Track Car Choice

[No Crust Racing]

You sound like a jaded lover, did you once get chopped by something 3S powered?

[NickR33]

are we allowed to make MX5 jokes here ?? the driving regs allow mx5's to wear arseless chaps at track days :]

sorry .. they are a great car and a good value track choice .

shame you specced RWD . we've just done a fwd track car renaultsport clio 172 . 7k to buy in top nick with logbooks and 12 months rego . the motors run forever . we put coilovers on / rotors n pads / rear bolt in cage / stripped out interior / harness / sticky tyres / and a LSD we got at a great price .. while fitting lsd got gearbox checked over and fitted new drive shafts just in case .

it now drives like new , paint shnes like new , weighs under 1000kg , has 106kwatw stock except for intake , handles like a dream and owes bugger all .

its fully regoed , looks stock so the plod dont give it a second look . does easy 12's with a reasonable driver at wakefield . maybe into 10s with a good steerer .

a pleasure to own and drive ...

thanks for that, I'll keep an eye open...

I just have a bit of a hatchback phobia... but hell if I'm prepared to jump in an MX5 I should be willing to try a fwd hatch

I'll just have to get a massive sticker made up "my other car is a GTR" lol

[No Crust Racing]

Call me insecure but I don't think I could voluntarily buy a FWD hatch as a track car.

not when you have so many other choices!

[NickR33]

oooh but if I get a hatch I can talk my wife into believing its her new car... that way I don't have to register a 3rd car... "don't worry about those bars in the car sweety, they're there for you to hang the shopping from"

[No Crust Racing]

Bahah then when people give you shit at the track and say is that your wifes car you can say yeah it is, and it's still faster than your shit heap (if it actually is..)

[Marlin]

Yes, if you were to start considering FWD cars it really does open up a whole new ballgame.

A fellow is often out at Lakeside in a Clio and punts it around quite well, even if it does look frighteningly loose under brake in one particular spot.

Another guys turn up in his 2004 Corrolla Sportivo (the High rev Celica powered version), and is very quick, doing flat 60's I believe, which is quick quick.

Typically the FWD stuff will excel on tracks where the aim is to keep the average speed up, they fall down when asked to accelerate out of tighter corners (typically lacking torque and fancy diff)

[Beelzebub89]

Dad and I are on the lookout for something similar and we've pretty much decided on a Mk1 or Mk2 escort. The only problem is there aren't that many ready to go examples that are cheap. The plan for us will be: 2 door Mk1/Mk2, strip out everything we can, sort suspesion, diff, 2l pinto and away we go. Should go well for awhile with the pinto and once its on the go we can start putting together a 2.3 or 2.5 duratech for it. 700kg and 200-300hp with the duratech, it will be great fun

[warps]

Call me insecure but I don't think I could voluntarily buy a FWD hatch as a track car.

not when you have so many other choices!

Can't really blame you but honestly, try one first and then decide.

In fact, if you're ever up QLD way and there happens to be an event on, you can have a go in the Honda. No it won't blow your mind with its hektik acceleration, but it more than compensates with corner grip and sheer fun.

I grew up on a staple diet of RWD's and wasn't interested in FWD either, but I thought I'd give it a go when the honda came up at the right price and right time. I figured it would be a good way to get my kids into it (my son can drive in Khanas as of the end of this year) but now I'm not so sure I want to share

[Marlin]

I grew up on a high revving diet of stroked and LSD equiped 1991 Swift Gti, so i do have a serious soft spot for the FWD stuff. A good one can really open your eyes

[phunky_monkey]

Very true. My partner has a Clio Sport (wonder who's influence that was *cough*), and it's a cracking little car. Would be KILLER at Winton too, though shit boring at Sandown.

I'm a big, big fan

[No Crust Racing]

Is this partner coming to DECA Dane? At least I bring mine along so she can go for rides and squeel. I know how you guys love having a squeeling passanger - side bar, I reckon Kate is gonna bags a ride in the STI. She loves the thing... pfft.

[R32gts-t]

if an s series car is an option, and NA cars are too pricey due to P platers,

why not look at a cheap turbo one?

this with a seat and some good rubber "could" be quite fun to drive...

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Nissan-silvia-s13-s...3089?pt=AU_Cars

(i don't know the seller, just figured some s13's can be had for as little as $5-7k and when stripped out can be quite light/quick/chuck able)

one of the reasons i still have my s13 is that it's so cheap to maintain, even as day to day transport and for the odd club day.

if it were for club days only it would be even cheaper.

i have been epa'd once in the last 2.5 years of driving it daily, and that was for a noise test only (not hard to fix).

and 2nd hand bits and pieces are so cheap, mainly because the kids that have these cars spend every cent they earn on them until they're broke, and then need to fire sale parts to buy lunch at uni...

mx-5 isn't a bad idea, but the properly setup cars would owe the owners a pretty penny, as per mx5 prices on my105...

if you could go the track only car from japan that would open the range up quite a bit, but as street reg is important so you can park it something local is goignt o be less hassle.

mx-5 is more likely to be outside your house for longer as the s13 will probably get targeted more by thieves.

[NickR33]

what are the FWD like at 'khanas... fun?

I just did 4000km through france and italy in a new Peugeot 206 1.4 diesel... and it was surprisingly fun... it pulled pretty well for such a small motor and would still comfortably accelerate at 130-150km/h (average cruising speed on Italian highways)

it was a bit soft in the twisty stuff but as long as you didn't push to hard it was quite capable

[No Crust Racing]

This thread is going down hill...

[evil_weevil]

http://www.my105.com.au/classified.asp?id=...7&feature=1

buy a trailer and tow car and your done!

oh,

and not biased or anything...MX5 for me hehehehe

Other options if I didnt..

Id go a civic with the BA18 or whatever it is? do an engine swap.

maybe even an older escort thats already been built too.

but for 10k, still road rego you can pick up NA6 and Na8 mx5 with some good stuff

just buy a brown davis roll bar and take it racing.

and can still take it out on weekends for some twisty roads. mine has a hardtop plus 6 point cage and street rego

it wont be the quickest (Im certainly not!) but I have fun and the corner speed is just awesome

[NickR33]

if an s series car is an option, and NA cars are too pricey due to P platers,

why not look at a cheap turbo one?

this with a seat and some good rubber "could" be quite fun to drive...

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Nissan-silvia-s13-s...3089?pt=AU_Cars

(i don't know the seller, just figured some s13's can be had for as little as $5-7k and when stripped out can be quite light/quick/chuck able)

one of the reasons i still have my s13 is that it's so cheap to maintain, even as day to day transport and for the odd club day.

if it were for club days only it would be even cheaper.

i have been epa'd once in the last 2.5 years of driving it daily, and that was for a noise test only (not hard to fix).

and 2nd hand bits and pieces are so cheap, mainly because the kids that have these cars spend every cent they earn on them until they're broke, and then need to fire sale parts to buy lunch at uni...

mx-5 isn't a bad idea, but the properly setup cars would owe the owners a pretty penny, as per mx5 prices on my105...

if you could go the track only car from japan that would open the range up quite a bit, but as street reg is important so you can park it something local is goignt o be less hassle.

mx-5 is more likely to be outside your house for longer as the s13 will probably get targeted more by thieves.

totally agree, if I was going to go Jap import I would just get a turbo... no point paying jacked up P plater prices for an N/A

[NickR33]

no trailers or tow cars sorry:(

[phunky_monkey]

Is this partner coming to DECA Dane? At least I bring mine along so she can go for rides and squeel. I know how you guys love having a squeeling passanger - side bar, I reckon Kate is gonna bags a ride in the STI. She loves the thing... pfft.

What can I say, looks like Kate has good taste in cars! She's welcome to jump into the car whenever she wants mate.

No she's not coming down, she's away with work. She's not quite ready for DECA just yet, but soon enough I'll show her the joys of it.

[No Crust Racing]

No she's not coming down, she's away with work. I'm not quite ready to subject her to you lot just yet, but soon enough I'll show her the joys of cheap hotels and average food.

Fixed? lol

[TurboDoseBro]

Mateys, are you forgetting MR2s start at ~$6k and they're not bad (although they don't have power steering).

My points are:

a) RWD

b) Mid engined

c) Nimble

d) Nothing you can't fix with some well thought out sussy upgrades

e) Cheap for NA

f) Relatively light (~1180kg tare) compared to many others

These come out of factory with 130 flywheel kW. Few mods should make it more aggressive.

I quote OP from first post:

"I'm not really concerned with times, I just want to have some fun"