What’s your favourite budget track car?
Discussion
Have been enjoying a few track days a year, and I’m considering resting my Porsche and instead track a ‘budget’ car instead.
What has been your best and worst experiences on a budget track car?
I’m considering spending between £5k to £10k on the car + mods. Which cars would you recommend within that budget?
Thanks !
What has been your best and worst experiences on a budget track car?
I’m considering spending between £5k to £10k on the car + mods. Which cars would you recommend within that budget?
Thanks !
I went through the same process. Ended up with a bike engined Westfield. Awesome fun, teaches you how to drive, easy to maintain with basic spannering skills, will still beat 90% of others on a trackday. Of course it started a track-car escalator for me which went:
Westfield Megablade
Westfield Megabusa
Caterham R500
Caterham 620R
Radical SR3 RS
While the Radical is head and shoulders the quickest, the Megabusa was by far the best value - for £10k you had a car that could do a sub-8 at the 'ring.
Westfield Megablade
Westfield Megabusa
Caterham R500
Caterham 620R
Radical SR3 RS
While the Radical is head and shoulders the quickest, the Megabusa was by far the best value - for £10k you had a car that could do a sub-8 at the 'ring.
Order66 said:
While the Radical is head and shoulders the quickest, the Megabusa was by far the best value - for £10k you had a car that could do a sub-8 at the 'ring.
Fair enough but to put in perspective you don't need a £10k car to do a sub 8, I sub 8'd for £4k & my pal was a gnats todger off with a passenger for £2k & ok he's a mega driver but matey in his near stock power mk3 mx5 is well in the 7s (*)(*) edited to add he's at 7.37, you could prob replicate that car for about £3k
Edited by iguana on Monday 8th October 21:12
Boxster_racer said:
E46 sits high on my list. I wonder how much it would cost to maintain if used for say 12 track days a year?
Routine stuff is fairly cheap, I'd guess you'd see 2/3 sets of tyres and a couple sets of pads then just anything that breaks. Don't rule out a 36 though, they are lighter so cheaper to run and unless you're going M3 the lower power versions will struggle less. Only trick now is finding a clean one.
Is a long list of what would suit, this sort of thread comes up a lot, are lots of cars not mentioned yet, are many fully sorted cars that could fit in budget as well as those already mentioned, mr2 Mk2 with the 190 transplant, mx5 with boost, 986 box etc. plus a lot of fwd stuff, clios, RS megans, cooper s etc.
RSbandit said:
How tricky are Radicals to go quickly in ? Always thought they were a tool for fairly experienced track drivers even the entry level stuff
They reward good technique and smooth operations of the controls and are relatively low powered. Coming from a Caterham style car into them is a good natural progression, coming from a 4wd big power car isn't.Key for me is weight.
If you want a roof and drive to the track, get a vx220. If you don’t mind trailering then get an ex-race Caterham.
The worst track car I owned was an E36 M3 (with bucket seat, suspension and brake upgrades). It can put in respectable times but it’s just sooo numb and heavy. I know that’s a controversial view on PH... each to their own.
If you want a roof and drive to the track, get a vx220. If you don’t mind trailering then get an ex-race Caterham.
The worst track car I owned was an E36 M3 (with bucket seat, suspension and brake upgrades). It can put in respectable times but it’s just sooo numb and heavy. I know that’s a controversial view on PH... each to their own.
Could buck the trend and get a nicely prepped E30 for that sort of money. If you can find one!
Always interesting to see a fast E30 on track. People don't expect them to be all that fast, but with the right engine and preparation, can turn in some really quick laps.
Though the VX220 is an excellent shout. That's probably where my money would be going to be honest...a nice n/a 2.2 with a view to k-swapping it at a later date.
Always interesting to see a fast E30 on track. People don't expect them to be all that fast, but with the right engine and preparation, can turn in some really quick laps.
Though the VX220 is an excellent shout. That's probably where my money would be going to be honest...a nice n/a 2.2 with a view to k-swapping it at a later date.
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