budget trackday car???
Discussion
I'm thinking of buying and preparing a budget trackday car, I've used my Griff 500 on quite a few over the years and had great fun in it, apart from the last one at Oulton park when my pal had an high speed spin at cascades!!! I know letting him drive it was a bad idea but track given his lack of experience in the car and lack of insurance but no damage done in the end but it could have been nasty and made me consider whether I wanted to turn the Griff into a much more track focused car (rollcage, slicks, etc)so I decided to leave the griff alone and look for something cheap and fast.
I bought a Nissan 200SX stripped it and tune it to around 360bhp (no turbo , remap, injectors, etc) fitted coil overs brakes, cage the whole 9 yards, and had 2 great trak outings and a good trip to the Isle of Man however on the second trackday another trackday-ee was so impressed with the car he made me an offer i could refuse so I sold it.
The Sx was a great car but it did end up costing quite a lot to get to where it was and I don't really want to spend that amount of money again (I still have the TVR to run)so I'm thinking of a budget option.
Something off ebay either MOT failure, damaged etc I know it's been a bit of a preamble to get to this but as anyone any thoughts for a cheap car I can strip out , fit some cut slicks and throw round the track?
my first thoughts are a long the lines of a Rover Metro K series, a Ford Puma 1.7 or a fiesta si etc
Who's running a poverty spec trackday car and what's proved successful for very little money?
I want something I can have a laugh in with my mates but not have the worries of running my TVR or the costs of a turbo missile, any suggestions or experiences welcome
I bought a Nissan 200SX stripped it and tune it to around 360bhp (no turbo , remap, injectors, etc) fitted coil overs brakes, cage the whole 9 yards, and had 2 great trak outings and a good trip to the Isle of Man however on the second trackday another trackday-ee was so impressed with the car he made me an offer i could refuse so I sold it.
The Sx was a great car but it did end up costing quite a lot to get to where it was and I don't really want to spend that amount of money again (I still have the TVR to run)so I'm thinking of a budget option.
Something off ebay either MOT failure, damaged etc I know it's been a bit of a preamble to get to this but as anyone any thoughts for a cheap car I can strip out , fit some cut slicks and throw round the track?
my first thoughts are a long the lines of a Rover Metro K series, a Ford Puma 1.7 or a fiesta si etc
Who's running a poverty spec trackday car and what's proved successful for very little money?
I want something I can have a laugh in with my mates but not have the worries of running my TVR or the costs of a turbo missile, any suggestions or experiences welcome
Agree with the 106 (or 205) GTi suggestion. A much better track prospect 'out of the box' than a Fiesta or Metro. While Puma would probably be pretty good, I imagine it'll be a bit more expensive on parts due to more weight.
Alternatively, there are usually plenty of track prepped cars in the classifieds - some real finds to be had with the right timing.
Alternatively, there are usually plenty of track prepped cars in the classifieds - some real finds to be had with the right timing.
I didn't want to spend that much!!! I've just been watching a Feista Si 1.6 16v not make the starting price of £200, a serious diet some cheap buckets and it could be fun, did you see the recent Race & Rally UK program? Not sure of the race series but it's all fords different classes from big power Cossies etc to almost stock Fiesta's, last race of the season at Donington and a little class D Fiesta Si finishes third overall!!!, Ok it's was raining abit (OK alot) but that little Feista proved that you don't need mega bucks or power to have some fun.
The little pug would be a better starting point but they seem to hold there money better than old Fords.
The little pug would be a better starting point but they seem to hold there money better than old Fords.
you can pick up SX's cheap but to get good reliable power (mine had around 360BHP) it got pretty expensive pretty quick, new turbo (gt2871r) £700, Nismo 555 injectors (s/h)£200,H-Dev remap £300 etc etc the list goes on, it's not just a simple matter of turning the boost up. All that will do is waste the motor plus it's quite addictive chasing that extra bit of power or braking etc and this is what made it expensive.
My current weapon of choice is an '85 MK1 MR2 - I paid £60 for the tax disc on it and the car came free 
I took suspension, brakes, wheels and other gubbins from my previous MR2 that rotted away. I then got it MOT'd for piece of mind more than anything. Drove it to Cadwell and did a full day with no problems. Two weeks later, drove it to Spa and did 360 miles on track in two days and drove back, again no problems.
It's competed (and did very well) in the Toyota Sprint Series with two of us driving/competing against eachother as well as clocking up over 3000 track miles in the past year. Main expenses were tyres & fuel and obviously cost of competing and track days.
Can't do better for the money IMO
One thing I would suggest though (whatever you decide to get) is keeping the MOT up to date - not only for your own piece of mind, but to ensure it's not going to be a danger to other track dayers. Remember if the car is not road legal it still needs to be able to pass MSA scrutineering. We (BaT) have turned away cars on many occasion that looked too ropey without documents to back them up.
I took suspension, brakes, wheels and other gubbins from my previous MR2 that rotted away. I then got it MOT'd for piece of mind more than anything. Drove it to Cadwell and did a full day with no problems. Two weeks later, drove it to Spa and did 360 miles on track in two days and drove back, again no problems.
It's competed (and did very well) in the Toyota Sprint Series with two of us driving/competing against eachother as well as clocking up over 3000 track miles in the past year. Main expenses were tyres & fuel and obviously cost of competing and track days.
Can't do better for the money IMO
One thing I would suggest though (whatever you decide to get) is keeping the MOT up to date - not only for your own piece of mind, but to ensure it's not going to be a danger to other track dayers. Remember if the car is not road legal it still needs to be able to pass MSA scrutineering. We (BaT) have turned away cars on many occasion that looked too ropey without documents to back them up.
both the BMW and the Toyota are good choices worth further investigation. Interesting point about the MOT situation I'd not cosidered it an issue because I plan to trailer the, but it's obvious to me now that it's vital to be able to prove your car of choice is in something like roadworthy condition.
Or there could be some proper deathtraps out there!!!.
Or there could be some proper deathtraps out there!!!.
Bit of work needed but all the bits and plenty of spares as well:
http://www.750mc.co.uk/classifieds-item.php?259
Not mine by the way.
http://www.750mc.co.uk/classifieds-item.php?259
Not mine by the way.
semi similar. had a quattro coupe for a number of years and regret never taking it on a track day. so after much winging wife caved in and gave me a whuge £1k budget to get something fun. decided i wanted to avoid a turbo as its more things to go wrong (i am unlucky) But it was also curbed by seats, had to have 4 seats.
So that ruled out one of my first choices MX5.
I fancied a 306GTi6 when i saw them on shed of the week, first car was a 306 and i loved it, and the thought of one appealed.
Then an E36, but ideally wanted a 328 but it was out of budget range.
Weight has to be the critical one i would say, then RWD if you can. Although the quick pugs are all pretty good fun, as are the mk2 golfs GTi's. i did try a 306 ralley and was really impressed, a very well setup car, and point to point it performed far better than the numbers would dictate.
Not ideal but i have ended up with another Audi, a 90 quattro sport, its old school so fairly light for a 4wd. other reason is to get my hands dirty, it might not be the quickest, but its early-electrical gubbins has a 5pot 20v engine, sounds fabulous and i am slowly learning how to fix things. therefore happy, giving myself small monthly budgets and scouring ebay and enthusiast forums for parts. Getting loads of support from various clubs. forums which is a godsend. Tubular manifold already found for a huge £70. Reasoning is this is a cheaper alternative, if i bin it its not a pride and joy. i can learn some both mechanically and track wise. its a first fun car... the way i see it is not too be too serious!
So that ruled out one of my first choices MX5.
I fancied a 306GTi6 when i saw them on shed of the week, first car was a 306 and i loved it, and the thought of one appealed.
Then an E36, but ideally wanted a 328 but it was out of budget range.
Weight has to be the critical one i would say, then RWD if you can. Although the quick pugs are all pretty good fun, as are the mk2 golfs GTi's. i did try a 306 ralley and was really impressed, a very well setup car, and point to point it performed far better than the numbers would dictate.
Not ideal but i have ended up with another Audi, a 90 quattro sport, its old school so fairly light for a 4wd. other reason is to get my hands dirty, it might not be the quickest, but its early-electrical gubbins has a 5pot 20v engine, sounds fabulous and i am slowly learning how to fix things. therefore happy, giving myself small monthly budgets and scouring ebay and enthusiast forums for parts. Getting loads of support from various clubs. forums which is a godsend. Tubular manifold already found for a huge £70. Reasoning is this is a cheaper alternative, if i bin it its not a pride and joy. i can learn some both mechanically and track wise. its a first fun car... the way i see it is not too be too serious!
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