Dedicated Track Car

Rybo89

Rybo89

Rybo89

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Joined
13 Jun 2007
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Chesterfield
Hello guys,

Thinking about buying a car soon, purely for track use next year. Going to make time as it really is something i enjoy and know i wont get bored of, unlike every other impulse buys i keep buying lately.

Been trawling through autotrader and what not, seeing what takes my fancy. But i really cannot decide on what i want to go for. Only really want to spend £2.5k, lesser the better as it means more goodies for it straight away.

I have built up a bit of a shortlist:

Clio 197 (probably taking my fancy the most tbf)
Renault Megane 225 (some dodgy lemon years aint there?)
Civic Type R EP3 (Maybe FN2?) (Lawnmowers)
Ford Focus ST 225 (struggle for budget, so very unlikely)
350Z (Drift King and i have always had a itch for one)
Subaru Turbo 2000 (Ticking time bomb)
Corsa VXR (seen a few recommendations for track use but its still a vauxhall isn't it and i have already been a victim of the chocolate M32 gearbox....)

So 5 FWD meh cars, a RWD track tank and then a 4WD rott box. What ever i buy, i will just strip it and track it. Just there to be ragged about and not have the worry of totally killing it. Not interested in Mx5's, i know they are a awesome car for track use but i am not bothered about a convertible. I am open to other suggestions though. What do you guys think? Thanks
 
You have a pretty capable car sat there already Ryan! I can certainly see why you don't want to thrash the Scoob on track, but the money you'd spend on buying/insuring/servicing/modding another car could be put into building a properly strong engine for the Impreza.

From your list though, I'd go EP3 or a cheap Scooby. Focus STs have cylinder liner issues (£££). Avoid the R53 Cooper S as well if you don't want to get your hands dirty, they are a nigtmare to work on. Scooby parts are pretty cheap and they're a doddle to fix.

edit... What about a 200sx? RWD turbo goodness. They do have issues with oil starvation though.
 
Only option on that list I would consider is the 350Z... can you really get one as low as £2.5k now?

If you really want to get involved in track fun... I would strong recommend against getting any FWD car. Some of them are / can be very quick around a track... and you see them lapping pretty quickly on various track days, at least for their power/weight anyway... but the reason for that is that they are a bit too easy to drive... you can get up to speed in them quite quickly... but I really think you will get bored of a FWD car in the track environment way too quickly. It's just not as involving and fun to play with to tweak and muck about with on or past the limit.

When you're driving a FWD car on track, on the way out of corners there is a lot of waiting before you can put your foot down and get back on the power in the way you want, because if you plant your foot a little too early, then you find yourself heading for the grass or wall on the outside of the corner.

The only things you'll really learn in a FWD car are the right lines to take, how to manage understeer & how to manage lift off oversteer... the last two are not all that enjoyable when you don't have as wide a choice of inputs as you would a RWD car.

A 4WD car will usually handle itself much better... but with the large amount of mechanical grip you get in vehicles like that, they will let you drive really quickly really easily & they will give you a load of confidence... that will only apply to 4WD car driving. Plus, like you said... there's a very high probability such a cheap Subaru, it's engine is going to go bang very quickly.

The 350Z would be a lot of fun & it will teach you some proper car control skills that none of the others will.

A lot of people in that budget range get on really well with E36 and E46 BMWs... when stripped out and with a good suspension setup, they can be incredibly fast things & they're fun too... you can play with them so much more on, past or around the limit of grip.

My recommendation would be an MX5 though. Why?

- You can easily pick a reasonable one up within your budget and have money left over
- They're lighter than the BMWs, which gives them improved handling characteristics
- They are really forgiving when you make a mistake
- They are really communicative so are fantastic learner cars
- They are incredibly reliable and with a stock engine you will find it incredibly difficult to blow the engine up even with sustained track use
- They are cheap to repair if something goes wrong
- Because of their light weight they are lighter on brakes and tyres than the other options and the tyres and brakes are really cheap to replace when you need to
- They are cheap to modify when you want to progress further into its capabilities like getting adjustable coilovers (if the one you buy is one of the few that hasn't already had this done) a decent full set can be bought for £500-700
- And best of all, they're a lot of fun

I'm not a pro or anything, but I'm a reasonably skilled amateur & I learned the vast majority of my car control skills in an MX5. So I know first hand how great a learner car they are.

I've done quite a bit of track driving, in a variety of things... and if you want to just go out and enjoy yourself without worrying about being hit with a massive bill that stops your fun mid-summer, especially if you have a relatively tight budget... then considering all these ancillary costs is really important.
 
I wouldn't want an ep3 for a track car due to the steering alone. I owned a pre facelift however, facelift addressed it partially so I'm told.
 
I'd say MX5 or MR2, they're the 2 that i'm looking at anyway coming from a pretty much identical car to your own scooby.

I did quite a few track days in my widetrack and it was great and all but it did leave me wanting something RWD the more i did in it plus there was always the worry of breaking something and it being mega expensive to fix, we've owned 2x MX5's and a Clio 197 however i never tracked any of those but i did drive them extensively as they were all my wife's cars.

The wife loved her Clio but i never really gelled with it, never felt robust enough to track to me and even though they are quite highly regarded as FWD cars i didn't find it to be on the same level as my old Integra DC5 (perhaps not surprising)

I loved both MX5's she'd had though, the last one we had was a 2006 2.0 sport and i think that'd have been perfect on track, fast enough to not feel you're holding the whole world up with 160bhp but slow enough and light enough to not shred through brakes and tyres like my scooby did.

She currently has a 2012 Suzuki swift sport and i'd love to do a track day in that actually, it's slow on paper at only 136bhp but it is very light and really fun to chuck around, i think the first gen ones of them can be picked up very cheap now.

I've always had a soft spot for an EP3 with having owned a DC5 but i wouldn't have one as a track car, the parts are so expensive for one and you'd need to spend a bit to make it worth while i think like a decent LSD and then you've always got the rubbish feeling electric steering in the EP compared to the hydraulic in the teg. I was shocked how cheap my scooby was to run compared to my DC5 so i'd never track one unless you have deep pockets.
 
Expensive hobby having a dedicated track car for regular use!

A 2.5k 350Z sounds like an absolute minefield to me. Also I've always seen the 350Z as more of a Grand Tourer rather than something to thrash around a track?

Out of your other options I'd be looking at the Clio and Civic, although as already mentioned the MX-5 is the obvious candidate here, and for the right reasons. Also as suggested the MR2 is a great shout as well.

agw_01 said:
edit... What about a 200sx? RWD turbo goodness. They do have issues with oil starvation though.
Click to expand...

Are there many 200sx's around that are worth bothering with for 2.5k?
 
If your only objection to an MX5 is being convertible, find one with a hard top?

At that budget, if you want RWD you can't really do much better than an MX5.

If you were really lucky and prepared to get a scruffy one for the track you might even find a folding hardtop Mk3 for not much more.
 
wesimmo said:
If your only objection to an MX5 is being convertible, find one with a hard top?

At that budget, if you want RWD you can't really do much better than an MX5.

If you were really lucky and prepared to get a scruffy one for the track you might even find a folding hardtop Mk3 for not much more.
Click to expand...

E46 325ti.
 
sovietspybob said:
I'd say MX5 or MR2, they're the 2 that i'm looking at anyway coming from a pretty much identical car to your own scooby.
Click to expand...

MR2s are great too.

Only comment from me on that is that MR2s tend to be a bit twitchy near/on the limit & to work it properly, you need to concentrate much more on maintaining the balance of the car, which adds to the complexity for a learner & is a bit more likely to lead to unexpected spins with a dab of confuddlement until you get it right. Depending on how the OP reacts... it could lead to either a rewarding challenge, or a frustration that spoils the fun a little.

In the MR2, you have to learn that additional skill quite quickly, but you don't have to worry about that extra layer with an MX5 until you get to the point where you are chasing improving your lap times & then you'll benefit from learning that skill when you've already learned other skills along the way. Then that can translate to the MR2 or most other vehicles.

Perhaps I'm overthinking it.
 
Crizzy said:
A 2.5k 350Z sounds like an absolute minefield to me. Also I've always seen the 350Z as more of a Grand Tourer rather than something to thrash around a track?

Out of your other options I'd be looking at the Clio and Civic, although as already mentioned the MX-5 is the obvious candidate here, and for the right reasons. Also as suggested the MR2 is a great shout as well.



Are there many 200sx's around that are worth bothering with for 2.5k?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'd be concerned about the reliability and potential bills from trying to track a £2.5k 350Z...

The 350Z is a bit of a lard ****, but it's actually a lot of fun and playful on track. Check the Fifth Gear review / spots with it... they really love the 350Z & 370Z.

I'd still drop it off the list due to the likelihood of it completely breaking or throwing some significant bills without much time on track. Plus just the consumables costs will be noticeably higher than quite a few of the other options in this thread, if only due to the weight.
 
Clio 172 (not Cup - they're too expensive) or an MX5. There are very good reasons they are both very popular on track days:
- relatively light weight
- cheap consumables
- good "out of the box" handling
- minimal upgrades needed to make them comfortably track ready
- plenty of choice and cheap to buy

All you'd need to do to them is chuck on a set of track day tyres and decent front brake pads and you're pretty much set.
 
What about the older ST170 Focus? Can easily be had for 1-1.5k. The mk1 was always an excellent handling car and felt really light and nimble to chuck around.
 
I don't see the 350z as a track car but definitely appeals to me the most on that list, especially when it comes to looks and noise.
 
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