Good first (cheap) sevenesque kit car

[T0MMY]

I'm thinking of buying a kitcar for trackdays and road use but don't yet know much about them. I'm a postgrad student and move around a lot so don't want to attempt to build one myself (yet) so would be looking at getting a secondhand prebuilt one or one requiring a little finishing. Just wondering what I should look out for and what's a good choice etc. as there are a lot of options out there. I'm hoping to not spend more than £3000 which looking at ebay is possible but am I really pushing it to get a usable car at this price? I think Robin Hoods seem to be the best value; are there any other models that fall into this price range?

[Chris71]

You could get a very good Sylva Leader 400 for that money and a Robin Hood wouldn't have the first idea which way it went! The looks might not be to everyone's taste, but the dynamics rival cars costing two or three times as much.

[singlecoil]

Chris71 said:

You could get a very good Sylva Leader 400 for that money and a Robin Hood wouldn't have the first idea which way it went! The looks might not be to everyone's taste, but the dynamics rival cars costing two or three times as much.

I concur with my learned colleague.

[Sam_68]

With E-bay (or if you can find a private seller with a reasonable grip on reality), you may well find a Sylva Striker for that sort of money, too.

Younger than the Leader, lighter, and handles even better.

Either has got to be a much better bet than a Robin Hood.

[T0MMY]

Thanks for the replies; so Robin Hoods are to be avoided? What's wrong with them out of curiosity?

Just googled the Sylvas, the leader nearly made me lose my dinner at first glance but the strikers quite a pretty thing. Not that I really care about the looks of the thing though, can't see it from the drivers seat. So these have superior handling for the money?

Edited by T0MMY on Friday 28th August 21:53

[singlecoil]

T0MMY said:

So these have superior handling for the money?

I think that is the gist of the replies so far, yes.

[Sam_68]

T0MMY said:

so Robin Hoods are to be avoided? What's wrong with them out of curiosity?

It's easier to ask what's right with them. The answer to that one is they're cheap, and not much else.

[T0MMY]

Ok, well this is useful info because to the uninitiated there looks to be little difference between them. So Slyvas are good and in my price range; anything else worth looking at?

Probably worth mentioning too that I don't care if it's actually quick through corners, it just has to be entertaining as it's for track days not racing! I define entertaining as a handling balance that is very firmly biased towards oversteer