After spending a very enjoyable afternoon at Donnington yesterday,courtesy of MattOz and his M5, I have caught the track day bug !

What was also interesting was the variety of cars on track from stripped out race car V6 Mondeos, to TDI Golfs and Smart Cars - I realised that it is all about having fun whatever you are driving.

So I need to get out on track :)

I do not fancy using my 3 series coupe, but I am considering chopping in my other car which the misus uses for something a little more appropiate..

Currently a 3dr 1.8 Zetec Focus, which is a cracking little car, but has crap brakes and probably not enough grunt. Now we are both fans of Focus's as they do everything well ( Fuel, handling, space etc ) so was comtemplating a ST170 ( Approx £12k so RS Out and probably to lairy for other half )..

Anyone had any track experiences / general thoughts ???

Paul

The ST170 does handle superbly, but they aint exactly the quickest of the bunch...

Does it have to be Focus sized or would you go larger/smaller at all?!

Also, do you want to buy new or used and is the ST170 the kind of price that you want to pay?!


[Edited by Rich D - 1/20/2003 3:08:16 PM]

Cheers Rich,

May go smaller, but not a great fan of Clios etc, and a CTR would be a little much on insurance and a bit in your face for the other half.

The ST170 is nice as it will have leather and all the good bits inside, plus it looks quite grown up if you see what I mean, unlike say a Saxo ;)

P

Ooops forgot to add - would like to chop in my Focus say £6k plus perhaps another £6K in cash !

New or used not too fussed.

P

Ok then, some suggestions...

Peugeot 106 GTi (leather, etc..)
Peugeot 206 GTi,
Peugeot 306 GTi-6/Rallye,
Honda Civic VTi (older shape),
Citroen Xsara VTS (a cheaper 306),
VW Lupo GTi,
MG ZR,
MG ZS,
Seat Ibiza Cupra (basically a VW),
Ford Puma,
etc...


There is a lot of choice! :D

RS Skoda.

"RS Skoda."

For £12k?!

The SEATs and MGs sound quite tempting, both a little more grown up than the smaller PUGs etc, but would they really give a much as the ST170, in terms of track fun and general driving & comfort ??

P

The 106 may be a bit small actually, although do NOT underestimate them. I used to have one of these for 2 years and they are an amazing little car. Drive one, just for the hell of it. :D



As for the 206, it's a bit "soft" as standard compared to the other sporting Pug's, so not amazingly quick, but with great handling.



Wheras the 306 GTi-6 or Rallye is a superb drivers car, the Rallye stripped and purposeful, yet the GTi-6 has ALL the luxury bits to make it a great road car. The handling and performance are superb, with the Rallye being that little bit extra (0-100 is 1 sec faster) and I recentyl bought a Rallye to drive for a few months.

Everytime I drive this car it brings a smile to my face and it's so easy to drive normally everyday, with bags if useable low down torque and a well ratio'd 6 speed box, which makes for effortless driving. But, wind it past 4500rpm and the engine suddenly bursts into life and it pulls like a train round to the 7250rpm redline, with great ease. Change up a gear and the acceleration just keeps going, all the way through the 6 gears. As for the handling, it is nothing short of amazing and it's such an enjoyable drive.

There was a test in CCC mag a few months ago where they raced a 306 Rallye against a CTR round a circuit and the Rallye actually won!!! ;)

I can see me keeping this for a while... :D



As for the Seat Ibiza, it is a great car, but the chassis is not quite as good as it could be (still not bad) and the ST170 is the better of the two in that department. Very well specced up though and all the options are there, leather, ABS, climate control, traction control, leccy everything, etc... My mate has one and I was very impressed with it.



On to the MG's then. The ZR (old 25) is a quick little car (160bhp VVT), but the handling is not "the best" by all accounts, so probably not for you.

But, the ZS (old 45) is a superb handling car and Tiff once said it was one of the best fwd cars he had ever driven, so coupled with the 180bhp 2.5 litre V6 lump, this is one great car.



Anyway, plenty of food for though there. I'd suggest some test drives... ;)

The misus actually works for BMW Mini in Oxford ( Hense my choice of motor ;)) so she can get some great deals on the Rovers / MGs... Me thinks a test drive is coming up...

I have never been a great fan of Pugs, but I have heard great things, and you view seems to emphasise that...

GTI6, may be a little hard on insurance again and I've got to bear in mind that this car will be doing nearly 100 miles a day, that is what was good about the ST170, driven carefully it will still give good MPG - but I'll look into it !

Thanks for all the advise.

P:)

Could sell you my 306 GTI-6 on a V plate for £7995.

Andy.

Andy,

Mileage
Colour
Service History
Mods
Reason For Selling etc..
Partx on a Focus Considered ??? :p

THANKS ;)

[Edited by Paul78 - 1/21/2003 11:53:04 AM]

Colour = China blue
Mileage = 34665
Full Peugeot Service History
Only mod is grovved/drilled front discs with EBC greenstuff pads
Reason for selling = getting a MY03 WRX
So don't want a p/x

Anything else you need to know, just ask me.

Andy.

St 170 is GAY!
ST 170 is totally G A Y !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think my fathers Rover 400 is quicker!

Mega (CTR)

FFS, read the post **** - Occassional track use and for the other half to do 100 miles / day in !

GAY in your opinion, but then again suits her needs and as far as I am concerned an ideal choice - now feck off.

LOL

Get him told mate... ;)

Get a racing puma :D

Read that there were a lot of problems with ST170's and the quality wasn't really there.

For my money I'd almost certainly go and spend about £7.5k on a 1999-2000 GTI6 I think. Stunning handling and sensible servicing costs (ie 20k intervals) also because they are not a current shape they are cheap!

Also those ZS180's are very good handlers, on the twisties my friend could keep up with my old modified Jap Impreza in his... Still I'm not sure about residuals on them - his GFV is £3.5k after 3 years/36k which isn't good on a £15k+ car :eek:

Oh Sorry "sweat boy" didn't mean to upset you! (FAG)

I do contract work for Jag (Halewood) up here in Liverpool. As such i drove the ST170 long before any of the car mags. My contact was surpirzed when i told him how crap and GAY it was.

It didn't have the power to full the skin of a rice pudding!

Once i had run in my Honda CTR i took it up and gave a few of the guys a go in my "R". They couldn't belive just how quick,it was.

Not just in a stright line either. If you want a tip look at the 172 CUP for that sort of money.......or your just get pissed on..each time.ever time!
Mega.

Mega you seemed obsessed with Gay's! Is there something you want to tell us? :D BTW maybe he's not interested in straight line speed! But then that would be "Gay".

BTW i reckon the 306GTI-6 is the one to go for - won't feel as "solid" as the focus but cheaper and faster.

....and less GAY!

;)

Racing Puma :D

Better MPG than the ST170, as cheap to insure, and will hold its value better.

Its also much better on track with fadeless brakes and mega grip.

my vote too for the Racing Puma- these have depreciated loads (I reckon the worst is gone) and are amazing cars. Had a passenger lap of the 'ring in one and it booted the ass of many a supercar (took a ferrari driven by some no hoper from Paris on 75 plates around the Karrusel!!!).
Its a bespoke car, very exclusive etc the only problem will be finding one.

Cheers Guys,

I think what I am going to do is sort the brakes and suspension on my Focus, take it out on track a few times until I have a real feel for what I would like, and then look at the options..

Will certainly consider GTI-6 and Racing Puma.. Just gotta sort out finances and then see if it will all piece together..

Paul ( In touch with his feminine side but not GAY ;))

Why the obsessive comparison between ST170 and CTR - there's 30bhp difference between them, no wonder the ST170 felt slower :rolleyes: