RWD Track day car - help needed!

[Varn]

Hey guys I’ve just participated in my first track day and absolutely loved every minute of it!

I’m after buying/building a track day car (does not have to be road legal as I can trailer it, but that always helps).

It has to be RWD, and must be as cheap and safe as possible.

I was thinking something along the lines of an mk1 mx5 with a roll cage and bucket seats etc. Any other ideas welcome

How much should I be looking to spend?

Thanks for your time,

Rich

[agent006]

Cheap RWD says E30 BMW to me. I run one as a track car, mainly because i have an extra criteria to you, must be 6 cylinder. I couldn't find anything else for less than £3k that fitted the bill.

As for how much you should spend, it depends on how much you've got! I spend literally every spare penny on mine but then i don't have much to start with.

[Varn]

Well tbh id like to spend as little as possible. £3k-£4k sounds like my limit for a ready to go car. Any chance of getting something for that price?

Why a 6 cylinder?

Is my mx-5 idea unrealistic?

Edited by Varn on Monday 14th January 13:51

[JakeR]

Varn said:

Hey guys I’ve just participated in my first track day and absolutely loved every minute of it!

I’m after buying/building a track day car (does not have to be road legal as I can trailer it, but that always helps).

It has to be RWD, and must be as cheap and safe as possible.

I was thinking something along the lines of an mk1 mx5 with a roll cage and bucket seats etc. Any other ideas welcome

How much should I be looking to spend?

Thanks for your time,

Rich

http://www.max5racing.com/2ndhandcarsforsale.html

about this much. Or you could convert one yourself by buying the kit off Max5 racing...

[fasterpussycat]

Alfa 75?

[houlbt]

To be fair you need to think a little more about running costs of a car more than initial outlay.

For a little bigger budget you coul get an BMW E36 M3 ... these really offer great ponies for pounds and their is a great deal of weight to be torn out which costs you nothing.

[anonymous-user]

IMHO you won't beat your first idea. The MX5 is light, has excellent balance and is dirt cheap to run. If/when you get the bug, there are plenty of possibilities to drain your bank account too (there are quite a few of us owners that have considered just having our wages paid directly to Phil at Performance5 to save the hassle).

For basic track use, a Mk1 will cost you anywhere from a grand upwards depending on how much prep work you want to do. The early 1.6 (89-93) has the higher power 1.6 (116bhp). They then introduced the 1.8 in 94 (130 ish, slightly torquier, not as revvy as the 1.6). Avoid the 1.6 from 94 on as they detuned it to 90bhp to differentiate it from the 1.8.

If it were me, I'd go for a 94-97 1.8 Eunos Roadster import which should have the torsen LSD. Then I'd throw on a set of Axxis Ultimate brake pads, stock discs and Goodridge brake hoses from Phil. Then either a Hard Dog roll bar or a proper cage (either eBay, one of the importers who tend to remove them from cars they import from Japan, or if you're feeling flush, someone like Coordsport or Japan Parts can get the Cusco range in). You won't be the quickest on the circuit, but I'll bet you won't be far off being the person having the most fun.

[Brando]

LexSport said:

IMHO you won't beat your first idea. The MX5 is light, has excellent balance and is dirt cheap to run. If/when you get the bug, there are plenty of possibilities to drain your bank account too (there are quite a few of us owners that have considered just having our wages paid directly to Phil at Performance5 to save the hassle).

For basic track use, a Mk1 will cost you anywhere from a grand upwards depending on how much prep work you want to do. The early 1.6 (89-93) has the higher power 1.6 (116bhp). They then introduced the 1.8 in 94 (130 ish, slightly torquier, not as revvy as the 1.6). Avoid the 1.6 from 94 on as they detuned it to 90bhp to differentiate it from the 1.8.

If it were me, I'd go for a 94-97 1.8 Eunos Roadster import which should have the torsen LSD. Then I'd throw on a set of Axxis Ultimate brake pads, stock discs and Goodridge brake hoses from Phil. Then either a Hard Dog roll bar or a proper cage (either eBay, one of the importers who tend to remove them from cars they import from Japan, or if you're feeling flush, someone like Coordsport or Japan Parts can get the Cusco range in). You won't be the quickest on the circuit, but I'll bet you won't be far off being the person having the most fun.

I've done exactly this (bar green stuff pads instead of axxis) and I can't praise it enough. Phil from P5 is shipping my Hard Dog roll bar and goodridge hoses as we speak and I did 6 track days in my RS Limited last year. It's brilliant and an ideal learning point for rwd. PM/email me if you want to chat more as all I seem to do is post positive things about mx5s as track cars at the moment and peeps are probably sick of me harping on .

[BertBert]

Mk1 MR2?
Bert

[agent006]

Varn said:

Why a 6 cylinder?

Just preference. 4 cylinder engines are for caterhams or shopping cars.

[System-G]

BertBert said:

Mk1 MR2?
Bert

Yup

I am busy building my second MK1 MR2 track car. We also have a Supercharged MK1 MR2 that is also used as daily drive and occasional track toy - having the LSD option on the car makes it a right laugh

You can pick up a fairly decent car (N/A) from about £1k and an already sorted track prepped one for slightly more. Just need to make sure the rust issues have been looked into.

Can't get more smiles/£ anywhere

[Varn]

Thanks for all the replies guys!

http://www.max5racing.com/2ndhandcarsforsale.html

Are the cars for sale here worth a look then?
Wont they be knackerd after racing a season?
Might be a stupid question, but are they road legal?


Do I buy a ready made track car like the above or buy a road car and have add all the bits i need?
Any ideas how long this will take? (I have only had a small amount of experience with maintaining cars.)


Sorry about the barrage of questions but im unsure from whom else I can seek this information!

Edited by Varn on Wednesday 16th January 09:48

[fasterpussycat]

houlbt said:

To be fair you need to think a little more about running costs of a car more than initial outlay.

For a little bigger budget you coul get an BMW E36 M3 ... these really offer great ponies for pounds and their is a great deal of weight to be torn out which costs you nothing.

How much weight can you easily strip? The E36 M3s weight over 1.5 ton I believe.

[Pentoman]

agent006 said:

Varn said:

Why a 6 cylinder?

Just preference. 4 cylinder engines are for caterhams or shopping cars.

There's an old 4 cylinder saloon car just a mile down the road from you which would love to demonstrate otherwise . Plus if we're talking track car less weight is king which favours the four cylinder.


Seriously though, an mx5 doesn't exactly fulfil the 'safe' criteria for me; a saloon/hatch would probably be better for that, especially with a cage on it, I also wonder if an mx5 might be a bit dull down the straights? I know it makes up for it in the corners but we all like a bit of straight line go. What about old Porsches - lots of praise for the handling of 924s and 944s although running costs could be tiresome!

[Varn]

Well my current road car is a 924S!

Dont want to ruin it on a track tbh, and the running costs would be high!

Why would a mx5 with a cage be unsafe? - (not looking for a fight i really dont know :P)

[anonymous-user]

I wouldn't recommend tracking an MX5 with no roll over protection. But with a hard dog roll bar or full cage I can't see it being unsafe personally. There's also a lot less energy involved as all up it will only be around a ton.

True enough, a standard car isn't going to set the world alight down the straights. But then again, for 3-4k you can find one with forced induction which will easily up the ante.

The Max5 cars are going to be well prepared for the track, they're not going to be road legal (not sure how much work it would take to return one to road legality tbh) and they're also going to be 1.6 engines, 6" open or viscous diff, etc.

[Varn]

So do I go for a 1.8 Japanese MX5 and add a cage etc myself? Or go for the cheapest of the Max5 lot?

Ive never attempted anything similar to track preparing a car before, so I have no idea how difficult it will be.

Im not worried about strightline speed too much - Im just after something that I can learn how to control in the corners well and give me a big grin .

[anonymous-user]

Varn said:

So do I go for a 1.8 Japanese MX5 and add a cage etc myself?

Knowing what I know now, I'd do this (I actually bought a 1.6 and am fitting pretty much everything from a 1.8. D'oh!) A good option to get the car prepped properly would be to speak to Phil at P5 about a Hard Dog roll bar, or a full cage if you prefer. Get him to throw on some braided hoses, fresh (standard) discs and Axxis Ultimate pads and have a good look around the car to make sure there's nothing that's going to try to kill you. Done prudently, you could actually do that for easily under £2k.

[Varn]

Ok guys Ive been looking on the net and am really unsure of which mx-5 to go for...Ive decided Id like to keep it road legal but i dont care about condition of the exterior or interior at all.

Ive never bought a car before (family handmedowns) so i really need some help....any examples i should go for? Live in the South East.

Thanks in advance

[sniff petrol]

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/363771.htm

Looks good value when you factor in the cost of even slightly upgrading a standard car, plus you know it's been set-up decently.