Motors Help! Track car advice 10k budget (Purchase done!)

I'm with burnout on the s2000. N/a all the way. Bomb proof, revs to the moon and back and a animal to drive which will require some skill to get the best out of it. There not called Honda motor company for nothing.

 

Heres something a little over budget and guaranteed that you will never need laxatives again.
My nostalgia may be blinding me a little However Ford Racing Puma's are becoming a bit of a rarity.

Also this is probably the theme tune for this car.

 

490BHP without a 4x4 conversion? Niet.

 

Thanks for the input all, so much in this price range took much to choose from. Time to get out and visit some of these cars and get a drive in.

Watch this space.

 

Guy on RSOC had a 520BHP Focus RS... Mental bit of kit.

I'm in a similar boat - I'm prepping a Focus RS for track use, and everyone has said the following to me;

Tuition, brakes, handling, rubber, uprated gaskets etc where applicable.

I've not read all the thread, yes I am that lazy, but the more looking I do the more I'm agreeing with their first ports of call.

 

My opinion (and please don't be offended lirath), is that a track car should be made from something that isn't really that rare or special.

To make it truly suitable for a dedicated track machine you have to take it well beyond what makes a road car special, and dig into the custom/high-end parts bin. The engine, brakes, suspension etc all have to get tweaked, the shell ideally needs a cage for extra rigidity and safety, the interior tends to go for lightness etc. In the end it can often be better (imo) to start with a bare shell, then build it up to the spec you need/want from the start.

My list would be: cage (+buckets, helmet and HANS), tuition, brakes, suspension, rubber, engine.

 

I always tend to do a shakedown test before upgrades to see where the car falls down. Power is always last on the agenda, pads are always first before ive even got near the track. Best pads ive tried with zero fade are my current omp 971, but they squeal like a pig when just crawling.

 

Not offended - I'm going about it with as much removable stuff as possible, I'm not going to the extremes some people go to with their RS's.

Mine, however, is a bit of an oddball anyway. Its original engine had some fault or other that melted cylinder three's wall, basically wrecking the engine. I suspect whoever owned it tracked it without any precautions, as I've personally removed make-shift brake ducting from the front fogs. Anyway, it now has 70k miles on it, another cars engine (Build 1701's, to be exact), and really it was never going to be a museum quality car thanks to that - So I don't feel as bad. If it was a low mileage minter, then you better believe I'd buy an RS engine and a standard 2.0 focus to mash the two together. Tbh, if I end up getting really into track days, then I probably will do that and return the RS to standard.

Planned changes are 6pot fronts, 4pot rears, air to air FMIC, a better flowing manifold, standard turbo, 3" exhaust all the way through, sports cat, and a half cage (There are a couple that bolt in rather than weld like the full cages), polybushing, some firmer suspension (Koni, actually), but keeping the looks as standard as possible while fitting with my somewhat eclectic taste. Obviously real bucket seats, not just the "look like buckets" it comes with out of the factory, and harnesses.

I want it road legal, though, because I can't say no to a spirited drive sometimes, and the Mondy just isn't up to the same standard

 

I'd go use an BMW e30 as a base model and put in an M50B25 or M52B28 engine from the e36ers and others. But then, I'm in love with e30s so I would say that.

You'll be under 10k providing you can get one with 325 parts and not too much rust. Otherwise, e36.

If I was racing, I'd want big NA sound, not turbo whistles.... just not as cool. Gotta take the whole damn experience in. Big revving sexy NA 6 pot sound.

 

Why the 6pots and 4pots on the rear? Monster overkill. Pads braided hoses and some dot5 would be all you need

 

Got to agree n/a all the way. I love my 5cyl

 

it is the sound isn't it? Turbo cars as fast as they are, just wouldn't deliver the racing experience for me.

WhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!A!A!A!A!A!A!A!A!A!A!A!A!A!A!A!A!A!A!A!A!A!A!A!A!A!A!

 

What about something like a Beat?

But yeah, why bother to get the unusual thing when you're going to strip it down and rebuild everything anyway? Besides, IMO taking something slow and making it fast would be more fun than taking something fast and making it faster.

On that note, Honda Civic? NASP at its finest.

 

The standard brakes are 4pos on the front that suffer massive fade under track use, four pots on the rear is about three hundred, and should keep the brake bias better than six pot fronts and the disc/caliper setup of any focus with rear discs - the rs has the same rear discs as even a 1.6..

People with four pots almost always go for the ap kit on the front with braided and dot 5 - a lot even go two piece disc. Four pot rears would be an uncommon mod, but for three hundred, it makes sense to me to keep the bias balanced.

More over - even on the st170, the outer legs of the calipers can warp away from the disc, causing some really ****ed wear patterns.

I would love a nice v8, but the v8's I want arent readily available here.

 

My mate got a mevabusa, did an entire season didn't need to change tyres breaks or anything.

One set of toyo 888 are still on there and ready to go again.

It's a fast little track car and it keeps pace well with my 630bhp s14, on tracks with longer straights it struggles to keep up with the big power cars but on smaller tracks like Lydden hill it's rapid.

I know a high spec one with LSD etc comes in at around 15k new but they hold their value incredibly well and you'll save a ton on tyres and brakes etc, it depends how much you track really.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2

 

Might be worth trying different pads on the front as the standard 4pots should be plenty. Not cheap pads like the ebc stuff. Plus there is a way to bed them in from new which requires 3 full stops from 60 to rearly burn them into the disk then a nice drive to let them cool down.

Single pots all round here and 25 laps non stop round Rockingham with zero fade on standard disks, hoses, dot5 and omp 971c pads.

 

Aye, fade has nothing to do with pot count. Decent rotor and pads make a huge difference over stock. The RS might be using the same rear brake setup as the 1.6, but that doesn't matter as its the same weight distribution. All the rears do is keep the back end following the front.

Under heavy braking, unless you've got a serious suspension upgrade with stiffer front springs, the nose dive will reduce the braking affect over the rear anyway.

Stock calliper, braided hoses, vented discs and decent pads.

 

why you never skimp on safety


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojO9IxCXxeM

 

I should clarify - its not that they're 'only' 4 pots, but the calipers are a pita to get decent pads into, and there aren't two part discs that fit. Admittedly, there are four pot ap calipers that fit two part discs, but they're not a great deal cheaper than six pots, so.. As for fours on the rear its partly a challenge and mostly because the two legs on the outside seem prone to warping like I say - had it on my st, and would rather not have it on the rs!

 

Omp 971c drop straight into them calipers no probs. I would urge you to try some before dropping big money on an unnecessary upgrade. Trust me if you bed them in as suggested you wont know what it you. Even on standard discs the braking is phenomenal. Unless your throwing 500+ ponies into the mix this would be more than enough. Trust me ive been doing this since i was 7 years old having been in motorsport nearly all my life with some of the big names in sport