Ring Weapon/Track Day

[sambagiovani]

I know there's plenty on this site about buying cars for a decent budget for track days or as a daily and I have a pretty good idea about it myself.

In the market for a ring weapon/track day car between 3-4k, obviously needs to be road legal. Fairly handy with a set of tools and am certainly going to be upgrading the car in every aspect. Initially will be semi-stripped, filter, exhaust, brakes, suspension, remap and tyres, but still needs to be a relatively nice place to sit for a day on the way to Germany.

I've looked at a few options for this, with reliability being one of the main concerns, as well as gains made from uprating parts on the car. I was thinking of any of the following in theory:

Astra VXR
Corsa VXR
Clio 182/197
Civic Type-R
Seat Leon/Audi A3 1.8T (180)
Audi TT Quattro (225)
Fiesta ST (06)

What would be the best bet? There is a lot of potential in some of these cars, but I don't just want to throw money at it if the gains aren't going to be truly cost effective.

[VAGLover]

Mazda 3 MPS

[CABC]

I think most uk tracks are quite different to the Ring.
more fun in uk with old faves of mx5, Clio etc
for the Ring higher power is def useful to add to the fun imo. so Porsche, BMW

230hp RX8 good balance for both track types and travelling too?
No experience myself, but i suspect RS Meganes would be suited too.

I had great fun on a VXR events day at Thruxton last year, but was surprised how unsuitable they all were for track use. vague, twitchy steering and soft ride. It would have been great to try them on the public road where they might shine more.

[ZX10R NIN]

I'd say get a Focus ST is a good shout with a good following used track parts will be available which will help with costs.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[HedgeyGedgey]

Out of that list, clio 182. Cheap for what they are, on that basis thought about a saxo VTS? Mega cheap to run and fun from what ive heard

[ZX10R NIN]

The thing with the Ring is that there are parts where you want some bhp & the Clio whilst fun just lacks a bit which is why I'd look at something with a 2.0/2.5T engine.

[sambagiovani]

I went round in my mates civic type R, stripped, exhaust and suspension and that was fun. Certainly lacked a little power in parts but wasn't a slouch-keeping it in VTEC most of the time helped. I feel that turbos-if I get the wrong one-will blow up or lose pressure easily. I know the VAG lumps are reliable but are there other options-like the Vauxhalls for example ?

[ZX10R NIN]

Yes they are the Ford is very robust I can confirm that with 320bhp at the wheels my trackday ST was a cracker but they do suffer with heat soak that causes them to derate this is down to the Intercooler not being big enough this is an easy fix by adding a bigger intercooler.

The VXR is a good car the weakest point on them the Meganes at this price point are a bit more maintenance heavy & the VAG's can be a bit thirsty oil wise.

All are great fun but in terms of chassis the Megane is the winner but for me the Ford was a close 2nd but reliability wise I felt the Ford was the better car.

My friend has a hot VXR & it hasn't missed a beat in two years of hard use.

[Ahbefive]

Megane R26 over that lot.

A friend of mine has thrown a fortune at his TT and in the end is is only just about as quick on track as my near on standard megane but his car always seems to be more problematic. Also the steering on a TT is terrible.

Focus ST is a good shout but again needs far more mods to be trackworthy than an R26.