What Track Toy to go for?

S3 TAM

S3 TAM

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Right What todo...

I've got to where i wanted to be with the S3 now but i can't seem to stop it's about the only thing that keeps me going. "my life is that said"

I still want to get my bumpers resparyed and alloy refurb'd just the finishing touches really.

I want a track car, Do I buy an oil burner for the daily driver and fully strip/track up the S3 or keep the S3 as the daily and buy something cheap to tinker with.

Like

Honda Integra
BMW M3 E36
Audi A3 1.8T
Renualt Clio 172
Golf MK2 - "engine convertion"


What would you do?
 
In my experience, heavy cars just dont work well on tracks. Heavy on brakes and tyres. I'd consider old school, R5 GT Turbo etc..
 
106 gti or 205 gti nice light and quick cars
 
Like I said to you Tam look for a car that is known for its handling. Integra, clios etc. then strip it to make it lighter.

I still like the A3 idea as we know them inside out but the Integra is nice.
 
audi upgrades
or a nice bmw e30 2.5 m sport bulliet proof engine.

or go all out with a westfield mega blade.
im not sure but i think the 172 is lighter than the 182 for the sake of 10bhp which aint hard to get you could make the 172 better than the 182.
 
if going jap the b18 engine out of the teg in a eg civic will work wonders or a ek9 civic bit expensive but good lil car.
personally i dont like honda but they do have the high rev range ideal for track.

ford fiesta zetec with the zvh conversion 2.0 zetec bottom end with cvh 1.6 turbo head bored out to 2.1 litre quick small light car easy to work on.
 
i would go for 106 gti or clio 182. The 182s are suprisingly fast.
 
MK2 CRX with B20 conversion.

Cheaper even after the engine conversion than nearly all of that list and probably quicker than most of those too.
 
Your familiar with the 1.8T though, hows about an ibiza cupra?
 
im planning on getting rid of my a3 which i was turning into a track toy. getting bored of FWD!

My plan is to get a bmw e30 and put the 3.2 engine from the e36 m3 evo in it.

should be a giggle :)
 
One of my friends has just spent 5-6k on a Tiger (westefield Caterham style) and that is seriously fun for not a lot of money.

For a cheap track car as has been suggested anything small and french (GTi, CLio Cups etc) avoid the R5 turbo like you would a transvestite with herpes.

Me and another friend have just converted an EK Civic (1999) from a 1.5 or 1.6 to a Honda Prelude 2.2 VTEC engine, it's beyond rapid and still retains some good handling features, the engine cost £300 incl rebuild on certain elements and all in it owes him £2k.

Just thought however a pegeuot 306GTi-6 they are going for sub 1k money now 167bhp, 6 speed 'box and luvverly handling. Strp it out spend 200-300 on suspension, 100 on new discs and pads 100 for a service and sorted!
 
personally, I think if you're familiar with the 1.8T then that's a good way to go..... it also means you're likely to be able to reuse bits you might have, and contacts you already know to help with the build.

Either an ibiza cupra, 20vt mk2 golf, or FWD A3 i reckon.

If you're used to turbo torque, then anthing n/a is going to feel slow no matter what you get, I have a mate with a mapped mk2 octavia VRS daily, and a clio 172 track car, and he thinks the clio is really slow, his previous track car was a 180bhp 2.0 16v mk3 golf, and that felt mega slow too compared to his octy.

E36 M3 is good, but I felt mine was just too heavy to be a real track car. Sure, with THOUSANDS spent they're simply epic, but they need some serious work to make it viable, and M3 track cars sell for £10k + any day of the week.

Integras still fetch a huge scene tax, and having been in a DC2, It didn't feel all that fast to me, although they do handle amazingly.

a mk2 golf with a 20vt would be utterly awesome, but will cost you at least 5k to buy one

So, waht I'm saying is, buy an A3 :p

haha. I would say that.....
 
audi upgrades
turbo saxo VTS IMO.

good power to weight ratio

cheap to repair and run
 
My own dream is a 172 TOTALLY stripped out, purely to embarass people with twice the power. I saw it recently too at a track day in aintree, the cars they made fun of was unbelievable. A cheap one is less than 2k, and once you sell stuff off it I bet you recoup at least 500.
Plus, I'd want an N/A car for the track purely for simplicity and cost.
Il do this myself one day
 
audi upgrades
superkarl said:
My own dream is a 172 TOTALLY stripped out, purely to embarass people with twice the power. I saw it recently too at a track day in aintree, the cars they made fun of was unbelievable. A cheap one is less than 2k, and once you sell stuff off it I bet you recoup at least 500.
Plus, I'd want an N/A car for the track purely for simplicity and cost.
Il do this myself one day
Click to expand...

What he said. Although id most probably end up blowing my load over this (well finding a budget route there)

K-Tec Racing - Renault Tuning Styling Motorsport Specialists

106 Rallye or Saxo also, just make sure you fit a decent rollcage, you're bound to stash it sooner or later, and if you dont you're not raggin it enough :)
 
That's a really bad idea! half golf, half passat, with a boat anchor up front where it should have an engine!
 
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Ali from Unit18 has an Octy 1.8t not a VRS and he`s been on a few track days with that and it does alright actually
 
Prawn said:
That's a really bad idea! half golf, half passat, with a boat anchor up front where it should have an engine!
Click to expand...

Well it would be better than a saxo which most people are saying....I would rather ride a push iron than a saxo
 
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basically an a3/ golf with a bit on the back Neil, whatever you're after, I'd suggest trying to get something that's ko3S/me7 based to start with, so AUM / AUQ.

What about a leon cupra? £1500 can see you a pre facelift leon cupra, 180bhp, AUQ ko3S, 6 speed, 312mm brakes as standard, makes a lot of sense.....
 
Ibiza Cupra and I have a spare standard K04 at Bills.... :eyebrows:
 
every one goes down the 106 gti and saxo route, you want something a bit bigger with a bit more power. As mentioned by someone already, you can pick up a 306Gti6 or rallye for around a grand now, add a grand in mods and you will struggle to find much that will out handle it round a track
 
I had the pleasure of an 08:38 lap of the Ring in a 306 Rallye a few weeks ago, and I must say, it was awesome! Seriously well composed car.

personally, i'd still want something fast for a track car, which counts out clios/saxos/106's, as no matter what people say, they're just not that quick in a straight line.

I know handling is just as important, but i couldn't condone the ieda of a track car that's slower in a straight line than my daily drive.....

Something turbo'd, and light weight, preferably at low boost to keep it reliable would be choice.

I'm hoping that when i get this new blower on my A3 over winter it should meet those exact criteria, at around 300bhp / 1070kg, giving 280bhp/ton. You won't get anywhere even close to that in a nasty little french hatch.
 
16v conversion on a 106 rallye are quick in a straight line. I've had 2 of them series 1's. Bang tidy motor!!
 
I would never make a VAG car a track car, not focused enough standard and most seem to handle like crap compared to others. You have to spend a lot of money to make it half decent.

E36 M3 would be a very good track car standard, stripped out it would be insanely fast then add some more track focused suspensions and it would be epic.

I know of a few guys with jap cars which are track cars and they are epics, Starlet GT Turbo running a TD04 kit and a Civic with a B18 lump.
 
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