best track day car ?

[woodyracing]

what do you think is the best road legal track day car ??

[moffman]

XR GT of course!

[GTV27]

Depends on the sort of budget you have to buy and maintain.

I'd recommend something that is eligible for historic events - because there is more and more hillclimbs and sprints being organised for historic cars (ie roughly speaking, pre 1980).

Moff - an XR Falcon GT would be good fun - and cheaper than the plethora of Mustangs getting around (same applies to XT to XY).

XU1 Torana's are very popular as they are a bit cheaper to run (but still a ball to drive).

I'd expect that A9X Torana's and VB Commodore V8's to become more popular as the historic age bracket is creeping towards them.

The V8's will need a healthy tyre budget.

Escorts and Cortina's are very popular as they are cheap, tunable and handle conventionally.

And of course, its hard to go past an Alfa GTV (no bias or course )

If you don't like historics (why not? what's wrong with you?) there's lots of choice going moderns.

Silvias/180SX/200SX's offer good handling, power, brakes with plenty of upgrade potential.

There's the ubiquitous WRX of course (fast but RWD could be more fun).

Type R Civics or Integras could be good if you like FWD.

Lots of modern EFI V8's could be fun - but the weight will kill brakes and tyres even faster ($$$$).

If money's not a problem, you could buy a real nice 911 and have a lot of fun learning to drive the thing.

I wouldn't mind an early Ferarri 308 (the fibreglass ones), to make a replica tarmac rally car (but that's me getting historic again).

In summary - find the lightest, most powerful, good handling package that you like, and expect to have to throw some money at it to make it track ready (from a safety, reliability and performance perspective). And don't forget to spend some time (& $$$) improving your own skills.

[moffman]

What's wrong with getting historic? As we both know the cars looked & sounded much better than todays ****boxes

[GTV27]

Hey Moffy, you're preaching to the converted here.

[gfm]

Any Porsche RS/Clubsport model or the 968 Clubsport with the optional sport pack.

[woodyracing]

i wasn't referring to myself about which car, just in general so cost is not an issue here

Ive heard that the road going Radical makes a very good track day car too.

[GTV27]

Ohh I forget the clubman/lotus 7/westfield/caterham et al - they make great track cars, albiet with stuff all in the way of crash protection - but, such is life in the fast lane.

[gfm]

What are we thinking about - no question, best road legal track day car is the McLaren F1 GTR.

[RobC]

And of course the humble Elise

[GTV27]

I you can tow a car to the track, go for a proper racing car - sports or open wheeler - sooo much better to be using something designed to be driven hard - better than trying to make a road car do things it wasn't designed for.

I've recently started sprinting in a Sports 1300 Clubman - like lotus seven but for racing only (450kg 130bhp) - its great to be driving a proper racing car and competing for outright results rather than just in class. Overall it could turn out to be cheaper than buying and modifying a road car.

[Highlander]

Caterham R500 or the newer R300, their light weight, powerful and revy with track bias tyres. The R500 holds the world record for 0-100-0 for a road car how's 11.2sec's for the tracks in England thats fast enough. Mind you I bet there quite quick round Bathhirst!

[Hobson]

Don't forget that car that thinks its a....a....I don't know what it thinks!

Its the Ariel Atom.

Also, the Westfield Megabusa is a great car too.

[Highlander]

I've been round the ring three times. First time was in a Tranit van second time on my 748sps and third time in a Skyline R33 GTR 500R. the most fun was in the van...go figure

[binky]

Ultimate track day car? McLaren M8F with a big block Chevy.
Real World? Caterham/Sylva

[Patrick]

In my opinion with the amount of tuning that can be carried out on them and looking at their great looks and handling as standard the Lotus Elsie is the best track day car.

[Heebeegeetee]

The trouble with spending the kind of dough needed to buy some of the cars mentioned so far - if you've got that much money, for heavens sake, stop pretending to be a racing driver and become a proper one!

[Chui]

How about the Mazda MX-5 Miata, Elise, Honda ITR or CTR, Ford Racing Puma, Focus ST170 and RS and any of the lightweight 911s [or the 968 Club Sport].

[abcd]

I think the best track day cars are the caterham rs500 and any version of those would do me nicely if money no object then TVR speed 12 just for a laugh

[AndreasNystrom]

actually, the perfect trackday car is a low-wheight small car, with good brakes, and preferable directsteered too, and a good gearbox.

Then you will have lots of fun!.

If you dont have much money, go for a Honda CRX 1.6, you should be able to find them for around $1500+, and it will outperform many 200hp+ cars on the track with ease!.

Think about lowwheight means you can brake later, the brakes doesnt fade fast, you can have higher speeds in the corner and acceleate earlier out of the turn cause of the low wheight.

If you can afford it, get a lotus exige or elise. low wheight, good brakes, and a decent pricetag!.

I dont know how many 250hp cars i saw last time, having problems with their brakes after only a few laps hehe
if you gonna stop 1500kg, you need brakes.. while a 900kg car doesnt need as much.

[garcon]

Every year, evo magazine run a trackday car of the year comp. 15 or so cars split into groups. This year they had these among others:

Budget: Renault Sport Clio, Caterham Academy.
Road tools: Impreza STi PPP, Porsche 911 Turbo.
Kit/open: Ariel Atom, Caterham R300, Elise, Elise with a Honda V-TEC engine.
Road going track cars: Westfield XTR thing, Radical SR3.
Specialist: Palmer Jag JP1, Radical SR3 Supersports.

Round Bedford Aerodrome, the difference in lap times was amazing. The STi was FIFTEEN seconds slower than the JP1. This year's winner was the "standard" Radical SR3. Slower than the 'specialist' cars, but great fun and more than quick enough for any amateur.

As always, the road cars didn't hold up too well and the Caterhams and Elises were plenty of fun. General consensus was you'll only actually have real fun in the JP1 and Radical Supersport if you race for a living...

[LathamJohnP]

recipe for fun:

- work out what combination of compromises you want (generally good road cars make **** track cars, and vice-versa).
- work out your budget, including towing (if applicable) and running costs (tyres, fuel, pads etc)
- go shopping

The things I've learned so far with my Caterham Fireblade:

- It's great having a car that's light on tyres and brakes. I'm on my first set of ACB-10 tyres, pads, and discs, after 5 very hard track days and a few road trips.
- It's great having a car with a cheap engine. If mine goes pop I can replace it for under a grand.
- My car is sublime on track (beautiful handling and very quick) but a bit **** on the road, other than the novelty value. I imagine SR3/XTR2 are even crapper on road, so why bother putting them through SVA and paying all that insurance.

Most importantly, disregard everything you read in the mainstream motoring press. Magazines can afford to trash other peoples cars, and are in the business of pushing the latest product. For instance, the Lotus 340R was hyped beyond belief, but costs a grand to change the battery as all the bodywork has to be removed and refitted by the factory. I can have a new engine for that. Consequently, I rank it totally **** as a track day proposition, especially since it wouldn't see which way a half-decent Caterham went.

Talk to owners who have done a lot of track days, and find out issues and likely running costs.

John

[Redlake27]

Although I have an Elise 135 - bought with the intention of doing track days, I still think that a Westfield is the best track day car.

You can pick up a race prepped Westfield Challenge car (standard, reliable 1800 Zetec, or modified 1700 XFlow) for around £5000 - £7000 - and they have an RAC roll bar, lightweight, braced chassis, and Avon ACB10s - ideal track day material and still road usable

[Patrick B]

http://www.lawrencetechnologies.com/

[SALEEN S7R]

All the cars above mentioned are great - but personally I prefer my friends 1993 3.0ltr twin turbo supra. It can be a little heavy for some people...but when it hits a straight piece of road, or track theres not many cars that can keep pace with it for the money..