ideal saloon track car

[LPMorgan]

what would be an ideal 1st saloon track car? not looking at like big v6's but more around 2ltr size.

 

[Olley]

classic scooby. BMW E30, E36 or possibly E46. ford escort (early models), ford sierra.

there is a lot to consider. FWD, RWD, AWD, preference to manufacture, ease of modifying, initial cost, cost of parts. cost of tyres etc.

personally, i'd quite like to build a sierra sapphire track car, but then again i'd like to turn a lot of cars into a track car...

 

[LPMorgan]

i'd like rwd, awd are expensive to fix when it comes to suspension, i can also do alot of work myself lol a bmw e36 sounds good. e46 would be too much for initial purchase lol

 

[Olley]

just throwing out ideas buddy, i've got an E30 myself. auto boxed touring though, so not much cop on the track.

trouble is, RWD doesn't really go hand in hand with "lightweight" especially with the saloon cars. best of luck, and keep us all posted!

 

[LPMorgan]

looked on auto trader earlier and found a few e36's for under £500, 100thou plus but engine rebuild can be done, i can weld and pretty handy with a spanner lol rwd mainly due to do with gearbox tuning and other bits

 

[Prince]

If you're serious about E36s make sure you send me a PM with the links mate. . I'd be happy to take a look.

 

[LPMorgan]

i'm just bouncing ideas atm, but a e36 would be brilliant to race prep. funds are really tight atm as i'm looking for work so belt is tight. doing extensive research. throwing cars around in my head but a E36 seems the best option

 

[Prince]

i'm just bouncing ideas atm, but a e36 would be brilliant to race prep. funds are really tight atm as i'm looking for work so belt is tight. doing extensive research. throwing cars around in my head but a E36 seems the best option

Great car imo mate! As I said, if you see any you like PM me a link and I'll take a look. Parts are not expensive as everyone says. That is complete rubbish. The only killer will be the insurance which I imagine will be around £1500-2000 for you.

 

[LPMorgan]

it's about £2400 for insurance lol didn't get a proper chance to look through all the quotes so will have a better look tomorrow.

 

[Prince]

Try Sky Insurance and Adrian Flux (15% off for all TC members) for quotes. What engine spec are you looking at?

 

[LPMorgan]

that was for a 318i, don't fancy a larger model due to insurance. lol

 

[claymore]

Volvo 850 t5, you might be surprised at the price and the cost of insuring one

 

[LPMorgan]

i've actually been looking at volvo's my uncle frank has had loads, reliable, quick and besides design really funky cars. i'd like a S40 mk1

 

[LPMorgan]

would it be anywhere near the cost of a bmw to insure?

 

[aston]

How about a Primera eGT or GT, They handle like they are on rails, The Famous SR20 engine inside (good 0-60) fast steering and short throw gears, Not too heavy I would think and a good one will be way under a grand or a metro (rover 100) with the VVC conversion. Again a good stealth track weapon (check youtube to see some in action) then there is the 106 ralleye or 306 ralleye or the mk3 Prelude V-tec, did very well in the PPC under a grand challenge and was standard bar some weight removed. MX5's also handle very well.
The way I see it anyone can drive fast down a straight line but the fun is in going around the corners and as far as I know the above cars are superb at going around corners

 

[LPMorgan]

ideally the car would be under £500, want a saloon ideally, possibly build a low end competition car?

 

[aston]

ideally the car would be under £500, want a saloon ideally, possibly build a low end competition car?

I would imagine any of the above cars would be under £500 if you were patient and savvy, O yes I forgot to mention 924S's

 

[LPMorgan]

924s? that's a porsche?

 

[LPMorgan]

what about getting a car from a breakers?

 

[turbonutter69]

You mean a salvage yard?

 

[Prince]

A £500 car will be just that though. You won't save anything because you'll more than likely have to spend money fixing it up. You get what you pay for.

 

[turbonutter69]

You can pick a good Primera up for 500 notes.
My old Primera only cost me 300 quid and all that needed was the rear pads replacing and a drivers door window motor but other than that it was mechanically sound.
It can be done if you shop around.

 

[LPMorgan]

my dad owned a 190E and ran it for 3 years which only cost him £300! yeah a salvage yard, plusif something goes wrong with the car then replace that part with an aftermarket part.

 

[aston]

A £500 car will be just that though. You won't save anything because you'll more than likely have to spend money fixing it up. You get what you pay for.

Our local car breakers sell all cars with a full MOT for £500,

 

[t5frankie]

Here is my track car

 

[Olley]

here is my track car

nice...

 

[t5frankie]

my old track car now my daily driver

 

[Olley]

LIES! you just cut the back off to save weight! haha

 

[t5frankie]

Lol

 

[LPMorgan]

i like the look of the newish volvo's. i like the s40's old shape

 

[Prince]

Our local car breakers sell all cars with a full MOT for £500,

I would not trust that until I saw it tbh. Just because it has a years MOT on as well doesn't mean it won't be flush with rot/rust and have plenty of problems. You can't tell me that these cars all sail through the MOT as well without needing anything. The breakers would be making a lot less than just breaking the car if that's the case.

There are some bargains out there, but I'm a strong believer in getting what you pay for.

 

[LPMorgan]

you could buy a brand new car and think it's worse than a £500 motor, my mate ran a car for years that his dad bought him from a scrap yard! and it was a stupid drivers fault that smashed into it! it was more reliable than the car he bought for 4k!

 

[SLEEPER]

If you are going to put a £500 car on a track you need to buy very carefully.

On atrack anythiong thats not right shows up very quickly. Things that are not an issue on the road can be a reall issue on the track.

Brakes for example - some cars standard set up will be fine others wont last 5 proper laps,

And a £500 may be legal with an MOT but that doesnt mean much if you run out of brakes on the forth lap at the end of the main straight.

Im not saying dont buy a £500 car just make sure you buy the right one.

 

[LPMorgan]

brakes are job number 1, gonna get new discs, pads and brake lines

 

[LPMorgan]

the whole point in buying a £500 motor is so i can get a feel for track tuning, it's going to get stripped out and caged, uprated brakes, suspension etc... why buy a £2500 car when you can buy £500 car and use that extra 2k on aftermarket parts?

 

[SLEEPER]

Read ther post before you go off on one (again)

i said Im not saying dont buy a £500 car just make sure you buy the right one

and some cars brakes even reconditioned wont last five laps of proper track speed driving.

 

[LPMorgan]

i got what ya meant, i'll be buying a full aftermarket brake kit anyway, i'm not going off on one (again) as i never went off on one anyway! i'll use common sense when buying a cheap car.

 

[t5frankie]

would you be jealous if i said my track car cost me £550? lol

 

[claymore]

would you be jealous if i said my track car cost me £550? lol

Mine was £350, before I spent another £1500 on it

 

[t5frankie]

Mine was £350, before I spent another £1500 on it

why didnt you just buy a t4 and have done with it?