Jamesemt

All the recent talk of track days has wetted my appetite. I currently drive a 2003 Tek3'd WRX, but fancy buying a car for track days only.

What do you reckon is the cheapest I can get something which is either:

a - perfect for the track,

or

b - a natural choice with a few mods.

Parts must be very cheap.

At the moment, the only thing that really springs to mind is a 205GTI.

Gutmann pug

What is your YEARLY budget including car purchase? Its important to know how much you want to spend over the course of a year rather than just the purchase price of the car.

Gary

billythekid

Pug GTis are good (106 and 205 are best), handle well and parts are cheap. Also look at an old shape 3 series if you fancy a bit of RWD fun.. If you are going to do track days in it then look for a race car or rally car that you can use. They can be very cheap. Make sure its got a full cage and fire system fitted. Other nice to haves are bag tank and FIA cut out etc.

Other things that you need to budget for is a set of tyres every 2 or 3 track days, oil and filter change every track day, new brake pads and discs every 5 to 10 days depending how heavy the car is.

My advice is dont buy something that is mint, you want a sound car that runs well and has no problems but paying an extra 20-30% on a car just because its just had a fresh paint job is not a good move. Spend the extra on track fees and parts.

There is a 325i on e-bay at the moment. Nice 205 1.9 too.

billythekid

Oh and are you driving it to track days or trailer? Trailer is best option btw as non road legal cars are cheaper and if you have a mechanical problem its not difficult to get home

The Chief

I think any old hot hatch can be modified to go well enough aroudn a track. someone i know has just bought a lovely RS1800 Fiesta for 400 quid to strip out put some seats and a cage in and hammer round a track.

he's doing this so he does not have to track his scoob and risk wrecking it.

The thing is if he prangs it he wont be that bothered - fiesta bits are dead cheap

Jamesemt

Exactly my point - I used to have a 205 GTI so know how cheap parts can be.

I want something that I won't have to seriously modify to have fun with it, hence the 205. Also helped to fit my Mi16 conversion in the past

I'm planning on trailering it, if the other half will let me stick a tow bar on her Fabia vRS

With regards to yearly budget, errr there isn't one. I don't want to spend much, but if the car needs work then so be it - I don't want to have to spend much more than consumables - couple of hundred a month maybe??

I've never been on a track day before, so this would be one long learning experience (this also needs to be taken into account when choosing a car).

Also, I would like to get into the maintenance side as I've never really got my hands dirty...but I've got a mate who I reckon would be up for using the car in exchange for his mechanical skills...

How much is realistic for a trailer?

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

Around £1000 for a decent trailer 2nd hand

IMO whatever you choose should be RWD and light if its a trackday special

Jamesemt

How suitable would the following cars be:

AX GT/I
Sunny GTI
200 SX
XR2i
Punto GT
Clio 16v
Ibiza 2L GTi for £200...

205GTI's still seem to hold good money for their age...would I be really foolish to consider a R5T at snotter money? What about a R5 GTX 1.7??

Do I go for something as light as possible (AX), or something which will be lighter when stripped (like a Golf)?

Think I'm going to enjoy hunting for a trackday snotter

Jamesemt

Ouch...could I get away with something that just lifts the front wheels off the ground (is that a dolly?). If I'm going to have to spend £1K it may be cheaper to get the bloody thing MOT'd...

Gutmann pug

If you take a 205 as the starting point.

Cost of car, anything from £300 to £1500 for a standard (ish) 1.9. Remember if you buy a dog it will need money spending to get it road / track worthy. I would suggest buying the best you can, even if it does cost a little more.

Mods

Cage = £350 fit it yourself (easy)
Seats = £300 fit them yourself (easy)
Harnesses = £100 fit them yourself (easy)
Strip it = great fun to do yourself.
Lick of paint inside = £20
Strut brace = £40 (do it yourself)
Suspension = £400
Brake pads = £80 (4 wheels fit them yourself)
Tyres = £130 (yoko A539's good cheap starter tyres)
Service on car = £100 do most of it yourself

plus anything else which you find is wrong with the car when you buy it.


So to get it to your first track day including purchase price of car (£1000) / trailer (£1000) and the mods shown above using all new parts

£3520

That excludes entry to circuits and fuel.........

You will then find the cars weak points and start sorting them out.......

It is possible to do it cheaper, this is a guide using NEW parts.


Gary

mattbeef

Id go for the 200SX cheap as chips to buy and not to bad to mod once the bug bites.
Also the guys on SXOC are always willing to lend a hand should need some

Jamesemt

Think I've narrowed it down to:

205 GTI (1.6 or 1.9...the smaller engine revs better??)
Clio 16v
200SX

It's going to come down to which is cheapest for parts/easiest to work on/least likely to blow up.

I am leaning towards a 205 as I have got quite an intimate knowledge of them - after buying a sh!tter and spending many many thousands on it (errr £8k student loan which I am still paying off )

Never been near a Clio 16v or 200SX (reckon parts for the Nissan may be more expensive + turbo worries and that engine is so thirsty).

davyboy

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/79270.htm

Brendan Hughes

Did you say a trailer towed by a Fabia? Are you sure it will be within legal towing weights? Check.

pwhittle

Even a stripped hot hatch will weigh around 800kg, my old trailer weighed 400kg, which is actually less than many newer aluminium ones (you can get a decent one for much less that £1k though - look at racing club sites).
That would add up to about the same weight as the Fabia, + spares and tools. V. bad move!
I used a series of 2L cars for towing, and wouldn't use anything less than a Mondeo 2L
you can't use 'Dolly' trailers unless the car is road legal unfortunately

I sold a stipped XR2I racer with trailer and spares for £900. Wish I hadn't now, the parts were worth more than that

Brendan Hughes

Yup, that was my thinking.

RRH

I've had two of those in the late 80s and early 90s, love 'em to bits.

Have to say I'm quite tempted as they're ace cars, but reckon the costs could be an issue now- not that easy to find parts.

Jamesemt

That is a very good point...don't forget with the diesel engine the Fabia vrs is a bit of a bloater

The other option is to use the Scoob, although I would have thought that it would drink fuel towing...and isn't the Scoob lighter than the Fabia?

Brendan Hughes

It's a scoob, it'll drink fuel even sitting on your drive

Thought - buy a Mondeo to tow your scoob to trackdays?

Brendan Hughes

From google:
Towing unbraked max 450-500kg [n/a vRS]
Towing braked max 800-1,000kg [n/a vRS]

Jamesemt

lol

I want budget thrills!!

Apparently the towing limit for the Fabia is 1000kg, from a power point of view I reckon it would be fine as there's so much torque. Could do with finishing off the clutch

To tow that type of weight apparently I need a 'braked' trailer - bet they are a lot more expensive...

Jamesemt

Beat me to it

Will I be able to find a 200kg trailer? Anyone know of anything lighter than a 205? How much will a stripped AX weigh?

RRH

You're not going to find anything that light apart from a bike unfortunately- our clio cup race car was 680kg dry, and you won't find too much lighter than that.

pwhittle

any car transporter (or even converted caravan chasis) will have brakes, though the hub brakes on older ones aren't great

Jamesemt

So what's the answer? Get the track car MOTd and use a dolly?

aggs

I have a 205 and use it as my everyday run around and track car.
I would suggest keep it road legal,so when you find out how much fun the 205 is to drive you can take it for a blast, and also more inportantly if something needs road testing when it goes wrong or needs fixing etc you can drive on road to make sure it fixed properly etc.
Seats,roll bars can be fitted as reqd. but as much fun can be had with std car.
Suspension,brake pads and good tyres first priority.
Parts are cheap,but an old car does seem to need a bit of TLC and will need a fund to keep it in good working order,but car should not loose its purchase price in depreciation.

Drive the car to the track.

Billgtt

This is my track toy:

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71...t/DSC02752.jpg

Cost less than £400. It's the coupe version of the gtt so it was built by Renault as a race car. It had no bottom end but my mate had an engine lying around that we slapped in. It's done about 10 track days now and all that's been replaced is: Oil and filter a couple of times, wheel bearings/disks/pads all round, starter motor, i/c and tyres (but I managed to get a load of free slicks and wets from a Formula Renault meet last year)

Don't believe the old stories, the engines are bomb proof if looked after

Jamesemt

I know how fun 205s are - that's why they are top of my list

Don't think I'd trust a car that cost pocket money to be totally reliable.

Jonathan Davies

Plus it'll break while you're racing and you'll be buggered.

Jamesemt

I'm not racing - it's for trackday use...but that is a fair point.