H12ST D

Right then folks, after an assorted history af pretty nice cars and an understanding wife I have finally settled down and found myself with a mortgage, baby and an estate !

At the moment the wife has a Astra VXR which I 'borrow' every so often and we have a newage WRX as the daily hack.

Until now I have been hanging onto my motorbike, a Yamaha R6, waiting for summer so i could justify to myself that i should keep it, but now everyone i know seems to have sold up theirs and the thought of tear arsing around on the bike on my jack doesn't appeal as much? Plus i worry a bit now i have more commitments as to what could happen if i came off !>?

Anyway, I have pretty much decided that I am going to give it a good detail and sell my up in the spring selling boom and put some of the cash into a BUDGET track car to keep me entertained tinkering on on sundays and a few track days on the summer.

Now as much as I would like to, modding the scooby (or the astra for that matter) for track is out of the question, so this is where i turn to you lot!

What could i buy for a budget of around £1 - 1.5k which wouldn't need a great deal more than stripping weight, a bit of tinkering and maybe some decent suspension, exhaust and filter? Would like to try and sell any unnecesary parts to fund mods.

I need to be able to keep it road legal but the over riding priority is FUN ! Idea's this far are a 106 GTi or an E36 bimmer, bit dfferent i know!

So, lets have your idea's on what I could have some fun with ?

SiofChester

iTrader: (2)

Renault 21 turbo. T3 turbo that can be wound right up and lightweight too 200hp easy for a grand!

53

iTrader: (41)

Saxo VTS dirt cheap on ebay !

mrmarc

iTrader: (6)

mr2 turbo.cheap and fun.engines are good for over 300bhp with just bolt on mods.worth a look

Timwinner

iTrader: (3)

If you want dirt cheap get an MG Montego Turbo. 0-60 in 7.2 and despite looking like a heap they are actually pretty easy to work on and make into a track car.

Otherwise a VTR is good, you will get an XR3 for pennies now, and of course a classic scooby.

beef-on-the-bone

iTrader: (5)

going to be small and french, 106gti, saxo vtr/s, 205 gti, r5 gtt

forget big power, sort the suspension, single bucket/harness, be like you were riding a 2 stroke.........

H12ST D

yeah, big power is definately NOT on the cards. More trouble than it is worth and to be honest as much as I rate myself as a competant amatuer i would prefer something thats a bit closer to lego to work on.

Have done whole engine changes on mini's and fiesta's but everytime I open the bonnet and look at the scooby lump it makes me shudder lol I actually quite like the idea of the maestro but i think finding one might be easier said than done. Something retro could be cool but the option of small frenchness is an obvious one.

Plans would be the same whatever i buy along the lines of decent suspension, minor tuning and then strip it to within an inch of its life and maybe even attack it with the trusty hole saw! haha!

53

iTrader: (41)

I see a track prep'd saxo VTS go on ebay for 600 last December. Very temped, buy break, buy break so cheap !

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

Biased but a 205 GTi track car set up well, will (and does) embarass a lot more expensive exotica.

For £1,000 you could pick up a tidy example 1.6/1.9 (115/130bhp) and strip it/prep it yourself. For £1,500 you may get an already prepped 1.6/1.9, ie stripped, cage etc. You may get lucky and grab a cheap Mi16/GTi-6 conversion for the top end of your budget. Then you are looking at a lot of fun. 900kg, 160bhp+, one of the best handling hatches of all time

I personally (having owned my 205 for nearly 2 years) wouldn't look anywhere else. Certainly doesn't drive like a FWD car, and are very popular. Parts are dirt cheap and always spares going and plenty of mod parts.

Just my tuppenth anywho

H12ST D

1990 CITROEN AX GT GREY on eBay (end time 11-Feb-10 21:35:10 GMT)

Just stumbled across this, had one as a lad, A LOT of fun! Will be interesting to see what it goes for, cant beat platic panels !

Andy M3

The MX5 is the only thing I would be looking at with your budget TBH.

Drive this away Mazda : 1991 Mazda MX5 1.6 16v DOHC UK Car with Hardtop sell the hard top to help the budget.

Or this is one that needs work most of which you would be doing to track prep it anyway?

Mazda : UK MX5 1.8i

Some vid clips
YouTube - Ma5da racing
Things I overtook on the nordschleife

Matteeboy

Mk2 Golf GTi 16V? A few mods get the power up, they can be easily stripped down and they are ultra reliable. A mate has one with 240bhp and it's a total track beast.

RRH

Exactly what I was going to say..

Steve vRS

MX5.

Cheap to buy, reliable, RWD and top down fun on the road to and from the track!

Might be getting another one soon myself

Steve

RRH

We have two track MX5's already, but I have the urge to build another- turbo this time.

RRH

Bugger, just bought a 1.8 eunos and a turbo kit... Thanks for whetting my appetite

nisr227

MX5 here again, I had a tuned Mk1, and currently got a tuned mk2, they make ideal track toys as they are so cheap and reliable, and there's loads around, as a result they are common on trackdays these days. If you are going down the track route with a mx5 buy a proper roll cage for it.

If you want to be a bit different, then try a Peugeot 306 Gti-6 Phase 2 - buy a real high miler, as long as its the best you can find mechanicaly for £1k, ie. as long as cambelt has been changed. I had one and loved every minute, fantastic adjustable handling, great 6 speed box, great stock brakes and quicker than you think.

Take the rear seats out. With a further £1k spent carefully on ebay you can change the pads to DS2500's (or 3000's), fit decent suspension, strut braces, exhaust, filter, Toyo R888's and some harness.

Job done. Have fun.

Bicco

iTrader: (6)

Corsa B with a 2.0 16v already fitted, 1K should get you one with a good quality conversion, fully mot`d etc Strip it out, fit some semi descent quality suspension and tyres with the rest of your budget. Makes fro quite a fun track toy.

P555SBR

iTrader: (1)

id go for a 205 gti small fun and quick and lots of parts avalible if things do go wrong

rovermb6

honda crx mk1/2 or rover 216 gti.
dirt cheap, weigh next to nothing, bombproof engine and gearbox and fantastic handling once slightly fettled.
can pick up 216 gti track race cars for less than 2k

rovermb6

http://www.wrda.co.uk/for_sale/for_sale.htm

i dont know how old this advert is, but this is the kind of thing id go for.

Myles

iTrader: (40)

I agree, had one myself, and all I can say is.......what a car.

H12ST D

Ive liked the sound of a mx5 for a while, could be great fun and a pretty boyant market for selling off the bits i dont need, also like the fact that its small enough to tuck away at the end of the drive? Oh and of course rear wheel drive!

I had noticed that the corsa's go for good money but i dont think i could bring myself to drive a corsa lol ! That and the chances of them having been thrashed to **** already is pretty high !

Surprisingly i quite like the idea of the rover, my bro knows his way round a K series having fitted one in the rear of his old mini, also have mates with a K series fiesta and a supercharged K series Hillman Imp of all things.... weapon doesnt come close to describing it !

Cheers for your thoughts tho guys, lets see some pics to wet my appetite !

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

I thought you said.....

Seriously, enjoy,


And give me a shout so I can blag another few laps

H12ST D

Well i am waiting on a mate of a mate with a 205 1.9 gti that he needs shifting but other than that I am sold on the idea of an mx5! Like that low stance and rwd fun, plus the fact that it would still be great fun for the drive to work on a suny morning?

Fromt he guys that suggested it are there any recomendations on which web sites to scour for a bargain mx5?

Cheers Dave

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

If you are considering a 205 behind the Mx-5, pop onto forum.205gtidrivers.com and have a look around. Some very knowledgeable heads on there and many projects for track/drag/fast road etc.

Ray T

you have mentioned working on mini's in the past, how about that, cheap easily tunable and probaby the best fun car out there, plus there are the racing clubs out there.

The Zohan

Yup, MX5 would be my choice

scoobysmiff

iTrader: (2)

306 Gti-6 for me i think, you can get go faster bits direct from Peugeot as well iirc

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1472934.htm

Need a bit of engine work but worth a look...

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1444598.htm

This would be my prefered option though

StickyMicky

MG ZS 180


Cheap as hell, reasonably quick considering, f*cking awesome chassis as standard.
And you get a newer car then most other options.