Trackday Car suggestions
Discussion
Hi All,
I am after suggestions of what car to get for me and a friend to take to occasional trackdays in the future. We don't want to spend more than lets say £1500-2000 on the car ideally and are open to doing certain modifications to the car.
List of needs:
- We would be driving it to and from trackdays as well, so it would have to be road legal and insurable for road use at a reasonable cost. (Me clean license, him = 6 points and conviction)
- RWD as we feel it will be more interesting for us as we both drive FWD cars currently
- High headroom and legroom (I am 6ft 8in and obv with a lid on my upper body is rather large)
- Reasonably quick performance
- Not a heap of rust
- Reliable as a general driver
- Very trackable car
I have not been able to think of many apart from possibly older BMW cars but I would need to check headroom on those before I even considered buying one.
Kind Regards,
Tom
Edit: He is about 5ft 11 so if we do bucket seat it will need to be moveable for legs anyway, so would probably not gain a lot.
I am after suggestions of what car to get for me and a friend to take to occasional trackdays in the future. We don't want to spend more than lets say £1500-2000 on the car ideally and are open to doing certain modifications to the car.
List of needs:
- We would be driving it to and from trackdays as well, so it would have to be road legal and insurable for road use at a reasonable cost. (Me clean license, him = 6 points and conviction)
- RWD as we feel it will be more interesting for us as we both drive FWD cars currently
- High headroom and legroom (I am 6ft 8in and obv with a lid on my upper body is rather large)
- Reasonably quick performance
- Not a heap of rust
- Reliable as a general driver
- Very trackable car
I have not been able to think of many apart from possibly older BMW cars but I would need to check headroom on those before I even considered buying one.
Kind Regards,
Tom
Edit: He is about 5ft 11 so if we do bucket seat it will need to be moveable for legs anyway, so would probably not gain a lot.
Edited by TallTom on Thursday 1st December 13:33
Would you consider a really low mounted bucket seat / is your mate tall too? My daily is an e46 320d touring and there isn't loads of headroom at 6'2"....
If you can work something out on the seating you would have a lot more choice. A modded mx5 import would be good for that budget, my mate got a reasonable one for £800 with coilovers and it is loads of fun on track, but probably too small with the hood up. Nissan s14 200sx with a floor mounted bucket, but look hard for a solid one...
If you can work something out on the seating you would have a lot more choice. A modded mx5 import would be good for that budget, my mate got a reasonable one for £800 with coilovers and it is loads of fun on track, but probably too small with the hood up. Nissan s14 200sx with a floor mounted bucket, but look hard for a solid one...
I went on a trackday recently with mine and let a guy with a 328 e36 drive my AX. He was gutted - it was so much more fun, quicker than the caterhams that were there(and im a crap driver) and faster down the back straight than his mates Z4. not only that parts are cheap and tyres next to nothing for 13" slicks. i paid £2k for mine with quaife diff/VTS engine hooked up to a TD04, caged, slicks, etc.
ok, they aren't very common and i was lucky to find mine, but don't rule out something small and quick, it's all fun at the end of the day, and thrashing carbon fibre nose coned caterhams makes it that much more special...
ok, they aren't very common and i was lucky to find mine, but don't rule out something small and quick, it's all fun at the end of the day, and thrashing carbon fibre nose coned caterhams makes it that much more special...
Ive just been to a trackday at snetterton. I was in my 460 bhp supercharged ford mustang. It was very strange to find that i was having great difficulty dealing with a peugot 106. I eventually pulled over and let him pass. I didnt want to risk damaging my car. However, it turned out that his car was striped and race prepared, with a gti engine, turbocharged. It was thrashing everything. However, they did blow it up by the end of the day.
Get something small and cheap, and put some money towards power upgrades, you will have great fun.
Get something small and cheap, and put some money towards power upgrades, you will have great fun.
MK2 MR2 ( I have one ) - very good value for money if you take a look in my garage we picked it up for £1500 ! between 2 of us = £750 each..... bargain !
E36's are a good choice aswell hence why they are so popular.
This ?
don't pay more than 1K which leaves loads for more improvements....
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120819090295?ssPageName=...
E36's are a good choice aswell hence why they are so popular.
This ?
don't pay more than 1K which leaves loads for more improvements....
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120819090295?ssPageName=...
Dangerroush said:
Ive just been to a trackday at snetterton. I was in my 460 bhp supercharged ford mustang. It was very strange to find that i was having great difficulty dealing with a peugot 106. I eventually pulled over and let him pass. I didnt want to risk damaging my car. However, it turned out that his car was striped and race prepared, with a gti engine, turbocharged. It was thrashing everything. However, they did blow it up by the end of the day.
Get something small and cheap, and put some money towards power upgrades, you will have great fun.
Same engine as mine - they drop straight into an AX. Here's colin's 106, also a Tu5:Get something small and cheap, and put some money towards power upgrades, you will have great fun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESMSld3pS9o
e8_pack said:
I went on a trackday recently with mine and let a guy with a 328 e36 drive my AX. He was gutted - it was so much more fun, quicker than the caterhams that were there(and im a crap driver) and faster down the back straight than his mates Z4. not only that parts are cheap and tyres next to nothing for 13" slicks. i paid £2k for mine with quaife diff/VTS engine hooked up to a TD04, caged, slicks, etc.
ok, they aren't very common and i was lucky to find mine, but don't rule out something small and quick, it's all fun at the end of the day, and thrashing carbon fibre nose coned caterhams makes it that much more special...
Which AX is that? What is the power to weight on it? Spec would be interesting.ok, they aren't very common and i was lucky to find mine, but don't rule out something small and quick, it's all fun at the end of the day, and thrashing carbon fibre nose coned caterhams makes it that much more special...
Some might be fed up of the pics by now! It’s highly modified. The story is that I was building one, then this came up for sale so I sold all my bits and bought it complete for £2k.
In all fairness though, to build one will be a bit more, however I think you can build a good spec very cheaply, very quickly – a lot less if you’re prepared to hunt for the right bargains. The good thing about saxo world (saxo bits bolt straight on) is the huge amount of parts that are available – many being nearly new from young lads who have ran out of funds on their projects. 106/Rallye/saxo/AX/C2 are all interchangeable to some degree, so it means more smiles per pound and you can’t beat that for a track car. A quick run down on the spec:
AX MK2 Forte shell (95)
Saxo VTS engine (bullet proof bottom end) either decompress or buy forgies (I bought mine for 180 quid), standard rods.
TD04 turbo from a Scooby
Home made manifold and downpipe with side exit japcan exhaust (not excessively loud)
Evo intercooler/standard plastic inlet – lots of turbo flutter
Pico IWP069’s (megane R26 injectors are cheaper and better spray pattern and bolt straight up)
External fuel pump and swirlpot, (although an in-tank Walboro will do)
Quaife LSD in VTS Gearbox with 4 paddle ceremetallic clutch – loads on second hand market
KMS ECU (always an ECU going cheap somewhere) with map sensor input I believe or many use a ford 2 bar job.
Innovate wideband (accessory really)
Corsa diesel rad and alloy header tank with slim-line fan
VTS suspension bolts straight up – mine’s on coilovers with modified steering arms to reduce bumpsteer, but standard hard lowered suspension is adequate
Lower strut brace and VTS anti roll bar (all bolts straight up!)
VTS rear beam will bolt up – however I have drums as back end is very light
Strengthened top mounts (again, not essential)
Standard VTS brakes (looking out for some second hand hi-specs to fit under 13’s so bit limited)
Ford fitment 13” wheels with hubcentric spacers – make use of cheap formula ford slicks!
Homemade cage (can be done cheaply)
Some cobra buckets and harnesses (always loads of seats about on ebay)
Passenger seat mounted as low as possible, well, on the floor really!
Quick shift, air filter, catch tank, RS turbo spark plugs, turbo water pipes, gauges, oil line to turbo, oil tee, oil return, HG, new bolts, stem seals, head skim, various pipe, plugs and lots of tie wraps can all be obtained cheaply new or second hand
If I were to do an AX from scratch, looking at second hand prices, I think for £5k you can build a decent track toy, that’s with mapping and some of the more expensive buys like quaife box’s circa £650.
Mine weighs about 750kg and has about 190hp @ 0.5bar. Will run 1.5 bar next year when I fit the low comps and expect around 250bhp. As I said, it already beats zetec westy’s with ease really.
The grip was the one thing that surprised the BMW owner, the quaife really sorts things out. All in all it has been great fun, and there is better to come – without breaking the bank!
I will be putting this on the road, just got my V5 through, will change the intercooler route and add a light, at least then I can take it out for a spin without having to wait for trackdays.
I know saxo’s and 106’s aren’t very well respected round here, but for the track and the price they are more than enough fun, a VTS and a second hand turbo kit with a thicker head gasket and a bar of boost can be had very cheaply indeed and also well worth considering – I prefer AX’s as they are much lighter and even less expected to be fast! Search AXO on youtube to see what a supercharged one can do round the track.
In all fairness though, to build one will be a bit more, however I think you can build a good spec very cheaply, very quickly – a lot less if you’re prepared to hunt for the right bargains. The good thing about saxo world (saxo bits bolt straight on) is the huge amount of parts that are available – many being nearly new from young lads who have ran out of funds on their projects. 106/Rallye/saxo/AX/C2 are all interchangeable to some degree, so it means more smiles per pound and you can’t beat that for a track car. A quick run down on the spec:
AX MK2 Forte shell (95)
Saxo VTS engine (bullet proof bottom end) either decompress or buy forgies (I bought mine for 180 quid), standard rods.
TD04 turbo from a Scooby
Home made manifold and downpipe with side exit japcan exhaust (not excessively loud)
Evo intercooler/standard plastic inlet – lots of turbo flutter
Pico IWP069’s (megane R26 injectors are cheaper and better spray pattern and bolt straight up)
External fuel pump and swirlpot, (although an in-tank Walboro will do)
Quaife LSD in VTS Gearbox with 4 paddle ceremetallic clutch – loads on second hand market
KMS ECU (always an ECU going cheap somewhere) with map sensor input I believe or many use a ford 2 bar job.
Innovate wideband (accessory really)
Corsa diesel rad and alloy header tank with slim-line fan
VTS suspension bolts straight up – mine’s on coilovers with modified steering arms to reduce bumpsteer, but standard hard lowered suspension is adequate
Lower strut brace and VTS anti roll bar (all bolts straight up!)
VTS rear beam will bolt up – however I have drums as back end is very light
Strengthened top mounts (again, not essential)
Standard VTS brakes (looking out for some second hand hi-specs to fit under 13’s so bit limited)
Ford fitment 13” wheels with hubcentric spacers – make use of cheap formula ford slicks!
Homemade cage (can be done cheaply)
Some cobra buckets and harnesses (always loads of seats about on ebay)
Passenger seat mounted as low as possible, well, on the floor really!
Quick shift, air filter, catch tank, RS turbo spark plugs, turbo water pipes, gauges, oil line to turbo, oil tee, oil return, HG, new bolts, stem seals, head skim, various pipe, plugs and lots of tie wraps can all be obtained cheaply new or second hand
If I were to do an AX from scratch, looking at second hand prices, I think for £5k you can build a decent track toy, that’s with mapping and some of the more expensive buys like quaife box’s circa £650.
Mine weighs about 750kg and has about 190hp @ 0.5bar. Will run 1.5 bar next year when I fit the low comps and expect around 250bhp. As I said, it already beats zetec westy’s with ease really.
The grip was the one thing that surprised the BMW owner, the quaife really sorts things out. All in all it has been great fun, and there is better to come – without breaking the bank!
I will be putting this on the road, just got my V5 through, will change the intercooler route and add a light, at least then I can take it out for a spin without having to wait for trackdays.
I know saxo’s and 106’s aren’t very well respected round here, but for the track and the price they are more than enough fun, a VTS and a second hand turbo kit with a thicker head gasket and a bar of boost can be had very cheaply indeed and also well worth considering – I prefer AX’s as they are much lighter and even less expected to be fast! Search AXO on youtube to see what a supercharged one can do round the track.
TallTom said:
So all the replies are mainly fwd cars....
I also don't think I would fit in an AX!
There are more FWD cars to choose from. But you already mentioned the BMWs. And MX5s and MR2s have been suggested. I'd add the 200SX as an option.I also don't think I would fit in an AX!
Or http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3431249.htm if you insist on being different.
What about getting an RX8 and stripping it out. Plenty are going very cheap due to the high fuel and oil consumption, but that should not be an issue on track. 1300kg normally, I think you could get that down to sub 1000kgs with a bit of effort...might even get a fair amount of money back if you start selling parts you don't need!
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