My track car for under a bag of sand

[GTWayne]

Every now and then ( more often now) folks come on here asking questions like ' X amount of £'s to spend - what is the best track car for that money?'
Here is the answer to that question by way of a statement
Several months ago the engine in my e36 M3 expired whilst doing a T/D @ Silverstone. I had a succession of events booked and found myself in a position on the Monday where I had a day @ Goodwood booked for the Friday, and no car to use
I went straight to the trusty old computer and looked on ebay. I was on my way up to Norfolk on the Wednesday to collect a BMW e36 325i saloon which I won for £420. It had 10 X months MOT and an LSD and it was good enough for me at a last minutes notice I fitted an uprated front ARB, changed the brake fluid to DoT 5.1 and fitted a new oil filter/oil. Friday came and went and then six more consecutive T/D's since without issue. I have sold the interior, bought a set of the cheapest coil overs I could find and changed various bushes/drop links etc. as I have seen fit. The car currently stands me in at about £700 all in which is amazing. I dare say the budget will eventually top £1K but that is more just because I want to keep improving it but my point is, anybody could duplicate this recipe and achieve a similar result.

[Jon Doe]

I think you went to Hullavington on the first week you had it and a clutch cylinder problem which was fixed soon after? If its the same car then its doing well!

[GTWayne]

^^^ That was indeed the M3 which has since suffered engine failure, the 325i 'loon is the current stand in ( had I known that it might be this good I don't think I would have bothered with the M3 ), and cheap too! , isn't life grand 'eh

[Jon Doe]

Aha, so the M3 had followed another M3 problem and this one is the best going!
I knackered the bottom end of my kit car engine that day and used my Saxo vts on a following track day- great fun had in that.
What events are you at for the rest of the year?

[GTWayne]

^^^ I am at Brands on 19.11.09 and am trying to get onto another Goodwood T/D on the 9.11.09.

[iguana]

Is good going, gotta cage it tho which is not that cheap for a 36 as no cheap OMP jobbies available as per the 30, SD full 6 point cage is over 800 squids, but a Wiechers can be had cheaper I belive.

Trouble is tho is a lot of folks out there who track disposable heaps that drive like utter cretins, last guy I encountered also had a cheapo 325i e36... wasnt you tho wayne anyway he was such a knobber with so many complaints he got banned from attanding that companies TDs again.

[GTWayne]

^^^ I don't know that I agree with 'having' to cage a track day car, it is good if you can, but not a must IMO. I was going to have a look at installing an old roll cage that I had fitted in a MkII Escort back in the day but when I went down to my lockup it was not there , I must have sold it and forgotten I do have a heavy duty pipe bender at my disposal and may look at having ago at fabricating something over the winter

Knobbers can been found driving all manner of machinery, disposable heaps too

[iguana]

Ref cage agree ref regular road cars on track of course but IMHO it is a must if you are running slicks, I have done it without- only for one or two days tho, in a past car before I caged it.

On slickys the strain on stuff is so great & is an old worn car after all & the corner speeds so high- esp Goodwood! so each to there own & all that but to me its not really an opt out item.

[GTWayne]

^^^ Unfortunately I am the type of individual that only seems to learn from experience ( ie. the twin pick up pipe and Evo sump on the 3.0ltr - I did know about it before hand and even had the parts but chose to run the gauntlet and paid the price ; see what I mean? )

I KNOW I am doing it again but I only have a few more track days left to do this year and if I manage to survive using slicks and no roll cage I hope to start next season in my Ultima ( and that does have a roll bar, but no slicks; talk about doing things back to front ).