Hey lads, I'm after some advice about a starter track car project...
The scenario:
My friend and I always talked about buying a car to "do up" on the weekends to use for track days/general driving fun, but we could never afford it as back then we were poor students... but now that we both have good jobs and some disposable cash we've decided to put our plan into action.
I live outside of Coventry and he lives outside of Sheffield so we've decided it would be better to buy/rent a garage in/around Derby as it is virtually half way between us both and it means the nearest track would be Donington which is a bonus.
Now my knowledge of cars is higher than the average but no where near as exstensive as most peoples on here, I know about facts/figures, driving technique and I know generally how most parts work but I wouldn't class my mechanical knowledge "good". My friends, however, is far greater than mine and he is also slightly mechanically minded but again, we are not mechanics.
We are aiming to use this project as a base for future endevours and so would like to use it as a way of increasing our knowledge on the mechanics of cars and hopefully learn how they all work, how to fix all the problems, how to tune, how to add additional performance parts etc...
Some issues:
Car - Now I initiallay bought my car to use as a general commute and on track days but I've become too attached to it as it is in excellent condition and I don't want to mess it up. So we need to buy something else, something cheaper that can take punishment, can be easliy repaired (by us amatures), can be modded well and easily... basically we want something which will be a good car for beginners. But we are both quick learners and quite smart so we don't want anything too basic, we want a slight challenge...
We originally talked about an E36 M3 but this is going to feel to similar to my car and I was after something different, so we started thinking Japanese, maybe a Skyline or Evo, or the love of my life... a Supra! But then when we were looking we started thinking of old Porsches or maybe even a kit-car.
Now we are confused and would like some opinions on what to actually go for, the budget can vary depending on what we like but nothing too expensive as, like i said before, we are mechanically ignorant so don't want to buy an expensive car and then break it.
What should we get?
Garage - Firstly, we have no idea how to search for a garage! We don't know where to start, not sure if we need one which is "kitted out" or if we should buy a bare one and add our own tools as we go along.
Secondly, Derby is known to be a very dodgy area so the garage would need to be very secure as neither of us live in the area and we would only be meeting there 2-3 weekends a month to work on the project.
What's the best method to find a suitable place? How much would it cost roughly? Would it be best to rent or buy?
Budget - We haven't decided on a budget yet as we are unsure on what the costs would be of renting/purchasing a garage, along with buying a car and buying extra parts.
We both have other commitments (he's getting married and I'm saving for a flat & new car) so we would like to keep the budget as low as possible. But seeing as this will be our first track car project we do not want to spend too much on the car anyway just in case we eff it up, so maybe if we stick to between 2-4k on the car (although this could go up if required) and then allow for another couple grand on top for the garage/tools.
Any guesses on what a good budget would/should be?
Plausability - I have no idea if this is a reasonable budget for the project or even if a weekend project/shared car between mates is a good idea, which is why I am asking for any advice, first hand experience or general comments on this plan.
Cheers guys.
The scenario:
My friend and I always talked about buying a car to "do up" on the weekends to use for track days/general driving fun, but we could never afford it as back then we were poor students... but now that we both have good jobs and some disposable cash we've decided to put our plan into action.
I live outside of Coventry and he lives outside of Sheffield so we've decided it would be better to buy/rent a garage in/around Derby as it is virtually half way between us both and it means the nearest track would be Donington which is a bonus.
Now my knowledge of cars is higher than the average but no where near as exstensive as most peoples on here, I know about facts/figures, driving technique and I know generally how most parts work but I wouldn't class my mechanical knowledge "good". My friends, however, is far greater than mine and he is also slightly mechanically minded but again, we are not mechanics.
We are aiming to use this project as a base for future endevours and so would like to use it as a way of increasing our knowledge on the mechanics of cars and hopefully learn how they all work, how to fix all the problems, how to tune, how to add additional performance parts etc...
Some issues:
Car - Now I initiallay bought my car to use as a general commute and on track days but I've become too attached to it as it is in excellent condition and I don't want to mess it up. So we need to buy something else, something cheaper that can take punishment, can be easliy repaired (by us amatures), can be modded well and easily... basically we want something which will be a good car for beginners. But we are both quick learners and quite smart so we don't want anything too basic, we want a slight challenge...
We originally talked about an E36 M3 but this is going to feel to similar to my car and I was after something different, so we started thinking Japanese, maybe a Skyline or Evo, or the love of my life... a Supra! But then when we were looking we started thinking of old Porsches or maybe even a kit-car.
Now we are confused and would like some opinions on what to actually go for, the budget can vary depending on what we like but nothing too expensive as, like i said before, we are mechanically ignorant so don't want to buy an expensive car and then break it.
What should we get?
Garage - Firstly, we have no idea how to search for a garage! We don't know where to start, not sure if we need one which is "kitted out" or if we should buy a bare one and add our own tools as we go along.
Secondly, Derby is known to be a very dodgy area so the garage would need to be very secure as neither of us live in the area and we would only be meeting there 2-3 weekends a month to work on the project.
What's the best method to find a suitable place? How much would it cost roughly? Would it be best to rent or buy?
Budget - We haven't decided on a budget yet as we are unsure on what the costs would be of renting/purchasing a garage, along with buying a car and buying extra parts.
We both have other commitments (he's getting married and I'm saving for a flat & new car) so we would like to keep the budget as low as possible. But seeing as this will be our first track car project we do not want to spend too much on the car anyway just in case we eff it up, so maybe if we stick to between 2-4k on the car (although this could go up if required) and then allow for another couple grand on top for the garage/tools.
Any guesses on what a good budget would/should be?
Plausability - I have no idea if this is a reasonable budget for the project or even if a weekend project/shared car between mates is a good idea, which is why I am asking for any advice, first hand experience or general comments on this plan.
Cheers guys.
