[The0pportunist]

The old C63s have come down in price in the UK. Might just be within budget.

Honorable mentions:
E46 M3
E30 M3
E60 M5
E39 M5

[BEM-S4]

Originally Posted by 04mazdaspeed

My vote would be a na miata. You could find them with relatively low mileage for 5k. Drop another 4 grand into the suspension and wheels and tires. You would then have a car that would rip a lot of cars on the track. Plus cheap to maintain and well known for reliability. Ive owned a couple now including the rare mazdaspeed miata and by far is the most fun car I have ever owned. I would choose to drive that car more than my 16 z06. Something about how light and nimble they are and when the top is down its a blast.

There's always something to be said for driving a slow car fast vs a fast car slow.

[Orion335]

Originally Posted by The0pportunist

The old C63s have come down in price in the UK. Might just be within budget.

Honorable mentions:
E46 M3
E30 M3
E60 M5
E39 M5

Didn't the older c63 have an issue with the head bolt or something?
E30 M3 is way over my budget here, looking at the e36/e46. The E60 v10 is cool, but I'm not prepared to fix the expensive issues. The e39 m5 is too big for what I'm looking for.

Miata's an option, I see 5.0 swapped ones on CL for not much $

[04mazdaspeed]

Originally Posted by BEM-S4

There's always something to be said for driving a slow car fast vs a fast car slow.

absolutely. I wouldn't even consider it slow if you threw on a turbo kit for 2 grand. 180whp in a car that weighs 2100lbs aint no slouch. when I had my mazdaspeed miata, I put down 199whp and that weighed about 2500lbs. I would easily keep up with the srt challengers and cars of similar hp. it was a blast and I miss it dearly.