Track Day Car - Advice Please!

[drhildr]

I am thinking of buying an Elise almost exclusively as a track day car. Looking at the S1 and early S2 market I guess I can get a lot of car for a £10 - £15K budget.

I often see well driven Elise's punching above their weight on track days but they rarely seem like stock cars - uprated exhausts, brakes and tyres seem the norm.

Can you advise as to watch out for - positives and negatives, whatis the ideal spec for the car for this purpose?

Lastly does anyone know of a car just waiting to be sold, quickly, without fuss in the next 10 days?

Thanks for your help¬

[PB9]

for pure track use many people will say a well sorted S1 over a basic S2.

A quick flick about this site gave,

[url]www.pistonheads.com/sales/72150.htm[/url]

This is not my suggestion, but shows what you can get in S1 form. Not sure on the suspension on this car, did not read the advert much..

With 15k in hand, I think I would go for a good honda S1 with suspension,pagid pads,and ali disc upgrades. Will make a very fast track car..

Pete,

[Davey S2]

For that money have a look at the Sport 160.

Most of them have been tinkered with to improve track performance and they have the extra grunt you will need on some of the bigger tracks.

[piooly]

How about this one. I'm obviously not bias though !

www.pistonheads.com/sales/80575.htm

[S works]

For the money you want to be looking at an S1 Sport 135, Sport 160 or a 111S. Look for a good car which has been well maintained by the owner with lots of history from reputable specialists/dealers, cambelt done on time and with upgraded tyres, brakes, exhaust & induction already. If possible source a car which has already been tracked by an enthusiast who's probably fitted all the bits you'll want (better discs, pads, adjustable dampers, good induction and exhaust systems, harnesses) as you'll end up spending £££'s doing it yourself anyway in time.

You just missed a peach of a Sport 160 (mine ) which sold @ £13k. 31.5k on the clock, FSH with brand new tyres, 6months since all discs were changed, 4 months since all pads were changed, ITG carbon fibre induction, 4 months since new S/S Janspeed large bore sports exhaust etc.

Also check the classifieds on http://forums.seloc.org there are lots of good cars on there for sale. Scott_Mac for instance has a nice 135 which is at around £10k.

[S works]

Apart from pioolys which is very nice this has recently come on the market:
http://forums.seloc.org/classified.ph

Already has trackspec tyres and the next service is a nice cheap A. As a point of note, the Sport 160 has a 6k mls service interval rather than a 9k on (the other variants have this), but if you're tracking it regularly then I suspect you'll do regular oil changes etc anyway so this won't be a big deal.

This is Scott_Mac's car:
http://forums.seloc.org/classified.ph

A bargain at that price and with the extra grunt from the head and 4-2-1 will be nice and quick with lots of torque. The guys at Horizon know their stuff and their geo's are very good.

I also know this car to be a cracker too:
http://forums.seloc.org/classified.ph
Jez is one of the Sussex guys from SELOC and his car is very quick and in great shape. He's done nearly all the bits so you don't have to also, at the price he's asking it's a bargain. The guy who did the head is very, very well respected for his work on SELOC.

[kevin ritson]

Wouldn't rule out an S2 135R either - might struggle to get one for £15K but if you do it's a cracking car

[Hollywood Wheels]

Davey S2 said:

For that money have a look at the Sport 160.

I have heard they're a bit tasty!!

[S works]

kevin ritson said:

Wouldn't rule out an S2 135R either - might struggle to get one for £15K but if you do it's a cracking car

Agreed - if you want an S2, that is the one to go for. Or you may be able to find a Sport 135 for less and have a great basis for doing a few more tweaks to.

[drhildr]

Thanks all - espeically S Works. If it was your money which of the three cars would you choose? the 160 is tempting for the extra grunt but the other two seem well sorted and one seems to have a reputation......

[S works]

On paper they're all good value, if I had the time and the inclination I'd take a look at all 3 if I could. All sellers above, including Oly (piooly) are active club members and take pride in their cars.

Judging by your current steed a higher powered car would suit you more, or you're probably likely to get bored quickly, so either of these will probably suit you well.

What are your key requirements?

[drhildr]

Thanks S Works. You are right - the Ruf is putting down over 400bhp / ton, handles wonderfully and is rarely passed on track by anything less than a single seater or Radical type of weapon in capable hands. If I wanted more power I would probably buy a Radical / Ultima.

However I am going through expensive tyres and pads at a great rate and there is always the potential of an off with very expensive results! Besides which I am looking to learn more subtle techniques which are best done at slower speeds in a very nimble car. The Elise is in the frame as I can't abide trailoring cars to circuits so need a car that is passably OK for the drive to and from the circuit as well as doing the biz on it. Hence Westfields and Caterhams are less attractive.

Any thoughts / suggestions more than welcome......

[S Works]

For what you're looking for the Elise will give you lots of smiles at a lower price, and indeed will be more practical than a Caterfield.

Whilst an Elise will be cheap to purchase (potentially), the cost of tracking can and probably will mount up.

You will probably end up spending money on it to get it very track-focussed if that's what you want...
- harnesses
- better pads and discs
- track spec tyres & toe link upgrade to suit
- adjustable, rebuildable suspension (Ohlins or Nitrons)

All the above will set you back a good £3k at least, so depending on need I'd look carefully at all options. If you want sticky tyres (Toyo R888, Yoko AO38 or 39) you're going to be spending out fairly regularly as they only last a few thousand mls if tracked regularly. Pads & Discs of course will start taking a hit so you'll want to buy good ones (eliseparts ali-belled discs, and pagid pads are the weapons of choice on most cars) and again these rack up the costs more also (see eliseparts.com or elise-shop.com for cost info).

To that end, the £10.5k car looks a good place to start.

I'd still be of a mind to consider others also to get a good idea of what you can get for the cash, you may be able to find something very track-focussed with most of the above done already.

Do remember though that if you do have an off bodywork is pretty fragile and expensive to repair.

[drhildr]

Thanks for this. The one thing I know is that an Elise is likely to be a lot less costly in every respect than the Ruf GT2 as a track machine...

[S Works]

...and you'd be right

I've no idea what you'd be likely to spend doing say 5 trackdays in the RUF, but in the Elise it'll doubtless be cheaper. Best of luck with the search.