E36 Compact as a track car

E36 Compact as a track car

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Discussion

mk4gtiturbo

Original Poster:

194 posts

146 months

Wednesday 22nd July 2015
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Hi

Once upon a time I had a mk2 Golf that I built into a track car. I used to really enjoy it, but then I got married and had kids and sold the car, big mistake!



I'm now starting to have thoughts of building another. My daily is an new Octavia vRS and I don't really fancy tracking that. My thoughts have been turning to RWD, as I did a few track days in a Caterham (I can't afford a Caterham before anyone comments!). There is an E36 Compact local to me and it is cheap (ain't they all). I'd probably stick in a 2.8 as I know of a decent one for sale (soon) that is abot 250bhp with a few mods on it. I understand the Compact gets tail happy with that sort of power so I'm wondering if a E36 coupe or saloon would make more sense, or if there are mods for the Compact to calm things down.

Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance
Matt

andyiley

9,106 posts

151 months

Wednesday 22nd July 2015
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My first question would be.

What engine is in the compact? If it is the 325 then I would keep that, as in real terms the difference between a sorted 328 & 325 is not that much.

drakart

1,735 posts

209 months

Wednesday 22nd July 2015
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Buy it and put the 2.8 in it. You won't regret it.

I rally an M3 engine one - they are great fun cool


McSam

6,753 posts

174 months

Wednesday 22nd July 2015
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I can only advise you to go for it, but if for any reason you don't, feel free to put me in touch with whoever's selling that engine... whistle

mk4gtiturbo

Original Poster:

194 posts

146 months

Thursday 23rd July 2015
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The car is a 2000 X 318Ti Sport. It has light damage to the front but only the grills and bumper, no wing or bonnet damage.

I have a mate who has some bits the same colour (he is the guy with the engine, he building a 3.0 for his Touring!)

HustleRussell

24,602 posts

159 months

Thursday 23rd July 2015
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Caterham will be cheaper in real terms.

R8Steve

4,150 posts

174 months

Thursday 23rd July 2015
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HustleRussell said:
Caterham will be cheaper in real terms.
How so?

I'm building a track car at the moment so genuinely interested in your thinking here.

Altrezia

8,517 posts

210 months

Thursday 23rd July 2015
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Build it to Compact Cup spec, and then when you get bored of pointless trackdays you can go racing in it. If you decided against it, they seem to sell for good money as race cars too.

mk4gtiturbo

Original Poster:

194 posts

146 months

Thursday 23rd July 2015
quotequote all
Where can I get a copy of the Compact Cup Spec?

I wanted to use the Golf for hill climbs but did too many mods to make it competitive in the class!

HustleRussell

24,602 posts

159 months

Thursday 23rd July 2015
quotequote all
R8Steve said:
HustleRussell said:
Caterham will be cheaper in real terms.
How so?

I'm building a track car at the moment so genuinely interested in your thinking here.
They're pretty much track ready out of the box, 13" tyres and Triumph Spitfire pattern brake pads are dirt cheap (not that such a light car will get through many of them) and when you sell it- well, it's a Caterham. Buy an older one and look after it and it simply won't depreciate. You'll have to give away a DIY track-prepped tintop even if you have spent thousands on suspension, brakes, roll cage etc.

Altrezia

8,517 posts

210 months

Thursday 23rd July 2015
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For the record I think you can buy/build, and race a tintop for less than the entry price for a (good, not knackered) caterham.

The guy that runs my race car on weekends runs a few caterhams, and they are proper money for good ones.

upsidedownmark

2,120 posts

134 months

Thursday 23rd July 2015
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They are, but the point is you get that back when you sell it - complete opposite of your track prepared tintop. Of course that rather depends on having the capital available to tie up in a caterham, but there are other brands too..

McSam

6,753 posts

174 months

Thursday 23rd July 2015
quotequote all
I absolutely understand what Russell's saying about Caterhams and the like, and there's no question that if you want the "ideal" track day car then it's a lightweight like that, but as for budget... My own E36 owes me a grand total of £2100, and I did 185 miles around Bedford on Monday. It ran faultlessly, has used about 10% of its front and rear pads and I can't actually measure any wear on the £240 set of semi-slicks.

Yes, in a ten-year plan a Caterham will be lighter on consumables and not depreciate, but we can't all tie up that amount of money (even £5k for the very cheapest Caterfieldalike is far too much for me) and tin-tops needn't be drastically more costly to prepare/run/sell on.

227bhp

10,203 posts

127 months

Thursday 23rd July 2015
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You'll only get your money back if you can sell it, not if it's been embedded into an Armco so take that into consideration.
Trackdays aren't about the money - racing is about money. If we all turned up in Caterfields it would be a dull trackday. One of the great things about going to a TD is to see something different;
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Trackdays are about being ingenious, about making something do what it was never was supposed to do, about having fun.

HustleRussell

24,602 posts

159 months

Thursday 23rd July 2015
quotequote all
227bhp said:
You'll only get your money back if you can sell it, not if it's been embedded into an Armco so take that into consideration.
Trackdays aren't about the money - racing is about money. If we all turned up in Caterfields it would be a dull trackday. One of the great things about going to a TD is to see something different;
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Trackdays are about being ingenious, about making something do what it was never was supposed to do, about having fun.
Says who? Different things to different people. Anyway I think you'll find any car loses value when smashed into some ARMCO.

mk4gtiturbo

Original Poster:

194 posts

146 months

Friday 24th July 2015
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I bought it, so the project commences!!

227bhp

10,203 posts

127 months

Friday 24th July 2015
quotequote all
HustleRussell said:
Says who? Different things to different people. Anyway I think you'll find any car loses value when smashed into some ARMCO.
Says me evidently. Which is the greater loss; £2k or £7k?

HustleRussell

24,602 posts

159 months

Friday 24th July 2015
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One does not simply throw away a Caterham. If you have a bad one you can replace the entire front half of the rolling chassis for about half that.

Hamster69

747 posts

145 months

Friday 24th July 2015
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mk4gtiturbo said:
I bought it, so the project commences!!
Well done. They are great fun cars. I love mine. Yes you could spend a bit more and buy a track ready car. But personally I have very much enjoyed improving mine one step at a time. Spreads the cost and increases the satisfaction!
There are a few good E36 build threads on here if you are looking for ideas. I have been writing mine for years. Good to see you starting yours at the start. Keep us updated.