thinking of tracking my s3

[Sam_]

Harnesses and new seats are arguably not needed? There's a school of thought that say harnesses aren't safe without a cage as they hold you upright increasing the chance of injury during a roll.

 

[Sam_]

And if you want a budget French track car, it has to be an Mi16/GTi6 205

 

[Prawn]

Harnesses and new seats are arguably not needed? There's a school of thought that say harnesses aren't safe without a cage as they hold you upright increasing the chance of injury during a roll.

There is that to be considered yea, it's catch 22.

The standard seats just don't hold you well enough for track work really. There is a safety question around doing the seats /harnesses without cage, but where do you stop? do you then refuse to drive the caged car on the road without a helmet because that's dangerous too?

I chose to fit the seats and harnesses before a cage, but knowing that a cage would follow in time.

 

[burns3]

Denied.

I have friends who have had RS's for years as track toys, thrashing them a couple of times a month and using them as daily drivers. If serviced at 6k intervals and with the timing belt and pulleys done at appropriate times there is no reason for them to be any more unreliable than our 1.8t's.

My 172 RS was one of the most fun cars I have ever owned, one owner from new with full main dealer history it was immaculate other than a small scuff on the front wing. I paid a grand for it, put a rear ARB on it and remapped it myself with an RSTuner. It made 184bhp on a RR with good torque for a nonturbo engine, it out handled any Mk4 platform car I have ever driven other than Prawns track car, had an addictive red line and was great on fuel and easy to run and live with. In terms of speed mine wasn't all that far off an S3, compared to a standard one it was certainly quicker. It was more than capable of keeping up with my current A3 at the time.

The F4R is an excellent engine, a faster mean piston speed than the Renault F1 engine of the year and fully balanced internals.

The only problem with RS Clio's is the owners being chavvy kids, luckily skint people are struggling to pay the insurance on them and they are regaining a good image. People who run them into the ground and abuse them are the issue, if you join forums lime cliotrophy you will find the same sort of owners as our S3 lot on here, more respectable middle aged men who want a toy car to play with and enjoy.

I won't have a bad word said about RS's, they are a well built and reliable car with huge character and great performance.

People who say they are just a Renault are mugs, they were all built in the Dieppe factory by Alpine. And as such really are something special.

If you want a cheap track car that will reward you every time you drive it then here it is, capable out the box and ready to go on track. Why make it harder for yourself when you can buy something like this for a grand which will be better round a uk track than an S3 with 5x as much invested in it-

You can deny all you want but I know plenty of lads who had 172s and had problems with gearboxes and diffs, never sed the engine was the issue.
Anyway he doesn't want a Renault and i'm sure you can have as much fun in a stripped out 250bhp plus s3...infact even more fun in the wet

 

[16Klappe]

You can deny all you want but I know plenty of lads who had 172s and had problems with gearboxes and diffs, never sed the engine was the issue.
Anyway he doesn't want a Renault and i'm sure you can have as much fun in a stripped out 250bhp plus s3...infact even more fun in the wet

Sorry, I forget S3's never have issues with Haldex or clutches or driveshafts or CV joints...How foolish of me.

Meh, no point in arguing over personal opinion. I just think it would be better and more competetive to keep a nice S3 as a nice S3 and spend the money you would spend turning your S3 into a track car into getting a track car.

You could buy something like this - 2003 RENAULT CLIO RENAULTSPORT 172 CUP BLUE LONG MOT & TAX TRACK CAR | eBay

Which is proven to be a perfect track car and will be much faster than an S3 on UK tracks, and still have your nice S3 and a track car which you can sell on for a grand when you're done with it.

Instead you could throw your money down the drain making your S3 unsaleable at the end of it and not that great as a track car without spending stupid money on it.

For the amount of money that it would take to make an S3 a truly "great" track car as something like a Clio is you could buy something infinitely better.

It doesn't have to be the Clio, I'm just using it as something which I have first hand experience of and can confidently comment about. There's far more cars out there which would fit the bill.

Only my opinion though...

You could always buy this - Audi A3 1.8T sport, Stage 2 230bhp+, S3, TT, VR6,G60 parts, track car/daily toy | eBay

It's my old car, and it's as good as if not better than than any S3 "track car" that's been built on here to date. (Westys S3 could potentially have shown it up on a slippy day, but we'll never unfortunately.)

 

[gary-dw]

excuse my first ever post and my newby status but he doesnt want a clio so why keep on about it. im currently building my a3 to do occassional track days and its down to how far you want to go to what it cost. i go to plenty of track days/shows and people go on with completly standard cars. so its all down to personal enjoyment and pleasure opossed to competing to keep up with others at higher levels and driving capability. thats how accidents happen!

 

[16Klappe]

excuse my first ever post and my newby status but he doesnt want a clio so why keep on about it. im currently building my a3 to do occassional track days and its down to how far you want to go to what it cost. i go to plenty of track days/shows and people go on with completly standard cars. so its all down to personal enjoyment and pleasure opossed to competing to keep up with others at higher levels and driving capability. thats how accidents happen!

Awesome first post, shame you didn't bother to read mine though.

It doesn't have to be the Clio, I'm just using it as something which I have first hand experience of and can confidently comment about. There's far more cars out there which would fit the bill.

Just seems stupid to me, it's spending money for the sake of money and it can but done a lot better at much less cost with a decent residual value too. If you're just doing it "for fun" then why do you need to sacrifice a £3000 S3? Just buy yourself something cheap that you can learn to drive in first.

 

[gary-dw]

his first post says his s3 has been sat around since febuary so he obviously doesnt need or use the car so may not owe him alot. so the car in the guys eyes makes perfectsence to use as it would cost him a further ££££ to try find another car plus all the hassle that goes with buying and selling.

 

[16Klappe]

his first post says his s3 has been sat around since febuary so he obviously doesnt need or use the car so may not owe him alot. so the car in the guys eyes makes perfectsence to use as it would cost him a further ££££ to try find another car plus all the hassle that goes with buying and selling.

I'd sell the S3 and buy something much better as a track toy, if that's what I wanted.

Historically speaking, S3's DO NOT make good track cars.

When Audi themselves want to make a Haldex powered base car go fast the first thing they do is make a 2WD. Not because Haldex is ****, or any of that ******** but simply because of the weight of it. It isn't necessarily all about the power to weight ratio but it is the way it effects the weight transfer and stability in corner, the way it effects the vehicle under braking and obviously acceleration. That then means more tire wear, more brake wear, more suspension wear and more engine wear because you need more power to lug the thing about.

I'm not trying to tell the OP what to do, just trying to show to him that he may later regret his decision if he seriously gets into it.

 

[s3 Hoggy]

I think one of the reasons why we haven't seen many (if any) track cars on here is because every time somebody even dares mention taking an S3 on a track they get shot down and told they're making a mistake.
Maybe they aren't a perfect car to turn in to a track toy but seeing the way cars like Westy's and Tams go round a track in full fat form makes me very confident that a well sorted S3 stripped out will go very well round a track too.

 

[Prawn]

Historically speaking, S3's DO NOT make good track cars.

It's not really been done, so how do you know?

I'm sure if I had started out with an S3, and otherwise built mine the same, it'd be pretty awesome, and I'd probably be out enjoying it now rather than browsing audi-sport because it's too damp to get any traction and I'm too scared to drive my car in this weather....

This post is not about renault, or any other alternative. It's a bloke, that's decided he's going to track his S3, so please quit with the renault bumming mate, it's tiring.

 

[16Klappe]

I think one of the reasons why we haven't seen many (if any) track cars on here is because every time somebody even dares mention taking an S3 on a track they get shot down and told they're making a mistake.
Maybe they aren't a perfect car to turn in to a track toy but seeing the way cars like Westy's and Tams go round a track in full fat form makes me very confident that a well sorted S3 stripped out will go very well round a track too.

Oh yeah, I'm 100% with you.

But it's just the cost to performance implications of it, for what Westy has spent on his S3 you could buy this -

TRACK CAR BMW M3 3.2 M3 REDUCED TO SELL | eBay

Or this -

BMW M3 Race/Rally Car 320+BHP Championship Winning Car 100% Finishing Record. | eBay

Or this -

2006 Mazda MX-5 2.0 Sport Race Car (Ma5da Racing) | eBay

Or this -

Used Honda S2000 track prepared car for sale - PistonHeads (Ref 733968)

Where as for what you could sell a standard S3 for and fund a track car, you could buy this -

Used Fully Prepared MSA Compliant Mazda MX-5 Mk1 Rac... for sale - PistonHeads (Ref 731420)

Which would be amazing on track.

There are just so many options, and it is so competitive that I don't know why you'd start with an S3 even if one was sat in your lap

The OP hasn't come back with a reply though, so I guess I don't know. He might just want to make an S3 track car, which is ****ing awesome and I wish him the best of luck in the hope that we see more S3's on tracks.

 

[16Klappe]

This post is not about renault, or any other alternative. It's a bloke, that's decided he's going to track his S3, so please quit with the renault bumming mate, it's tiring.

It doesn't matter what car it is, Renault, Mazda, Ford or BMW. I'm just saying it's like running a race in flippers...

 

[Prawn]

this is the thing though J, we all know what makes a good track car.

You want FWD, buy a clio.

you want RWD, buy an M3.

Done, simples. and no imaginations were used in the making of these decisions.

People get attached to cars, and want to try different things sometimes.

I could have sold up and sunk some money into an m3 and it'd be epic I'm sure, but where's the fun in that?

 

[burns3]

Sorry, I forget S3's never have issues with Haldex or clutches or driveshafts or CV joints...How foolish of me.

Meh, no point in arguing over personal opinion. I just think it would be better and more competetive to keep a nice S3 as a nice S3 and spend the money you would spend turning your S3 into a track car into getting a track car.

You could buy something like this - 2003 RENAULT CLIO RENAULTSPORT 172 CUP BLUE LONG MOT & TAX TRACK CAR | eBay

Which is proven to be a perfect track car and will be much faster than an S3 on UK tracks, and still have your nice S3 and a track car which you can sell on for a grand when you're done with it.

Instead you could throw your money down the drain making your S3 unsaleable at the end of it and not that great as a track car without spending stupid money on it.

For the amount of money that it would take to make an S3 a truly "great" track car as something like a Clio is you could buy something infinitely better.

It doesn't have to be the Clio, I'm just using it as something which I have first hand experience of and can confidently comment about. There's far more cars out there which would fit the bill.

Only my opinion though...

You could always buy this - Audi A3 1.8T sport, Stage 2 230bhp+, S3, TT, VR6,G60 parts, track car/daily toy | eBay

It's my old car, and it's as good as if not better than than any S3 "track car" that's been built on here to date. (Westys S3 could potentially have shown it up on a slippy day, but we'll never unfortunately.)

All cars will have problems if not looked after properly though but from my experience I have two s3s and had a fwd a3 1.8t before hand and haven't had any problems with any of the drivetrain on them yet..touch wood hope I/you hasn't jinxed me! All I was saying is that if it was getting abused on a track i would have thought a clio is even more likely to brake in my eyes if they do during road use. Plus no point the lad buying another car as a track car if he has a s3 sitting around not getting used and a a3 tdi there as he must like Audi.
Everyone is entitled to there opinion and if it's for a trackcar thats not an s3 i recommend a jdm integra type r, brilliant cars for handling, fuel, performance and reliability plus not everyone has one but still a bit pricey compared to a Clio and a lot older. For bang for buck (no pun intended) Clio sports are pretty good for a newish car i cant deny that but if he's only gonna strip his s3 out and a few tweaks it's gotta be better than starting with another car he may know nothing about. All he can do is make a heavy s3 lighter so gotta be an improvement over stock. It's never gonna turn like a light fwd car but it will have more power and traction coming out the corners to overtake them, well some of them anyway. Either way it would be great to see some getting used for track use.

 

[16Klappe]

this is the thing though J, we all know what makes a good track car.

You want FWD, buy a clio.

you want RWD, buy an M3.

Done, simples. and no imaginations were used in the making of these decisions.

People get attached to cars, and want to try different things sometimes.

I could have sold up and sunk some money into an m3 and it'd be epic I'm sure, but where's the fun in that?

I think it's more fitting that you (and others) have decided this guy "is" building an S3 track car, when in fact what he has said is -

I'm thinking of tracking my s3 as there not worth that much nowadays and has been stood since febuary so I'm tying to think of the bits I can't take off and sell, leaving me a lighter track s3. also how much do full leather interiors go for these days?

What's more sensible, telling this bloke to throw all his money into an S3 which may or may not be any good or telling him to sell the car which is clearly worth a fair amount due to his spec and buying a ready to race out the box car with the funds?

I am with the guy below though, as I said I'd love to see some S3's done PROPERLY and being used as track slags.

 

[Westy]

Jardo why must you turn every thread into a ****** argument? Everything seems to be about you and what you think is best. It's getting extremely boring now reading any threads on ASN that you've commented on.

Also in regards to your above post please remember that my car is also used on the road with no loss of comfort like you'd get from some of the stripped out cars you mentioned. Also, I'd like to point out that it doesn't matter what car you have, you need to be able to drive it! I have been able to get round tracks quicker then of those cars you've listed above. I'm not saying that I'm a superior driver but I'm just saying that any car can be awesome if it's used properly.

Anyway this thread is about a guy with an S3 who wants to do a few casual track days. He doesn't want an S2000 or an MX5 so stop mentioning that crap!

 

[gary-dw]

There is an obvious difference in opinion here so i gues let the guy do what he wants and let us see what he does or plans. Personally i love the thought of it and prawns car for 1 is epic. Ever heard built not bought. Its about the experience on the way and see what you can learn rather than get a car already prepped and not knowing the groundwork.

 

[Prawn]

I think it's more fitting that you (and others) have decided this guy "is" building an S3 track car


I am with the guy below though, as I said I'd love to see some S3's done PROPERLY and being used as track slags.

I'm not telling him anything, You've made your point, so ****ing drop it! He'll make his own mind up.

We all want to see if an S3 track car is going to be any good, so lets all stop moaning and let someone build one?

 

[Essflee]

Performance tuner Feb 08 rated the S3 as a very capable car around the nurburg ring with the correct mods.

8 minutes 20 from a novice driver is a good time

 

[Prawn]

8 minutes 20 from a novice driver is a good time

haha, a ''novice'' I'm sure!

No 'novice' driver is taking a stock S3 around the green hell in 8:20, that's for sure!

Must be BTG time too, wouldn't be full lap.

 

[burns3]

I'd want heated seats in my track car in this weather anyway if i had one so waste of time all this really

 

[Westy]

We all need to remember that doing track days isn't all about setting records and being faster then everyone else. It's about having fun. I could take a 1 litre micra round the nurburgring and come off buzzing from adrenalin.

If anyone sane wanted to compete professionally then they wouldn't be building a track car out of an Audi

 

[Essflee]

Performance tuner Feb 08 rated the S3 as a very capable car around the nurburg ring with the correct mods.

8 minutes 20 from a novice driver is a good time

That was with a modest 300bhp and 280lb ft torque
ds2500 movit discs and Kw club sport suspension

pretty much where this guys S3 is.

Nobody has told him to throw money at it, strip the weight and off you go !

 

[Essflee]

haha, a ''novice'' I'm sure!

No 'novice' driver is taking a stock S3 around the green hell in 8:20, that's for sure!

Must be BTG time too, wouldn't be full lap.

when did a say stock ?

i said the right mods, ie what I've just posted

 

[16Klappe]

Jardo why must you turn every thread into a ****** argument? Everything seems to be about you and what you think is best. It's getting extremely boring now reading any threads on ASN that you've commented on.

Anyway this thread is about a guy with an S3 who wants to do a few casual track days. He doesn't want an S2000 or an MX5 so stop mentioning that crap!

Because I make a well reasoned point, and one person replies to it. So I reply to that person and it's all sorted. Then somebody else pipes up, so I reply to them. Then the original person replies again and blah blah blah it's just a never ending cycle of me repeating a well made point.

This is the first thread I've actually had any interest in for ages, I'm already regretting my decision to even open the topic.

I also want the OP to build an awesome track car, but I don't think it is fair for us all to let him go into it blindly thinking it's going to be awesome because his S3 is a great road car.

I am more than aware that this is "Audi-Sport" not "Sell-Your-Audi-Sport" but I just wanted to show the other side of a very one sided coin.

As you say, track days are all about fun and learning about your car. So it doesn't matter what you're in as long as you enjoy it.

 

[burns3]

Everyone's agreed stripping is better though right?

 

[Essflee]

Sorry prawn, it wasn't the nurburg but the Nordschleife track, it was in the 8.20's

a good time regardless, point being I don't like seeing people running there mouth off about the S3 "constantly"

 

[Westy]

I'm thinking of tracking my s3 as there not worth that much nowadays and has been stood since febuary so I'm tying to think of the bits I can't take off and sell, leaving me a lighter track s3. also how much do full leather interiors go for these days?

I think this whole thread just went a bit mental with people jumping to conclusions. I dont see anything in the original post about building an awesome track car, I read about someone wanting to track his car so it got used more and also asking how much his interior is worth.

Next thing we know people are telling him not to bother spending any money on the car and to start looking for another car etc. infact why buy an S3 in the first place as we all know that it's no good at anything

 

[Prawn]

Sorry prawn, it wasn't the nurburg but the Nordschleife track, it was in the 8.20's

a good time regardless, point being I don't like seeing people running there mouth off about the S3 "constantly"

Nah that's cool mate, and makes MUCH more sense now, 300bhp, Clubsport suspension, BTG in 08:20 is well within reach.

I assumed that being a mag feature they'd be testing stock cars! Modified as you say, 08:20 btg is more than within reach.

 

[16Klappe]

a good time regardless, point being I don't like seeing people running there mouth off about the S3 "constantly"

I presume you're referring to me?

People have jumped to conclusions on both sides of the story, and I'm simply putting across an alternative suggestion that might not have otherwise been considered.

Prawn is awesome.

 

[burns3]

Atleast when the lad gets back on he'll have a nice two sided debate for him to read

 

[Essflee]

I presume you're referring to me?

People have jumped to conclusions on both sides of the story, and I'm simply putting across an alternative suggestion that might not have otherwise been considered.

Prawn is awesome.

You did spring to mind yes,

I've often thought about perhaps getting a track car and having some fun, the car I was looking at and would probably buy would be a clio 172/182 because as you say they handle brilliant, go well and are cheap to buy.

My S3 would be kept for every day.

The S3 seems to get a lot of stick which I think is unduly.

With the right mods the S3 can be a very capable "not best" track car !

 

[Prawn]

I'd absolutely love to see an S3 done well, I think it could be quite cool.

 

[16Klappe]

You did spring to mind yes,

I've often thought about perhaps getting a track car and having some fun, the car I was looking at and would probably buy would be a clio 172/182 because as you say they handle brilliant, go well and are cheap to buy.

My S3 would be kept for every day.

The S3 seems to get a lot of stick which I think is unduly.

With the right mods the S3 can be a very capable "not best" track car !

As Prawn says really, I'm totally with him in that I would love to see a proper spec, regular UK track S3. And I think it could be great.

I used to be a giver of said stick, but I've grown up a bit now and don't bother with the S3 baiting. It just isn't worth the hassle.

 

[Jason.s]

One day someone's going to get so fed up with the S3 bashing and hammer a credit card just to get it track ready and proove the haters wrong lol.

 

[Jason.s]

I used to be a giver of said stick, but I've grown up a bit now and don't bother with the S3 baiting. It just isn't worth the hassle.

fcn massive LOL. I'm sure 99.9% of people will disagree with that immediately. You're the no1 stick giver

 

[16Klappe]

fcn massive LOL. I'm sure 99.9% of people will disagree with that immediately. You're the no1 stick giver

I'm more of a receiver if you ask Dave.

 

[Prawn]

One day someone's going to get so fed up with the S3 bashing and hammer a credit card just to get it track ready and proove the haters wrong lol.

Been there, done that with an A3, still paying off the Bills now

We started out with a TOTAL budget of £1500 to make my road going A3 a track car.

Ohps.

 

[gary-dw]

Atleast when the lad gets back on he'll have a nice two sided debate for him to read