What track day car?

Buddy

Buddy

Buddy

Soldato
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I'm finally in a position with some spare cash to get in to track day racing.

Main reason is to go somewhere to get comfortable driving at a higher speed in a safe-ish environment and above all enjoying myself.

Basic research suggests about £300 a day for track day fees, insurance and fuel +/- tyres clutch etc.

I'd like to buy a car purely for this venture. Sub 3k ideally but might go as high as £5k if I split it with a friend.

What have people bought as their first track day car?
Any regrets? Anything you would have done differently?

Also say if I decide to split it with a friend - the track day fee do we both pay the full price separately or do they charge per car? I am aware there is a passenger fee but we would probably be swapping seats through the day.

Thanks!
 
The less you spend on the car the better, the last thing you want is to be going around the track worried about breaking and replacing the thing.

Some of that 3k you should use tune the car, say 1500 on the car and 1500 for upgrades.

Start with tyres, brakes then suspension. A good bucket seat and harness makes a big difference too.

i would recommend an Mx5, e36, e46 or one of the hatches already mentioned.
 
E36, 325 or 328 will be fine. 325s will be older, but you won't need to go messing around with the M50 intake manifold swap as the 325 is an M50 to start with :p
 
For that money I'd be sorely tempted by a Clio 172/182. They handle superbly well and have a wonderful engine too.

All you'd really need to do to get up and running is strip it out and put some more track-suitable brake pads on it.
 
Pre-facelift Corolla T-Sport for £900. :p

Then you have change to buy a couple of spares, and some handling mods...
 
Clio 172/182, Mazda MX5 or BMW E36.

There's a reason why every track day is full of them.

In terms of your question about fees, you will pay the full ~£200 fee for 1 driver and the car, and then be able to add an additional driver for about £30. I've done a number of track days with mates where we have had 2 or 3 cars and 4 or 5 drivers and driven each others.
 
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Megane Renaultsport Cup? Bit over £3k from the looks of things but they do have 225bhp :cool:

Having said that, I've no idea what they're like these days but, after owning old French cars previously, I'm not sure I'd own one again.
 
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MX5 would be (and is) my choice.

You should be able to get a decent track prep'd example for your budget. Mechanically they are very reliable, rust is the only real thing you need to look out for. Consumable wise 15" road legal track day tyres are cheap as chips (195/50/15 AD08Rs can be had for £62 a corner). No need for expensive brakes, Yellowstuff pads on plain discs are more than adequate. Don't get hung up on them not being very powerful (unless turbo'd/supercharged) the handling easily makes up for it.
 
dale1uk said:
Don't get hung up on them not being very powerful (unless turbo'd/supercharged) the handling easily makes up for it.
Click to expand...

I love the MX-5 but can't help but feel that the lack of power would be a big annoyance, especially due to the great handling.

Nail that corner perfectly then it'll just trundle along... surely that would get boring after a while. On the roads I find it great because you can hammer it and still be within the legal limits so the sensation is great but on track, I'm not so sure. I have never driven one on track, though.
 
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