Track suitable kitcar for £4000?

[T0MMY]

I'm getting a company car shortly so have been idly thinking about either turning my current MK1 MX5 Turbo into a more focussed track car or buying a kitcar.

I don't really have the space (or indeed the time) to build a kitcar so I'm looking at completed kits, preferably 7 style. I was just wondering what the best options are for a £4k budget or if it's even possible to get a decent usable car for that price?

Main concerns are obviously handling and reliability and from a quick browse of the classifieds I think I'm looking at Sylva Strikers, older Tigers and Westfields, Fisher Furys (not 7 style obviously but I like them) or Robin Hoods (which I've not heard good things about to be honest).

Any thoughts on which of them would be the best option for a road legal track car or suggestions for other marques to look at? In the longer term I might build an MEV exocet around my MX5 as it should go like stink with a turbocharged donor but that won't happen for a while.

[ugg10]

At £4k it's going to be 15+ years old and probably got a pinto or possibly a cross flow in the front and probably a live axle (not always a bad thing) and will need some tidying. The Fury/Striker have great (if not the best) chassis/suspension, have to say that as an exFury builder/owner. If you can pick up a Striker you can't go too far wrong and you can always do an engine/gearbox swap to put your MX5 kit in it if you like it that much. There are the odd Fury/Stikers out there with mx5 engine/gearboxes, one is supercharged IIRC (may be a stylus though).

Remember, these are kit cars and can vary greatly both in spec and in build quality, do you homework and always drive/inspect before you buy, or go in with your eyes fully open.

[T0MMY]

I love the handling but I don't have any great attachment to the early MX5 1.8 engine as it doesn't rev particularly sweetly and yet desperately needs to be revved to go anywhere...a very poor combination! It's a better road car with the turbo on there as it has a lot more midrange so is a bit more relaxing as a daily driver plus far easier to overtake but I'd rather have an NA trackcar as I prefer the power delivery and you don't have the heat issues that forced induction brings. If I bought an Exocet kit I'd have to try the turbo in there just because I have it already set up (and for the initial entertainment value of 400bhp/tonne!) but it would probably be a better track car without it in all honesty.

From the classifieds on this site it seems that if I up my budget to £5k there is suddenly a better class of car (e.g. zetec and even bike engined Tigers) so I guess I should set that as my top whack. Where other than pistonheads is a good place to look for second hand kit cars?

I am fairly competent mechanically but I know nothing about kitcars so I'd probably get my friend's dad along to help me. He's built quite a few and currently has an Ultima GTR collecting dust in his barn. He's trying to sell it at the moment...I did ask but apparently £5k is below market value

Edited by T0MMY on Monday 2nd September 18:51

[PaulKemp]

I recon the striker is your best bet for 4k
Some Tigers had complete Sierra back axle same as early Robin Hoods
I have a monocoque hood and if set up its not bad but MK, MNR etc are a league better

[T0MMY]

I suppose I don't want to fall into the trap of thinking any 7esque kit car is going to have amazing handling just because it's feather light and looks the part. It has to be substantially better chassis wise than my MX5 to be worth the extra cost really and there's a hell of a lot more influencing that than just the weight.

[MG CHRIS]

Personally spend the money on the mx5 get the handling sorted good quality adjustable coil overs and get it 4 wheel aligned, under body strut braces aswel with a good set of tyres. You can get a itb set up for a mx5 with omex ecu if you want to stay with n/a.

Then when you get bored of that strip it apart and build an exocet or mx5 based 7 type car.

[OlberJ]

Lighten the Mx5 and make it spot on handling wise.

Then when you do go Exocet eventually you will have an absolute weapon.

[T0MMY]

I'm not sure there's a huge amount of lightening you can do to an MX5 Ditching the roof would save a fair bit but given that I drive to track and I enjoy doing trackdays in the rain it would probably be better to leave it on. I think the race cars are about 960kg which is about 40kg less than standard I guess.

The sensible thing to do for sure is stick with the MX5 (or buy a better track spec one) but I guess I've just always wanted a 7 style kitcar and now seems like the best opportunity to get one! That said, a few quid spent on my current car to deal with the turbo heat issues, plus a good set of coilovers and tyres would make it quite a serious tool. Decisions decisions...

Edited by T0MMY on Tuesday 3rd September 21:32

[ruaricoles]

I'd look for a basic but tidy and well sorted 7-type car like a Striker. If you've not got a huge amount of time to tinker with it, you're probably better off with a properly sorted 100hp example than a 300hp one needing lots of work. It will still be great fun and you could always do an engine change later when time and money allows and still have a nice tidy car.

I was admiring this one on eBay the other day
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sylva-Striker-1700-xflow...
(No connection or anything)

Don't discount the modestly powered bike engined offerings either like Fireblade engined cars, lots of fun and generally more affordable than the more powerful ones.

Ruari