Trackday car potential replacement dilemma

[IanOE]

I currently have a supercharged MK1 MX-5 that is heavily modified that I use pretty much as a track car only. I’ve had it for nearly a year and have only done 4 track days in it so far. As the car is heavily modified it means that it is expensive to insure, which isn’t cost effective over fewer track days (I anticipated doing more track days initially).

I live quite centrally in London and have a parking permit for only one car, which I use for my road car, so I park the MX-5 with my friend who I do track days with, which is quite a long way from where I live.

So basically, I am spending a lot of money on insurance on a car that I am not using much. I have therefore reluctantly decided to sell my MX-5.

I am wondering whether there is another car that I could get as a track car that would be a lot of fun, but a lot cheaper to insure getting to and from track days.
Getting a trailer to take the car to track and therefore not needing insurance for on the road is very tempting but not an option at the moment.

The other option is to hire a track car, but I am not sure if this is cost effective, I suppose it depends on how many track days we’ll do.

These are the cars that I was thinking may possibly be suitable for my needs if I do get another track car:

N/A MX-5
Porsche 924 (not the 924S)
Toyota MR2 – are mark 3s any good for track days?
Peugeot 106GTi
Peugeot 205GTi
Peugeot 306GTi
Ford Puma
Renault Clio
E30 BMW 3 series
E36 BMW 3 series

The issue is whether any of the above would be as much fun after driving a supercharged MX-5 and still with cheap insurance.

Does anyone have any suggestions or recommendations?

[g40steve]

Mk3 2.0l sport MX5.
You may think your highly modified car was quick, but Rodders mk3 is mental.
My car has several of his modifications & is awesome on track.
Cheap to insure, lots of toys, handles a dream & rwd what's not to like?

[hms]

Revert to NA and sell the charger!
We have a NA 1.6 absolute hoot. (All of 87 bhp!) Standard engine, roll bar, Gaz Gold shocks and wim fastbtrack settings
With so little power you have to learn how to carry speed through the corner.
My 2p anyway.
H

[kazman]

Are there any classic policies that will touch it with those mods? I assume not but maybe someone out there knows better....

[IanOE]

g40steve said:

Mk3 2.0l sport MX5.
You may think your highly modified car was quick, but Rodders mk3 is mental.
My car has several of his modifications & is awesome on track.
Cheap to insure, lots of toys, handles a dream & rwd what's not to like?

Hmm, sounds interesting, how much are they selling for? I was hoping to get something cheaper than what I will be able to get for my MX-5.

[IanOE]

hms said:

Revert to NA and sell the charger!
We have a NA 1.6 absolute hoot. (All of 87 bhp!) Standard engine, roll bar, Gaz Gold shocks and wim fastbtrack settings
With so little power you have to learn how to carry speed through the corner.
My 2p anyway.
H

Not a bad idea, but I'm not that great mechanically, so I don't want to go taking bits off my car. Although I would consider getting another MX-5 without so many modifications.

Does the roll bar and shocks increase the insurance on your car by much?

[IanOE]

kazman said:

Are there any classic policies that will touch it with those mods? I assume not but maybe someone out there knows better....

I did try that last year when I got the car, but the best quote I got was from REIS which included four track days as part of the cover.

It's annoying as I have seven years no claims on my other car, but none of the insurers who would quote for such a modified car will match that for the MX-5.

I tried all sorts of things with the insurance last year but they all ended up as quite expensive.

[iguana]

Well everyones got some kind of addiction & one of mine is budget track cars & I've run quite a few of your list as proper caged & prepped track cars- e30 325, e36 328, 924S, but instead of the french tin have had & still have Golfs- MK2 & Mk1 as well as a good many e36 M3s & also have had 2x s/c's mx5s a 1.6 & a 1.8 & still got that one in track prep.

All are great for diferent reasons.

Unless your s/c mx5 is something very special indeed & even then they are not really worth much, I think you are vastly underestimating the cost of sorting a proper track set up of any of your list, my track e36 328i even doing it all as cheaply as posible cost more than I would get for my s/c'd mx5 even tho its a good spec, 1.8 so the bigger brakes & braces etc, hard dog cage, proper Torsen lsd, p5 coilovers etc.


I've had peanuts insurance on all my trackday cars, circa 250 a yr for road legal but race spec cars with engine mods & good power gains over standard.

[wackojacko]

MR2's are great fun, take a look in my PH garage at mine.


Depends what you actually want from a trackday ? Fun but maybe not the quickest or being the quickest and taking it very seriously, also have an evaluation of your driving style etc.

I'd say go for a boggo 328i with the interior etc still installed, re fresh cooling, braking and suspension ..... You'll have a great time.

[AndrewO]

Having a fun trackcar isn't cheap whatever way you do it

What about tracking your daily driver ?

[V8mate]

AndrewO said:

What about tracking your daily driver ?

I don't think it's a good idea for a couple of reasons.

- With no modifications, the wear and tear on a regular road car is quite phenomenal; both immediate and obvious things like brakes and tyres, as well as the pricier bits which will suffer stress;

- I think the on-track fun is much less, as having sorted, but significantly less powerful, cars buzz past you constantly is quite depressing.


A recall a TD last year where the owner of a mildly prepped (i.e. fast road) E46 330 came over to enquire about the spec of my E36 'M3' which seemed to just come flying past him again and again. He was appalled when he discovered it was just a 323.

Edited by V8mate on Thursday 12th April 13:20

[IanOE]

iguana said:

I've had peanuts insurance on all my trackday cars, circa 250 a yr for road legal but race spec cars with engine mods & good power gains over standard.

Hmm, that's interesting, who do you get your insurance through?

I would add that I would buy a car that is already modified for track work, I wouldn't do modifications myself.

[IanOE]

wackojacko said:

MR2's are great fun, take a look in my PH garage at mine.


Depends what you actually want from a trackday ? Fun but maybe not the quickest or being the quickest and taking it very seriously, also have an evaluation of your driving style etc.

I'd say go for a boggo 328i with the interior etc still installed, re fresh cooling, braking and suspension ..... You'll have a great time.

Funnily enough, your MR2 was one that I was considering when I bought my MX-5 last year.

Track days for me are about having fun and not about being the fastest out there and trying to get as much out of the car that I'm driving as possible, which I am sure that I haven't with my MX-5. So I don't mind getting what many would consider to be a slow car, it's all relative.

[IanOE]

With regards to using my road for a track car, it is something that I have been considering as I don't use my road car much either. I was thinking about selling my road car and track car and getting something like an Elise, Vauxhall VX220 or Boxster for on the road and as a track car.

Unfortunately, living in London and having on street parking, I don't think an Elise or a VX220 are sensible, being quite fragile for parking damage.

What would a Boxster be like on track, does anyone have any experience with one?

[chris7676]

IanOE said:

Unfortunately, living in London and having on street parking, I don't think an Elise or a VX220 are sensible, being quite fragile for parking damage.

What would a Boxster be like on track, does anyone have any experience with one?

It would be great. I have sold the Elise to buy Boxster and do not regret it. The main advantage is the car is much more fluid on the limit and the rear moves much more (especially if you don't go for silly low profile tyres). The main downsides are the costs and occasionally I miss the lightness and focus of the Elise.

I also can't see major downsides with tracking your road / daily car, especially if you have adjustable shocks - it's a perfect "compromise".

[wackojacko]

AndrewO said:

Having a fun trackcar isn't cheap whatever way you do it

Nope ..... Ask V8mate how deep he is into the E36, I nearly died when I read how much but it is easy we are about a grand into the Mr2 (overall cost of TD;s and parts etc)

This month we havn't got time to use it but it's still going to cost us abit :
- Second hand Semi slicks off a mates race car £100
- Oil and Filter service £30
- Get some tyres on the spare wheels £100+
- Brake pads £77
and a few other bits .... luckily we split all costs in half which really helps.


I'd suggest you find someone or a mate that you could share a trackcar with if possible.

This means you get half price tyres, petrol, purchase price etc etc everything is half we work it on a "you bend it you fix it" basis or if it's that bad "you bend it, you bought it".

[AndrewO]

I've a couple of mates with R26R's as daily drivers and trackday cars. The faster one of the two swops puts his 888's on and its up with the majority of modified stuff.

Is a 996GT3/turbo in your budget ?

[crocodile tears]

AndrewO said:

Is a 996GT3/turbo in your budget ?

if he's moaning about insurance on a modified mx5 I would assume not.

[_Leg_]

7 kit. Simples.

[IanOE]

chris7676 said:

It would be great. I have sold the Elise to buy Boxster and do not regret it. The main advantage is the car is much more fluid on the limit and the rear moves much more (especially if you don't go for silly low profile tyres). The main downsides are the costs and occasionally I miss the lightness and focus of the Elise.

I also can't see major downsides with tracking your road / daily car, especially if you have adjustable shocks - it's a perfect "compromise".

That's very interesting, what type and year of Boxster do you have? Does it have adjustable shocks as standard?

I was thinking of buying at the cheaper end of the Boxster range as I couldn't stomach driving an expensive car on track. I would want one with as small wheels as possible (as long as they were standard, of course) to improve the handling. I'm not that keen on large wheeled cars aesthetically either.