Corvettes in a Porsche club? :)

[steveh]

I drove a student's C5 Z06 at Thunderbolt yesterday and was very impressed.  My student, who was a fairly competent novice, was way faster than just about everyone else in the green group, in part because the car was just so capable.  My concern is that the car's abilities will tend to flatten out her learning curve, and she'll reach the limits of her skill at a much higher speed than the student who's driving a Miata, with potentially more serious consequences. 

I agree with Darren -- if you're not looking to drive a particular make, model or vintage, or just to blast down the straights in a screaming V8, but instead your goal is to be a better driver, then I would take whatever budget you have and buy a cheaper car with good handling and lower HP, and invest the rest in the driver. 

I sold my 1987 951 a couple years ago, drove a Miata for awhile, and now have a 1992 325i sedan with 247k miles on it that is a fun, reliable, cheap to run track car.  A lighter car like a Miata, E30 or early E36 BMW, or 80's era 911, should be kinder to consummables, and parts should be easier to find and afford.  There's a great article in last month's Grassroots Motorsports on the different iterations of the 911 from the 70's through early 90's -- what to look for, what needs to fixed or beefed up, etc. 

With a lower-horsepower car, you probably won't be the fastest car on the track, but you'll get faster because of your skills, not because of the car.  If you can drive a slow car fast, then you can drive any car fast.