Fastest Track Car (on a budget)
Discussion
Bit of fun.
I have been looking at the comparisons between stripped and caged track only cars vs fast road cars and some of the results are surprising. I was wondering what would be faster on track for a reasonable budget.
Requirements :
- Tin top (no catherams et al)
- Not so old its rusting totally to bits
Budget - say £15k for a track only car (including mods) vs say £25k for a road car (can't be stripped out).
I'll kick off, it seems an M4 provides pretty good pace around a track for a road car in the budget. Anyone think of any track day only cars or road cars that are much quicker for the respective budgets?
I have been looking at the comparisons between stripped and caged track only cars vs fast road cars and some of the results are surprising. I was wondering what would be faster on track for a reasonable budget.
Requirements :
- Tin top (no catherams et al)
- Not so old its rusting totally to bits
Budget - say £15k for a track only car (including mods) vs say £25k for a road car (can't be stripped out).
I'll kick off, it seems an M4 provides pretty good pace around a track for a road car in the budget. Anyone think of any track day only cars or road cars that are much quicker for the respective budgets?
Steve H said:
Sticking with beemers a decent E36 M3 track car would muller pretty much any road car for around £15k.
Can you get an M4 for £25k now? They've dropped well??
There is one in black with 70k miles on for £25k on auto trader, so they do seem to have depreciated like a stone. They seem pretty common around where I live (Essex), so maybe that is the reason why.Can you get an M4 for £25k now? They've dropped well??
Intrigued about the E36 M3, as around Brands Hatch Indy for example, there are times posted on here for a stock M4 (by git-r i think) of 54 secs, which seems quicker/as quick as the E36 track cars times I have seen.
Edited by alienwarerandy on Wednesday 13th February 09:48
sixpistons said:
E36 m3 is a good shout. Also, for 15k not much would keep up with a VX220 turbo with decent dampers and a remap. Bends the tin top rule but you could get a hard top.
VX220 turbo is quite a good shout, a remap and a few bolt ons would see 300 bhp too. I had an Astra VXR with the same engine and it was fairly brisk on track for what it was, although terribly unreliable. I would guess it would be circuit dependent but query whether the VX220 turbo would be as quick as an M4, other than round tighter tracks like Cadwell?Welshbeef said:
Surely a 172Clio bought for £1k ish then spend £14k enhancing it could make it rather special indeed.
I have a Clio 182 currently (admittedly pretty standard). From reading on the Renault sport forums it seems the people who have spent ££££s on the Clio regret it as it turns it from a great budget track car into an expensive track car that has good pace but as I understand it, its far from blistering. By which I mean it probably wouldn't keep up with an E36/E46 M3 track car.CABC said:
what did you learn?
is the overall lap time the metric you're interested in?
Just a discussion really - as I was thinking of using some man maths and running a more expensive road car (with a few choice mods) on track rather than a dedicated track car. I realise a caged car on slicks that is stripped etc, will have more feel and be better in the corners (I have had one in the past). However, they are quite difficult to live with on the road and hence do not get used often. Other people may be ok with £25k sitting in a dedicated track car, but I'm not in that position unfortunately (and the mrs wouldn't allow it). I was just pondering do you even need a dedicated track car if from some of the laptimes provided on here and other sites, it seems some fast road cars are as quick as relatively big spec track builds.is the overall lap time the metric you're interested in?
On metrics appreciate there are others that are important such as fun being the big one, but it seems overall lap time is the only measure that can give a rough comparison between cars that is not largely based on opinion.
alienwarerandy said:
Just a discussion really - as I was thinking of using some man maths and running a more expensive road car (with a few choice mods) on track rather than a dedicated track car. I realise a caged car on slicks that is stripped etc, will have more feel and be better in the corners (I have had one in the past). However, they are quite difficult to live with on the road and hence do not get used often. Other people may be ok with £25k sitting in a dedicated track car, but I'm not in that position unfortunately (and the mrs wouldn't allow it). I was just pondering do you even need a dedicated track car if from some of the laptimes provided on here and other sites, it seems some fast road cars are as quick as relatively big spec track builds.
On metrics appreciate there are others that are important such as fun being the big one, but it seems overall lap time is the only measure that can give a rough comparison between cars that is not largely based on opinion.
ok, you've thought about it. not sure i'd value lap times the metric though.On metrics appreciate there are others that are important such as fun being the big one, but it seems overall lap time is the only measure that can give a rough comparison between cars that is not largely based on opinion.
the straights are pretty boring really and 300+hp will make short work of them but anything 1200kg+ is struggling to be fun on most UK circuits imo ('Ring and Silverstone are different). not everyone will agree.
how about:
- S/C GT86
- RX8 (with recent rebuild)
- Cayman
the civilised cars can be fast but are a little boring and also expensive to run (M3s etc).
a standard GT86 while being quite light still feels too heavy imo. S/C it and it'll liven up nicely.
Stretching the "Track Only" budget but: https://racecarsdirect.com/Advert/Details/100256/c...
Ginetta G40/GRDC car.
£18k, road legal, option to actually race it, not just do trackdays.
Ginetta G40/GRDC car.
£18k, road legal, option to actually race it, not just do trackdays.
Why bother when you could buy a clio 3 cup racer for 15k?
A gt86 would need a lot of suspension work. The standard platform is decent enough on road but lacking on track.
I would look at an ex cup series car. Properly prepped yet uses mainly series production parts. Avoid the clio actually as the sadev box is brilliant yet expensive to maintain. The ginetta is a good shout, supercharged minis are suprisingly quick in a straight line as well as the corners.
A gt86 would need a lot of suspension work. The standard platform is decent enough on road but lacking on track.
I would look at an ex cup series car. Properly prepped yet uses mainly series production parts. Avoid the clio actually as the sadev box is brilliant yet expensive to maintain. The ginetta is a good shout, supercharged minis are suprisingly quick in a straight line as well as the corners.
shirt said:
Why bother when you could buy a clio 3 cup racer for 15k?
A gt86 would need a lot of suspension work. The standard platform is decent enough on road but lacking on track.
I would look at an ex cup series car. Properly prepped yet uses mainly series production parts. Avoid the clio actually as the sadev box is brilliant yet expensive to maintain. The ginetta is a good shout, supercharged minis are suprisingly quick in a straight line as well as the corners.
Good shout - A gt86 would need a lot of suspension work. The standard platform is decent enough on road but lacking on track.
I would look at an ex cup series car. Properly prepped yet uses mainly series production parts. Avoid the clio actually as the sadev box is brilliant yet expensive to maintain. The ginetta is a good shout, supercharged minis are suprisingly quick in a straight line as well as the corners.
Gassing Station | Track Days | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff