Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

Got to thinking the other day - I wonder if you would do a purpose built , road registered , track day car for like under $8,000 total - ready to race.

Must be quick enough to have fun in - must handle well and brake well. Also must be fairly economical on consumables and repairs (if required)

So I put my thinking cap on and came up with this.

Suzuki swift GTI - you can get them for about $4,000 - $5,000

Rip out everything you don't need - make it as light as possible.

Upgrade shocks and springs - get allignment, camber and castor done especially for track work - say $1500

Chuck away standard rims and tyres - Run lightweight wheels and semi slicks - $1500

Upgrade (with bigger) front discs and callipers $1000.

I reckon that might be a goer. Cheap , fun track car.

Any other opinions for a good, cheap, fun track car ?

Cheers,

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/129989-cheapest-most-fun-track-day-car/
Share on other sites

  • Replies 79
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

pulsar for $2k.. CA18det sho'ed in for another $3k or so..

couple of $k on suspension. Would go pretty well (pushing 200kw) and weigh around 1000kg

I think in the 1.3L you'd be lacking in torque on the GTI, and they are quite overpriced for an old car.

Any old commo you could probably buy for $1-2k and spend another $5k on racing mods, and might be ok.

MK 1 Escort. You can buy a log booked, 2L caged car for the money you are looking to spend. At abour 800kgs and aboiut 160hp from a well sorted 2L Pinto they are respectable performers. You can always throw a CA18DET in there, but they just throw more weight in the things

does it have to be road registered? cant u have an econobox for daily duties? this owuld open up your options enourmously for a track car. althoough you then need to budget for towing etc.

non registered track cars:

HQ/VN/VP/EA race cars arent all taht dear i dont think

race only RX7/skyline/WRX

F3000/open wheeler thingos

and then there always bikes if u just wanna go fast real cheap, but there is the downside of being like 30 times more likely of being killed on the roads....

cortina with 250 crossflow 4.1L $1-2 grand they weigh about 1.1 tonne

turbo $3 grand

and some decent tyres. great car to drive and do some doeys in

With $8k

Mini Clubman+Mods

S1/2/3 RX7 (I doubt youd get a track worthy FC for below $8k)

Ford Escort+Mods

Gemini+Mods

Mazda 808 with a rotary conversion (RX3 setup)

Toyota Corrolla, the square early 80's one. Conversion and mods

Doubt you'd get a track worthy CA18DET S13....

Commodore might be a good thing.

R31 - ha ha ha -

I wouldn't want to trailer a car - too much hassle then there is what do I trailer it with ?

Escort might be good - RWD if def a better option.

Would want to keep the car nice and light - so no Hq, Commodore etc

I've seen some of those Honda's you are talking about Bob - They are quick circuit cars.

The Swifts did OK at Bathurst - for their category. Make them light enough and the 1.3 wouldn't matter , I'd guess.

Just did a search on Carsales.com - no Escorts there. You'd prolly need to be in the know to get a race prepped one hey.

Saw a first gen GTI for $2000 (had a 2nd gen motor in it) - Spend $2000 on the car then $4000 in mods - got to be a good circuit car for $6K......

Keep pthe suggestions coming ! It's interesting !

Mini - ?? Hmm - think a swift would kick it.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • An update regarding the registration with the DVLA I sent off the paperwork the day after I collected the car from the port, two weeks later it was all returned with a letter explaining they have rejected the application. This was because the cheque was £20 short for the road tax (I used a price list I found online). Nevermind it is what it is, it was sent back to them the following day with a new cheque. Fast forward another 2 weeks or so, I called them for an update to be told it had been rejected. Yesterday (16th September) I received the documents back along with another letter, this time it was because I didn't put an X in one box on the V750 (personalised number plate certificate), which declared that I had the rights to the personalised number plate. Why this wasn't mentioned in the first rejection letter, I don't know, but it could have saved this headache. The documents were sent back today, so fingers crossed third times a charm and it'll FINALLY be registered on the road just in time for the bad weather (woohoo!) To cheer myself up I lowered the front 25mm, was sick of seeing it sit like a monster truck. No idea how much clearance I'll have getting on and off the driveway, I'll worry about that when I can actually drive it
    • You're going to miss not worrying about rust in the strut towers like the Skyline shitboxes out there
    • A few little updates that weren't filmed due to not taking long to do or not interesting enough for their own video. My new K&N Air Filter arrived, I went with an RU-4180 which matched the dimensions of the universal cone filter the car originally had.  The battery had gone flat, while that was charging I tidied up the spaghetti wiring at the bulk head and down the sides of the engine Next job was to swap the stereo The Kenwood harness had the female ISO plugs cut off and the male ISO plugs cut off the adaptor loom and joined with bullet connectors. I ordered in a repair loom through work and re-did it all. New Kenwood unit installed (Android Auto, DAB, Bluetooth, Reverse Camera) The bonnet/hood gas struts have been poor since collecting the car. I couldn't find any suitable replacements locally so took a chance on a pair from AliExpress.  The originals don't use a retaining clip to secure the cup onto the ball fixture, would explain why I struggled for 10-15mins trying to pry off the cups. The ball fixtures unscrew using a 12mm spanner, new ones are the same size. Sadly no photo of them fitted, you're not missing much lol The dished Momo steering wheel got replaced with my Momo Tuner, turns out I ordered counter sunk bolts for the horn trim ring (like they normally are for the steering wheel) instead of allen cap (flat seat)  A terrible photo of a Quaife style gear shift knob I've had stashed in my tool box for many years after purchasing the incorrect thread size (I can see a pattern emerging with ordering incorrect parts...) Also threw in a cup holder and a (empty) Boss Coffee can, because why not  
    • GT-R clearly the better choice! The 300 is certainly not insaly fast but has a decent amount of poke. Does a nice little drift around the corners with a decent amount of throttle. It's VERY predictable in a slide too.  Feels so progressive! People probably presume there's a 25 year old driving it based on my behaviour this week! 🤣
    • Yeah Jap import. Fairlady Z then! I'm a bit the same.  They've been on my radar for a fair while but then just impulsively decided to buy one!  Was going to just buy an NA and add turbos to it later but decided to save the f'ing around and just buy the turbo version. 
×
×
  • Create New...