What track car do i buy for under 10k

RFredR32 · August 27, 2007

Was at a TVR organised track day today with sadly no R to drive round it . My big sis didnt like the idea of me flying round in her boxster s either which would have been good.

There was a right mix of cars TVR's, porker's, scooby's ,evo's, mx5's, westfield's etc. but two boys who seemed to be having the most fun, and the closest dare i say it racing, were in a golf mkii gti and peugeot 205 gti

So it has got me thinking that if i was spending under 10k for a track car what would i buy. One which i have considered and used to own was a clio 172 i think someone on here has one tracked prepared.

Thought a track car might keep me entertained until this time next year when i get myself sorted again. Any suggestions or advise as always will be appreciated.

Also is it possible to use an insurance or damage repairable car if so cat c or cat d etc.

lenny · August 28, 2007

clio 182.... stripped...

Very very fast!

JasT · August 28, 2007

I'd def. say a clio 172 or 182. I used to own a 172 and it was great fun on track! It held it's own against much more powerful cars, especially on twisty circuits.

lottiefox · August 28, 2007

Drop a PM to rs32 - he has a track prepped Clio 172. Superb car!!

At Croft earlier this year.

Decked · August 28, 2007

I'd go for an old Scooby.... You can uprgrade it fairly easy, it's got the power/traction and it's something you could chuck about and not really care about too much.

rs32 · August 28, 2007

I went for the 172 Cup as a track car after asking around a fair few specialists as to what would be cheap-ish but plenty of fun on the track.

It started out as a good example of a 53-plate in Mondial Blue. I went for the Cup version becasue of the wider front track and no ABS - this whole exercise was about me getting back to basics and learning how to drive a car quickly on a track with no driver aids.

Stage 1 - ARB, Bushes, engine mounts, strengthened steering arms, Samco hose kit, oil cooler, Eibach springs, Sparco steering wheel.

Then I broke it - driveshafts needed replacing as CV boots had not been clipped on properly ! So that was sorted out and has proved fairly solid since.

Stage 2 - More engine mods - RSTuning replacement ECU with 7650 rev limiter, Milltek cat, K-Tec "stealth" exhaust, Magnecor ignition leads, BMC filter. Goodridge hoses. Plus 2 new sets of wheels with wets/road tyres on 16" Speedlines and Dunlop Direzza cut-clicks on 15" Speedline 2118 alloys.

Stage 3 - completely stripped rear interior, custom rear strut brace, Sparco bucket seats/harnesses.

There's 3 things that make this car quick on a circuit - the ARB and bushes, the cut-slicks and most recently the bucket seats. The difference with buckets is enormous as you don;t have to use 3/4 of your energy holding yourself in the seat whilst cornering. Makes for a much more relaxed approach.

I paid £5.4k for the car and have spent around 4k doing stuff to it. Am currently considering going even further with stripping the interior, adding a full cage and fitting some trick suspension from Koni. Brakes could also do with some further attention as my confidence builds.

Would also heavily recommend some driver training as I've learnt more about how to drive in 4-5 days of tuition than I have in 13 years of road driving. I went for the Ultimate Car Control courses run by Robb Gravett at TRL in Bracknell.

The Clios are great fun and there's a huge following out there for them. Try searching ClioSport.net under my username with "track" in the search field - should return some hopefully useful info for you.

Let us know how you get on RFR - realistically you can get a Cup for 5k, fit some coilovers and a cage and you would be laughing. But don't forget the cut-slicks option unless you need to use the car on the road as well. I started off thinking I could drive the car around the country then use it on track - but have now opted for hiring a chap with a trailer who also provides a support service - much easier way of doing things as driving to/from and a whole day out on track is completely knackering.....

RFredR32 · August 28, 2007

Thanks RS32 for the detailed reply. I owned a 172 a few years back and put about 15k miles on it and absolutely loved it. Have your modification dialed out some of the torque steer, does it still like to lift the inside rear wheel.

What is the difference between the cup and trophy i remember evo mag giving the trophy a great write up a while ago but what has it got over and above the cup? If the car is solely for track car is it worth the added premium?

Decked the scooby is another serious contender 4wd and easy to tune etc. plus most of the cars up for sale have already a few mods done.

What are you going to get more fun out of and what is going to be more reliable? Do you go 4wd rear or front?

I know one thing for certain my clio did bring a smile to my face and a real pocket rocket. The Scooby after recently test driving one did the same, but i would ask with its capabilities and predictability would it take the fun out of a track day?

Undecided at the moment but clio is a serious contender, do you have any pic of mods etc RS32

Would a damage repairable clio V6 be a contender at the right money

rs32 · August 28, 2007

Have your modification dialed out some of the torque steer, does it still like to lift the inside rear wheel.

very little torque steer and rear wheel lift - I get very high levels of grip on turn-in when I run positive outward toe at the front as the rear toe is set to parallel. The bushes, springs, ARB and semi-slicks generate so much grip that you can feel the chassis trying to twist itself away. One mod I forgot was the upper front strut brace (Dan32 and myself fitted this) - it dials out understeer and really gives a sharp turn-in

What is the difference between the cup and trophy ........?

I asked the same question a while ago - the trophy is much dearer, has remote-reservoir expensive dampers and is apparently brilliant - but you can get a Cup way beyond its abilities for less money

Decked the scooby is another serious contender 4wd and easy to tune etc. plus most of the cars up for sale have already a few mods done.

What are you going to get more fun out of and what is going to be more reliable? Do you go 4wd rear or front?

The scoobies are good on track but the 4WD is masking what you can do as a driver imho - this exercise was for me to learn - from scratch. On the cup there's no electronics to get in the way, that's what was so appealing. Mine is currently running at around 180+ bhp per ton, and really flies for the £££ spent.

I know one thing for certain my clio did bring a smile to my face and a real pocket rocket. The Scooby after recently test driving one did the same, but i would ask with its capabilities and predictability would it take the fun out of a track day?

no - you'll have an absoulte hoot in a scooby imo. they are great fun in whtever guise when you can hoon it around relatively unchecked. The Clio offers a bit of motorsport know-how rather than demanding rally conditions know-how, so a different prospect for me.

Undecided at the moment but clio is a serious contender, do you have any pic of mods etc RS32

Would a damage repairable clio V6 be a contender at the right money

imo, not at all

AGK512 · August 28, 2007

Looks like your having fun with your project

Would an ex cup race car workout cheaper as you've done so many mods ?

RFredR32 · August 29, 2007

Just missed a great buy a 2002 Clio 172 cup 58k miles with light frontal damage Cat D £2500

Will keep looking, few scooby's also knocking about, as far as i understand you can put cat c or d back on the road and although cat b might be heavily damaged can be put on the track not the road.

Silverarrow an ex race cup car where would you even start to look for one of them, great idea though i like it, would save alot of hassle although rs32 s mods are extensive im sure a ex race car would set you back a tidy sum

Arch · August 29, 2007

*cough* More fun straight out of the box than a chocolate orange. [/struggling for a better analogy]

I like chocolate oranges though, a lot.

AGK512 · August 29, 2007

They turn up in the back pages of Autosport or just get yourself to a race and ask around

khutula · August 29, 2007

What about a site like race cars direct they sell cars in the classified section in Peformance Tuner.

rs32 · August 29, 2007

I have considered going for the option of switching to an ex-race example.

however it's too much fun choosing the tweaking options myself - and unless I was to get into a specific race series .....

RFredR32 · August 29, 2007

Realistically you must be talking big money for ex race car?

Mind you modding everything yourself is always fun .

AGK512 · August 29, 2007

Most of the time they are much cheaper due to they only have a limited market to sell to especally one make series

Of course for modders it's not about the dosh

macdaddyR32 · August 30, 2007

What about an R32 again , but this time the skyline R32 ?

Be a great track car and awesome to drift around corners

BrakeSnake · August 30, 2007

After a few trackdays and speaking to my neighbour who owns one, i'd personally go for the Honda Integra Typr-R, one of the best front drivers you can get, amazing following out there with huge tuning potential, great vtech engine with exploitable chassis... defo my choice, and they seriously shift on the track, even in stock form....

RFredR32 · August 30, 2007

Got some interesting info today from my local tuners who are experts on jap cars.

Went to them with a shortlist of cars mazda rx7, r32 skyline, impreza, evo etc. Although this was just one guys opinion, it had to me some merit.

RX7 although a interesting option, apparently you need to do a engine rebuild on one straight away if it hasnt been done they have a reputation for it.

R32 skyline is another good option but a big limp of a car and most i have seen up for sale at the right money seem to be heavily tuned, who knows what you are getting in to.

Evo 4 RS is another but tend to have a slightly higher premium due to rareness

Impreza, apparently the WRX STI RA is the one to go for as it has the lightweight panels etc. plus the all important centre diff control in order to dial in some Rear end action also seem to be at the right sort of money. As decked32 said a very tunable car with 300bhp + easy. The other thing is parts are ment to be relatively easy to get hold of compared to the other Jap cars i have mentioned.

For me although the clio is a strong contender, i am thinking big BHP with the security of 4WD, plus the adjustable centre diff bringing that little bit of tail action out of hairpins, chicanes etc. is swaying the vote slightly compared to the front wheel drive option. although must say brakesnake and arch, the forever reving Honda Vtec engine is also coming in a close second.

Something like the clio and the integra type r would be slightly younger cars and therefore less likely to themselves the first hard thrashing you give them were the older scooby's etc might.

If you were going for balls out rear end action for a bit of fun i wonder what a good contender would be ? i suppose a BMW M3 would be high on the list.

This is a long term project for over the winter months need to get wedding and a honeymoon out of the way first.

Any further advise always appreciated, and will keep you all posted.

BrakeSnake · August 30, 2007

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...need to get wedding and a honeymoon out of the way first.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hope the missus doesn't read this forum...

rs32 · August 30, 2007

I've seen a lot of scoobys die a death (usually turbo related) at track days this year.

and unless they are seriously tuned beasts, the Clio has been significantly more consistent in cornering speeds, possibly due to its weight.

it's given a few highly-tuned Audi's a run for their money, I don't look to "beat" cars because it's a track day but you can tell when you're quicker than another car/driver combo.

the only things I haven't been able to touch so far were a monster RS6, a very quick 520kg tuned Caterham driven by a local chap at Croft. E36 and E46 M3's are "easily" matched by the Clio on a twisty circuit now that I have confidence with the car and myself. The Clio kept up through the twisties at Croft with a VW Racing R32 car driven by one of the tournament drivers (I also had a passenger). I'm not saying I'm as quick as him but the Clio's cornering capability is just brilliant when you learn to trust what it can do on semi-slicks.

Note I'm not trying to say here that I'm a track expert because clearly I only have about 100 laps track experience. However I feel the Clio has been the ideal car to do both driver training and track days in and I'll be keeping this going for a while yet before I consider another car.

I'd really love to track my E46 M3 as well - but love it too much to risk it with DSC Off and a crash helmet on !! Yes, I know I know, complete wuss

Dan32 · August 30, 2007

I would have said an E36 M3 could be interesting. Rear wheel drive, 300bhp, and plenty of people out there who know how to set one up. EVO had one in which they were attempting to do the 'Ring in under 8 mins so quick look on their website could give some useful info.

I can vouch for the Clio being astonishing for fwd, its all changed since my fwd days of lift off oversteer even on the road. I'm just more interested in bit of sideways action now and again, but wouldn't go as far as drift cars.

Decked · August 30, 2007

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I'd really love to track my E46 M3 as well - but love it too much to risk it with DSC Off and a crash helmet on !! Yes, I know I know, complete wuss

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I'm with you on that one! If it was mine I wouldn't be tracking it.... And if something were to go wrong it'll cost you an arm and a leg to fix!

kaypee · August 31, 2007