I may be looking for a car to use in Track Days...

[leemarkadams]

Hello all, am possibly thinking of gettiing a car to use for track days and the occasional weekend blast, I will be looking to spend about 15K (possibly up to 20K but do not really want to spend that much)

Now I have a few cars that i was thinking of:

1. Lotus Elise/Exige.
2. TVR Cerbera/Chiemeara.
3. Caterham/Westfield.

Now, I envisage doing no more than 2000 miles per year in any of these vehicles, so any suggestions and any other ideas?

Thanks

Lee

[leemarkadams]

Sorry, thought of another....

4. Vauxhall VX220 (Possibly a turbo)...

Lee

[rmac]

www.pistonheads.com/sales/95008.htm

[rmac]

apart from caterham or maybe a westfield - you may as well run all your other shortlisted cars as everydayers.

All the others will also cost much more to run if given a hard life & won;t be as satisfying on track.

[Digital]

A decent Exige will cost closer to 20K than 15. I wouldn't expect the TVRs to be especially cheap to run as track cars, tyres alone must be on the pricey side, plus you've then got servicing costs to consider. Caterham/Westfield would be the most fun, but possibly only as long as it remains dry

I'd be tempted to watch out for a good Elise, that way you get a fun track car but also something that's bearable for the odd bit of road use. VXT is a good bet if you're prepared to trade off a bit of handling finesse for a bit more power - I've not driven the NA but it's generally considered to be the better handling of the two.

[smckeown]

Out of that list i'd choose a honda integra DC5

Caterfields are great in the dry, but a pain in the ass in the wet. Plus they are just too dangerous in my opinion (ive had 2). They don't have the nickname cofin dodgems for nothing

Elises are not too impressive out of the box on a track

Exiges are great, but are expensive

[combemarshal]

I'd go for the Elise, if you want something you can live with, wet or dry, and is more than capable on the track, and is a realistic price nothing else on the list comes close.

[hbaumhardt]

smckeown said:

Elises are not too impressive out of the box on a track

Get an inexpensive one and some lowcost suspension mods turn it into an effective track weapon (see profile) plus its pretty good on the road.

[Phil. S.]

An Elise is the more practical car, but it is worth bearing in mind that for around £13,000 you could get a top spec Westfield, either with a nicely tuned Vauxhall (with over 200bhp) or with a 180bhp Busa engine that will get to 60mph in under 4 seconds. You just can't get that sort of performance from an Elise at that sort of price, and because Westfields are so light (under 500kg for a Busa engined car, and under 600kg for a Vx engined one) they'll go round bends better and outbrake Elises. You'll have to be careful in the wet, but if you have semi-slicks on an Elise you'll also need care, and with the money you save you could have a spare set of wheels with wet tyres.

I have used my Vauxhall powered Westy (with aeroscreen) for track days for about a year, and drive it on the roads all year. I've no plans to change. It's not for everyone, but for thrills per pound Westfields are hard to beat.

Some examples of what you can get for your money here, here and here

Edited by Phil. S. on Sunday 20th August 19:02

[hbaumhardt]

Phil's got me on the straights ... and in the corners. Except when there's shopping in the car

[Phil. S.]

hbaumhardt said:

Phil's got me on the straights ... and in the corners. Except when there's shopping in the car

[ph123]

968 Clubsport IMHO gives you more 'car' than any of those.

[Merritt]

I used to own an Elise and I liked it a lot. They also go very well on track but I would be a little concerned about tracking one because you don't need to do a lot of damage to the ally tub to write it off. Infact it is possible to require a new chassis if you have a low speed (<30mph) impact with a roadside kerb. The problem is that the chassis is bonded together and cannot be repaired.

Steve

[hbaumhardt]

MMC, IRTA "Elises can be expensive, so I now track a GT3"

[chubbsr1]

I've got a dax rush with a busa engine, in regard to trackdays, nothing will touch it..

Yes it is the most impractical car you can have, but if like me you are only doing 1500-2000 miles a year then this doesn't really matter.

I had an elise before the dax and i was happy with that until I test drive the dax, now I wouldn't go back to the elise.

the only problem that I have is that I'm setting up a new business at the moment and I've only used the car a few times this year so it's not really worthwhile me having it, so after a couple of years ownership, i think that it's time to pass it on to someone else that will get the fun out of it that i have..

If you are near leeds, then drop me a line and i'll demonstrate it for you. then you'll see what i mean.

[jim..c]

I have an answer...

www.pistonheads.tv/clip994

Just about within your budget. Might as well look cool when you spin off in the wet!