Budget Track Day car......

[tjdixon911]

Can't remember if I have posted this before but having just sold my Boxster and having paid off my loan and bought a house, I am looking for a Trackday/Weekend car on a budget, Initially I don't want to spend much more than £3k, so the options are a Hot Hatch Stripped out and a few tweaks etc, or as a Porsche fan a 944 but I fear that may be expensive if it goes wrong.....

Any Suggestions??? I like the Golf GTi's would this be a good starting point? Or should I be looking more towards a Pug 205 GTi?? But I do like the Golfs........

[agent006]

E30 BMW 325iSport?

[tvr350tim]

Do what I did and join track-club (www.track-club.com/track_club.htm), lot's of choice and you don't need to worry about all the running costs, buying it etc. I'm on the £1700 level of membership but I'll probably upgrade it as I'm finding myself doing more days than I thought......doh!

I've come across a couple of other PHers that are members. At the moment we're deciding whether a CSR 260 or a 968CS gets added to the fleet.

If I was buying something for that budget though I'd probably try and find a old 325i that I could afford to spend some money on to ensure it was reliable, no point in blowing your whole budget only to find you need to spend a fortune fixing something.

T

[jimbro1000]

I remember CCC doing an article on this not long before they were closed down. The concensus (among the cars they tried) was that the old Metro GTa was the best bang for buck. Problem is that this was a couple of years ago now and things have moved on - especially pricewise.

[cdp]

Why not buy a 944 and a toolkit? If you've got a garage at the new house you should be OK.

A lot of the parts are VW group. If you get familiar with specialists and breakers it shouldn't be ridiculous.

Just as long as you don't send it to a Porsche main agent...

Alternatively I would second the 3 series or possibly MX5/MGF as they are getting cheap now.

[Paul Drawmer]

You could try a Robin Hood or similar 7esque car. Will cost less to track than many others due to low weight and subsequent savings on tyres brakes etc. Also will be quick. Just have to make sure it's been put together right in the first place! There's a lot of really badly built kit cars!

[zevans]

I think you have posted this before, but I never got around to replying to that one, so ho hum...

I've got an eBay search going for a similar idea (don't get on with Golfs, dunno why, so they're not in there)

I'm going for REALLY cheap, so I put a limit of 500 quid on the search, but looking at what some of the cars I've missed have gone for, you should be able to get any of these, and in some cases the "buy it now" price is under 3k as well.

Note all these cars are well-balanced but not necessarily that powerful.

Here's the search:
(RX7, 200SX, Silvia, S13, MX5, Quattro, 205, 205gti, MR2) -diesel -trio

Should have E30 BMWs in there as well come to think of it...

[davyboy]

924s ?

[evomike]

I was going to say 924 as well.

Also, rather than pay the rediculous premium for a E30 325 sport, the best bet is to get a std 325i. Then just fit an LSD (£150-200) and some aftermarket suspension (which you would probably want anyway).

Mike

[tjdixon911]

I test drove a 924 the other day and wasn't overly impressed with it, it was a 2litre one, Are the S models any better????

[pistol pete]

My metro GTi cost about £1000-1200 to get on track doing all the work myself. the roll cage being by a long way the most expensive part -more than twice the cost of the car, so assuming you are going to fit one, make sure you budget that into the cost.

Pete

[davyboy]

tjdixon911 said:

I test drove a 924 the other day and wasn't overly impressed with it, it was a 2litre one, Are the S models any better????

Yep, they have the 2.5 litre engines from the 944, but without the added weight.

[tjdixon911]

davyboy said:

tjdixon911 said: I test drove a 924 the other day and wasn't overly impressed with it, it was a 2litre one, Are the S models any better???? Yep, they have the 2.5 litre engines from the 944, but without the added weight.

Yes I know about the engine, was the driving experience alot better than the 2 litre ones? It may have been that the one I test drove was a bit of a heap!

[tjdixon911]

pistol pete said:

My metro GTi cost about £1000-1200 to get on track doing all the work myself. the roll cage being by a long way the most expensive part -more than twice the cost of the car, so assuming you are going to fit one, make sure you budget that into the cost. Pete

Yes had thought about the roll cage, how much are these out of interest, I've not really looked into cost of cages but was guessing around £500????

[davyboy]

I guess most are old and maybe a bit unloved, but I would imagine a nice 'S' with some new suspension and 944 turbo anti roll bars would be pretty cool.

tjdixon911 said:

davyboy said: tjdixon911 said: I test drove a 924 the other day and wasn't overly impressed with it, it was a 2litre one, Are the S models any better???? Yep, they have the 2.5 litre engines from the 944, but without the added weight. Yes I know about the engine, was the driving experience alot better than the 2 litre ones? It may have been that the one I test drove was a bit of a heap!

[anonymous-user]

track prepped e30325is easy on your budget

www.easytrack.co.uk/classify/finfo.asp?cid=602

but this one's sold

[pistol pete]

tjdixon911 said:

Yes had thought about the roll cage, how much are these out of interest, I've not really looked into cost of cages but was guessing around £500????

Mine was just over £500 from Roll-centre, but it depends alot on the car, and the standards the cage meets. Check roll centre or safety devices web site, I'm sure I found it there somewhere.

Pete

>> Edited by pistol pete on Friday 12th August 15:35

[bencurry]

i friend of mine has a nova for sale, ready to take on the track. all it needs is a decent engine, it already has a cage, buckets and harnesses, the body work is in good condition and it has been seam welded. it has a 1400 in it at the mo and a spare 1600engine included in the price. he wants £700. that leaves you with cash to get some better brakes, suspension and a decent engine in it.

[smckeown]

get an ex-racer 205 GTI, all caged up with buckets etc. You'll have a hoot

Sean

my old 205 mi16 here
www.mckeown-enterprises.co.uk

[cdp]

A good ex-race hot/stock hatch with cage shouldn't cost too much and will have pretty much all the modifications you would have done already.

This should include the cage.

But I would still look at the 3 series or 924 first and don't forget the Ford Capri. I was at a trackday at Sculthorpe on Saturday and somebody was having a whale of a time with this 2.8 injection. And those 205/novas looked fun too. I do prefer my Locost but it was a much bigger budget (say 5K) than an old Capri/Granada/Sierra or used Pug.