Track car circa £5k

[Mattpanks]

Hi All,

Realise this is a re-occurring question, but looking to purchase my first track car. Have narrowed it down to:

- mk5 golf gti/R32
- ford focus ST
- Renault clio 200
- BMW 325 compact

Any thoughts or suggestions please

[keep it lit]

E36 M3

[1441]

Does it have to be road legal?

[Mattpanks]

Yes road legal

[J18NHS]

Honda S2000

[ecotec]

out of your list I would prob get a clio 172/182- im guessing you mean a 172/182 as the 200's are £8k+
off the list it would be an mx5

both cheap to buy and cheap for bits,

[andye30m3]

What about an integra type R dc2?

[TrackMegane]

Can get a cheap R26 for that. Immense track cars standard. I am bias though. But any renaultsport will be a hoot on the track 182/172 parts & consumables are cheap.

[Craikeybaby]

How have you narrowed it down to those cars? What have you ruled out?

Is that budget just for the car, or for car and track preparation?

[Mattpanks]

Narrowed it down based on cars I know have a good reputation on road and have previously owned a mk5 gti.

£5k is for the car only.

[Steve H]

The golf and focus are too road biased for my taste if it's primarily going to be a (road legal) track car.

Clio and 3 series are good shouts (E30/36, anything newer is getting a bit heavy), Integra could be OK if you can find a good one but I wouldn't go S2000, not very forgiving on track. R26 is a great car but I'm not sure a cheap one is a good idea as a track toy.

[T0MMY]

Do you actually need any practicality beyond the ability to drive it to a track? I mean is it a second car?

Frankly none of your options are appealing if it's basically track only. You can get a decent kitcar for £5k which would be far quicker, cheaper to run and more fun than any of those options, not to mention more "special" if it's a second car.

Lightness is key for track cars in my opinion.

[Mattpanks]

It will not be used as a second car, so have no practical requirements. Just after a fun track car that can be driven to / from track.

What kit cars are good?

[iguana]

If you've that budget for car alone, I've got a cracker of an e36 M3 trackcar that might suit for a lot lot less than base car & mods.

[T0MMY]

Mattpanks said:

It will not be used as a second car, so have no practical requirements. Just after a fun track car that can be driven to / from track.

What kit cars are good?

I'm not much of an authority on kitcars at all but for that budget, I'd go for a Fisher Fury, Sylva Striker, MK Indy or an oldish Westfield. I bought an MNR Vortx R1 for under £4k which is basically a supercar beater on a track but I was very lucky to find one that cheap as most are double that (it needed some minor TLC). A bike engined one should do 0-60 in under 4 seconds and will put in pretty amazing laptimes compared to even very capable sportscars (The lap record for a McLaren MP4-12C at Cadwell is about 1 second quicker than a road legal MNR R1). Car engined ones are nicer on the road but not quite as good on track at that end of the price range, although obviously something like a Caterham R500 is bonkers quick.

Any of them will be fun and incredibly cheap on tyres and brakes compared to a typical fast road car.

[eggchaser1987]

Nothing to do with the ones you have suggested and not meaning to sound like an advert. Apologies if it does but I have my tiger kit car for sale around 5k.

Ideal track day car I think especially if you dont have to worry about practicality.

[T0MMY]

eggchaser1987 said:

Nothing to do with the ones you have suggested and not meaning to sound like an advert. Apologies if it does but I have my tiger kit car for sale around 5k.

Ideal track day car I think especially if you dont have to worry about practicality.

Actually I forgot to mention Tigers...they're meant to be decent enough too.

The only ones to really avoid are Robin Hoods apparently. That's just the advice I heard many times, nothing personal to anyone that has one!

[911p]

E36 M3, or a turbo MX5 if running costs are a worry.

[Lefty]

I wouldn't buy a front drive car as a pure trackday car.

944 turbo? Cat d vx220? Impreza Sti?

[Lawbags]

EG or EK Civic with a B18 in it.
You'd get a full track prep'd one for that, and still have change.