garetgax Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Right Ive got the green light for a "track" ish car for next year. At present it wouldnt be a stripped out non road car as I cant fit a tow bar on the current company car so itll still need to be driven to and from any sprints or track days. Im after ideas for a potential motor my previous being a 400/400 classic impreza that went bang in the end so dont want to go down that road again. Budget could be anything from 2k to around 5k i thought maybe a 3.2 dsg tt as a possible but also maybe a e36 or mx5 or 2nd gen mr2 possibly turbo? Really havent a clue so ideas on a postcard . Really want something thatll be pretty reliable, easyish/cheapish to uprate its suspension and brakes at some point and fit an oil cooler but also something thatll be pretty quick out of the box. not in any hurry for this but want to get an idea as to what ill be looking for for early next year etc. Also dont want anything to big as id like it to fit in my garage over the winter etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 MX-5 or Clio182. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dom187 Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 I am in the exact same boat as you, I just need to do abit more saving... Cars I have been looking at: Honda Integra DC2 basically a road track car from what I have heard Honda Integra DC5 same but newer, slightly less raw than the DC2 from what I have read. RX7 - This is my wildcard, someone I know has one of these and its not that highly modded. He has said to me that a sorted RX7 is unstoppable on the track in the right hands. Thing that scares me is the fact its a rotary engine and reliability is not there strong point. I have heard that they are fairly reliable if you know what your doing. Just my 2p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoogyRev Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 What about an Elise S1? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brillomaster Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 I ran a 328 for a year with a mate - no problems with it at all, apart from the indicators falling off. Cost us £850, and then sold for £1000 a year later. an MX5 would be nice,but to be honest they're underpowered, i think you'd get bored of it fairly quick. MR2 Turbo would be rapid and certainly within budget, but heard the handling can be a bit lairy - mid engined layout wouldnt suffer fools driving it. If it was my money i'd buy an S2000 - hard work on the road, but would be sweet having a 9k redline and vtec power on a track. plus no issues with turbo, and legendary honda reliability. although as with the MR2, early ones had a reputation for going backwards, but better suspension and tyres would help a lot. Would a westfield/dax caterham-a-like be too hardcore? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozz Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Try and find a cat d as you'll only be tracking it and it will save loads. Lots of choices, E30 318, 325, e36 325, vx220, mx5, nissan 200zx. To be honest, not many cars you can't strip out and have fun with, though I'd say RWD is a must. Or a cat 350z stripped out even in your budget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 I ran a 328 for a year with a mate - no problems with it at all, apart from the indicators falling off. Cost us £850, and then sold for £1000 a year later. an MX5 would be nice,but to be honest they're underpowered, i think you'd get bored of it fairly quick. MR2 Turbo would be rapid and certainly within budget, but heard the handling can be a bit lairy - mid engined layout wouldnt suffer fools driving it. If it was my money i'd buy an S2000 - hard work on the road, but would be sweet having a 9k redline and vtec power on a track. plus no issues with turbo, and legendary honda reliability. although as with the MR2, early ones had a reputation for going backwards, but better suspension and tyres would help a lot. Would a westfield/dax caterham-a-like be too hardcore? I've owned a mk3 MR2 and an S2000 the S2000 was a joy to drive on the road better car than the 350Z and an extremely capable track weapon. if you are serious on 1 then the 2002 model was possibly the best. if you want more in fo drop me a line. my money would actually be on the Mk3 MR2 built to toyotas F1 framework, brilliant balance, cheaper to buy than the s2000 and you could turbo it and still spend less than you would on an S2000. handling is like a go kart brilliant feedback mid engine layout. cheap parts easy to work on. ( i could change the exhaust manifold on it in 20 min) cheap wheels cheap tyres and given the right setup could challenge and unsteady alot of more expensive cars. if you want more info speak to me or ekona or stanski, we all had one. or possibly look at a vx220 some of those were going for alot less. won't be able to afford the turbos as they are rare. but might find a standard for 5k as for them both going backwards it just comes down to the driver; and knowing how to drive a rwd car properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Cat D is a good shout. Same as buying a tatty example. Following on from Biscuit, something that is easy on tyres and brakes (so light) would be a must for me. If said tyes and brakes are reasonable to buy then it's all good. RWD would be lovely but not essential for me. A clio 182 on a twisty track will be fun and probably quicker than most RWDs. The options are endless so I guess best thing to do is decide what you want, prioritise the list then have fun finding something that fits the list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilp Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 RWD would be lovely but not essential for me. A clio 182 on a twisty track will be fun and probably quicker than most RWDs. haha... took me a few sessions at knockhill to eventually get by a 182 on the twisties. I have been seriously considering buying a fwd track car. Would love a 182 or 172 and rip it to bits. Would be great to have a car that you dont necessarily have to worry about bashing etc. I'm still eyeing up westfields, lotus's etc as I really dont think i would be happy going back to a front wheel drive. May take the suzuki swift sport upto knockers and see how it does. On another note, look at supercharged cooper s' .... stripped out I imagine these will be very fast as even fully load mines was very very fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 a stripped out cooper S would make a blinding little track toy being FWD downt make it a bad choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilp Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 a stripped out cooper S would make a blinding little track toy being FWD downt make it a bad choice. yep fwd's with lsd are very very good driving cars. I just love the fear of losing the back end in a rwd keeps you on your toes. With a cooper s all you need is a reduced pulley and a remap and you will run 210bhp very easily. Strip it out and you have a very very fun track toy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilp Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 something like this would be a good start. Also another one with 32k for 4k-ish.... http://www2.autotrader.co.uk/classified ... ?logcode=p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 at 5 k you could get a supra or if you fancy 4wd try a celica GT4 at that kind of budget, you have an endless selection of track toys. best to short list what you want FWD - RWD - 4WD Front engine - Mid Engine - Rear Engine 2 seat - 4 seat - family seater Cheap - mid price - top of budget super light - light weight - normal answer those and we'd be in a better posistion to answer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dblock Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 IMO RWD is better as you will always lose to understeer in the end with a fwd car. Also 172 used as a track only car seems like a waste its more suited to the b roads then a track IMO thats why I havent lowered mine. I would say boxster 2.7 or 3.2 with higher miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LRF4N Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Or another Nissan- s14, r32 or r33 with a juicy turbo. All within ur budget and look good too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 By cheap do you just mean cheap to buy? Or do you mean cheap to maintain too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garetgax Posted October 20, 2011 Author Share Posted October 20, 2011 stew tbh a bit of both. have to juggle paying for the hols each year as well as the track stuff as shell would kill me if we didn go away etc:lol: . Owned a gt4 and tracked it so thats definately out and tbh anything 4wd turbo'd isnt going to be cheap to run etc. a lot of food for thought there. If i go for 5k budget then it means waiting a year if i go for the 2k ish i can prob do get it sorted for next year which would be better but Im tempted to stretch things. The cheaper the car etc the more i have towards using it more as well. I like the idea of a tatty or cat d car as eventually it'd come of the road entirely anyhow. Think im erring on rwd but with my lack of talent and the fact im used to 4wd cars and in particular scoobs that when you screw up tend to understeer itd take a bit of getting used to. On the mx5 the top end and lack of power is a concern for the long term and I intend to keep whatever i get for a while etc. thanks for the advice so far guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Well keeping it really budget.... Saxo VTS or 106 GTI (essentially the same car) - Loads of fun and cheap as chips, E36 325 or 328 - a few grand could see you in an M3 but I'd imagine there would be a fair old increase in running costs..... Have a look on ebay and see whats being sold cheap to see what you fancy. I'd also look at the tracks you'll be driving, you'll know yourself what'll work on them and what won't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 mk3 mr2 roadster £2k turbo conversion £2k car weight of about 1 ton maybe less power with out turbo 140 bhp with turbo 220bhp power to weight with out turbo = 140 bhp per ton power to weight with turbo = 220 bhp per ton take the zed as an example, thats 1.6 tons of car with 276 = 172 bhp per ton lighter car = brakes and tyres lasting longer, and less stress on the car. smaller wheels and calipers so tyres and pads are cheaper. you can drop the engine out of them easy peasy. needs very little stripping out as its already got feck all in it. and parts cost bog all. and its a toyota so its fairly solid. oh and it revs to 8.5k which pi$$es on the mx5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brillomaster Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 a zeds not 1.6 tonnes! 1.48, tops. in which case the power to weight is 186 bhp per ton. as for OP not being used to RWD, far better to learn on the track than on the public road. You could start on the very popular drift days such as those ran at Santa pod, or some other form of car control days, and then advance to airfield days - have a look at Javelin Trackdays for very reasonably priced airfield track days. Most airfields have loads of runoff even before you get to grass, and even then its generally featureless flat stuff. Couple of sessions and you'd be powersliding like a hero. s14 chassis is a good shout also - very popular in drifting circles - lightweight, powerful, rwd, limited slip diff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 a zeds not 1.6 tonnes! 1.48, tops. in which case the power to weight is 186 bhp per ton. 1.48 is the dry weight of the car, once you add in all the fluids its 1570 kg on the early cars and 1680kg on the later cars. the zed is not light Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Regardless of what you decide to buy, id definately get one which has already had a lot of work done to it. Maybe one which is already done up as a track or rally car. You will not believe the amount of money you will end up throwing at a road car to turn it into a track car. You may think initially its just a case of stripping it out and bolting some 60quid bucket seats in it and a pair of harnesses... but thats only the start. Before long you want a roll cage, then exhaust, air filter, engine mods, then shocks, wheels, tyres, brakes... the list just goes on and on. 2nd hand race / rally cars are cheap. People loose a fortune on them. So id be looking there to be honest! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garetgax Posted October 21, 2011 Author Share Posted October 21, 2011 javelin days and the raf days, plus snet and donny,rockingham are most likely the days id be looking to do plus some autotesting and if i can possibly some sprinting at a later time is what id be looking at in terms of usage for the car. I would be looking at brakes and suspension,cage etc. Ive already got my harnesses from the scoob so thats at least one thing I dont need to buy. If i can find a ready done car great but of late a lot ive seen have either been sheds or overpriced. Having stripped my sprint car I know what it costs to build a car etc. The mr2 is a good option especially as my old GT4 service guy ( a toyota specialist) is only down the road and I know how well put together toyota's are. IVe a friend that has 2 s14's and unless their properely forged they will go bang so thats a definate non starter, nissan parts are expensive as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 My mate built a scooby with a dyno`d 450bhp for 2grand all in. A 1998 one. He also has another one he uses for hillclimbs / sprints which has 700+ dyno`d bhp. He built both in his garden shed out of mainly 2nd hand bits etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarmac@TarmacSportz Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Me and my bro looked at MK2 MR2 Turbos Brilliant fun for the track Or as mentioned an Elise is an amazing track car but a bit of a squeeze getting in and out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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