What car for trackdays?
Discussion
Having done 1 days to amaze seesion drving various cars and entering the fun cup schlorship competition i want to begin doin track days in my own car but what car to choose has troubled me as i love most fast car's the current ones are and i have a budget of between £6000 - £10000
Skyline r33 gtr
evo 4, 5
impreza wrx sti type ra
e36 m3
mr2 turbo
Any help or advice would be greatly appriciated
cheers ross
Skyline r33 gtr
evo 4, 5
impreza wrx sti type ra
e36 m3
mr2 turbo
Any help or advice would be greatly appriciated
cheers ross
Skyline r33 gtr - Heavy, will eat tyres, brakes and petrol, but you will be smiling all the way round the track
evo 4, 5 - Again will go through a lot of petrol, especially if tuned
impreza wrx sti type ra - See above
e36 m3 - Good cars, Evo seem to think so with their Project 8 min car, possible vanos issues though
mr2 turbo - Used to own one, make sure you get '94+ for 240 bhp 3SGTE engine, would need a brake upgrade minimum for track work, not easy to find an unmoltested one these days, lot of crap about.
Would probably go for the M3 if I were buying
evo 4, 5 - Again will go through a lot of petrol, especially if tuned
impreza wrx sti type ra - See above
e36 m3 - Good cars, Evo seem to think so with their Project 8 min car, possible vanos issues though
mr2 turbo - Used to own one, make sure you get '94+ for 240 bhp 3SGTE engine, would need a brake upgrade minimum for track work, not easy to find an unmoltested one these days, lot of crap about.
Would probably go for the M3 if I were buying
www.pistonheads.com/sales/100564.htm
spend the rest on tuition and a trip to amsterdam should blow the rest
spend the rest on tuition and a trip to amsterdam should blow the rest
Regular fully comp insurance wont cover you on track, but will cover you to/from the circuit on the road. To cover the car on track you'll either have to take out specific insurance per event at anything from £75-150 a shot, or find a specialist insurance broker (Competition Car Insurance rings a bell) to find you an annual policy. Whether that would include road insurance too or not Idont know, but either way its going to be expensive.
Also as others have said, heavy cars = heavy bills on track, if you add up all your trackday / accomodation / travelling costs (ie fuel there and back) for an average trackday, you'd probably end up paying at least the same again on tyres / brakes / track fuel, not to mention the insurance mentioned above if you need it.
In summary, buy a decent kit car They're cheap, very light and generally far quicker on track than anything you've mentioned above, and if you prang it its not quite such an issue because you don't need it for work on Monday morning. Something like a Locost, Fury, Striker, MK Indy etc would be ideal, the only issue is you need somewhere to store it, and may want to tow it to/from the circuit if its a bit further away. An Elise as mentioned above is a good alternative and a great Sunday car, although pranging one would be expensive.
Also as others have said, heavy cars = heavy bills on track, if you add up all your trackday / accomodation / travelling costs (ie fuel there and back) for an average trackday, you'd probably end up paying at least the same again on tyres / brakes / track fuel, not to mention the insurance mentioned above if you need it.
In summary, buy a decent kit car
They're cheap, very light and generally far quicker on track than anything you've mentioned above, and if you prang it its not quite such an issue because you don't need it for work on Monday morning. Something like a Locost, Fury, Striker, MK Indy etc would be ideal, the only issue is you need somewhere to store it, and may want to tow it to/from the circuit if its a bit further away. An Elise as mentioned above is a good alternative and a great Sunday car, although pranging one would be expensive. Edited by Locoblade on Tuesday 31st October 19:28
Out of the list above i'd choose the STI RA, nice close ratio box and excellent internals.
But you gotta love the faces on the owners of expensive cars when you overtake them in one of these
I have owned caterhams before and I prefer the 205s to be honest....
Sean
track-monkey.co.uk
But you gotta love the faces on the owners of expensive cars when you overtake them in one of these
I have owned caterhams before and I prefer the 205s to be honest....
Sean
track-monkey.co.uk
Edited by smckeown on Tuesday 31st October 19:49
Locoblade said:
Regular fully comp insurance wont cover you on track, but will cover you to/from the circuit on the road. To cover the car on track you'll either have to take out specific insurance per event at anything from £75-150 a shot, or find a specialist insurance broker (Competition Car Insurance rings a bell) to find you an annual policy. Whether that would include road insurance too or not Idont know, but either way its going to be expensive.
Also as others have said, heavy cars = heavy bills on track, if you add up all your trackday / accomodation / travelling costs (ie fuel there and back) for an average trackday, you'd probably end up paying at least the same again on tyres / brakes / track fuel, not to mention the insurance mentioned above if you need it.
In summary, buy a decent kit car They're cheap, very light and generally far quicker on track than anything you've mentioned above, and if you prang it its not quite such an issue because you don't need it for work on Monday morning. Something like a Locost, Fury, Striker, MK Indy etc would be ideal, the only issue is you need somewhere to store it, and may want to tow it to/from the circuit if its a bit further away. An Elise as mentioned above is a good alternative and a great Sunday car, although pranging one would be expensive.
Also as others have said, heavy cars = heavy bills on track, if you add up all your trackday / accomodation / travelling costs (ie fuel there and back) for an average trackday, you'd probably end up paying at least the same again on tyres / brakes / track fuel, not to mention the insurance mentioned above if you need it.
In summary, buy a decent kit car
They're cheap, very light and generally far quicker on track than anything you've mentioned above, and if you prang it its not quite such an issue because you don't need it for work on Monday morning. Something like a Locost, Fury, Striker, MK Indy etc would be ideal, the only issue is you need somewhere to store it, and may want to tow it to/from the circuit if its a bit further away. An Elise as mentioned above is a good alternative and a great Sunday car, although pranging one would be expensive. Edited by Locoblade on Tuesday 31st October 19:28
Thanks for that information i take into consideration what your saying and it makes perfect sense what you are saying it just that most kit cars the cockpit is fairly small this isnt a problem apart from the pedals as with having a size 13 foot i find it very difficult trying to hit a certain pedal so if you could recomend one with a reasanble space between each pedal it would be very helpful i have been told the extreme is a good one but what bout the fishery fury as i quite like those thanks ross
The MK Indy has quite a large cockpit compared to most although not sure specifically about pedal box room. Westfields aren't too bad either, my mate has size 12/13 feet and drives a Westie OK. The Fury I think is a bit smaller though, from what I recall it tapers down at the bottom of the footwell so might be more of a struggle, as would a Striker / Phoenix which are even narrower.
Like Pug 205/309s, the 16v Mk2 Honda CRXs are very satisfying track cars. They're light, the engines are bulletproof (if looked after, like anything) and there are a few about. They don't weigh much and there are plenty of go faster parts available for them.
They're surprisingly quick on track.
They're surprisingly quick on track.
Just too add a bit too my comments re a BEC read this snippet from an RGB (road going bike engined) race report, these cars are road legal, road legal tyres with zero engine mods allowed.
Before the RGBs went out the Roadsports Championship had their qualifying session. The Roadsports Championship is an eclectic mix of sports cars, including Nobles, Porsches, a Morgan +8, a TVR Tuscan etc. At the front of the grid the cars will be costing well in excess of £50,000, and yet the pole winner (Noble) wouldn’t have made the top three in RGB! Furthermore, the third quickest Roadsports runner in a Noble M12 would have qualified fifteenth in RGB!
This does illustrate just how quick the RGB cars are, and whilst no one will ever say motorsport is cheap, the RGB Championship does represent incredibly quick and competitive racing for the money.
Before the RGBs went out the Roadsports Championship had their qualifying session. The Roadsports Championship is an eclectic mix of sports cars, including Nobles, Porsches, a Morgan +8, a TVR Tuscan etc. At the front of the grid the cars will be costing well in excess of £50,000, and yet the pole winner (Noble) wouldn’t have made the top three in RGB! Furthermore, the third quickest Roadsports runner in a Noble M12 would have qualified fifteenth in RGB!
This does illustrate just how quick the RGB cars are, and whilst no one will ever say motorsport is cheap, the RGB Championship does represent incredibly quick and competitive racing for the money.
Locoblade said:
The MK Indy has quite a large cockpit compared to most although not sure specifically about pedal box room. Westfields aren't too bad either, my mate has size 12/13 feet and drives a Westie OK. The Fury I think is a bit smaller though, from what I recall it tapers down at the bottom of the footwell so might be more of a struggle, as would a Striker / Phoenix which are even narrower.
There's stacks of room for big feet in an Indy as long as you wear appropriate shoes.
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