FUN: Best Track Day car for £5K

FUN: Best Track Day car for £5K

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Discussion

PetrolTed

Original Poster:

34,443 posts

310 months

Thursday 28th March 2002
quotequote all
You have a virtual budget of £5K. What can you find on the web that would be the best fun for a track day only car? (let's have the links)

ap_smith

1,997 posts

273 months

Thursday 28th March 2002
quotequote all
Nissan Pulsar.

240 Bhp, 4 wheel drive, tuneable and doesn't break easily.

Several on ixm.co.uk for less than 5k.

per pound? Plenty.

shayes

164 posts

291 months

Thursday 28th March 2002
quotequote all
How about a hot 205 or 306 from LAD?

I've heard they put in the 405 mi16 engine and tweak the suspension.

Gotta be good? but tacky.

>> Edited by shayes on Thursday 28th March 11:56

JMorgan

36,010 posts

291 months

Thursday 28th March 2002
quotequote all

PetrolTed

Original Poster:

34,443 posts

310 months

Thursday 28th March 2002
quotequote all

JonRB

76,104 posts

279 months

Thursday 28th March 2002
quotequote all
How about this 230bhp Caterham 7 R500 with full FIA spec roll cage, bag tank, harnesses etc.


Just ever so slightly over budget at £30,995.

Paul V

4,489 posts

284 months

Thursday 28th March 2002
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A friend just bought a hillclimb mini, 1380cc race tuned engine, straight cut box, full cage, battery cut out, plumbed in fire extinguisher, carbon fibre seat, fully uprated suspension, slicks and road tyres on split rims, 6 pot brakes, ran competitively last season, he paid £4800 and seems a great track car for the money, there are a few like this around but finding a good one is hard to do. The car had a 6-page feature in one of the mini mags.

Bez

15 posts

272 months

Thursday 28th March 2002
quotequote all
Get a Sylva Striker!
Probably the best budget track car there is. Not high tech but a result of years of development and solid mechanical engineering.
Result - best handling car for the money - very light too (you dont need a stonking engine to put in some good times - a crossflow will do fine).
I would recommend any of the Sylva cars designed by the legendary Jeremy Philips. Check out these links www.geocities.com/MotorCity/2706/sylnet.htm
www.sylva.co.uk

M@H

11,298 posts

279 months

Thursday 28th March 2002
quotequote all
A well built "Lowcost" or similar.. one with Spaceframe chassis anyway amd 2.0+ motor. I know a couple round me that are very well done and would be 4 sale at about that money.

In fact a friend of mine who has built a couple sold his last one for £3500, complete with 1600 sport crossflow, rollcage etc. etc. that gave him a really good p/w ratio, and he loved at trackdays.. Of course he's then developed his own spec. and chassis! so is doing it all again

Cheers
Matt.

bennno

12,733 posts

276 months

Thursday 28th March 2002
quotequote all

www.ladmotorsport.co.uk

5k buys you a (almost) race prepared 1.9 205 with 185bhp, roll cage, track suspension, rebuilt engine / gearbox/transmission/sspension, buckets/ harnesses, bigger brakes, comp pads/ disks, uprated anti roll bars, baffled sump, close ratio gears, new yoko's etc

7k buys you 240bhp (16v) 205 with the same as above but billstein adjustable suspension, magnox exhaust, and a spare set of wheels with slicks.

Guess which one I am having built. They are only 850kgs as well so either should fly.

I have requested bog standard looks from an exterior perspective to avoid the 'max power' look.

Bennno

davidy

4,474 posts

291 months

Thursday 28th March 2002
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For 7.5K you could have my modified (and sorted) TVR Taimar (set up for track days and sprinting), big advantage over Benno's devices is that the right wheels are driven and you could look like a max power reject (though Benno's standard exterior will alleviate the latter). It's still for sale though seems to have fallen out of PetrolTed's classifieds!!!

I reckon the 5K budget is a bit tight one you have bought decent suspension (£400), brakes (£750) and tyres (£400-500) and overhauled most of the rest of the car, though you could buy an ex-stock hatch or something similar, however it may be knackered/unsorted/etc.

Remember you have to rely on this think being driven balls-out to keep you out of the Armco

It is better to drive something that you know is ok and sorted and in that respect I would agree with Benno, buy a cheap car and sort it out.

bennno

12,733 posts

276 months

Thursday 28th March 2002
quotequote all

with a £750-£1200 base car, you can afford to get the thing rebuilt throughout with higher grade parts which hopefully will be more up to the rigours of track use.

I was looking for a E30 M3 but spoke to the owners of several cars and if you buy one for 6k, it will probably be in a fairly poor state and will potentially cost a lot in short time.

The other main thing going for the pug is at 800kg's with 240bhp, it has almost 300bhp per ton! On slicks, with race suspension settings and brakes, I am confident it should be able to embarass a few Elise owners on track days.

Bennno

mikefield

77 posts

289 months

Friday 29th March 2002
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I would also recommend the Striker.

A mildly tuned X flow version is coming on P2002.

Perhaps Petrolted will give it a test round the track.

Cost £3500


>> Edited by mikefield on Friday 29th March 07:43

JMorgan

36,010 posts

291 months

Saturday 30th March 2002
quotequote all
This ones a hoot
www.m992.fsnet.co.uk/Ferrari355/ferrari355.html
Wants a TVR part ex.
Give him 2 grand, won't mind if you total it.

>> Edited by JMorgan on Saturday 30th March 15:32

dr chuff

296 posts

291 months

Tuesday 2nd April 2002
quotequote all
Alfa 75.

I watched Chris Snowdon lap several 911s (new ones)at Goodwood in a 1988 'just bought for 500 GBP' road legal one. Old tyres, no mods. And the electic windows still worked.

4500 GBP more will get you a race spec one good enough for competition.

I did consider getting one instead of a Tuscan S6 (entire car costs less than a S6 service), but you can't pose in an Alfa 75!

BTW, the Ferrari/MR2 is hideous.

Dr C

mattjbatch

1,502 posts

278 months

Wednesday 3rd April 2002
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jeremyc

24,550 posts

291 months

Wednesday 3rd April 2002
quotequote all
quote:
... big advantage over Benno's devices is that the right wheels are driven...
Doesn't that just make it go in circles?

jedi

197 posts

271 months

Wednesday 3rd April 2002
quotequote all
Easy decision. One I have just taken. I ditched the tuscan and have bought a JEDI. Single seater, bike engined racer, originally for hillclimbing, but now used for racing in MonoPosto 1200. Can pick up second hand examples from 5k. Mine cost me a bit more, but was well worth it. Full slicks and Wings with over 300BHP per tonne and just over an inch off the ground, there are BIG smiles.

Just had the car back from respray, so will post pictures earlier next week.

As an example of how well they corner, when at Mallory last week a couple of drivers from the factory trounced all over some F3 and GT cars. Where most cars are preparing to brake for the corner the JEDI is still flat out. Extensive piccs at

www.jedi-racing-cars.com/Image_database/Jedi_Circuits/

Best thing is, engines are cheap and so are all the bits. New nose (150 notes).

Beast

368 posts

291 months

Wednesday 15th May 2002
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Like Bennno, I'm going for the LAD 205, but was tempted by this little number
www.911virgin.com/944orange.htm
on
www.911virgin.com/stock.htm