Recommendation for sub £7k daily/ring/trackday car
Discussion
My first topic and it's a "what car". Sorry...
Given that my current Golf VR6 is unlikely to make it back from my impending Nurburgring trip, I'll be looking for something to replace it in a few months time.
Here's the criteria:
- £7k maximum.
- Must be reasonably fun to drive.
- Must be a 4 seater and suitable for short ish journeys with a newborn child and my 3 year old.
- Must be absolutely bombroof. This is key. Next year I'll be doing a Nurburgring track day which consists of a 900 mile round trip and 30 laps of the circuit. I need to be confident that it's going make it.
- Must be suitable for the odd uk trackday as well.
- Must be able to be worked on by a reasonably competent DIY mechanic (me) when necessary.
- Mustn't be too much in terms of non-fuel related running costs.
Unfortunately the constraints of insurance/tax/parking space means that I can't get away with two cars, so one car needs to tick all the boxes.
The only thing in my head at the moment that seems to meet all the above criteria, is an EP3 CTR.
Anything else?
Ta. Matt.
Given that my current Golf VR6 is unlikely to make it back from my impending Nurburgring trip, I'll be looking for something to replace it in a few months time.
Here's the criteria:
- £7k maximum.
- Must be reasonably fun to drive.
- Must be a 4 seater and suitable for short ish journeys with a newborn child and my 3 year old.
- Must be absolutely bombroof. This is key. Next year I'll be doing a Nurburgring track day which consists of a 900 mile round trip and 30 laps of the circuit. I need to be confident that it's going make it.
- Must be suitable for the odd uk trackday as well.
- Must be able to be worked on by a reasonably competent DIY mechanic (me) when necessary.
- Mustn't be too much in terms of non-fuel related running costs.
Unfortunately the constraints of insurance/tax/parking space means that I can't get away with two cars, so one car needs to tick all the boxes.
The only thing in my head at the moment that seems to meet all the above criteria, is an EP3 CTR.
Anything else?
Ta. Matt.
RobM77 said:
E36 M3/328i sport
328 would be my suggestion. How apt.http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyI...
Edit to make URL a URL.
Edited by Munter on Friday 2nd July 10:37
joe_90 said:
328 / m3
Full roll cage
coilovers + top mounts
2 /3 sets of wheels with slicks/semi/wet
poly windows.
uprated 6 pots + pads
exhaust system
strut bars
stripped out.
money left for oil change etc ..
done.
Not sure a full cage and stripped out really fit with the only car and small child part of the requirement...Full roll cage
coilovers + top mounts
2 /3 sets of wheels with slicks/semi/wet
poly windows.
uprated 6 pots + pads
exhaust system
strut bars
stripped out.
money left for oil change etc ..
done.
Cheers for the replies fellas, a fair bit of food for thought there.
I was considering an E36 M3, but the repair costs have the potential to be massive. Also a concern on an Impreza/Evo. My general impression of those is that they don't often go wrong, but when they do it's generally major!
I quite like the idea of an E46 330 actually. Though last time at the ring a guy we got chatting to had one. After 22 laps (most of which were sub 10 mins) he drove it back home on what seemed like 4 or 5 cylinders.
ITR seems like a viable prospect, though they are generally older than equivalent priced EP3s. Shouldn't be a problem really - maybe I'm just being paranoid.
RX8 - scare stories of regular rebuilds on rotary engines are putting me off. Was that just the RX7?
Skoda VRS - I'm not keen in the mk1 (basically a heavier mk4 golf with only 180bhp). I suppose the later 2.0 T-FSI models are probably in budget now though. I'll have a look.
Skyline - I love them, but I think they're probably too 'specialist' for my repair skills/budget.
So far I think the CTR is still winning, but that's mainly due to my perception of its reliability.
I suppose I could always get something much more powerful for a bit less dosh and blow the rest on a top-notch breakdown recovery service
I was considering an E36 M3, but the repair costs have the potential to be massive. Also a concern on an Impreza/Evo. My general impression of those is that they don't often go wrong, but when they do it's generally major!
I quite like the idea of an E46 330 actually. Though last time at the ring a guy we got chatting to had one. After 22 laps (most of which were sub 10 mins) he drove it back home on what seemed like 4 or 5 cylinders.
ITR seems like a viable prospect, though they are generally older than equivalent priced EP3s. Shouldn't be a problem really - maybe I'm just being paranoid.
RX8 - scare stories of regular rebuilds on rotary engines are putting me off. Was that just the RX7?
Skoda VRS - I'm not keen in the mk1 (basically a heavier mk4 golf with only 180bhp). I suppose the later 2.0 T-FSI models are probably in budget now though. I'll have a look.
Skyline - I love them, but I think they're probably too 'specialist' for my repair skills/budget.
So far I think the CTR is still winning, but that's mainly due to my perception of its reliability.
I suppose I could always get something much more powerful for a bit less dosh and blow the rest on a top-notch breakdown recovery service
Munter said:
joe_90 said:
328 / m3
Full roll cage
coilovers + top mounts
2 /3 sets of wheels with slicks/semi/wet
poly windows.
uprated 6 pots + pads
exhaust system
strut bars
stripped out.
money left for oil change etc ..
done.
Not sure a full cage and stripped out really fit with the only car and small child part of the requirement...Full roll cage
coilovers + top mounts
2 /3 sets of wheels with slicks/semi/wet
poly windows.
uprated 6 pots + pads
exhaust system
strut bars
stripped out.
money left for oil change etc ..
done.
or just mount a child seat in the middle, fixed to the rollcage Edited by joe_90 on Friday 2nd July 11:41
mk1matt said:
My first topic and it's a "what car". Sorry...
Given that my current Golf VR6 is unlikely to make it back from my impending Nurburgring trip, I'll be looking for something to replace it in a few months time.
Here's the criteria:
- £7k maximum.
- Must be reasonably fun to drive.
- Must be a 4 seater and suitable for short ish journeys with a newborn child and my 3 year old.
- Must be absolutely bombroof. This is key. Next year I'll be doing a Nurburgring track day which consists of a 900 mile round trip and 30 laps of the circuit. I need to be confident that it's going make it.
- Must be suitable for the odd uk trackday as well.
- Must be able to be worked on by a reasonably competent DIY mechanic (me) when necessary.
- Mustn't be too much in terms of non-fuel related running costs.
Unfortunately the constraints of insurance/tax/parking space means that I can't get away with two cars, so one car needs to tick all the boxes.
The only thing in my head at the moment that seems to meet all the above criteria, is an EP3 CTR.
Anything else?
Ta. Matt.
30 laps in a day is massive. Not many cars or drivers could cope with that.Given that my current Golf VR6 is unlikely to make it back from my impending Nurburgring trip, I'll be looking for something to replace it in a few months time.
Here's the criteria:
- £7k maximum.
- Must be reasonably fun to drive.
- Must be a 4 seater and suitable for short ish journeys with a newborn child and my 3 year old.
- Must be absolutely bombroof. This is key. Next year I'll be doing a Nurburgring track day which consists of a 900 mile round trip and 30 laps of the circuit. I need to be confident that it's going make it.
- Must be suitable for the odd uk trackday as well.
- Must be able to be worked on by a reasonably competent DIY mechanic (me) when necessary.
- Mustn't be too much in terms of non-fuel related running costs.
Unfortunately the constraints of insurance/tax/parking space means that I can't get away with two cars, so one car needs to tick all the boxes.
The only thing in my head at the moment that seems to meet all the above criteria, is an EP3 CTR.
Anything else?
Ta. Matt.
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