Question, what car makes a good track day motor?

[reanimation]

A clue in my post and another members post for a cheap RWD. Was it you selling that Mk2 Escort too? that would do nicely, what else do you have in stock?

[rob0r]

The original Beemer 3 series (e21) is not that big and is RWD, it's smaller and lighter than the e30 and has a nice choice of engines, especially the 323i. Mines a 1.8 and I picked it up for £225, although spares are getting harder to get a hold of.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Just get an old Mk2 escort 2-door or AE86, ideally one needing a bit of fettling, that oughta be cheap enough.

[HoTWire]

lankytim said:

not sure if I can think of any small rwd cheap cars though.....

Datsun B310 2door saloon or coupe

[MWF]

A good place to start looking is the clubman racing leagues as there are a few road legal classes about. These cars tend to be setup for the track well as they are competition cars and sell very cheap 2nd hand. So you can effectively pick up a cheap road legal track car with lots of money previously invested.

I've read about quite a few people getting E30's for the track and they loved them.

[Lankytim]

Oh yeah, my mk2, id forgotten about that! Its a great shell, but for track days would need the whole running gear replacing =££££ and lots of time and I cant really be arsed, plus if I bend it my mates auntie would crucify me, shes the woman I bought it off and she made me swear on pain of death I wouldnt dent it.

Beemer 3 series, Id totally forgotten how cheaply the older models go for. Time to check out ebay!

Ive also got a mk2 Trummy 2.5PI, good shell, in pieces. Now that WOULD make a class track day car, again though I havent got the time, expertise, money or space to reassemble it, finish the welding and get it up and running. Plus I'm sick of the sight of it.

[Ratdat]

mwf said:

fwd track day cars can be pretty dissapointing. A friend of mine has a Mk1 Astra and within only a handful of track days was finding the slightest bit of wet weather would spoil his day. Based on his experience I'd certainly recomend trying to source a rwd car if possible.

Very true. The Sunny ZX had world class understeer in the wet due to the LSD!

[tigran]

These threads make me laugh - also illustrate why I love this site like I love lamp: every answer has suggested a different (and sometimes intriguing) avenue of going about the same task.

So much choice and variety! It makes my mind boggle, wayaye it does.

[spottedlaurel]

Hmmm, my KP62 Starlet 5dr that's currently on eBay? 5K upgrade from a Lite-Ace shouldn't be too much hard work. It's currently up to £300 with 4 days to go......

[reanimation]

Spottedlaurels Starlet is a very good idea. Basically any car can be tracked i'm sure, for me I want to do a track day just so i can enjoy what i drive on the roads. having said that when i get money and time i'll fine tune mine so they can really be chucked in the corners.

I suggested MR2 cos it just seems that they are perfect straight out ofthe tin, they love corners, rev hard, nice n low and wide standard. tired suspension ideal wants tweaking for full enjoyment. Predictably a Sierra too makes a good track car. cheap to get any non cossie model specially a 4-5 door, handle well, id just want to strip weight out a bit, a lad on FSOC is doing this on a true budget with a 2 litre i think.

BMW 3 series is a great suggestion and probs what i'd go for if i didnt have mine. i followed one weaving around the winding roads near me and it was awesome to watch and not keep up with.

Most stuff can be tweaked for track fun but it would have to be metro or summat for me to go FWD again.

[Lankytim]

I dunno... I was hoping somone would just say THIS car is the one to go for for track days, but as you said I think anything can be used.

I was considering my P reg 940 saloon turbo auto, but that would be just silly. Its boaty at the best of times!

A rover metro GTI (or whatever they're called) would be a nice motor to use, but I'm afraid of the headgasket probs that seem to plague them, but there pretty unpopular cars at the moment so they're cheap enough. My missus old 1.1 was a nippy chuckable motor.

A decent MR2 I think would be too expensive. I'm talking a few pounds here, real shoestring budget.

[MWF]

Personally I'd move away from the any car route and try and chose one of the track car favourites. Mainly because aftermarket parts are readily available second hand and knowledge is out there to glean.

These tend to be things like:
Nova
Saxo/106
Astra Mk2/Mk3
205 GTi
Escort Mk1/Mk2
Sierra
Bmw 3-series

[BenzBoy]

lankytim said:

I was considering my P reg 940 saloon turbo auto, but that would be just silly. Its boaty at the best of times!

...or my 264? ;D 155BHP, RWD and cheap as. On fleabay at the moment. Boaty? A Volvo?.... umm....

A 309 or 205 would be great I reckon. Dead light, plenty of tuning bits, and cheap!

[Lankytim]

Well it would be different!.........

Even more different after it had gone backwards and upside down into a gravel trap, LOL

[SeventyNine]

e661301 said:

Just get an old Mk2 escort 2-door or AE86, ideally one needing a bit of fettling, that oughta be cheap enough.

;D ;D ;D ;D i hope that was a joke

4 door escorts - mine was £200 with 12 months mot - pinto conversion can be done for about £200 in conversion parts + the pinto = quick, reliable and fun motorsport for under £500

locked diff and a quick rack FTW tho

[reanimation]

Me looking like my head is going to fall off! Not a good passenger.

On the day with the westfield lotus type things flying past, the MR2 did even seem a bit bulky compared and i wondered what chaos i would get myself into in the V8 Sierra once its done!

It would take about a grand shopping carefully to half prep an MR2 to cope with the track, poss less.

Any car though just for fun. need good brakes and ideally suspension that doesnt roll too much. above all a safe and well maintained car is wise.