trackday car

Burger#11

looking for advice thinking of getting a e36 m3 for trackday use and some road use but not as a everyday car. woud have to go down the years somewhere in price region of 8000 euro. reckon i could get a 97-99 for that. any advice on what to look for in an m3 and what other cars should i consider?

thanks

Owen

I saw an Opel speedster go recently for that kind of money. Wicked little trackday tool, basically a copy of a Lotus!

EPM

ned78 wrote: »

I saw an Opel speedster go recently for that kind of money. Wicked little trackday tool, basically a copy of a Lotus!

Thats some serious value.for some reason i prefer it to an elise. Just think it does the basic look better. I saw one or two merc 190 cosworths going very very cheap on autotrader and pistonheads lately. Spend a few quid on some choice mods and could be some fun. In a few years could probably sell it at a profit too

CharlieCroker

I'd be looking at an mx-5. Plenty of cheap ones out there, fit a roll-bar and a few engine mods. One of the best cars out there for learning car control.

kdevitt

You shouldn't have to spend more than 4.5k to pick up an E36 for track days.

Mr Benevolent

How about a Cinquecento/Sciento? Somebody mentioned that there's one that does Mondello and can beat a Porsche when driven properly :eek:

Saab Ed

Friend of mine had a Swift GTI as a track car. Made a show of some so called fast cars . Fairly bomb proof , easy to fix if it did break ( which in fairness it didnt ) and cheap for what you get. Only problem is finding one.

HashSlinging

This looks like the real thing, plenty of power, and RWD.

Burger#11

the 190 cosworth is a car i always liked might be a good idea. anyone on this site ever use them down at mondello?

Nforce

A stripped out Pug 205 GTi 1.9lt would be my weapon of choice as a starter track car.

Ferris

Burger#11 wrote: »

looking for advice thinking of getting a e36 m3 for trackday use and some road use but not as a everyday car. woud have to go down the years somewhere in price region of 8000 euro. reckon i could get a 97-99 for that. any advice on what to look for in an m3 and what other cars should i consider?

thanks

e36 M3's reputadely cook their brakes on tracks, as do e46's. Not so much a design fault as a result the speed that these cars can build up in short stints. Decent uprated calipers and rotors will cost £££. Then you're going to have to look at suspension.

Do these cars have a LSD as standard??

cps_goodbuy

I'll be in your position in a few years... can't wait!

Went to the ring recently and from the people I have spoken with, sure you can pretty much race anything there, so +1 on the small cheap cars mentioned for beginners, though I'd tend towards rwd myself and not to learn on fwd....

I would love to bring my beams MR2 there, it is already lying on the right mods, but as my daily car, and I don't believe I am good enough to drive it properly on track. she's good with fuel but insurance + tax, well, can't really afford the car as a daily

The Speedsters are just lovely, 2 lt turbo is the one to get, but for track I'd reckon an N/A with a smooth powerband may be best.

I agree with some of the comments thus far about the bmws, you'll be spending quite a bit on nesessary upgrades. 2.5+ engines = big tax but I assume the car destined for your project will not need to be taxed

The race driver whom gave us a tour of the ring drives a modified mx5 there, good balance, though you'll be wanting more power eventually I feel.


...how about a mini marcos with a hayabusa engine??

ronnie3585

Buy an M3 in the UK for about £3-4k, don't VRT it. Strip it and sell all the bits for about €1200-€1500 and put that and a bit more into coilovers and brakes and you sorted!

Eoin

ronnie3585 wrote: »

Buy an M3 in the UK for about £3-4k, don't VRT it. Strip it and sell all the bits for about €1200-€1500 and put that and a bit more into coilovers and brakes and you sorted!

I thought you'd still have to pay VRT even if you intend to track it?

Ferris

Better option imo to buy something like this westfield and have a 2nd car with low (1100cc) tax, ready to go and faster than almost anything, road based, around mondello.

cps_goodbuy

Lotus Elise - 111s or other
Toyota MR2 - turbo or beams preferable (watch out for snap oversteer)
Opel Speedster - 2turbo
Porshe 944
BMW 3s - anything above 2.5lt and LSD (though the route of stripping, trying to sell pieces, etc may be time consuming!)
Mazda MX5 - 1.8
Mazda RX7 - any
Cateram - any (including Westfields)

These I feel are all pretty well balanced for track

You could go for the traditional um boyracer stuff, get a civic or teg and big bodykit + stripes?

Alternatively, I'd go down the route of engine swaps, SC/T N/A's, classic cars, a far more ambitious route but €€€

cps_goodbuy

With any kitcar types, I feel they need to be checked carefully or even rebuilt, to be safe!

Go to the Ring!!

ronnie3585

eoin wrote: »

I thought you'd still have to pay VRT even if you intend to track it?

I didn't realise that. I thought that if you were just tracking it and bringing to the track on a trailer you wouldn't have to register it.

Mena

ronnie3585 wrote: »

I didn't realise that. I thought that if you were just tracking it and bringing to the track on a trailer you wouldn't have to register it.

If you're not going to use it on the road I doubt you have to VRT it. Must be something about it on www.stealmymon er, I mean www.revenue.ie

Eoin

Mena wrote:

If you're not going to use it on the road I doubt you have to VRT it.

Cool. I thought you would be exempt from motor tax alright.

Henry Ford III

Ferris wrote: »

Better option imo to buy something like this westfield and have a 2nd car with low (1100cc) tax, ready to go and faster than almost anything, road based, around mondello.

I've driven one of those on a track day. Massive revs, and sequential box are a hoot.

niceirishfella

Nforce wrote: »

A stripped out Pug 205 GTi 1.9lt would be my weapon of choice as a starter track car.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
It's FWD man:rolleyes:

Burger#11

anyone here drive a e36 bmw m3 or nissan 200sx 14a around mondello? which would be better?

galwaytt

for 11k you can have my Porsche 968, strip it and sell off the nice interior to any of the 924/944 guys

lassykk

we have a citroen xsara 2.0 VTS with slight modifications running around 180bhp.

We thrashed it around anglesey only 2 weeks ago without hardly giving it a break and it didn't miss a beat.

Nothing showed us up except for a Radical and the very best part the car only cost us £800.

Also there was a 328 there (i don't know anything bout this e36 or e46 stuff but twas around 1995/96) and it could only handle a few laps every hour.

RonnieT

Chap I know is selling his M3 - have a look here:

http://www.octane.ie/ads/car.php?id=3700

I've seen him out of a few trackdays with it, always seems to be having fun, and it's in pretty good condition, Irish reg and tax etc.

Lex Luthor

if its your first track day car, try and keep it cheap unless you got some money to burn. You'll need spare cash in the eventuality it will need repairs.

I would consider a MK1 VW 8V GTi from the UK.

Ferris

Burger#11 wrote: »

anyone here drive a e36 bmw m3 or nissan 200sx 14a around mondello? which would be better?

They're not really comparible. The e36 would have higher grip levels and more power. In saying that once they let go they might be a bit of a handful and they're heavy cars.

The 200sx has a turbo you can get one to about 300hp for about 1k. They lose grip at the rear at a far lower speed than an M3. In saying that they have an LSD as standard which means it will put its power down better.

Both cars have pants brakes which will cost a lot to uprate, especially for the M3. Also if you're planning to drive to the track the M3 will cost twice as much as the 200sx to tax.

Johnboy Mac

Burger#11 wrote: »

the 190 cosworth is a car i always liked might be a good idea. anyone on this site ever use them down at mondello?

Seen one in action for a morning, impressive imo.

An ideal track car. 2.3-16's car picked up at very reasonable money. 185BHP out of the box with an LSD as standard and with 5th 1:1. Stripped you could be down to 1100kgs without spending money or doing a brake up grade bar pads & fluid.
I'd reckon you'd need to allow for shocks & springs, seat & st.wheel

Edit: Makes a nice change from the usual tarck cars. Great road car also.

JimmyCrackCorn!

Cant believe this wasn't mentioned

http://www.irishstrykers.com/

BrianD3

An advantage of lightweight cars like Caterhams is they can probably be towed to the track with a normal car licence on a single axle transporter and a mid sized diesel towcar. Whereas with heavier track cars (over about 1000 kg) you'll need an EB licence and a large towcar to transport them safely.

halvis

I agree about the car having to be rwd, although 4wd allows you to keep going round quicker without your heart in your mouth when it rains (not that it ever does in here). If you are after something around 2-3k then a track prepped MX5 can be picked up in the UK for this price. Or Toyota Corolla Twin Cam, Escort mkII etc.

Not sure about 190 Cosworths, whilst quick I had a friend who had one. He then bought a Peugeot 206 to commute to work in, he reckoned that it actually handled better than the Merc!!!

Another option would just be a 328 BMW rather than the M3's. These are still quick when stripped out and can be picked up for stupid money leaving you more money to fit a cage, new shocks and uprated brakes.

A Porsche 924S could also be worth a look, great chassis and enough power to start you off for not a lot of cash.

If you are feeling quite a but richer, buy a TVR Chimeara. Recently did a track day in one of these, and probably offered the best bang for buck on the track that day. It was in the company of 911 GT3's, F430 Scuds and other such exotica. But with the V8 wailing, being light at the back so very tail happy, wheel spin from 3rd to 4th the drama would be very hard to beat. No ABS, Power Steering or other driving aids either, its like it should be. Watch out for rear wheels locking on change downs, make sure you are going in straight line on the more aggressive ones. The 4.5L is the one to go for, but because they use old Ford parts etc, are not as expensive to maintain as you might imagine. These can be picked up for about £10k, a bugger to tax in this country but just taxing for 6 months would still be worth it as the grin left on your face would last the year.

Eoin

It might be worth having a look at this thread on another forum. There's some good posts by someone who has obviously tracked a few cars in his time. He says that RWD is not essential, and any 4WD cars he has driven have under steered.

Burger#11

plenty of food for thought. definitly think rwd is thw way to go. any rust issues with nissan 200sx in from england does anyone know?

stiggy wiggy

hello chums,
i have an M3 track car for sale. Amazingly its also a fantastic road car, imagine that. Here is a thread dedicated to my very car, which could be yours!..on another forum.
http://octane.ie/forum/showthread.php?t=27737

Ferris

Burger#11 wrote: »

plenty of food for thought. definitly think rwd is thw way to go. any rust issues with nissan 200sx in from england does anyone know?

Yep they rust, english or irish, just buy a good one. They rust in the inner arches, strut tops, rear subframe, boot, battery tray, over the fuel tank and behind the front bumper.