Not sure what car to get help much appreciated

[Wattsym12]

Me and my dad are looking to buy a track day car something small we can trailer around but neither of us are sure what to get we have between 2000-2500 to play with any suggestions much appreciated

[Dakkon]

All depends what you are after, FWD, RWD, AWD etc, but as trite as it is so say such a thing on PH, an MX5 is a very good starting point for trackday fun.

[Wattsym12]

We were looking fwd but were just after a fun track car but have no track experience then we looked at mr2s just wondering what people suggest really

[dapearson]

If you're new to track driving, go for lightness and handling over power and grip.

You will learn lots in something like an MX-5/MR2 on normal road tyres.

If you want to upgrade something, go for brakes first - road car brakes get fried on track. Don't skimp on quality pads and decent fluid (ATE Super Blue for example).

After that think about some decent suspension, maybe even something you can fiddle with.

Forget sticky tyres and going after more power until you've really explored the limits of a low powered car on normal tyres. You'll be surprised how a decent driver in such a car can keep up with people that have spent ££££ on sticky tyres and are paying a fortune to run a big barge.

[kiethton]

Clio 172/182?

106 Rallye

Saxo VTS

EP3 Civic?

[Wattsym12]

We had 3 cars we were looking at fwd being a 2.0 redtop vauxhall nova rwd mr2 or awd some sort of impretza but somebody said not to go turbo as they overheat often when being driven hard on track days ? The other thing that is a worry is all these cars are the type of cars that get hammered all the time so reliability and parts an issue too? I'm completely new to buying cars and racing sorry to sound so useless

[dapearson]

Wattsym12 said:

We had 3 cars we were looking at fwd being a 2.0 redtop vauxhall nova rwd mr2 or awd some sort of impretza but somebody said not to go turbo as they overheat often when being driven hard on track days ? The other thing that is a worry is all these cars are the type of cars that get hammered all the time so reliability and parts an issue too? I'm completely new to buying cars and racing sorry to sound so useless

Sounds like you really need to get to a trackday to see what everyone else does, have a chat to people, maybe blag some passenger rides.

[911p]

MX5. Mine was £1650, have a look in my profile - been a great track car!

[jagjoe]

I have a 205 GTi on the bay. It is up for £2300 but has everything with it including towing dolly and 4 sets of wheels and tyres. Even if you don't fancy my car you are welcome to have a few laps in it when I am at Oulton next to see if you enjoy track days. It is always a good day out even if it rains.
Good luck
Joe