My Saxo Vts Track Shed
Discussion
Time for another track blog for you all to read through/laugh at/abuse, etc.
After recently jumping at the chance to have a company car to do my 25k a year in (320i M Sport), it was definately time to get back into fun cars, ie the French tin cans that i know & love
After much umming & ahhing about turning my existing 328i Sport into a dedicated track car, I tried to fit in in the garage. I failed. It stuck out the front by about 3 foot & I could only get out of the boot … So it went up for sale.
After lining up 9 people to view it in 2 days, it sold to the 1st person to see it. No haggling, at full price. Lovely jubbly. Its journal is here: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... Also, & in case anybody is wondering, yes it was far better to drive than the e92 thats replaced it!!
So now wish cash in hand, i spent some quality time browsing Pistonheads, ebay & essentially every French car forum in the UK. I set the budget at £2k all in & set to work tracking down & viewing some PH1 172's. Now i want a shed to track, but some of the 'things' i viewed were just wrong, seriously people, if your cars a nail, put it on the ad, save buyers a journey
So after some more deliberating, probably over a KFC & some Stella, i decided to really go back to my roots, ie Pug, & two very well known & frankly brilliant cars in the shape of the 306 Gti6/Rallye and 106 Gti/Rallye.
Unfortunately, 106 gti's are expensive, 106 Rallyes are even worse & prohibitive running/tuning costs were starting to put me off the 306 - although i nearly bought a couple of bargains anyway lol. Then, one evening, on the way home from work, i changed my route and spotted something vaguely appealing ...
A shed. You know the ones, sat on someones drive, complete with spiders webs & flat tyres, the kind of car that screams, 'save me, i want to lose my interior, grow sticky tyres & be hammered around every track in the UK'.
I called the owner, viewed the car in the fading light, fell in love with its dents, cracked bumpers & unstuck trim & revelled in its fresh cambelt, exhaust, new cat & clutch. It had no mot or tax, but it just needed to be saved from the great scrap yard in the sky. Its a '00 PH2 as well so tbh, it was rude not to, especially with all those lovely warning lights on the dash ...
Dents
Cracks
Lampposts
& Walls
As it had no tax/mot, the only way I could drive it home was via an MOT station, where it duly failed on seized brakes, tyres & emissions. Tbh I wasn’t too bothered, the MOT was cheaper than getting it transported home …
My girlfriend promptly christened it the money pit & I assured her that I would be sensible & not spend too much...
So far i've bought a Corbeau Sprint seat, side mounts & subframe, Gti6 283mm discs, pads & carriers, front drivers ABS Sensor, GE Quickshift, OMP replica steering wheel, wheel boss, Exact Braided brake lines, Lambda sensor, Oil/fuel filter, lots of engine oil, cat convertor, Mintex 1144 rear pads, Maxtorq rear discs, new front/rear bumpers and then some 15” Comp Mo’s with new Eagle F1’s.
I've currently fitted the rear bumper, partly stripped the rear & fitted the new wheels - although why do people do the nuts up so tightly? Had to literally jump up & down on my wheel brace after soaking them all in WD40 for 3 days
New bumper:
Part stripped
And wheels:
I also invested in a 'suede' dished steering wheel & boss & a OMP half rear cage last week. These are now sitting in the garage waiting for the rest of the interior to be removed. Gti6 brakes have now also gone as I fancy some 4 pots instead.
Next on the shopping list is some kind of enclosed induction kit, a 4-2-1 manifold, pugsport exhaust, 4 point harness and OMP upper & lower strut braces.
Its a winter build, so not likely to hit the road until next March/April at the earliest, plenty of time to fill the garage with parts anyway
Thanks for looking.
Dave
After recently jumping at the chance to have a company car to do my 25k a year in (320i M Sport), it was definately time to get back into fun cars, ie the French tin cans that i know & love
After much umming & ahhing about turning my existing 328i Sport into a dedicated track car, I tried to fit in in the garage. I failed. It stuck out the front by about 3 foot & I could only get out of the boot … So it went up for sale.
After lining up 9 people to view it in 2 days, it sold to the 1st person to see it. No haggling, at full price. Lovely jubbly. Its journal is here: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... Also, & in case anybody is wondering, yes it was far better to drive than the e92 thats replaced it!!
So now wish cash in hand, i spent some quality time browsing Pistonheads, ebay & essentially every French car forum in the UK. I set the budget at £2k all in & set to work tracking down & viewing some PH1 172's. Now i want a shed to track, but some of the 'things' i viewed were just wrong, seriously people, if your cars a nail, put it on the ad, save buyers a journey
So after some more deliberating, probably over a KFC & some Stella, i decided to really go back to my roots, ie Pug, & two very well known & frankly brilliant cars in the shape of the 306 Gti6/Rallye and 106 Gti/Rallye.
Unfortunately, 106 gti's are expensive, 106 Rallyes are even worse & prohibitive running/tuning costs were starting to put me off the 306 - although i nearly bought a couple of bargains anyway lol. Then, one evening, on the way home from work, i changed my route and spotted something vaguely appealing ...
A shed. You know the ones, sat on someones drive, complete with spiders webs & flat tyres, the kind of car that screams, 'save me, i want to lose my interior, grow sticky tyres & be hammered around every track in the UK'.
I called the owner, viewed the car in the fading light, fell in love with its dents, cracked bumpers & unstuck trim & revelled in its fresh cambelt, exhaust, new cat & clutch. It had no mot or tax, but it just needed to be saved from the great scrap yard in the sky. Its a '00 PH2 as well so tbh, it was rude not to, especially with all those lovely warning lights on the dash ...
Dents
Cracks
Lampposts
& Walls
As it had no tax/mot, the only way I could drive it home was via an MOT station, where it duly failed on seized brakes, tyres & emissions. Tbh I wasn’t too bothered, the MOT was cheaper than getting it transported home …
My girlfriend promptly christened it the money pit & I assured her that I would be sensible & not spend too much...
So far i've bought a Corbeau Sprint seat, side mounts & subframe, Gti6 283mm discs, pads & carriers, front drivers ABS Sensor, GE Quickshift, OMP replica steering wheel, wheel boss, Exact Braided brake lines, Lambda sensor, Oil/fuel filter, lots of engine oil, cat convertor, Mintex 1144 rear pads, Maxtorq rear discs, new front/rear bumpers and then some 15” Comp Mo’s with new Eagle F1’s.
I've currently fitted the rear bumper, partly stripped the rear & fitted the new wheels - although why do people do the nuts up so tightly? Had to literally jump up & down on my wheel brace after soaking them all in WD40 for 3 days
New bumper:
Part stripped
And wheels:
I also invested in a 'suede' dished steering wheel & boss & a OMP half rear cage last week. These are now sitting in the garage waiting for the rest of the interior to be removed. Gti6 brakes have now also gone as I fancy some 4 pots instead.
Next on the shopping list is some kind of enclosed induction kit, a 4-2-1 manifold, pugsport exhaust, 4 point harness and OMP upper & lower strut braces.
Its a winter build, so not likely to hit the road until next March/April at the earliest, plenty of time to fill the garage with parts anyway
Thanks for looking.
Dave
Edited by Sir_Dave on Monday 26th October 17:13
)Yeah, its a Citroen cap as far as im aware - uses the normal key anyway ...
Can say its on my priorities list at the moment tbh, might change it at some point, when everything else is sorted. Swapped the front bumper over last night (old one was hanging off), ditched the fogs & now have brake cooling vents & ducting instead.
Re: the Gti6 brakes, once id specced up the calipers/carriers, new discs & Ferodo DS2500 pads that came to about £250. 4 pot money, hence the possible new direction as they are considerably lighter than the pig iron gti6 brakes
Can say its on my priorities list at the moment tbh, might change it at some point, when everything else is sorted. Swapped the front bumper over last night (old one was hanging off), ditched the fogs & now have brake cooling vents & ducting instead.
Re: the Gti6 brakes, once id specced up the calipers/carriers, new discs & Ferodo DS2500 pads that came to about £250. 4 pot money, hence the possible new direction as they are considerably lighter than the pig iron gti6 brakes
Edited by Sir_Dave on Tuesday 27th October 09:13
zimmerman said:
how do the engines and gearboxes stand up to track abuse on these cars?
As people have said, both are fairly reliable. Saxo's have a bad reputation, but thats mostly related to build quality, electrical gremlins, etc, none of which really matters in this type of car ... Anyways, i made a little bit more progress last night. Fitted the new front bumper (no cracks) and ripped the rest of the interior out in preparation for the cage & bucket seat ... so now have no carpet or sound deadening anywhere.
Obviously need to remove the dash & get all the weight out from behind there as well though
Rubbish pic, but it gives you an idea.
2 minutes after this was taken, i somehow managed to trip over my own feet & throw my rear bumper through the living room window, oops
Edited by Sir_Dave on Thursday 29th October 11:47
Hi,
Last weekend me and a friend bought a VTR to do the exact same thing, we stripped out all the weight we could, and now it is a 4x4!
Have you not had the same problem and what thoughts do you have on suspension, we are lost in all the options want a practical solution not a boy racer but want to ensure smile to pound ratio stays high!
Last weekend me and a friend bought a VTR to do the exact same thing, we stripped out all the weight we could, and now it is a 4x4!
Have you not had the same problem and what thoughts do you have on suspension, we are lost in all the options want a practical solution not a boy racer but want to ensure smile to pound ratio stays high!
Bilstein B8 sprintline dampers and the 155lb Faulkner springs sold by Kam Racing will give you the most smiles per miles. I used that setup for a while and it was fantastic for B roads and track work.
I'd also get the rear lowered slightly to keep the front/back suspension geometry correct.
I'd also get the rear lowered slightly to keep the front/back suspension geometry correct.
French Carnut said:
One of my best friends has a tasty track ready VTS :-)
What suspension are you thinking of running? He has the Bilstein B8 Grp N kit, can't recommend it highly enough. I also have the Bilstein B8 kit on my 106 Rallye but not the Group N kit.
Suspension, well i've bought & sold Bilstein Grp N, B8 rear & some faulkners -they would have been perfect, but didnt fit with the 'low-cost' ethos tbh. Have now got hold of some brand new Spax PSX adjustables that i may well try out ... £120 bargain off ebay!! But i may well punt them on & see what else i can find. Not really sure tbh ...What suspension are you thinking of running? He has the Bilstein B8 Grp N kit, can't recommend it highly enough. I also have the Bilstein B8 kit on my 106 Rallye but not the Group N kit.
Few more updates now ...
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