fmp

iTrader: (7)

hey all.

not posted for a while.

had a 2003 Spec-C a while back.

Anyways....

I am currently competing in this years Time Attack series. Club Challenge, N/A class, in my Renault Clio 172.

Whilst the car is very quick for a Clio, i struggle to keep up, as most cars in the class are ex-race cars.

So unless they change the groupings drastically next year, i am thinking of making the step up to a 4wd turbo car.

So.... once i sell my clio, i am thinking i will have 10k max to spend. This would have to buy me a well modified car, or a cheaper car, with a few k left to get it sorted.

I am hoping to keep the car and develop it over a few years. firstly getting an amazing suspension and braking setup sorted. So that will be my priority over out right power.

Also i will still be running the car on the road, so i can do a bit of testing, go to shows, to the 'Ring etc. so ideally i would like to avoid £400 a year road tax!

So this is where you guys come in. can you please help with any info on models etc that i should be looking at. What to avoid, whats best for track work etc.

I did see a 2 door Type R that i really liked. is this the earlier equivalent of the Spec-c? light weight etc?

many thanks to all that help with info!

cheers

mat

Ian

iTrader: (10)

911, Has a very nice impreza on here, that has all the good bits on it to make it a very quick car, and all for around 8.5k.

so i think you would be able to get something ok.

there is also a 500+bhp bug eye for around 15k

fmp

iTrader: (7)

ah, should of said, wont be doing anything till the end of this season, so trying to gather info into what to look for, so i make the right choice later this year.

Butty

iTrader: (2)

Zen Performance may also have their light blue car on the market:

Zen Performance - Team Zen Archive

Nick

David_Wallis

yeah contact zen

However 10k wont buy you a competitive car for TimeAttack, especially for next year!

HTH.

David

M444GY

iTrader: (72)

go for a classic imo . pick em up pretty cheap and can mod em silly .

seem to do prettty wel in the time attack series

172sport

iTrader: (6)

How do your lap times compare with the clio cup ones?

ZEN Performance

Our 2007 TA Pro winning car will be for sale. I think it will be about competitive for 2009 club class the way things are going, should be sold with JDM 6 speed box, DCCD, EXE-TC suspension, stoptech brakes, genuine 600hp engine (performs like some 700hp engines ) new wiring loom. Meets all the TA safety regs, and will utilise many of the performance and reliability advances from our 2008 pro car. All for much less than the price of building one. Complete with spares wheels and TA legal tyres, freshly rebuilt inside and out. Serious enquiries invited, and test drives available for those with the relavent insurance or a £20k deposit.

M444GY

iTrader: (72)

there u go as above

dynamix

iTrader: (3)

The way things have moved on this year I would say you are better off in N/A class as the starting point for performance is going to be 500 bhp + in club challenge along with sorted suspension, brakes and aero. All in all, the N/A class is a better option IMO.

Paul - might chat to you later re the blue car

fmp

iTrader: (7)

cheers for the opinions guys.

what i was really after tho is what is a good base car to start with.

i am fully aware that you need some serious hardware to be competitive, but i would rather have a car i can progress with further, that the clio i currently have which other than a gear box and a few bhp here and there isnt going to be go much further.

This would be a longer term project, that i can develop and improve as the year progressing, and into the next few seasons.

so, my question still remains, for my 10k budget for a base car, what is my best options? a Classic Type R? a bug eye spec-c? or something different?

or should i go back to looking at Evo 5RS's etc?

Tidgy

classsic type ra, strip it out, cage, plexi windows, semi slick tyres and it goes like stink and prob only cost best part of 5k, which gives you spare to play with it.

seems to be even in club class you ned to throw alot of money at it to get anywhere up the tabe

ZEN Performance

Seriously. £10k for base car, then allow to spend another £10 to 20k on it depending on how competitive you want to be. Even the guys that are running standard engines with bolt on stuff are spending £8k on performance parts, brakes, suspension and safety gear.

Paul

fmp

iTrader: (7)

a Type RA. ok, will add that to my short list then.

I appreciate the extra money that needs to be spent, my Clio has 11k worth of engine in it, 2.5k worth of roll cage (inc fitting), 2k worth of brakes and suspension, etc etc

ZEN Performance

if you're going to spend that sort of money, they you could do a lot worse than to buy our car for less than the cost of a new standard STI from a dealer.

300bhp/ton

What exactly is Time Attack? Are there limitations to mods and/or makes?

If not and you want something different I have an idea

fmp

iTrader: (7)

what sort of money will you be asking for your old car?

banny sti

iTrader: (68)

Looks like 20k gets you the car, bargain for such an awesome machine imo!

Banny

300bhp/ton

I'm not so sure. £20k would seem cheap IMO. Plus the post said 20k deposit to test drive it. I guess the 20k would be there incase something went wrong and it was crashed or something. A test drive under relatively controlled conditions means it is unlikely to cause more than 20k's of damage.

ZEN Performance

The cost to buy the 2007 car would be £25 - £30k dependent on final spec.

Thanks all,

Liz @ ZEN

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

Oooh - I'll have 2 please

fmp

iTrader: (7)

LOL

a bit above my 10k initial budget then.

maybe next time.....

300bhp/ton

While a super modified awd drive Subaru must be an awesome track weapon there are other alternatives.

-Lightweight
-Affordable
-Able to stop and corner
-Have an engine with plenty of power

£10k to buy then build an ultimate track car which is still road legal is likely to be difficult.

I'm not sure on the regs for Time Attack but I see a TVR listed in the n/a class so I guess its fairly open.

Well how about one of these:


Option 1

Triumph TR7

It's a lightweight rwd car, easy to buy with plenty of parts available. It was a very succesful race in the SCCA Trans Am Series, so good it got banned after being campaigned buy Bib Tuilus' Group 44 race team.

It was also entered into the Le Mans 24hrs by Janspeed.







Even with a Rover V8 you could run FI and have quite a lot of poke.

Although in this modern age I would opt for one of the best engines available anywhere. The Chevy LS1 V8.

Stock is 346ci/5.7 litres. It's all aluminium, compact and lightweight (weighs less than many DOHC V6's). In n/a form and stock displacement you could easily see 500bhp in street trim and more in full out race trim.

You can increase the displacement up to a tad over 7 litres. It takes well to being supercharged or turbocharged.

It is THIS engine that really makes it such a good bet.


Option 2

Same as above but instead of a TR7 use a Mazda MX5 or Mazda RX7 (early one).

There seems to be a fad of putting the LS1 into these types of cars so there is plenty of info about on doing it.



I know the TR7 is not a Japanese car, but on your budget I believe you could make it one very very fast road legal race car.

You can even buy whole new shells from Heritage. But some solid could be had for £1000. Plus £1500 or so for an engine and T56 6 speed tranny. Spend a few grand doing heads and cam and a few other bits and have around 500bhp. Sort out a rear axle and LSD (Ford or GM). Convert to a 4 link rear, add a roll cage and sort out the suspension (many setups proven in the many race series the car is already used in). Oh and bigger brakes.

Just an idea and not meaning to offend.

ZEN Performance

I thought you wanted a £10k base car, then you want to spend how much on it? £25k for a complete, competitive, ready to go TA car is not expensive.

fmp

iTrader: (7)

yeah, 10k is for the initial car, hopefully with a few choice mods, then over time i will improve it.

whilst it would be nice to get buy something like your old car, i dont have a big pot of cash to buy it all at once, or to buy a complete car.

its gonna be a progressive build.

I just wanted to know what a good base car was, but other than a Type RA classic, havent had any other options or opinions, so will jsut keep reading info i come accross and make the best choice i can at the time.