Track-capable fun road car for <£20k

mikehhhhhhh

mikehhhhhhh

mikehhhhhhh

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I'm after a fun road car that'll mostly be used on weekends and the odd track evening / Nurburgring trip.

Needs to be comfortable and have four seats ideally, but I'd consider a two seater that was well under budget (S2000 is a nice idea).

My shortlist currently looks like this;
M135
Civic Type-R FD2
E46 M3

M135 with M4 LCAs, LSD and some decent pads sounds like the most attractive prospect so far but I wonder if it's a bit numb to be fun at sensible road speeds.

I'm wondering if I've missed anything obvious?
 
M135 needs lots of work to be a proper track car, as I understand it if you push much more than 8/10ths they start to fall apart particularly at the rear axle
Toyota GT86 or 350Z? Subaru WRX?

I would probably get an E46 M3 but they are at the age now where they will be needing some of the bigger wear and tear components, suspension etc
 
I looked at the boxster and Cayman, but keep reading about people having issues with oil starvation on track with the solution being far more complicated than just a baffled sump or something.

Shivy011 said:
M135 needs lots of work to be a proper track car, as I understand it if you push much more than 8/10ths they start to fall apart particularly at the rear axle
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It doesn't need to be a proper track car as I already have one of those but do you know any specifics of the issues you mention?
 
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mikehhhhhhh said:
It doesn't need to be a proper track car as I already have one of those but do you know any specifics of the issues you mention?
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They aren't issues as such, it's down to the fact that they aren't a full M car and as such are limited because at the end of the day it's a 1 series underneath. Not like an M2/M3 where the chassis is heavily reworked. If you watch some of the youtube reviews from chris harris/joe achilles they can explain better but essentially when "pushing on" the rear axle placement feels very loose and not rigidly connected because of those limitations
The m235i is supposed to resolve this to an extent as the body is more rigid

I imagine they would still be fun on track though as it isn't your main track car :)
 
Id take an E46 M3 over an M135 as much more suited. M2 seemed to be everywhere when I was there couple of weeks back and in the group I went with we had an M2 and E92 M3. Both would need work to be proper quick and same with an E46 but not lots of money. Better suspension, brakes and geo would pretty much sort them all.
 
M135i is good fun but it's mostly straight line speed. The back end does feel very floaty at high speed and is relatively easily unsettled as well. It's also very much prone to understeer and you have to provoke it to get the back end to move but maybe M4 LCAs would go some way to solving this.

There have also been at least three cases of M135/M235 blowing engines on track because of oil starvation, which is why M2 (which shares the same engine) has a special recirculating oil pump to prevent this. That said it's a good choice if you want something that's docile and comfortable most of the time, but still be able to have a play. I took mine to Germany three times, including twice to the Nurburgring and thoroughly enjoyed it.
 
A quick autotrader search:

Audi A6 3.0 BiTDI quattro

Audi RS5 4.2 FSI S Tronic Quattro

Audi RS4 Saloon 4.2 Quattro

BMW 4 Series 3.0 435d M Sport

BMW M5 5.0 Touring SMG 5dr

BMW M5 5.0 SMG 4dr

Jaguar XF 5.0 V8 Supercharged XFR 4dr
 
It depends on how many creature comforts you want. A Lotus Elise would be worth considering, although the 4 seat requirement is noted. The S2000 is fantastic on track and depending on what sort of straight line speed you want you’d probably have some money left to supercharge one within your £20k budget.
 
ThestigGT999 said:
A quick autotrader search:

Audi A6 3.0 BiTDI quattro

Audi RS5 4.2 FSI S Tronic Quattro

Audi RS4 Saloon 4.2 Quattro

BMW 4 Series 3.0 435d M Sport

BMW M5 5.0 Touring SMG 5dr

BMW M5 5.0 SMG 4dr

Jaguar XF 5.0 V8 Supercharged XFR 4dr
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I must if missed a joke here, surely a diesel it crap on a track, not sure how well a jag would work as typically they're very heavy.
 
mikehhhhhhh said:
I looked at the boxster and Cayman, but keep reading about people having issues with oil starvation on track with the solution being far more complicated than just a baffled sump or something.
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That is just a thing with boxer engines in general. The GT86 and Subarus are the same. But it's only really an issue if you put slicks on it. Normally you can't pull enough G-force for it to be a problem.
 
Nasher said:
That is just a thing with boxer engines in general. The GT86 and Subarus are the same. But it's only really an issue if you put slicks on it. Normally you can't pull enough G-force for it to be a problem.
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The caymans he will be looking at won't be 718, they'll be more 981 with the flat 6 right?
 
Shivy011 said:
The caymans he will be looking at won't be 718, they'll be more 981 with the flat 6 right?
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Same rules apply to all flat engines really.

(Though I should say most standard engines in road cars will get oil issues if you use slicks).
 
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People seem to have issues on semi-slicks, so I'm not sure I'd want to risk it, it's no good destroying road tyres that aren't up to the job on track, either.

Plenty of flat engines that don't have these issues, though? GT3, GT4 etc.
 
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mikehhhhhhh said:
I do like the GT86. Are they reliable when supercharged on track?

I've just removed the supercharger from my track car in search of some reliability
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Too much torque is what kills them due to the lightweight rods. As long as it's kept under 280 it should be fine. After that it needs forging.
 
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