was basically flooded. It was dry, except there were streams of water running across it and water coming through the concrete in turns, and I was I R888R. EVERYONE was spinning left and right. Some places got better as the day progressed, some got worse. You were always wondering if you were going to lose traction, so that was exciting. To put it into perspective, the track employee doing a spotter lap spun on the third turn.

I brought my good friend who happens to be a 7x national karting champion, former pro grand am driver, etc, etc to instruct me.

It was aligned for autocross, but I loved it on the track. As much camber as the previous owner could get, lots of toe and some caster. he suggested less caster and less toe (and more camber, but I'm not sure if I can get more camber). The car was unbelievably fun. Perfectly balanced. Not "it has understeer so I can go WOT through turns and I call that balanced" but actually balanced. My friend/instructor agreed. Told me not to change a single thing on the setup. Just gut it and cage it (for now).

It's a hoot to drive. It is so precise and nimble. My top three most fun to drive cars ever have to be FRS, Elise and Cayman GTS. One is in a very different price range than the rest. I'm dying to the chance to remove some weight from it. I'm really impressed by stock brakes and suspension(definitely needs some more shock, but it's fine for now). Truly, what a dream. I was rotating the car when I wanted to, turning in hard and running well. With all the water, there were plenty of times the car would get loose, and the majority of the times I could bring it back with small, predictable inputs. Also noteworthy, the seats are really good for factory seats (I'm sure I'm also just pulling less g's)

The FRS definitely needs more motor, but they made up for a lot of it with gear. That thing has a TON of gear, especially compared to the GS. And that made it fun too.

Compared FRS, the Grand Sport is just raw. It's a handful- a carnal monster. It's just hungry and eating up pavement and you can't feed it to the car fast enough. It has tons of grip but it still understeers (and I run more aero in the front and 20mm wider front tires). It makes it safer to drive (which is important because I can't afford to put it in a wall) but it's just not as enjoyable. Don't get me wrong, it's a blast to drive and very fast, but it's bull riding a silverback gorilla after throwing a pike of coke in its face vs riding a well trained horse.

I was actually too scared to take the GS out today (I had both there) because of the water. More grip, more speed, not as precise and "surprise" water was just too much risk, but I had no problems with the FRS.

Kind of funny, but it really made me appreciate my GS for street driving (where the GS is light years ahead in performance as well). That's where the FRS really felt like an economy car. Crappy head unit, meh interior, seats basically just slide forward and back (no tilt), no steering wheel controls, no helpful gauges, clutch is very abrupt and much harder to drive smooth. Driving at 3500 rpm on the highway was super annoying. The GS by comparison has a nice interior, every temp right in front of me, touch screen infotainment, active rev match (although the FRS is a easy to heel-toe as any car I've driven), chilling around 1800rpm at 80mph and the active exhaust makes it quiet when you're cruising and loud when you're on it.

Anyway, for $10k, how can I go wrong? 2013, 47k miles, sway bars, springs, whitetop hats, new clutch two spare sets of wheels and tires, and an extra set of brake pads. I definitely think I can run through a season or two of track days and sell it for what I got it for with 50k miles and get whatever I want next, or just upgrade this car. Now I have a white with black accents Corvette, FRS and Miata


Thanks again for the help!

[GrantedTaken]

Originally Posted by GrandSport

That's where the FRS really felt like an economy car.
Crappy head unit,
meh interior,
seats basically just slide forward and back (no tilt),
no steering wheel controls,
no helpful gauges,

Yup, that's kind of the point.

[Summerwolf]

Originally Posted by GrantedTaken

Yup, that's kind of the point.

Where are you going with this? In relation to how he is specifically saying for his use it's a better track car than a street car??

I think, at the end of the day.... you're the one that doesn't "get it" when it comes to a view that is not your own.

[GrandSport]

Originally Posted by GrantedTaken

Yup, that's kind of the point.

I seriously doubt that was the point of the car.

[ermax]

To cut weight they stripped it of all the things cars typically have at this price. The point of the car wasn’t to make it feel like a $12k car, it was to make it handle like a $50k car. I think GrandSport summed it up perfectly. It’s hard to have your cake and eat it too at this price. Especially at the $10k GrandSport paid.

[GrandSport]

Wow, so this is kind of a wild twist of events.

Current owner is my friend. He bought the car from a friend and friend had right of first refusal. Now, the guy who had, but passed up, first right of refusal on the car is throwing a fit, changed his mind and wants it now. We were supposed to sign the paperwork today tomorrow.

I guess the good news is I got a free track day out of it. Kind of took the air out of my sails. I guess the search for the track car continues

[Shark_Bait88]

Originally Posted by GrandSport

Wow, so this is kind of a wild twist of events.

Current owner is my friend. He bought the car from a friend and friend had right of first refusal. Now, the guy who had, but passed up, first right of refusal on the car is throwing a fit, changed his mind and wants it now. We were supposed to sign the paperwork today tomorrow.

I guess the good news is I got a free track day out of it. Kind of took the air out of my sails. I guess the search for the track car continues

That's total bullshit. He passed it up and you two made an agreement. Sale should still go to you.

[GrandSport]

Originally Posted by Shark_Bait88

That's total bullshit. He passed it up and you two made an agreement. Sale should still go to you.

I easily could have said fuck off, but didn't. He was very apologetic and his friend was the one being a ****. His car is literally in my garage and I have his cash in my safe. I really thought about saying "tell your friend it's $12k" (I had a deal for $10k).

I guess I got a free track day out of it. I drove on his tires and pads (and car).

I'm most pissed because I lost out on that Lotus Elise too. Now I have neither, and both were great prices- probably about 20% below market value. The search continues...

Maybe I'll just drive the Miata for another season or something. Just searching for a car is stressful. For maybe I'll just do a month long vacation or something. That was fun.

I'll tell you though, I was probably an hour from buying a bunch of expensive mods. I only bought a sandwich plate for an oil cooler, but I had tabs open for other more expensive stuff (camber plates, brembo brakes)

[Shark_Bait88]

Originally Posted by GrandSport

I easily could have said fuck off, but didn't. He was very apologetic and his friend was the one being a ****. His car is literally in my garage and I have his cash in my safe. I really thought about saying "tell your friend it's $12k" (I had a deal for $10k).

I guess I got a free track day out of it. I drove on his tires and pads (and car).

I'm most pissed because I lost out on that Lotus Elise too. Now I have neither, and both were great prices- probably about 20% below market value. The search continues...

Maybe I'll just drive the Miata for another season or something. Just searching for a car is stressful. For maybe I'll just do a month long vacation or something. That was fun.

I'll tell you though, I was probably an hour from buying a bunch of expensive mods. I only bought a sandwich plate for an oil cooler, but I had tabs open for other more expensive stuff (camber plates, brembo brakes)

If I was your friend I'd have told him it's sold unless he wants to outbid it. Sounds like your buddy has a shitty friend.

Yeah, the car shopping thing sucks. But more and more of these should be popping up around that $10k price. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise and you'll find a 15+ model for a good deal before long.

I'm also in favor of spending the money on a long vacation. I'm leaving to Europe for two weeks on Sunday and can't wait. haha

[GrandSport]

Originally Posted by Shark_Bait88

If I was your friend I'd have told him it's sold unless he wants to outbid it. Sounds like your buddy has a shitty friend.

Yeah, at the end of the day, I'd rather not sour our friendship. Obviously, it's not my fault, but taking the high road always pays off long term. Relationships are worth more than a grand or two, especially in my line of work.

Yeah, the car shopping thing sucks. But more and more of these should be popping up around that $10k price. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise and you'll find a 15+ model for a good deal before long.

This was just set up perfectly, with money taken off for stuff I didn't care about (very minor body damage from hail). It had 2 extra sets of wheels and tires, sway bars, camber bolts, good alignment, new clutch, etc. And it was a good "friend price."

I'm also in favor of spending the money on a long vacation. I'm leaving to Europe for two weeks on Sunday and can't wait. haha

In the past year I've done two awesome trips:
Home, Istanbul (4 days) , Tel Aviv (5 days) , Athens (3 days), Amsterdam (for 4 hours in the city) Home

and

Home, Sydney, Melbourne (for a wedding), Hong Kong, Jakarta, Amsterdam, Paris, London, Home with about 3-4 days in each country.


I just booked Panama on a yacht for my 35th birthday I have a wedding on Poland in the summer- thinking of just spending 2-3 weeks out there ignoring work emails.

[Sleepless]

I told you to stick with the Miata