Buy or Prepare
Discussion
Looking to start racing in the Welsh Saloon championship this year for the first time.
I want to start with a small budget and have been looking at cheap cars already prepared.
I am not bothered about being competitive in my first year, just want to learn the ropes.
The question is, should I buy a prepared car or a road car and get it prepared.
For example a very basic prepared saloon or hatch will cost between £2000 and £3000, sometimes less.
A decent road car of the same type will likely cost at least £1,000 less but of course then I need to prepare it.
Any comments, experience suggestions or indeed anyone selling a car, replies appreciated.
I want to start with a small budget and have been looking at cheap cars already prepared.
I am not bothered about being competitive in my first year, just want to learn the ropes.
The question is, should I buy a prepared car or a road car and get it prepared.
For example a very basic prepared saloon or hatch will cost between £2000 and £3000, sometimes less.
A decent road car of the same type will likely cost at least £1,000 less but of course then I need to prepare it.
Any comments, experience suggestions or indeed anyone selling a car, replies appreciated.
With that sort of budget then 155 miiion%b buy one prepared, for 3k you want build anything that will be safe or anything that you will progress in.....but you might find something already done, you should strongly consider your R400, only a little less PTW than my CSR had and that was totally domnant ion WSSC last season, they are also very cheap to run, much more so than a saloon, i used 1 set of discs/pads in 2 seasons, the odd oil chnage and that was it, very cheap racing
Edited by taffyracer on Wednesday 8th February 10:42
Thanks Dom. The plan is the R400 next season once I have learned the ropes.
Whilst I am of course the best racer in the world I am not sure I am ready to propel 400bhp/ton around Pembrey (with other cars) yet!
Hence do a "cheap" season, build confidence and experience and if all goes well get the R400 in for next.
Whilst I am of course the best racer in the world I am not sure I am ready to propel 400bhp/ton around Pembrey (with other cars) yet!
Hence do a "cheap" season, build confidence and experience and if all goes well get the R400 in for next.
i used a Clio 172 to base my costs on and this was for the CSCC tin tops series but the costs will be roughly transferable to the Welsh Saloons.
the base car was about £2K as i wanted a standard car and in good condition with history, some might say this is irrelevant when its being raced but i wanted to start from a reasonable car. The cage, multipoint weld-in would be about £1K when all is done. Seat and harness were about £300, so thats £3.3k before you really have touched the car performance wise. With the essentials like battery cut off, extinguisher etc, you are looking at over £3.5K. Then you will need to factor in a track/race suspension set up at a minimum before you can really think about racing. Of course you could race on standard suspension but you just wouldnt, same for brakes and tyres....then there is all the under the bonnet mods that you can think of/afford... In all honesty, to build a race car and get it on track ready for a first race, you are looking at £5000 at the absolute minimum.
there are always some saloons out there for sale, often ex one make series cars, just dont be picky about make and model but you are in most cases better buying one that has had a good long race history rather than someone elses abandoned project.
the base car was about £2K as i wanted a standard car and in good condition with history, some might say this is irrelevant when its being raced but i wanted to start from a reasonable car. The cage, multipoint weld-in would be about £1K when all is done. Seat and harness were about £300, so thats £3.3k before you really have touched the car performance wise. With the essentials like battery cut off, extinguisher etc, you are looking at over £3.5K. Then you will need to factor in a track/race suspension set up at a minimum before you can really think about racing. Of course you could race on standard suspension but you just wouldnt, same for brakes and tyres....then there is all the under the bonnet mods that you can think of/afford... In all honesty, to build a race car and get it on track ready for a first race, you are looking at £5000 at the absolute minimum.
there are always some saloons out there for sale, often ex one make series cars, just dont be picky about make and model but you are in most cases better buying one that has had a good long race history rather than someone elses abandoned project.
Huw, understand, but its the perfect car.......in that case why not look at a locost or similar cheap 7 type car, it would be very competitive and very cheap to run and you'd learn more in something like that then a saloon, especially if you then plan to jump into your r400 in season 2, much closer in terms of handling.....cheap used michelin slicks and you'd be on the pace really quickly
Dom makes a great point but I'd go a step further and suggest that maybe, if you plan to eventually be competitive in your 7, you should look at the 750MC Locost Championship for a season. You can buy a ready-to-go car for £4k and sell it for the same in a year's time if you look after it.
It'd be a great feeder for the R400 I think; it's extremely competitive, entries are huge (often needing a heat and final) and there is very close racing right down the field. There is also a Novice trophy meaning that you've a chance of silverware in your first season.
Check out www.750mc.co.uk.
It'd be a great feeder for the R400 I think; it's extremely competitive, entries are huge (often needing a heat and final) and there is very close racing right down the field. There is also a Novice trophy meaning that you've a chance of silverware in your first season.
Check out www.750mc.co.uk.
At this point I'm tempted to recommend my Ginetta G20 - currently for sale! Very robust, handles well, good condition, quick enough (quicker than the g40 on the same tyres & despite the g40 having a sequential box) and can easily be upgraded for more power if you want later. A good lead in car for more powerful RWD alternatives later!
Huw, i wouldn;t even waste your time with treaded tyres, the fact is they are no cheaper and just make the car harder to drive and less fun, cheap used slicks is the way to go, i spent £220 in 2010, 2.2k in 2011 and was only faster for the 1st few races, then times equalised and i was running the same times as the used slicks! converesely i ran toyo 888's, cost me £450 / set and were crap after 1 race and I believe the regs are not List 1B so will be even worse!
I bought a ready built car last year and still ended up spending money on it. This year, I bought the base car and built it the way I wanted, rather than compromise and accept someone elses ideas. Cost was around £5k but I've now got the car and spec I wanted.
Search race car on eBay as there are some tidy cars available.
Search race car on eBay as there are some tidy cars available.
The nice thing about doing it yourself is that you won't uncover any hidden surprises that someone else has left in the race car for you to find (hopefully not a safety issue and before you have an accident).
Alternatively buy a car and have some budget to sort any crap out!!
Good luck mate
Alternatively buy a car and have some budget to sort any crap out!!
Good luck mate
Buy one, some really good cars around whatever the budget.
We built our car and its cost a small fortune, took far too long and then took even longer to get right. When we see what we could of bought for the cash and not had the grief and problems it makes us want to cry. Best we dont look at the for sale section now.
If you want to race, then go race. dont spend 6 months in the garage building the thing
We built our car and its cost a small fortune, took far too long and then took even longer to get right. When we see what we could of bought for the cash and not had the grief and problems it makes us want to cry. Best we dont look at the for sale section now.
If you want to race, then go race. dont spend 6 months in the garage building the thing
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