cheap trackday car?
Discussion
there are a few others that spring to mind that I've seen at track days:
honda civics & mazda mx5s can be had for not much dough. Both come with japanese reliability too.
anything with an alfa badge should be fun, but you'd better own some spanners.
golf gti MkII
astra GTE
a lot of people just look for scruffy cars that are sound mechanically. even cars with minor accident damage. I do mean minor though.
if you do go the very cheap car route though, be a sport and try to ensure that it wont drop fluids on track
jaker
honda civics & mazda mx5s can be had for not much dough. Both come with japanese reliability too.
anything with an alfa badge should be fun, but you'd better own some spanners.
golf gti MkII
astra GTE
a lot of people just look for scruffy cars that are sound mechanically. even cars with minor accident damage. I do mean minor though.
if you do go the very cheap car route though, be a sport and try to ensure that it wont drop fluids on track
jaker
Apologies for the thread hijack but it's kind of on topic, so...
I've just been offered a 1981 MK1 Golf GTi, slightly tatty round the edges but running well and with 12 months MOT for £250 and it occurs to me that even after spending a few quid on it (starting with a thourough brake overhaul and a good look at the suspension, tyres, etc) this could be a good way of avoidi,ng the worry of using my (relatively!) expensive daily driver (2005 Audi A4 quattro) at places like, say Cadwell, Oulton etc and probably more fun to boot!.
Any comments? Things to look out for on a MK1 GiT? Things that'll need particular attention before track use?
--
Jonathon
I've just been offered a 1981 MK1 Golf GTi, slightly tatty round the edges but running well and with 12 months MOT for £250 and it occurs to me that even after spending a few quid on it (starting with a thourough brake overhaul and a good look at the suspension, tyres, etc) this could be a good way of avoidi,ng the worry of using my (relatively!) expensive daily driver (2005 Audi A4 quattro) at places like, say Cadwell, Oulton etc and probably more fun to boot!.
Any comments? Things to look out for on a MK1 GiT? Things that'll need particular attention before track use?
--
Jonathon
Get an Mazda MX5. Great track day car and my imported one has 115bhp (from a 1.6) and a limited slip diff as standard. You don't have to spend anything on mods to make it handle. Just get the alignment set at a garage for £50 and it has great balance on the track.
205 GTi's are the usual 'cheap' track car choise. However I have one and even after being stripped out and a lot spent on upgrading the suspension it's still slower around a circuit than the MX5! It's made want to sell the 205 even though I'll lose a lot of money. But I'm happier with the MX5 and it's much more reliable too.
205 GTi's are the usual 'cheap' track car choise. However I have one and even after being stripped out and a lot spent on upgrading the suspension it's still slower around a circuit than the MX5! It's made want to sell the 205 even though I'll lose a lot of money. But I'm happier with the MX5 and it's much more reliable too.
Edited by James_UK on Tuesday 5th December 18:58
bigbadbikercats said:
Apologies for the thread hijack but it's kind of on topic, so...
I've just been offered a 1981 MK1 Golf GTi, slightly tatty round the edges but running well and with 12 months MOT for £250 and it occurs to me that even after spending a few quid on it (starting with a thourough brake overhaul and a good look at the suspension, tyres, etc) this could be a good way of avoidi,ng the worry of using my (relatively!) expensive daily driver (2005 Audi A4 quattro) at places like, say Cadwell, Oulton etc and probably more fun to boot!.
Any comments? Things to look out for on a MK1 GiT? Things that'll need particular attention before track use?
--
Jonathon
I've just been offered a 1981 MK1 Golf GTi, slightly tatty round the edges but running well and with 12 months MOT for £250 and it occurs to me that even after spending a few quid on it (starting with a thourough brake overhaul and a good look at the suspension, tyres, etc) this could be a good way of avoidi,ng the worry of using my (relatively!) expensive daily driver (2005 Audi A4 quattro) at places like, say Cadwell, Oulton etc and probably more fun to boot!.
Any comments? Things to look out for on a MK1 GiT? Things that'll need particular attention before track use?
--
Jonathon
Its tough to answer, obvuously brakes, suspension engine, corrosion points, rack mounts, etc etc & the thing could end up being a money pit, I thought i could run a Golfy as a cheap track & 'ring toy, I had a grand to £1500 tops all in as an aim, ha ha I was tad wrong there & its so easy to underestimate the ££ needed to uprate this & that & then its not quick enough so you do more & then the odd breakage etc etc it all adds up.
Easy to turn that cheap Golf into something that a year or 2 down the line owes £6-10k.... my mates excellently developed Mk1 with 16v power prob owes over £8k with naff all spent on labour as all done himself, & I can list several mk2s that have cost around or more then that figure, yet worth a fraction of that on resale.
Funily enough give someone mentioned Mx5 above, I am pondering going that route, would need to spend a lot of £ to be even close to well developed old Golf quick but thats not necessarily what its all about, I just need to ponder can I really bring my self to sell my faithful & properly built & enginered old girl aggggh decisions decisions!
wayner007 said:
IVw golf gti is there anyone using these two as track day cars?
Any help woould be great
Thanks
Any help woould be great
Thanks
Yip Golf-
www.photobox.co.uk/album/album_fullsize.html?c_photo=72754964
Aggh, flippin' photobox, oh well should show a pic if you click the link
Edited by iguana on Wednesday 6th December 18:46
Having thought about this ("this" being the cheap Golf GiT I've been offered) I've come to the conclusion that the answer lies in the bit of text on every track day disclaimer I've ever seen which says that it's my responsibility to make sure that whatever vehicle I use is suitable[1] for the activity. Now, my cheap GiT may well be one of those little gems which pop up from time to time that underneath a patina of grot are completely sound and will thrive on continual thrashing, on the other hand it may be a shed. If I had the practical mechanical ability to put in one or other of those categories then I wouldn't be asking the question here, and as I don't, I'm in no position to judge it's suitability.
For now, unless something of known provenance turns up I'll leave the bargains to those who have the skill, knowledge, and judgement to choose and maintain them properly and that way I won't end up being Mr Unpopular as (say) a sump full of oil gets dumped all the way through Hall Bends, or being cut out of a heap of twisted wreckage when a suspension component collapses at the braking point for Park...
[1] I spent pretty much two full days thrashing the living daylights out of a 1976 Triumph T160 Trident motorcyle amongst (mostly) modern 'bikes at Cadwell earlier this year - some may say this is stretching the definition of suitable a bit but given that it had been sourced from and recently given a clean bill of health by a known authority on Triumph/BSA triples I didn't have too many concerns - turned out to be huge fun too! :-)
--
JG
For now, unless something of known provenance turns up I'll leave the bargains to those who have the skill, knowledge, and judgement to choose and maintain them properly and that way I won't end up being Mr Unpopular as (say) a sump full of oil gets dumped all the way through Hall Bends, or being cut out of a heap of twisted wreckage when a suspension component collapses at the braking point for Park...
[1] I spent pretty much two full days thrashing the living daylights out of a 1976 Triumph T160 Trident motorcyle amongst (mostly) modern 'bikes at Cadwell earlier this year - some may say this is stretching the definition of suitable a bit but given that it had been sourced from and recently given a clean bill of health by a known authority on Triumph/BSA triples I didn't have too many concerns - turned out to be huge fun too! :-)
--
JG
I run an E30 318is as a track car.
Completely stripped and painted interior (weight), remove bonnet hinge (weight), put battery in the boot (weight distribution), lighten wiring loom (weight and looks), 2 x bucket seats, harnesses, 6 point roll cage, M3 eccentric bushes, stainless steel exhaust with de-cat, 3 sets of wheels (dry, wet, road) and LSD (4.1 which was a bugger to find).
Not all 318is came with LSD as standard. Being lighter on the front than a 325i the turn in better and is much better under braking (they run 325i brakes as standard but without the weight). I have done a couple of performance mods (chip, filter, stainless exhaust + decat) and in a straight line I can keep up with a standard 325i auto.
Great fun little car (incidently is for sale).
Completely stripped and painted interior (weight), remove bonnet hinge (weight), put battery in the boot (weight distribution), lighten wiring loom (weight and looks), 2 x bucket seats, harnesses, 6 point roll cage, M3 eccentric bushes, stainless steel exhaust with de-cat, 3 sets of wheels (dry, wet, road) and LSD (4.1 which was a bugger to find).
Not all 318is came with LSD as standard. Being lighter on the front than a 325i the turn in better and is much better under braking (they run 325i brakes as standard but without the weight). I have done a couple of performance mods (chip, filter, stainless exhaust + decat) and in a straight line I can keep up with a standard 325i auto.
Great fun little car (incidently is for sale).
No I haven't bought a replacement.
I have just bought a new house (100 year old cottage) that needs total renovation. This means that I could do with the money and also the car isn't being used.
I only did one proper trackday last year and it doesn't make sense to tax, insure and MOT the car when it barely moves all year (just a drive every now and again to stop the brakes binding and the tyres flat spotting).
It is gutting but I am trying to be sensible.
I have just bought a new house (100 year old cottage) that needs total renovation. This means that I could do with the money and also the car isn't being used.
I only did one proper trackday last year and it doesn't make sense to tax, insure and MOT the car when it barely moves all year (just a drive every now and again to stop the brakes binding and the tyres flat spotting).
It is gutting but I am trying to be sensible.
Gassing Station | Track Days | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff