Track days on an extremely low budget.

Track days on an extremely low budget.

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Discussion

paulshears

804 posts

196 months

Friday 3rd June 2016
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Can be done pretty cheap

Back in 2005/6 I got an MOT failure Polo Coupe, failed on brakes ... no probs cos I was planning on changing them anyway

So cost me ... other than the car price those stated are current prices

£125 for the car
£60 front Greenstuff pads
£73 front black diamond discs
£60 2nd hand fixed back bucket seat (Momo)
Home made subframe
£60 lowering springs
£80 spare set of wheels
£90 4x tyres
Striped out rest of the interior

It evolved from the initial spec mainly engine wise ... started 1.3 single point injection (55bhp) to 1.4 multipoint injection with a Schrick cam (100bhp) ... not a lot of power, but it only weighed 720kg wink

ended up looking like this ... lol


spurs coupe

294 posts

173 months

Saturday 4th June 2016
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Similar story to the Polo above, I had a cheap Saxo VTR as my first track car, was amazing fun, very light, very nimble and low running costs.

Being too young to be able to tow a trailer without doing an expensive test the biggest issue was keeping road legal to drive to and from the track. Never had to replace the Greenstuff pads, used decent road tyres.

The 172 that replaced it ate brakes, tyres and eventually blew up, but what a laugh it was in the process.

Just got a Z3 1.9 with coilovers nice and cheap to play around with for a year or two (I hope).

Whatever you get, enjoy it.

But motor sport isn't cheap, then again, Premier League season tickets are cheap either, gotta spend your money on something!


1173russ

128 posts

104 months

Saturday 4th June 2016
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The 323 track nd tow toy in the background may be for sale. I haven't managed to get it on track yet but I will.

Chainsaw Rebuild

Original Poster:

1,997 posts

101 months

Sunday 5th June 2016
quotequote all
paulshears said:
Can be done pretty cheap

Back in 2005/6 I got an MOT failure Polo Coupe, failed on brakes ... no probs cos I was planning on changing them anyway

So cost me ... other than the car price those stated are current prices

£125 for the car
£60 front Greenstuff pads
£73 front black diamond discs
£60 2nd hand fixed back bucket seat (Momo)
Home made subframe
£60 lowering springs
£80 spare set of wheels
£90 4x tyres
Striped out rest of the interior

It evolved from the initial spec mainly engine wise ... started 1.3 single point injection (55bhp) to 1.4 multipoint injection with a Schrick cam (100bhp) ... not a lot of power, but it only weighed 720kg wink

ended up looking like this ... lol

That's the kinda thing I am thinking!

What do we think of a focus? They are so cheap it seems.

dai1983

2,902 posts

148 months

Sunday 5th June 2016
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Chainsaw Rebuild said:
That's the kinda thing I am thinking!

What do we think of a focus? They are so cheap it seems.
Only driven a 1.6 and they steer well but are a little slow.

Pumas are cheaper

anonymous-user

53 months

Sunday 5th June 2016
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I'd try go for something lighter TBH, although there's nothing wrong with the way a Focus drives.

Sea Demon

1,156 posts

212 months

Monday 6th June 2016
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How about an E36 compact? I've got 1 as my road car, fairly nippy with the 1.9 16v engine/140bhp - can pick them up cheap with the M-tech kits on, I piad £400 for mine in March as an MOT failure, replaced the lower arms and a thermostat and its sorted, you've always got the option of dropping in a 2.8 engine later on, either buy a doner car for a few hundered quid or the engine on its own for around £300.

Im dropping a 2.8 in mine this weekend, picked up a complete doner car for £700.

I've also got an E36 M3 which is a full on track car but track days in the compact are just as much fun really & a lot cheaper.

You dont need to spend sh*t loads of money to have sh*it loads of fun.

SloppyClock

144 posts

95 months

Monday 6th June 2016
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MR2 MK3. I'm not sure why you would choose anything else TBH.

140BHP. Not a lot, but with no interior it goes quite fast.

And ripping out the interior is free.

Cars can be had for around 1.5K. Insurance isnt expensive as its low risk.

And it has a soft top. Whats better than that?

Munter

31,319 posts

240 months

Monday 6th June 2016
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SloppyClock said:
MR2 MK3. I'm not sure why you would choose anything else TBH.

140BHP. Not a lot, but with no interior it goes quite fast.

And ripping out the interior is free.

Cars can be had for around 1.5K. Insurance isnt expensive as its low risk.

And it has a soft top. Whats better than that?
Something in his £1000 max budget. wink

SloppyClock

144 posts

95 months

Monday 6th June 2016
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Munter said:
Something in his £1000 max budget. wink
yeah that would just about do it then!

MX5 is a good bet.

MG TF is another, bloody good car but a pig to work on cause of the rust.


Humour

297 posts

150 months

Monday 6th June 2016
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Steve H said:
Be careful with "prepped" cars, a lot of them have just had a few bits stripped out to save weight and some cheap 2" straps fitted. They've then been thrashed round with minimal maintenance (cos they are on a budget) and sold when they start to have problems yes.

Often as well getting a standard car unless you are very confident that the prepped version is a proper thing.
daniel-5zjw7 said:
Agree with Steve, more often than not cheap 'track cars' are not a great idea and a factory standard car that hasn't been messed with is a safer bet, as mentioned a lot of mods you'll find on cheap track cars are not needed anyway.

To minimise costs go for something with a small engine and low weight, it'll help no end when it comes fuel costs and consumables.
I understand giving a newbie a fair warning to keep eyes open and ensure the limited budget is spent well, but that applies in all walks of life these days chaps. Agreed you can buy a lemon if you buy based on excitement, but it doesn't have to be the case.

I bought a BMW E36 328 Sport coupe for 1K flat. Was already fully stripped by previous owner (including the sound deadening...nasty job), had a Coerbeau revolution seat fitted and a new set of cheap coil overs. Ok the engine needed maintenance, cam sensor, water pump, fix vacuum leaks etc. but as it turned out it wasn't that badly maintained. As E-BMW has stated, this isn't the best budget choice as it since had £££ spent to improve, its over 1000Kg thus its heavy on consumable thus not easy on budget, etc.

The point is, they are not all lemons. The fact is buying a car half prepped for the job, or more will always be cheaper than starting from scratch by at least 50% imo. By all means, examine what's on offer, check the parts that have been fitted and price them up as well as evaluate condition overall to judge what it's worth. There are bargains to be had if you are patient and do your home work.

My advice is buy the "lightest" car as a starting point you can afford. It will pay you back in consumables, brake discs, pads, tyres, etc. soon enough. If already prepped even better, provided its not on its last legs. MR2 (gen 3) MX-5 Gen 1/2) are your best bet.

Cheap, light and good fun. Also don't be afraid to pay a little more for something that has work done and is done well, you will simply not get that without spending twice as much over a much longer period. Fact.

Humour

RB5Bird

502 posts

194 months

Monday 6th June 2016
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C70R said:
I keep recommending (and being ignored about) the 206 GTi as a budget track car. It's effectively a poor relation to the Clio 172/182, and as a result there are plenty of serviceable examples on Ebay in the £500-800 region. The engine was used across the Pug range, and is pretty robust, and it's generally an easy car to work on and maintain.

Once stripped, they should be comfortably under the ton. With 130-something bhp, they will be plenty of fun on track.
Another vote for the 206 GTi, I recently got one for £250 (was my mum's old car, so effectively bought my sister out of her half).
I did intend to strip it out and use it as a track car, but am now using as a sort of daily as well, so kept it comfortable.

I did Marham the last weekend in May, had all my overnight stuff in the boot, no tools, no spare wheels, nothing. Learned a lot from the weekend, now have a spare set of wheels and enough tools to swap them over and probably fix minor trim issues.

Loved it, and the car was awesome. Very fun, and proper nippy, big engine/little car. Matt, who had an MX5 wasn't geared for top speed, so couldn't get me there, but he barely caught me in the corners. I'm looking forward to my second track day now.

Awesome little car, not to be underestimated. Obviously Imprezas and the like went past, but they have twice the BHP, and they weren't screaming away (well, some things were), but whatever you have, there will always be something bigger and faster than yourself.

Pebbles167

3,417 posts

151 months

Monday 6th June 2016
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You'll be able to get a 206 gti 180 within your budget. Sure, it might not actually be 180bhp but its pretty quick. Not much difference to a Clio 172 or 306 Gti6, albeit with slightly less fun/handling,

McSam

6,753 posts

174 months

Sunday 12th June 2016
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Amazing amount of doom being spread about running a cheap BMW on track. It's simply not the case - or at least, it needn't be. I felt the need to add my own experience alongside the below poster's:

E-bmw said:
Sorry I forgot your other point.

You mention you would ideally like a BM.

Sorry to give you some more bad news, I am not doing it to be nasty or elitist, just letting you know what you are getting into. (A great community of lots of PHers with track day E36s who are more than happy to share their huge knowledge and often offer parts / spannering help as well?)

I have an e36 328 which I bought in 2009 for £1650. Bought mine in 2012 2014 for £900

To buy the same car in the same condition now would cost me twice as much. Apparently not!

The consumable costs I have highlighted above are double those I mentioned for one of those, they are not kind on consumables and I get 8mpg on track and use 2 full 70 litre tanks per track day. I get 12mpg on most track days and 10mpg on sprints. Even at 8, though, you'd need to do 200 miles to empty the (62-litre, not 70) tank twice, which is a hell of a lot for a solo track day

A set of front pads costs me £230+vat. I use Performance Friction Z-rated, £90 inc VAT and excellent

Rears cost £44+vat £68 inc VAT for the above compound which it appears will last longer than I live

Tyres cost me over £500/year.I bought a set of 205/55R16 Nankang NS-2Rs for £240 last April, they've done 900 track miles and still have 4mm tread left

I service the car 3 times/year.Absolutely no call for this. Did a full service on mine when I bought it, dropped the (£60 worth of Mobil 1 0W/40) oil out after 18 months and 1000 track miles and it was immaculate

I go through a set of discs/year at over £200 Then your pads are pretty aggressive, because my discs are lasting fine!


And then there is the insurance, mot, tax, track day cost, cost of the inevitable repairs etc. I insure my car when required, it costs me £25 to add it to my main car's policy for a week, so that's fine. It's also taxed when required, £20 for a month then SORNed after insurance comes off. As for "inevitable repairs", thirteen events later I seem to be proving that they're fairly easy to evade..

If I were to put my hand on my heart I would say my track day habit costs me well over £5k/year just in consumables & running costs. Last year came to £1502 for 628 track miles in four track days and two sprints. I shared the car on all of the track days, so actual cost to me is around a grand, maybe less
I've been very fortunate with my car, I managed to find one owned by a PHer I trusted and who had already done track days with it so I wasn't anticipating any immediate failures, but it was completely standard. In the first year, I spent £900 buying it, did a sprint as it was, then spent £550 on suspension and £120 on pads and did the rest of the year like that. It's bloody brilliant fun, and I haven't yet been on a track day where someone hasn't come up to me in the pits to ask what I've done to the car after seeing its pace out on track: "not a lot, really!"

There's no need to spend a fortune. Just get out there and have fun, and take a mate every time to split the costs and have even more fun. If you want to read more about my car, it has its own thread and plenty of video in there too. If you want to try it out, just let me know.

Edited by McSam on Wednesday 15th June 18:24

E-bmw

9,104 posts

151 months

Sunday 12th June 2016
quotequote all
McSam said:
Amazing amount of doom being spread about running a cheap BMW on track. It's simply not the case - or at least, it needn't be. I felt the need to add my own experience alongside the below poster's:

E-bmw said:
Sorry I forgot your other point.

You mention you would ideally like a BM.

Sorry to give you some more bad news, I am not doing it to be nasty or elitist, just letting you know what you are getting into. (A great community of lots of PHers with track day E36s who are more than happy to share their huge knowledge and often offer parts / spannering help as well?)

I have an e36 328 which I bought in 2009 for £1650. Bought mine in 2012 for £900

To buy the same car in the same condition now would cost me twice as much. Apparently not!

The consumable costs I have highlighted above are double those I mentioned for one of those, they are not kind on consumables and I get 8mpg on track and use 2 full 70 litre tanks per track day. I get 12mpg on most track days and 10mpg on sprints. Even at 8, though, you'd need to do 200 miles to empty the (62-litre, not 70) tank twice, which is a hell of a lot for a solo track day

A set of front pads costs me £230+vat. I use Performance Friction Z-rated, £90 inc VAT and excellent

Rears cost £44+vat £68 inc VAT for the above compound which it appears will last longer than I live

Tyres cost me over £500/year.I bought a set of 205/55R16 Nankang NS-2Rs for £240 last April, they've done 900 track miles and still have 4mm tread left

I service the car 3 times/year.Absolutely no call for this. Did a full service on mine when I bought it, dropped the (£60 worth of Mobil 1 0W/40) oil out after 18 months and 1000 track miles and it was immaculate

I go through a set of discs/year at over £200 Then your pads are pretty aggressive, because my discs are lasting fine!


And then there is the insurance, mot, tax, track day cost, cost of the inevitable repairs etc. I insure my car when required, it costs me £25 to add it to my main car's policy for a week, so that's fine. It's also taxed when required, £20 for a month then SORNed after insurance comes off. As for "inevitable repairs", thirteen events later I seem to be proving that they're fairly easy to evade..

If I were to put my hand on my heart I would say my track day habit costs me well over £5k/year just in consumables & running costs. Last year came to £1502 for 628 track miles in four track days and two sprints. I shared the car on all of the track days, so actual cost to me is around a grand, maybe less
I've been very fortunate with my car, I managed to find one owned by a PHer I trusted and who had already done track days with it so I wasn't anticipating any immediate failures, but it was completely standard. In the first year, I spent £900 buying it, did a sprint as it was, then spent £550 on suspension and £120 on pads and did the rest of the year like that. It's bloody brilliant fun, and I haven't yet been on a track day where someone hasn't come up to me in the pits to ask what I've done to the car after seeing its pace out on track: "not a lot, really!"

There's no need to spend a fortune. Just get out there and have fun, and take a mate every time to split the costs and have even more fun. If you want to read more about my car, it has its own thread and plenty of video in there too. If you want to try it out, just let me know.
Shock-horror! Two different people doing different things in different cars in different ways have different costs!

Of course there going to be differences even if the cars were EXACTLY the same, which ours clearly are not.

For example the 200 miles on track you suggest to empty the tank twice, what about the 180 miles round-trip to/from my closest track.

I use 4-pot AP front calipers, your are probably standard ones. Yes, my pads/my braking probably is aggressive & that is just fine, I wouldn't necessarily get much more than 2 years out of a set of discs on a boggo road car either.

Yes it is a lot for a solo track day, I normally do around 30 min on 20 min off, and normally average around 150/170 miles on track in one day and do up to 10/year.

I also didn't realise 2012 was now or even that you saw my car when I bought it & tried to buy the same car in the same condition with the same mileage & history now.

All-in-all as I said, I was just giving some balance to show that there are significant cost differentials between the costs of trying to do it on the cheap with a car that is so much more costly to run on track.

McSam

6,753 posts

174 months

Monday 13th June 2016
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As I'm sure you know very well, I wanted to illustrate that running an E36 needn't cost anywhere near what yours does. I'm sure it's excellent, but I would hate for anyone on a tighter budget to reject a great base car because they thought they had to spend as much as you outlined smile

ETA; I screwed up in my original post, it was my E46 I bought in 2012, my E36 was 2014 - that may make the comparison of purchase price look more relevant!

Edited by McSam on Wednesday 15th June 18:24

E-bmw

9,104 posts

151 months

Tuesday 14th June 2016
quotequote all
I agree & as I implied above it is always horses for courses, I seem to do more than you, and have different (more costly) consumable usage due to things like different brakes and as with anything the more you do the more it costs.

The OP may be happy with just a few days on a virtually standard car or may want more, only he knows which is more applicable.

Wh00sher

1,587 posts

217 months

Tuesday 14th June 2016
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E-bmw said:
I service the car 3 times/year.
I suggest you get the oil sampled when you drop it next time.

Unless you are doing thousands of track miles, you`ll get a report back saying there is nothing wrong with the oil, it doesn`t need changing and you are just wasting money.

I`m all for regular servicing on a track car, but there is simply no need to change oil so often.

daniel-5zjw7

598 posts

100 months

Tuesday 14th June 2016
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..and when you do really need to change the oil, it can also be done cheaply if you get the right deal and can do it yourself.

Did mine last weekend, just under £18 got me 5 litres of Shell Helix Ultra and a Crosland oil filter, I've just over a litre left for top ups which will last me a good few road miles and a few events, sorted :-)

HustleRussell

24,602 posts

159 months

Tuesday 14th June 2016
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daniel-5zjw7 said:
..and when you do really need to change the oil, it can also be done cheaply if you get the right deal and can do it yourself.

Did mine last weekend, just under £18 got me 5 litres of Shell Helix Ultra and a Crosland oil filter, I've just over a litre left for top ups which will last me a good few road miles and a few events, sorted :-)
Personally I would spend a pound or two more on the oil filter but I agree, being that the car only gets used 'in season' and provided the oil gets changed with reasonable frequency, expensive 0w, 5w and fully synthetic oils can be substituted for a decent 10w40 semi, for example.