Weekend/Trackday toy help

Forget about the MX5. The Mk3 MR2 with a 2ZZ has it trumps and will offer that caterham/elise feel.

1k for a Corolla/Celica with the 2ZZ engine and MK3 MR2 will set you back 1.5-2k(<1k if you buy a mr2 with a blown engine). Plus around 1.5k for the build. That includes all the little bits like LSD for the gearbox and the custom parts required for the swap. You would also make back a bit if you put the effort into breaking the donor car. You could maybe even squeeze a rotrex on top of your budget.

There are companies that can source everything you need and you supply the base car but obviously that is more expensive but still easily done with your budget.

That would give you top of the range Exige S power levels for very little money and blow any MX5 turbo car out of the water!
 
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Caterham and Elise don't feel the same...

FR vs MR layout... very different feel, actually.

MX5 is closer to Caterham, MR2 is close to Elise...

If you're hankering after some FR fun, MR won't cut it in the same way (and vice versa) :p
 
crinkleshoes said:
Caterham and Elise don't feel the same...

FR vs MR layout... very different feel, actually.

MX5 is closer to Caterham, MR2 is close to Elise...

If you're hankering after some FR fun, MR won't cut it in the same way (and vice versa) :p
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I meant that lightweight high bhp/tonne sports car feel. Nothing to do with handling characteristic of different platforms.
 
A girlfriend? :p

Why not just save 8k up and get somet good from the get go. 2 seaters, well it has to be a S2000 with 8k to play with. E46 M3 is a good shout to.

£8k opens you up to loads of FWD cars if you change your mind.
 
Where are all these decent M3s for £8k? I don't see many decent M3s, let alone £8k ones.

Unless you count SMG, as I have been discounting them.

An £8k one will need work for sure, especially for track time.
 
I saw some reasonable examples from £7k up... but yes, I was looking at SMG.

Work required depends on the previous owner.

They're at the age where they need some suspension work / bush replacement... so look for one following this completion... there are a handful but they go quick. Otherwise factor this in to price.

All of these cars are going to need ongoing work for track use...
 
sigma said:
Where are all these decent M3s for £8k? I don't see many decent M3s, let alone £8k ones.

Unless you count SMG, as I have been discounting them.

An £8k one will need work for sure, especially for track time.
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yes look at gibbos seemed a cheap buy then you factor in the other stuff added to make if good you looking best part of £13,000-£15000 hardly cheap.

if you on a budget you dont want to be going down that route.
 
I bought a 200sx for this (s14a) for a cheap track toy.... now it's not been so cheap I wish I'd bought a 182/mx5 (or a pre-built 200sx)
 
LOL you must have been on hard drugs when you believed an S14 would be a cheap track toy. Only an idiot would buy an S-body when the M3 exists. Heck, stock for stock a 328i would pump a 200sx.

MX5 are actually great, the lack of power is chronic but you'll have no choice but to achieve speed through driving skill. You can learn a lot from an underpowered car like this. Once you get into FI conversions though, the costs spiral up and the reliability is going to spiral downward. You would be better off getting into a beemer.

MR2... nope. mk1 actually pretty sweet little cars but old and rare now. mk2, famously spikey handling, bit of a turd chassis, poor choice for a starter, even the racers lose control of them all the time. mk3 possibly, not much experience. I heard the bores like to go oval and they only put the wimpy engine in and saved the nice sporty one to put in the boring shopping cars instead for some nonsensical reason.

FWD - not my bag, I prefer the natural feel of an FR car, well set up you can steer the thing completely on the throttle and it's truly joyous and you won't ever experience it in FWD, for that reason, I am out. That said, DC2's and Clios always go well, careful of worn out engines and transmissions in Hondas, they are old and highly strung.
 
Clarkey said:
LOL you must have been on hard drugs when you believed an S14 would be a cheap track toy. Only an idiot would buy an S-body when the M3 exists. Heck, stock for stock a 328i would pump a 200sx.
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Only an idiot would drive a standard 200SX on track. A 200SX can be tuned for next to nothing (not to mention that 99% of them are now already tuned to some degree) and will leave a 328i standing :) they're simple and reliable, if looked after.

An M3 and 200SX are not really comparable - the 200SX is a lot cheaper to run and own, especially at this age, as a track car - unless you go chasing silly power in the 200, which most people do.

Spark plugs....£15

Oil.....£30

Filter....£7

Tyres on 17s...£100 a corner?

I'm sure the M3 is much cheaper!
 
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crinkleshoes said:
I saw some reasonable examples from £7k up... but yes, I was looking at SMG.

Work required depends on the previous owner.

They're at the age where they need some suspension work / bush replacement... so look for one following this completion... there are a handful but they go quick. Otherwise factor this in to price.

All of these cars are going to need ongoing work for track use...
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SMG is a ticking time bomb though, surely? Negates it being good value for money if the 'box is going to pop.

Also the subframe cracking is an issue, not to mention the HG.

Admittedly I only looked for a few weeks but the market was really poor. Pricing seems to vary greatly, it isn't really indicative of condition, merely "M3 y0". I still want one but wondering if it's really the best option for a daily...
 
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There are absolutely thousands of rot free MK1/Mk2 MX5s around! for <£1500

I'd expect rot free and a decent supercharger/turbo conversion for £3000-4000 though.
There was one for sale on MX5 nuts named the Tarmac Terrorist for £7800 iirc. A fully race modded 260hp monster.

I am very pro MX5 as they are so cheap to run.
The suspension is fully adjustable and four new decent tyres on the MK1 /Mk2 comes to £250. Even cheaper with 15" alloys.
Who cares if your gearbox and engine die when a replacement is £150?

An M3 would be magnificent, but you the MX5 would be at the very most 50% of the running cost.
 
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sigma said:
Only an idiot would drive a standard 200SX on track. A 200SX can be tuned for next to nothing (not to mention that 99% of them are now already tuned to some degree) and will leave a 328i standing :) they're simple and reliable, if looked after.

An M3 and 200SX are not really comparable - the 200SX is a lot cheaper to run and own, especially at this age, as a track car - unless you go chasing silly power in the 200, which most people do.

Spark plugs....£15

Oil.....£30

Filter....£7

Tyres on 17s...£100 a corner?

I'm sure the M3 is much cheaper!
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Right. The thing is, I own one and do track it. Used to have a 328, tracked that one a lot. Worked an awful lot on both platforms. The Nissan is just crap compared to the BMW, the rear end is dreadful no matter what the hell you do to it. BMW has such a massive traction advantage that even with 100hp between them, the BMW will still be there clawing at the back bumper of the nissan. The Nissan guy will put up with constant breakages and general unreliability while the BMW just keeps on going and going with nothing more than normal maintenance.
The M3 is a MUCH better proposition if you want something that drives really great and will keep on doing so time after time.
I'll go ahead and say I don't understand the attraction of s14's at all, they're not even good looking.
 
If it was me, and I was looking for a 3rd car to use purely to enjoy driving it, the absence of a roof would be one of the top criteria. Having driven a mates mk2.5 MX5 recently on track, they are brilliant, I'm just to big for them :(.
 
Clarkey said:
I'll go ahead and say I don't understand the attraction of s14's at all, they're not even good looking.
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Yeah, clearly your judgement is clouded so I can see you're jumping to conclusions that simply aren't true and any reasonable points I make will be ignored, so I'll leave it at that.
 
Are you trying to say they are good looking or what? Because I know exactly how they drive, identically to my 15. Exactly the same costs to own and modify too, I know all about it.
 
Well I'm well past m3 (e46) power in my s14 and it's considerably lighter(1200kg vs 1500kg iirc). And still under m3 pricing with everything on it.

Going back to the OP,
MX-5 mk1 has got to be the best option, you can have a sorted car for under 1k, that'll go around most tracks all day long without brake/reliability issues. Tyres are cheap, brake pads/discs are super cheap. Just leaving the rest of the money for more tuition or more track days?
 
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