Hoping to buy a track day car - what to look out for and ideal spec?

[JustCallMeMac]

Hi,

Have just joined the forum as I'll be looking to buy a track-day ready Clio 172/182 over the winter. Not interested in a project as been there with Evo's, Subaru's and a Westfield so looking for something pretty much 'ready to go,' baring a few possible tweaks.

Was wondering if a guide / checklist is available covering off what to look out for when buying and the ideal spec for a track-focused car, in terms of essentials and non-essentials.

Cheers in advance,

Steve

 

[car.crash]

A proper track ready car or one Kevin's took the seats out of and put the battery in the boot?

 

[Daniel]

A recently fitted Cambelt dephaser and water pump, Decent suspension, recently refreshed bushes and mounts, decent tyres, and some half about brakes with quality fluid.

Get those basics right and improve as you go.

 

[charltjr]

^^^ that

 

[MarkX]

1. Dephaser/belts done within the last two years
2. Quality 6 point cage, not eBay special
3. 15" wheels for cheaper tyres
4. Decent seats with Fia 4 point minimum harnesses......in or out of date
5. Brake cooling
6. Decent all round condition
7. Decent coilovers would be nice
.........but the list could go on and on and on and on lol

You'll end up changing bits anyway, buy a decent car with recent dephaser/belts, get it on track and change what you find are it's weak points, you'll not find much, they're great out of the box and surprise what should be much faster cars!

 

[massiveCoRbyn]

Depends what you're looking for really, and how much you want to spend.

My Cup is essentially standard apart from some springs and it is still a lot of fun, and I can still use it as a cheap daily. It was £1300 so does all you can expect from it really. Of course, if you want a dedicated track car, you're going to need to spend a lot more money.

As others have said, the important things are to make sure the belts have been done, and try and find one where it's had some of the common wear-and-tear stuff replaced. They don't need a lot to be huge fun on track, so I wouldn't get too caught-up in looking for something crazy.

 

[Dan]

It all depends on how far you want "track" to go in terms of parts.

The better of the track Clios will be close to about 10k and be an ex cup racer with refreshed setup and maybe some throttle bodies on the engine to aid to the cause.

Or a £1000 high mile ph1 172 or 172 cup that is just enjoyable.

Also multiple states in the middle but it all depends what you use it for as the most expensive will be competition spec and a waste of parts if it isn't used to its full potential.