Looking for a track car

[TOENHEEL]

Hi guys wonder if you could help, i currently have an Exige S as my daily runner and also using it for track days but me and my dad are looking for a purely track car at the moment that we can trailer around the country. After a little looking about i have fell upon the Radical Clubsport 1100 seems to be a few for 8k-10kish, dont know an awful lot about them though, what are the performance figures like? i watched a few going round croft and they looked incredible. What is reliability like? are parts exspensive? Really look like the perfect track car.

[RobC]

The 1100 Clubsport will make the Exige feel like a bus (ex-Elise owner here) There is loads of info in this forum so worth doing a search.

[Marshy98]

I have recently sold my Exige S and bought a SR3, with two trackdays under my belt its in a completly different league to Exige, cornering speed, brakes and sheer acceleration is unbeliveble, i have no regrets at all, yes it take alot of looking after but the rewards on track far outweigh any negatives.

Heres some footage from Cadwell Park shoud you be interested.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Efg63KaTt3A

Marshy

[khm]

we've been track daying an SR3 for a year and half now, best money i have ever spent !! general running costs are not too much just got to keep a eye on everything. engine out now gone for refresh ready for next year !! can't wait to get out again

Edited by khm on Wednesday 17th September 21:20

[TOENHEEL]

Marshy98 said:

I have recently sold my Exige S and bought a SR3, with two trackdays under my belt its in a completly different league to Exige, cornering speed, brakes and sheer acceleration is unbeliveble, i have no regrets at all, yes it take alot of looking after but the rewards on track far outweigh any negatives.

Heres some footage from Cadwell Park shoud you be interested.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Efg63KaTt3A

Marshy

Great footage and driving, you obviously know what your doing Which parts of the car take a lot of looking after? Looks fanatstic on track.

[NASA racer]

I have a prosport that I've been racing for 5 years and the main things that need looking after are "lifing" the components early enough so they don't fail. Pretty much all the suspension components (and hardware) are not indefinite life items so you have to replace them over time just to ensure they don't fail.

The hard number is elusive, Radical recommends something like 60 hours for suspension components for an SR3, this is conservative but it's a guideline. 60 actual on-track hours is quite a lot. I didn't start having parts actually fail until 7 or 8 years and unknown hours.

Other than that, good solid comprehensive maintenance and never letting any fluid get low and ensuring chain tension and angle is correct and you don't overrev your motor...common sense stuff.

Here's a video of my 1400cc Prosport from last weekend:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=U6WReUME2e4

[DarioT]

TOENHEEL said:

Hi guys wonder if you could help, i currently have an Exige S as my daily runner and also using it for track days but me and my dad are looking for a purely track car at the moment that we can trailer around the country. After a little looking about i have fell upon the Radical Clubsport 1100 seems to be a few for 8k-10kish, dont know an awful lot about them though, what are the performance figures like? i watched a few going round croft and they looked incredible. What is reliability like? are parts exspensive? Really look like the perfect track car.

if there is 2 of you intrested it might be worth getting an SR3. this will take 2 adults in relative comfort. but more expensive than what you are looking for (just my opinion) mine will be up for sale soon.

[BertBert]

You can always do the s-seater clubsport conversion by Van Kaiser. Works well and is lower budget that the SR3 or SR4. More room than an SR4 too!

Make sure the car you buy isn't knackered! Seems obvious, but especially if you are buying at the clubsport level, the car may have had a hard life.

To trackday a Radical you have to put more effort in, so 2 people is ideal. Quite a lot to check (as had been mentioned) both during and after a day. In terms of lifing, the engine/box is the most important in cost terms. It's much more costly to fix an engine with broken bits in than just refresh a worn one. If you use powertec you will pay a lot. There are reasonably frequent engines for sale which is one way to go, or use an indy specialist.

A good clubsport is a great 2nd hand buy. Look for a reliable engine refresh record though!

Bert

[khm]

me & a friend joint own ours, it's the best way if you can. every cost gets spilt, also price of track days !! it makes a big difference if you can do it, then at the track there is always 2 of you for loading up, checking car - and you're not Billy no mates LMAO

[RobC]

BertBert said:

You can always do the s-seater clubsport conversion by Van Kaiser. Works well and is lower budget that the SR3 or SR4. More room than an SR4 too!

I've seen one of these conversions....I wouldn't want to be sat in the passenger seat in a shunt. If you need it for two people the SR3 is the sensible choice.

[splitpin]

If you want to two up, suggest you don't rule out an SR4 until you've tried it for size; try both (SR3 & SR4) for size; my son and I run an SR4 and we are both over 6 feet tall and slim and the SR4 is certainly big enough for us; if you are going to do two up and swap driving, one thing to check is that you both have roughly similar 'natural driving positions/dimensions' i.e. seat to pedals; you wouldn't want to be adjusting the seat (as you'll hopefully know, it's one piece containing both driver and passenger seats) between 'half hour on/half hour off' Trackdays. Personally, sharing costs advantage aside, I wouldn't want to be trying to trackday any Radical on my own; there's a heck of a lot to do, trailering (loading and unloading each end, belting up, checking/adjusting tyres, fluids, chain, bolt checks etc etc and getting the nose and tail off to do a lot of these things is hugely easier when there are two of you). And if you do buy a Radical, don't get too hung up on the many threads that are into 'engine, chassis and aerodynamic improvements to make it go faster': every Radical has a performance envelope way way way beyond most every any high performance roadcar you'll ever have driven/that has been made. It's already apparent that our non high downforce 205bhp Hayabusa engined SR4 has enough 'whole lap performance' to deal with serious standard road going hardware such as the superb GT3RS; the only thing that is equally obviously holding it back is my very modest beginner's level of driving proficiency!!!!!!!!!

[BertBert]

My 2-seat clubsport has much more room in it for the pax than the SR4 esp in the leg dept!
Bert

[chrissimp]

If you run an SR3, and maybe other Radical models, we have found it is essential to have 2 people to take off and put back on both front and rear sections of the bodywork. And you should be doing this several times, maybe every session, on a track day - so it is definitely not a car that you can run on your own. We have also found that most SR3s run at track days have professional backup, but we have found that just 2 of us amateurs can cope OK but we are learning all the time and the professionals from the other teams can and do offer helpful advice.

[BertBert]

It's not that you cant do a track day on your own, you just need to enlist help of passers-by for the on-off. There's always loads of willing help at track days. It's definitely a labour of love though!
Bert

[TOENHEEL]

Thanks for all the posts guys, im going to have a look at some in the next few weeks so i will report any news :-)