Track Day Ideas

[rwstokes]

hey people,

long time reader, first time poster, but i wanted some advice.

over this summer i plan on starting going on track days. ill be trailering the car there anyway, so it will be sorned to save me the tax costs and all that jazz

my real question is what car to use. my options are:

my current (but broken) second car, a peugeot 306 that ive had about 18 months, and have had alot done so i know its relatively sorted, and which will only cost me about £150 to get to a track, cause it just needs a clutch and new brakes,

or, do the clutch on the 306 anyway (cause its ronnied, and i fancy abit of a challenge), then sell it and buy ......... something, for about 1k, i know the standard answer is an mx5, but is there anything else thats worth looking at seriously, ive had brief looks at mr2s, 3 series, and 106s amoungst others, but basically was looking for something reliable, cheap to mod a little bit, and that wont cost the earth to take on track days.

thanks guys,

[FRA53R]

What are you looking for? FWD, RWD, Power? Are there any caveats? I can give you some suggestions

[rwstokes]

i suppose i would ideally like rwd, just because i think it would be a better way of learning to drive 'properly' but im not hugely bothered,

id take a fwd thats reliable over a fragile rwd, although i do appreciate that track day life is hard, and that for about 1k the car wont be bulletproof.

[David87]

E30 3-Series seem to be quite popular and look a good laugh. When I was 17, a mate and I bought an old Mk3 Fiesta XR2i and stripped it for track use. For an extremely small outlay it was lots of fun and took severe punishment.

[FRA53R]

E30 would be great but they're getting thin on the ground for under a grand. There are plenty of e36's about some already prepared, a left field suggestion would be the first gen C-class Merc which I've heard can be quite fun, a great laugh would be an old rwd Volvo which wouldn't be the quickest but would definitely tick the reliability and smiles box. Fwd the pug is a good option, a mk1 clio 1.8rsi (if you can find one) would be brilliant, Nissan Primera GT is reliable, surprisingly nimble and will take an insane amount of punishment.

[dm46]

fix the pug first, track it then sell the pug and get a focus golf gti. Or get an old caterham/westfield

[dm46]

meant to say focus st170 or golf gti

[FRA53R]

dm46 said:

fix the pug first, track it then sell the pug and get a focus golf gti. Or get an old caterham/westfield

I'd agree but you'll never get a caterhan or westfield for under a grand!

[rwstokes]

i suppose if i keep the 306 i have a known starting point, and can see what i want to do from there, where as if i get something else, im starting from scratch with it

ooo a caterham/westfield for under 1k, now that would be flippin awesome

[cris654321]

you can buy my mr2 for under a grand with brake upgrades not advertising though other mr2s are available

[dm46]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ROBIN-HOOD-S7-KIT-CAR-NO...

out of budget but not alot of money

[rwstokes]

wow, 2 litre kit car for 3k, thats an awful lot of car for the money,

[R300will]

I might be mis-interpreting the OP but did you say you were thinking of track day-ing a pug 306? If so no there isn't much point tbh i would fix it and sell it for Mx-5, MR2 or something of the like. You will get much more enjoyment out of those imo.