Another which track day car thread

[Mr Red Barron]

Looking for a bit of advice please.

I've done a few track days in the past when I owned my Monaro and whilst I enjoyed myself immensely, the car was my daily driver so I was a bit weary of pushing it hard and possibly binning it. Now I've got the itch again I want to get something for less than £1000 which will still be fun to drive whilst not worrying if the worst was to happen.

I've narrowed it down to two cars. An MG ZS 180 or a 1.7 Ford Puma. I've driven both and found them to be great handling cars.

I've always loved touring cars so something similar is important to me (no MX5's). I've done my research and I prefer the idea of a ZS. Although its heavier than a ZR, I just prefer the idea of having one. I'd strip out the unwanted, put some decent tyres and brakes on and give it a once over.
Same for the Puma really.

If I could find one that's already had the work done for under a grand I'd be lucky. So I've been trawling the classifieds and you can pick up semi-decent standard ones for around 600 quid. I'm planning on having it SORN and hiring a trailer to take it to the circuits.

What do you guys think? Good idea or not?

[Steve H]

I'd be a bit worried about thrashing round with one of those V6 engines, any problems are likely to cost more to fix than the car is worth.

Standard advice for cheap fwd is usually Clio/106 Gti/Saxo VTS for a good reason.

[C70R]

A friend and I have just picked up a part-prepped 206 GTi for less than £500, plus a few £ for uprating tyres and brakes. It's stripped (~900kg) and makes around 140bhp, so should be slightly quicker in a straight line than a 1.8 MX5.

They might not be the last word in handling finesse, but with a bit of fettling it should be as much fun as plenty of more expensive track toys.

[Mr Red Barron]

After looking into this a bit more, I think the ZS 180 is out. Without me having a B+E licence I'm limited to what weight I can pull around on a trailer that I'll hire and the Mg will just be too heavy (Even if I strip it down). Therefore the Puma seems the best bet as it'll keep the weight around 1500kgs plus trailer. Which gives me more scope to find a decent car to tow it with.

Ideally, I don't want to spend over a grand on either the cost of a semi-prepared car or a basic car plus upgrades.

I'm open to alternative sensible ideas?

[Sam996RS]

Do the B+E; it's possible you will be over weight for your licence even if the trailer is empty as it's done on plated weight (gross weight or MAM as they like to call it).

[Mr Red Barron]

Is this not correct then?

The Ford Puma 1.7 weighs a claimed 1039 kg at the kerb
Average weight of a twin axle trailer – 550kg
1589 kgs mam weight for trailer + car (roughly)
3500 - 1589 = 1911

So if I have a tow car that is rated to pull at least 1600kgs and weighs between 1600kgs - 1900 kgs I should be ok?

(Forgot to add I passed my test in Jan 2002 so specific rules apply)

[Sam996RS]

You need to find out the MAM (gross weight) is of your car and trailer.

For example my trailer has a MAM of 2000KG, and the MAM of my tow car is something like 2200KG. Total combined would be 4200KG.

This would mean that even with an empty trailer and tow car you would be over the limit on a standard licence.

[Black_S3]

This explains it really well.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[dai1983]

One of the guys on the Puma Track group had a ZS but now runs a Puma after driving his sons Puma engined Fiesta. He built it for roughly a grand but it now has a st170 engine in it:

https://m.facebook.com/blackbettypuma/

A 172/182 will be faster but are a lot more expensive and the timing belt/dephaser pulley parts ramps the costs up!

[QBee]

There is an alternative - take and pass your B&E test. Then the towing world's your oyster (instead of your winkle).

[davebem]

Have you considered a Alfa 156 (2.0 twin spark or 2.5 v6), you have a touring car link, they can be picked up for well under the budget and there is lots of ways to improve and make them faster/more reliable.