brillomaster

yeah i remember something like that... rocket propelled sled brought to a controlled stop in water or something. decellerative forces of 47G i seem to remember, detached retinas from eyes or something ludicrous.

i know i should drive one, but i quite like the lazy way the back steps out on a saloon car under power... so gloriously satisfying. dont think i'd be holding any big lairy slides in a caterelisefield.

120mph is 53.6 metres per second, so to accelerate to that speed in a second is the equivalent of about 5.5G... thats pretty savage acceleration, thankfully it'll only be for a few seconds!

however (having never driven a lightweight) the idea of big power at the expense of weight has always been more appealing to me than a lightweight car that can't keep up down the straights. hence why my realistic dream track car would be something like a BMW M3 rather than a lotus elise. if money was no object, i'm sure an ariel atom would be great, but I think i'd have more fun in a Porsche GT3 RS.

I considered a Scooby WRX turbo for a track car, but was put off by the complexities of the engine. trackday cars need to be simple and lightweight with readily available parts, which is why you always see the same mix of caterhams, lotuses, clios, old bmws, and so on. rare cars do not make good trackday cars, as you need things like brakes and tyres to be nice common sizes so they're cheap. 350zs wont ever be popular track cars as they're just too heavy... yes the engine would be good engine, but the chassis is just too heavy which means brakes and tyres are prohibitively expensive.

hmm, basically what we're doing already, except with a better starting car, so... high mileage BMW E46 M3 - £6000 secondhand set of wheels and decent trackday tyres - £700 decent discs, brake pads and fluid - £500 Coilovers, antiroll bars and camber kits - £1000 Bucket seats and harnesses - £600 Exhaust and breathing mods - £800 BGW - £400 total £10,000. however that's a bit pricey, so what we'll be doing instead... high mileage BMW E46 330ci - £1030 Brake discs, pads and fluid - £270 trackday tyres - £380 suspension - staying standard - £0 bucket seats - £200 total £1,880, lets roll

the sheep just wanted to get their 'lamb'orghini back... ...i'll get me coat...

ouch £500! we'd buy a new car for that kind of money! hope you get it sorted ok in time for Bedford, brakes are definitely something you need round there!

and me, 10 years on the dot, replaced with a bosch from carparts4less as well.

average 100 miles a week, so normally can fill up every 4 weeks, so about £22 a week id say.

psssh i'd much rather it this way round than freezing ones knackers off most of the time. but then again i am half tropical, so maybe i need the warmth!

it is annoying... when someone posts a huge post with loads and loads of pictures... then someone quotes the whole lot again, only to add 'nice pictures' or similar. does make scrolling down threads take for ever!

haha one tends to get black flagged for going sideways on trackdays... Javelin pulled me in three times in one day for getting the back out at Bedford... believe me I was honestly trying to go forwards, but the car was having none of it!

well the old 328i is in this thread, not much of a build though... http://www.350z-uk.com/topic/68744-just-bought-a-track-car/ new car should really have a build thread, although we aren't planning on doing that much to it really.

Well you're welcome to try the beemer out - we loved the old one, so predictable on the limit, it was great. hoping the new car is more of the same! Hopefully once we've added as much lightness as we can, sorted the braking and put decent tyres on, it'll be a very formidable track weapon. Still looks like a drug dealers car since its black with black wheels and a dark window tint, but hey ho.

ah no ours is a 330 now, but still with an open diff! yeah putting power down out of tight corners was a challenge... was a case of power down, spin one wheel up, then back off until it regains traction again. I can imagine a welded diff would be awesome for me, but Ken and Will might object to having a car that goes sideways everywhere!

oh yeah, we'll be slow round the corners and under braking for sure - decent brakes and decent tyres and number 1 and 2 on the list of mods, along with much adding lightness! hopefully the standard M sport suspension will be reasonably competent and wont need changing urgently. Phils MR2 is identical to yours, although I think hes only changed brake pads and tyres so far.

I think you'll be having us under braking at Bedford... while our new car is certainly fast in a straight line, I suspect the many big braking zones at Bedford will cook our still standard brakes quite quickly. be interesting to see how your MR2 compares to Phils MR2 on track as well.

I think our new track BMW is in with a shout here... 230bhp does 0-60 in 6 seconds dead. best thing is it cost £1000. I challenge anyone to find a faster car for less money!

it is classed as an air intake kit, so if its mentioned id say it was fine. it does add performance but only with a remap. Personally, since its on the insurance now i'd keep it on, however it would be worth a fair bit even in exchange for a standard plenum.

That looks pretty neat imo. better if it was body coloured with a better spoiler, but still looks pretty good!

errrm, given the choice between a 370z and an R8... i'll take the R8, thanks! actually given the choice between any car and an R8, i'll probably still take the R8 lol lovely cars!

definitely try before you buy... read a lot of reviews that give very mixed views on the driving experience. also the horrid headlights can be swapped for the considerably more conventional ones off the droptop.

Hankooks and Kumhos would be reasonably priced alternatives to Falkens.