What track day car for under 5k?

[HonahonT350]

Morning folks - I'm sure this topic has been covered elsewhere but hey ho, it's Friday.

I'm seriously considering buying something around the 5k price bracket as a track only car, no tax / MOT / etc and make only the most very basic track day alterations.

I'm currently tracking a 997 C2S which is great, apart from I'm worried about crashing it or getting crashed into - I've had some near misses already, especially in the wet at castle combe! Best way to go is surely budget on a track only car.

My thoughts:

E46 M3
Honda S2000
Audi S2
Audi S3
Evo 6

Any thoughts on the above or other suggestions?

Cheers, J

PS - At Keevil this weekend if anyone is around please come and say hi :-)

[ashleyqprw12]

For budget i'm sure you'll struggle at decent examples of some of those, with the extra stress of track driving.

I'd say the S2000 would be the pick of the bunch.. nothing but great things i hear about those

[HonahonT350]

It's a bench mark - I don't mind spending another 1k if needs be. Agreed about the Honda, it's also bullet proof.
Can't believe you can get an e46 M3 for under 6k now - that is a lot of car for the money.

2003 (03 reg)Coupe75,000 milesSemi-Automatic3.2L Petrol
2 Door Coupe, Black, Petrol, SMG, Service History, 3 Months mot, 3 Months tax, Full leather interior, Electric Seats, cd Changer, Cruise Control, Remote Central locking, Runs and Drives Fine. Xenon headlights. £5,795

[AshVX220]

If you can stretch to another £1k or so, how about a VX or Elise type car?

If it were me, I'd get a decent MR2 Turbo and strip it out/properly track prep it, upgrade the shocks, decent brakes, geo etc.

[HonahonT350]

That's not a bad shout - the little VX220 is a great little car and quick. Not sure about reliability? used to have an elise and that was a little bugger. MR2 Turbo - interesting, not a car I know much about to be honest. Do you mean something like this? For 6k I could get 600 bhp evo 6 :-)

http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...

[HonahonT350]

Hummm - 13k - This would be fun:

http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...

[joshG]

I'd be looking at megane r26 and integra dc2, both incredible cars on track without hardly any mods.

[clarki]

HonahonT350 said:

For 6k I could get 600 bhp evo 6 :-)

Which will probably fail every noise test + definitely breakdown!!

[HonahonT350]

True.

[Trev450]

It would also cost you as much again to track on a regular basis.

Have you considered a Civic Type R?

[HonahonT350]

I see them buzzing around tracks a lot.. good little track cars. Not for me though.

[Defcon5]

HonahonT350 said:

That's not a bad shout - the little VX220 is a great little car and quick. Not sure about reliability?

It's engine is lifted straight out of a vectra, only its having to lug around something half the weight. Fundamentally very reliable- dont let the mileage put you off either for the same reason

[declasm]

How about an RX-7?
http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...

[HonahonT350]

http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...

[braddo]

HonahonT350 said:

I'm seriously considering buying something around the 5k price bracket as a track only car, no tax / MOT / etc and make only the most very basic track day alterations.

If you are going to have a car that you need to trailer to track days, why choose a road car with minimal modifications? Other than the S2000 perhaps, the cars you suggested are all too heavy, too soft and/or will burn through consumables at a frightening pace.

Is the rationale for few modifications to make it easier to sell?

[HonahonT350]

declasm said:

How about an RX-7?
http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...

Now that's a good idea.

[HonahonT350]

More than I would like to spend but this looks pretty fun.

http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...

[edh]

What do you want in a track car - loads of power & straight line speed? RWD/FWD/AWD?


Do you want something that "just works" or do you plan to spend your time fiddling / fixing ?

High powered / modified Turbo cars don't always have the best reliability record...

A prepared race car is worth looking at if it doesn't have to be road legal - you don't need masses of power to go fast at most circuits. Consumables are usually much cheaper on lighter cars as well. FWD race cars (much more common at this price range) are usually set up to handle properly (i.e. don't understeer like most FWD road cars)

I'd also look at a Westfield / Striker etc.. can't be beaten for intensity

last suggestion - have you thought about a Boxster S?

[HonahonT350]

edh said:

What do you want in a track car - loads of power & straight line speed? RWD/FWD/AWD?


Do you want something that "just works" or do you plan to spend your time fiddling / fixing ?

High powered / modified Turbo cars don't always have the best reliability record...

A prepared race car is worth looking at if it doesn't have to be road legal - you don't need masses of power to go fast at most circuits. Consumables are usually much cheaper on lighter cars as well. FWD race cars (much more common at this price range) are usually set up to handle properly (i.e. don't understeer like most FWD road cars)

I'd also look at a Westfield / Striker etc.. can't be beaten for intensity

last suggestion - have you thought about a Boxster S?

Some very good notes - thank you. I understand it comes down to what I want from a car, but I have soft spots for all the different variations. For the track, I suppose your description 'intensity' is correct for what I'm looking for, given the choice i'd get an Atom 240 but then it's back the problem of damage.

I've had two Boxster S's in the past, a 986 and a 3.4 987 - both are excellent. Get miffed with people (cough cough Clarkson) calling it a poor man's Porsche. One of the finest point to point cars in the world in my mind.

This looks lovely - http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...

[HonahonT350]

Err.. OK... What about this:

http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...