Best Track/Race base car

[Mini182]

I have seen lots of project threads of people building track or race cars, and I know that a clio sport is a good track car out of the box.

I am thinking of going racing next year so which model of clio does everyone think is the best base to start from if you were going to be building a track/race car?

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

172 cup would be the best, or any 1*2 for that matter.

DON'T get a 197 or 200.....cost a lot more, and a far too big/heavy.

 

[.Ben.]

Series 1 Elise?
172 Cup?
DC5 Integra/ EP3 Civic Type R?

 

[Chip-mk1]

Clio out of the box is a fantastic low budget trackday car.

They make TERRIBLE race cars though IMHO as there are too many things which are expensive to upgrade, mainly that the engines dont want to rev far (ie past 8k) the boxes are fragile and diffs are expensive, and the ratios arent great either.

For a trackday toy, I woudl choose a 172 over just about anything else in the price range, but for going racing I wouldnt go near one personally.

 

[Advikaz]

Clio speaking. 172 cup no doubt for me.

 

[Chip-mk1]

Clio speaking. 172 cup no doubt for me.

Yeah all the extras that the non cup has like aircon and leather will be going in the bin anyway, and the cup has some minor suspension upgrades that are worth having, bottom arms most notably.

 

[Wick]

Have a read through the racecar threads on here and assess the cost. As Chip says, great for trackdays but I dread to think how much someone like Tony and Jay @burpspeed's set up actually costs lol!

Could be done much cheaper in a 1600 series, Citroen/Pug would be the cheaper option. Alternatively something like an E36 328i always strikes me as a budget base car.

 

[Tony Hunter]

Buy something already done, much cheaper, and not a Clio.

 

[Chip-mk1]

Yes, thats a very good point about buying one already done, building a race car from scratch is a VERY expensive indulgence when you look at how little what you end up with could be bought already done for.

 

[Mini182]

That's probably good advise.

I definitely want to go racing next year and reliability is a big factor.

I have a Primera GT Saloon which I have always wanted to do something with and the SR20 engines in those have a fairly short stroke and are fairly bomb proof.

Maybe keep the clio for track days and convert the primera into a race car then.

Clio out of the box is a fantastic low budget trackday car.

They make TERRIBLE race cars though IMHO as there are too many things which are expensive to upgrade, mainly that the engines dont want to rev far (ie past 8k) the boxes are fragile and diffs are expensive, and the ratios arent great either.

For a trackday toy, I woudl choose a 172 over just about anything else in the price range, but for going racing I wouldnt go near one personally.

 

[Revels]

Have a search mate.

This has been covered dozens of times.