Originally posted by Eric
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I have a little bit of experience with cars for the ring, so here is my 2¢.
You have some good goals, but I think it will be hard to find a good car that is over 25 years old, is fun on the ring and is under your budget. 7,000€ can get you a decent car, but unfortunate for your first post, I'm going to suggest a BMW. E36 m3 would get my vote as it has the power to climb the hills out of corners, but it's not 911 GT3 fast (still fast enough to wreck hard if your an idiot). Won't work for your importing idea, but it is the best smiles-for-miles car you can get with your budget.
Here is a nice E36 M3, with cool interior, and will leave some change in your pocket to get it up to snuff.
A few years ago when the english economy was booming, a company up near the ring was offering to build a turn key ring toy for 5,000€. They tried to use E30 318is as the base, but also used 325's. This included a nice rust free chassis, good suspension, cage, safety equipment and fire suppression. You could pretty much drive it on the street (would be a terrible ride, but legal) and enter it in VLN races on the weekend. This was 5 years ago so i'm not sure if prices have increased or not.
For the over 25 year old segment, I'd suggest a MtechII 325 with nice cloth interior. I bought one for 1,500€ and sold it almost a year later for more and did nothing to it. They are still out there for deals, but you have to be patient and I'd suggest looking now for your future purchase. Both autoscout and mobile.de can be converted to english, and google translate can do the rest.
Good luck man, I hope you get a good experience on the ring, but I'd caution that "every weekend" might be a bit optimistic. each lap is $34 now, a tank of gas is about $100 (6 laps a tank) and the drive from frankfurt to the ring is more than an hour. In the winter the ring is often closed due to weather, and the weekends that are nice are busy. The weekends that have back to back public days are packed with out of towners.
So. With all that said, what would I do if I was only going to be there for a year? I'd buy an E36 M3, either german, or an english one as they are consistently cheaper for no more than 5k. I'd buy a year pass, and save the rest for fuel. You break even at about 75 laps when buying a year pass; if nothing breaks, 20 laps in a weekend is doable but absolutely exhausting. If your arriving in a normal school schedule, then obviously buying a year pass for the last 3-4 months of the year would be idiotic.
You have some good goals, but I think it will be hard to find a good car that is over 25 years old, is fun on the ring and is under your budget. 7,000€ can get you a decent car, but unfortunate for your first post, I'm going to suggest a BMW. E36 m3 would get my vote as it has the power to climb the hills out of corners, but it's not 911 GT3 fast (still fast enough to wreck hard if your an idiot). Won't work for your importing idea, but it is the best smiles-for-miles car you can get with your budget.
Here is a nice E36 M3, with cool interior, and will leave some change in your pocket to get it up to snuff.
A few years ago when the english economy was booming, a company up near the ring was offering to build a turn key ring toy for 5,000€. They tried to use E30 318is as the base, but also used 325's. This included a nice rust free chassis, good suspension, cage, safety equipment and fire suppression. You could pretty much drive it on the street (would be a terrible ride, but legal) and enter it in VLN races on the weekend. This was 5 years ago so i'm not sure if prices have increased or not.
For the over 25 year old segment, I'd suggest a MtechII 325 with nice cloth interior. I bought one for 1,500€ and sold it almost a year later for more and did nothing to it. They are still out there for deals, but you have to be patient and I'd suggest looking now for your future purchase. Both autoscout and mobile.de can be converted to english, and google translate can do the rest.
Good luck man, I hope you get a good experience on the ring, but I'd caution that "every weekend" might be a bit optimistic. each lap is $34 now, a tank of gas is about $100 (6 laps a tank) and the drive from frankfurt to the ring is more than an hour. In the winter the ring is often closed due to weather, and the weekends that are nice are busy. The weekends that have back to back public days are packed with out of towners.
So. With all that said, what would I do if I was only going to be there for a year? I'd buy an E36 M3, either german, or an english one as they are consistently cheaper for no more than 5k. I'd buy a year pass, and save the rest for fuel. You break even at about 75 laps when buying a year pass; if nothing breaks, 20 laps in a weekend is doable but absolutely exhausting. If your arriving in a normal school schedule, then obviously buying a year pass for the last 3-4 months of the year would be idiotic.
Now with that said, I'm guessing I should not buy a Jahreskarte for 2013, given that I will have a month at the most before snow comes -- especially if as you say, you break even with 75 laps.
I'm in the process of talking to Mike Solo (of http://jalopnik.com/5892536/how-to-import-a-foreign-car-legally fame). He recommends I get a UK Peugeot 306 GTI-6 or a RenaultSport Clio 172/182/197 and then as for the car to bring back home, make that the 25-year-old car. Disappointing news, of course, but likely the smartest way to go about this.
As for climbing the hills, someone suggested to me to get a 1 Series diesel hatch because "you'll appreciate the fuel mileage and torque, plus it will teach you momentum and make you a better driver." What say you to that? Isn't an M3 the last thing I want as a total 'Ring noob?
And say I was to import a car that is younger than 25 years. Is that possible? Would that require I make modifications? I'm guessing it'd be more expensive than it would be worth my while, but learn me!
Thanks for giving me a taste of reality, I want more!
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