Track Car under £600

[egor110]

It's probably worth going to a track day and getting a ride in some of the above cars to see if anything takes your fancy , how much they've actually spent getting them track ready .

Certainly get a go in a puma though , straight line speed isn't nothing to write home about but the cornering will impress you .

[anonymous-user]

There was a Puma at Donington on Monday which looked pretty standard but was really quite capable and kept up with most things.

[RCD24]

SidewaysSi said:

Just put my Alfa 147 2.0TS up for sale for little more than that.

3 door, non sunroof, 62k miles, full history and cambelt done etc. It is an agile thing and would make a good base for a track day car IMO.

Not a bad shout by any means, don't want to disappoint you in terms of price but because my friend is a student we really don't have all that much to play with at the moment.

[RCD24]

ChemicalChaos said:

First question - do you want the safety net of FWD handling, or the tail happy fun of RWD? If RWD, you can also partake in drift days which doubles the versatility of the car.

Second question - can you cheaply and easily get bolt on performance bits? A friend and I once looked at an old Jag for the silliness value, but there was nothing off the shelf to modify it with. Meanwhile, E36, MX5 and Clio owners are bewildered with choice.

Third question - are you intending to drive to and from events, or trailer it with a support vehicle? If the former, something practical enough to get a spare set of tyres and some tools into is a massive bonus.
Secondly, something highly strung or unreliable is going to make things a lot worse if you have to get home in it again afterwards.

Whatever you choose, overall it also should be fun! Here's my track toy! (reminds me, we must update our thread on it!)
https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-britishcars/va...

Thanks for the reply, personally I love the RWD MX5 and drive it fairly hard on the local B roads resulting in me learning how to control the car fairly well when the tail does step out. Being 18 though means that my friend has never experienced anything other than a 1.2 corsa and would likely go off given anyhting RWD with some power. So probably best to stick to FWD for now.

Totally agree on the second hand parts / scene of a car. Makes it much cheaper and easier to find some nice bits.

As I previously mentioned, being 18 limits us to what we can do when it comes to getting the car to the track. Insuring a 1.8 MX5 is costly enough and i probably won't be insuring the other car for the road unless I can get a great deal. Which means it will likely be down to my dad to trailer to and from events.

[KerwinR]

Suzuki Ignis Sport,
cheap as chips, but get one that has had the big ticket items done as suspension parts are £££

[RCD24]

KerwinR said:

Suzuki Ignis Sport,
cheap as chips, but get one that has had the big ticket items done as suspension parts are £££

Always thought these looked interesting and would definitely have one, prices seem to be climbing recently though so would struggle to find one in budget now.

[greenarrow]

Vauxhall Astra G 2.2 SRI.

Not that quick, but they don't generally rust and are pretty tough cars - seen a few for sale around the £600-£700 mark. Have been pondering one myself as these old Astras seem to be holding up pretty well.

Focus ST170 - probably struggle to get one for £600 but they're great handling cars - again not that quick but another good starter track day car I reckon.

[EazyDuz]

V6 Hyundai Coupe

[nitrodave]

For that money I'd go for a mk4 golf GTI 1.8t

Parts are plentiful, lots of tuning poitential, pretty easy to work on and can be made to be pretty good fun

[Dr Interceptor]

Having had a quick flick through eBay, I'd be watching this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Peugeot-206-gti-Trackda...

[V1nce Fox]

Puma.

[Harry H]

Was at a track day a little while ago and a couple of guys were running a Rover 216 GTI.

They'd stripped everything out of it that didn't serve a purpose on track and reckon they'd got the weight down well below a 1000kgs. All they added were a couple of decent seats and replaced all but the windscreen with perspex. It certainly had some pace.

[Krikkit]

Agree with the suggestions so far, the best thing you'll find is a 1.7 Puma as they're cheap, good-handling out of the box and easy to repair.

Be prepared to get a new one every year when it fails for rust mind.

[RCD24]

Thanks for all the replies guys

I've never been to a track day so I'm unsure of the process, if a car is brought on a trailer with no MOT will it have to pass some sort of inspection before being allowed on track? And any car with an MOT is automatically deemed safe to be on track?

Also - is track day insurance mandatory?

Cheers

[C70R]

Bowlers said:

I would have these on my list for a very cheap track car.

206 GTi
MG ZR 160 (VVC)
318Ti (E36)
Ford Puma/Fiesta Zetec S/ Sport KA
Saxo VTR/VTS
Primera GT

Add a set of track tyres, remove some unnecessary weight and upgrade the brake pads/fluid.

206 GTi would be my suggestion at this meagre budget, as someone who has done exactly that. However...

£600 is peanuts for a track car.
Particularly when a set of track tyres could cost >50% of the car's value.
And a day out (including fuel etc.) could easily cost >33% of the car's value.

OP - save your pennies for a bit longer. £1000 gets you into a significantly better base.

[C70R]

RCD24 said:

Thanks for all the replies guys

I've never been to a track day so I'm unsure of the process, if a car is brought on a trailer with no MOT will it have to pass some sort of inspection before being allowed on track? And any car with an MOT is automatically deemed safe to be on track?

Also - is track day insurance mandatory?

Cheers

There's loads of information out there. I'd spend some time reading.

To answer: All cars are inspected for basic roadworthiness, regardless of MOT or not. Insurance is optional.

[Byker28i]

Fiesta ST add to the mix? you can pick those up for £1k or less

i.e.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2007-Ford-Fiesta-ST-150...

[Byker28i]

Gold GTI? https://www.gumtree.com/p/volkswagen/spares-and-re...

this 206 GTI looks good with a lot of work done
https://www.gumtree.com/p/peugeot/peugeot-206-gti-...

[ZX10R NIN]

MG ZR/ZS or the 206 GTI

[RCD24]

Thanks for all the replies.

So far the responses seem to be in favour of a Puma or 206 GTi. Luckily i have one of each fairly local to me.

Puma with history and Timing belt done: https://www.gumtree.com/p/ford/ford-puma-1.7-lux/1...

206 GTi: https://www.gumtree.com/p/peugeot/peugeot-206-gti-...

Or... Focus ST170: https://www.gumtree.com/p/ford/focus-st170-sale-or...