More difficult than I expected
Discussion
Hey everyone, I've been lurking around this site for a few months now and got a bit sick of playing the silent bystander role so I decided to take the plunge and sign up, which I've mainly been putting off due to the fear of constantly trawling the forums and racking up thousands of posts, but I'm here for some advice.
Me and a few friends have decided to build a track car, being 17 we aren't going to be trying to break any records but just hoping confine our reckless driving to a racetrack rather than the car park of our local tecso like the rest of the misguided youths where I live
So I'm here, asking you, the armchair experts, to share some of your knowledge
What makes a good base car? Obviously the idea of an mx-5 has been thrown around, but quite frankly it seems a little easy. So I wanted something a little more tricky when driven on the edge, so I recommended an mk2 MR2 (turbo of course) as it has some pretty decent out of the box performance and a good variety of tuning possibilities, are there any other recommendations you guys would have, something preferably RWD( something fairly small and light
My next question would be, what upgrades would give the most bang for your buck, obviously weight reduction will come first because it's basically a free performance increase then things like a roll cage, brakes,suspension and the handling aspects of the car, but the engine is the part I'm not entirely sure of how to improve which is why I'm leaving my youthful (possibly misguided) trust in the hands of total strangers on the internet... This starting to seem like a bad idea haha
Thanks in advance!
Me and a few friends have decided to build a track car, being 17 we aren't going to be trying to break any records but just hoping confine our reckless driving to a racetrack rather than the car park of our local tecso like the rest of the misguided youths where I live
So I'm here, asking you, the armchair experts, to share some of your knowledge
What makes a good base car? Obviously the idea of an mx-5 has been thrown around, but quite frankly it seems a little easy. So I wanted something a little more tricky when driven on the edge, so I recommended an mk2 MR2 (turbo of course) as it has some pretty decent out of the box performance and a good variety of tuning possibilities, are there any other recommendations you guys would have, something preferably RWD( something fairly small and light
My next question would be, what upgrades would give the most bang for your buck, obviously weight reduction will come first because it's basically a free performance increase then things like a roll cage, brakes,suspension and the handling aspects of the car, but the engine is the part I'm not entirely sure of how to improve which is why I'm leaving my youthful (possibly misguided) trust in the hands of total strangers on the internet... This starting to seem like a bad idea haha
Thanks in advance!
If you're going Mk2 MR2, then go N/A. More reliability, more fun, less sudden oversteer. Get a UK car, it'll have far less to strip. All turbo's being imports, they generally all have A/C etc to strip. A nice early UK N/A model - no A/C, no PAS, no ABS, 14's, nice and light and cheap and fun.
Also, insurance. If you're driving it to the circuit then at 17 an NA will be far, far easier to insure than an import.
Also, insurance. If you're driving it to the circuit then at 17 an NA will be far, far easier to insure than an import.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a Renault 19 a front wheel drive car? That's something we are looking to avoid
And we considered a N/A MR2 but a bloke down the road had one and replaced it with the turbo variety because he felt the performance was entirely underwhelming, besides insurance isn't a big deal, I'm planning on trailering it to and from the track because the insurance quotes are so ridiculous we gave up on any idea of driving it on the road
And we considered a N/A MR2 but a bloke down the road had one and replaced it with the turbo variety because he felt the performance was entirely underwhelming, besides insurance isn't a big deal, I'm planning on trailering it to and from the track because the insurance quotes are so ridiculous we gave up on any idea of driving it on the road
Edited by Matthewmccxo on Monday 24th March 12:18
From the other thread:
More power and better handling are great but the driver is the biggest limiting factor, and you'll have just as much fun...
[/Dad mode] Then, once you've worked out how to use a car to its full potential, build your TD special and scare yourself silly
offspring86 said:
Having never built I track car I'm afraid I can't offer any advice there, but I would query the insurance side of things first, would you (as 17 year olds) be able to get insured on an MR2 Turbo?
As far as your question goes: You are 17 and, I assume, have little or no driving experience so picking something easy to drive doesn't strike me as a bad idea. Get a £1k MX5, put a cage and half decent tyres on it, and go and learn to drive. More power and better handling are great but the driver is the biggest limiting factor, and you'll have just as much fun...
[/Dad mode] Then, once you've worked out how to use a car to its full potential, build your TD special and scare yourself silly
Matthewmccxo said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a Renault 19 a front wheel drive car? That's something we are looking to avoid
And we considered a N/A MR2 but a bloke down the road had one and replaced it with the turbo variety because he felt the performance was entirely underwhelming, besides insurance isn't a big deal, I'm planning on towing it to and from the track because the insurance quotes are so ridiculous we gave up on any idea of driving it on the road
Don't forget to factor in your B+E licence...And we considered a N/A MR2 but a bloke down the road had one and replaced it with the turbo variety because he felt the performance was entirely underwhelming, besides insurance isn't a big deal, I'm planning on towing it to and from the track because the insurance quotes are so ridiculous we gave up on any idea of driving it on the road
A trailer, a tow car (plus insurance), a track car, brakes, rollcage, tyres (the rears are bloody expensive for mk2 mr2s), petrol (for tow car and track car) and the cost of the trackdays themselves... This sounds very expensive at 17 (or ever, but maybe I'm just tight 
).
Personally, I'd buy a barge and do an entire club 100 championship instead: http://www.club100.co.uk
ETA: added in bold.
).Personally, I'd buy a barge and do an entire club 100 championship instead: http://www.club100.co.uk
ETA: added in bold.
Edited by bicycleshorts on Monday 24th March 12:32
Matthewmccxo said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a Renault 19 a front wheel drive car? That's something we are looking to avoid
And we considered a N/A MR2 but a bloke down the road had one and replaced it with the turbo variety because he felt the performance was entirely underwhelming, besides insurance isn't a big deal, I'm planning on trailering it to and from the track because the insurance quotes are so ridiculous we gave up on any idea of driving it on the road
I wouldn't necessarily say don't get a turbo, but I haven't found my N/A MR2 lacking on the track. I'm not a particularly experienced, or indeed skilled, driver, but at my last trackday I was overtaking quite a lot of quicker cars: on decent tyres they'll corner very well which gives you the edge over a lot of other cars.And we considered a N/A MR2 but a bloke down the road had one and replaced it with the turbo variety because he felt the performance was entirely underwhelming, besides insurance isn't a big deal, I'm planning on trailering it to and from the track because the insurance quotes are so ridiculous we gave up on any idea of driving it on the road
Edited by Matthewmccxo on Monday 24th March 12:18
Edited by Geekman on Monday 24th March 12:39
Bill said:
As far as your question goes: You are 17 and, I assume, have little or no driving experience so picking something easy to drive doesn't strike me as a bad idea. Get a £1k MX5, put a cage and half decent tyres on it, and go and learn to drive.
Haha, that is true, I have little experience driving a car on public roads, but I have done quite a few "junior supercar track days" which where always a blast, and what actually started this obsession, at this point I've driven 6 super cars, but it was the ferrari 430 that always stuck with me, something about the layout of the car, the perfect balence and the raw feeling that faster cars like the GTR lacked And having driven an mr2 (in an empty car park after a car meet) it just reminded me of the feeling that the ferrari gave me
Nothing wrong with an NA MR2, hell they have a whole championship of them in the 750MC, performance wouldn't be underwhelming if driven properly and at 17 would certainly be more than enough to get you off the ground!
Hell even a stripped out boggo E36 318 with some coilies a couple of bucket seats and harnesses would do the job once you slap some good rubber on it. Compact below, stripped and i do mean stripped, all sound deadening removed, surplus wiring removed, abs off and a bias valve installed, sunroof welded in, remap to remove the ABS from the ECU so it doesn't bang the limiter at 5,500 RPM. Is about 150-155 BHP but weighs just less than 1000KG and is more than good enough to enjoy trackdays and it cost £600 with the coilovers, although they are pretty soft and cheap and soon to be upgraded for the Compact Cup GAZ Coilovers as this is what it was originally bought for!
Hell even a stripped out boggo E36 318 with some coilies a couple of bucket seats and harnesses would do the job once you slap some good rubber on it. Compact below, stripped and i do mean stripped, all sound deadening removed, surplus wiring removed, abs off and a bias valve installed, sunroof welded in, remap to remove the ABS from the ECU so it doesn't bang the limiter at 5,500 RPM. Is about 150-155 BHP but weighs just less than 1000KG and is more than good enough to enjoy trackdays and it cost £600 with the coilovers, although they are pretty soft and cheap and soon to be upgraded for the Compact Cup GAZ Coilovers as this is what it was originally bought for!
geeks said:
Hell even a stripped out boggo E36 318 with some coilies a couple of bucket seats and harnesses would do the job once you slap some good rubber on it.
An e36 wouldn't be a bad choice actually, it does meet the main criteria, being rear wheel drive, I'll consider that, thanks! Matthewmccxo said:
And we considered a N/A MR2 but a bloke down the road had one and replaced it with the turbo variety because he felt the performance was entirely underwhelming
You don't need large amounts of straight-line performance to have an enjoyable track car. If you toyed with the idea of an MX-5 and didn't dismiss that because it was too slow, you won't find an N/A MR2 too slow either. You're knocking on the door of 150bhp/tonne in a standard, never mind stripped, Mk2 N/A MR2 which is about the same as a Golf GTI or RenaultSport Clio 200. Are either of those "underwhelming" in terms of performance?Personally I'd probably buy an E26 325i like just about everyone on this forum does as a built-not-bought trackday car, but if you've got your heart set on an MR2 then discounting the N/A as a track car because some bloke told you his was underwhelming on the road is a bit silly.
I've had a few track specific cars & road cars for the track (not sure which camp a stripped, aero-screened Caterham fits in). One of the most fun / cheap was a late night e-bay purchase - a 306 GTi-6 that already had a full cage, buckets, braided brake lines, 2 sets of wheels, de-cat, decent suspension, etc, etc. I went halves on it with a friend, I think we paid £1500 for it. Basically, buying a car someone has done (and ironed out the problems with) is always the most economic (and sticking with something fairly straight forwarded normallly means you don't spend hours in the pits on a trackday you've arranged and paid for finding / fixing niggles or problems).
Don't get too hung up on "only" looking for RWD - the Pug we had with it's passive rear wheel steer was an absolute hoot - cresting Avon Rise @ Castle Combe in the wet the car used to get into all sorts of shapes, not many in the direction of travel.
I would just trawl the track day cars classifieds in here, and see what you can buy!
Don't get too hung up on "only" looking for RWD - the Pug we had with it's passive rear wheel steer was an absolute hoot - cresting Avon Rise @ Castle Combe in the wet the car used to get into all sorts of shapes, not many in the direction of travel.
I would just trawl the track day cars classifieds in here, and see what you can buy!
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