What track car up to £4,000?

[TREMAiNE]

A friend and I are going halves on a track car.
We want to spend as little as possible on something fun for up to £4,000 which we'll split in half.

While we're both track day veterans, neither of us know much about mechanics whatsoever, so something simple to work on would be preferred, as it'll be a learning exercise with us. The idea is to strip it down and prep it ourselves and have a bit of fun off-track, not just on.

Ideally, to keep costs down, we want something very light.
FWD or RWD is ok, as is 4WD if it is light enough.

Not too fussed about power as long as it handles well.

The current top contender is a first general Suzuki Swift Sport, which you can pick up for shed money.

We're also looking at the RenaultSport Twingo 133.

I know an MX-5 is the obvious answer here but we've both owned them previously so I do want to try something different (even though I know a 19 plate Swift Sport currently as a shopping car).

Though we could go to £4,000 for a car, we do want to spent under £2,000 ideally - I know that doubling that opens a lot more options but the idea would be to spend that extra money on a better conditioned example of a £2,000 car as opposed to buying a bottom of the barrel £4,000 car if that makes sense.

For example, a mint Twingo 133 for £4,000 as opposed to a dog of a Clio 197.

Obviously with our budget, there aren't many options that tick all boxes and I do think the Swift Sport is probably the best choice but we're definitely open to hearing if we have missed anything.

[adamlstr]

Clio 172/182.

There's a reason you can't do a trackday without there being at least 3 or 4 there.

[Pebbles167]

Twingo, and Swift in particular will feel a bit slow.

I'd get a 197. Under £3k will get you one that's fine, and £2k would get you a good 172 or 182.

Doesnt need to be mint or low mileage, its gonna be used on track and you'll end up servicing changing things like the cambelt more often anyway.

These are common cars, plenty of advice and parts readily available.

[Jamescrs]

I think you will struggle to find a good 172 or 182 for under 2k now, maybe a couple of years ago but they are becoming harder to find in reasonable condition now for cheap money. Probably because they have all been used up as track cars.

Have a look at R53 Minis, still some around at sensible money and the supercharger whine is great.

[TREMAiNE]

A 172/182 would be our choice, but where are all these good ones for £2,000?

All the ones I've seen look like dogs.

The Swift/Twingo are the only cars where we genuinely seem to be able to buy nice, unmolested examples in budget.

Power to weight isn't particularly impressive on them, admittedly, however, I found my 124bhp/ton E30 race car was much quicker around most circuits than my 987.2 Boxster S was.

[adamlstr]

TREMAiNE said:

A 172/182 would be our choice, but where are all these good ones for £2,000?

Your title literally says up to £4,000.

I'd be spending 'up to 4k' on a well sorted 172/182.

[egor110]

Do you need to drive it to the track ?

What about a puma race car ?

[colin79666]

If you really aren’t fussed about power then how about a Citroen C1/Aygo? Mechanically simple and easy to work on. Parts are cheap and readily available. Heck if you do the right modifications you can enter into the series

https://youtu.be/OkoCuKOSpeo

[ZX10R NIN]

Buying something with a good following is a smart place to start, I'd say look for someones track/project car.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Focus-ST-Track-car...

Also have a look at the RX-8 231 they're a very good car & are sensible running cost wise, even if you need to rebuild it at some point they're actually sensible money:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mazda-RX8-modified-show...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mazda-rx8-modified-and-...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2007-Mazda-RX8-1-3-Petr...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2005-MAZDA-RX-8-231-PS/...

PZ

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202011045...

Kuro

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202103029...

Haggle hard & you could get this Cat S R3 for your 4K budget:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202102018...

Cat S Anniversary Edition

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202104030...

[Lollypops]

Fiesta ST150 are available in your budget too.

[MiseryStreak]

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/11491870

Job jobbed. Close thread. HTH.

[TREMAiNE]

egor110 said:

Do you need to drive it to the track ?

What about a puma race car ?

Yes, needs to be road legal and able to pass an MOT.
Puma is a good shout but even though I know they're good, I just don't like them.

[TREMAiNE]

ZX10R NIN said:

Buying something with a good following is a smart place to start, I'd say look for someones track/project car.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Focus-ST-Track-car...

Also have a look at the RX-8 231 they're a very good car & are sensible running cost wise, even if you need to rebuild it at some point they're actually sensible money:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mazda-RX8-modified-show...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mazda-rx8-modified-and-...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2007-Mazda-RX8-1-3-Petr...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2005-MAZDA-RX-8-231-PS/...

PZ

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202011045...

Kuro

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202103029...

Haggle hard & you could get this Cat S R3 for your 4K budget:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202102018...

Cat S Anniversary Edition

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202104030...

The rotary engine is without my favourite engine.
I've owned both an RX-7 and an RX-8 which I did over 100 track days in over a 3 year period (and then sold it to the same friends I'm going halves with on this new track car). Absolutely brilliant machines and a great call - something we had already considered but decided against. Heavy, difficult (for us) to work on and if it does need a rebuilt, neither of us would be happy parting with that sort of money I don't think.

Great shout, though.

[TREMAiNE]

MiseryStreak said:

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/11491870

Job jobbed. Close thread. HTH.

Perfect.

But not road legal.

A French Racing Blue 182 is genuinely one of my dream cars. It'd look great on the driveway next to my Grabber Blue Mustang.

[GR_TVR]

I was between 172/182, ST150 and R53.

The ST150 was the first one that popped up and hence the one I got!
Not tracked it yet but it's been a hoot on the road, so I'm looking forward to it!

[culpz]

You'll get a decent 133 for your money. I've really started to like them over the Clio's. They're a fair bit more rare and will be cheaper to run. I bet they're a hoot on road and track.

[d_a_n1979]

EP3 CTR?

[Jamescrs]

GR_TVR said:

I was between 172/182, ST150 and R53.

The ST150 was the first one that popped up and hence the one I got!
Not tracked it yet but it's been a hoot on the road, so I'm looking forward to it!

I went from.an ST150 via an MX-5 to an R53.

The Fiesta was a lot of fun and took a real beating on track by me. The R53 in my opinion is a better car in just about every way other than the ST150 was more reliable. I'm sure you will have a lot of fun with it.

[ucb]

MR2 mark3?
Easy to work on, can be made to weigh less than a ton. Reliable
Actually just seen that a 2zz track prepared car has gone on sale in the owners forum for under your budget

Edited by ucb on Thursday 8th April 14:27

[Ash_]

ucb said:

MR2 mark3?
Easy to work on, can be made to weigh less than a ton. Reliable
Actually just seen that a 2zz track prepared car has gone on sale in the owners forum for under your budget

Edited by ucb on Thursday 8th April 14:27

This is the correct answer IMHO, especially if you can get a 2zz converted one.