Newbie - considering a 172/182 to take to track days - advice please

[hondafatboy]

Afternoon all.

Newbie from Crawley here.

Looking to buy a car to play with on track days.

My intended budget is £3K spend. For that I would be wanting a reasonable conditioned car (ideally not 100K+ mileage) and either have already, or have had fitted decent brakes, decent tyres and good condition suspension with no issues/major services required on the engine.
Fundamentally have as reliable as possible and prepped car to drive to, play and (hopefully) drive home from tracks with minimal worries or concerns about the car being a shed and falling apart of the first hard corner!

I have given consideration to a Megan 225 or similar, but I think I'd have more fun/cheaper running/mtc costs with a Clio.

Am I being unrealistic in these expectations?

Should I buy £1500 tired and tatty and get the work done, or be trusting and get a £2,500+ ready to run car and buy some fresh oil/rubber?

All advice welcome

HFB

 

[172_Tom]

Don't be too put off by mileage if it has been well maintained. The engines are pretty tough. Gearboxes syncros can wear, check gear changes at high revs into 3rd and 4th. Shocks are a common weak point so you should budget to replace them if not done recently. Cambelt/depasher/water pump/aux kit is around £600 at a specialist and a lot of them will need doing.

A 172 cup is probably the best base for a track car but if you find a good FF before you find a good cup then just go for it.

When looking at cars take the above into account and you shouldn't go far wrong.

 

[Budgie]

As above. Things to watch:

-Cambelt and dephaser isn't cheap, so best to buy one done in the last couple of years. by someone reputable.
-Mileage - as above, no issues with a leggier one. I have owned 172's/182's with some serious miles on, and as long as they're serviced properly i honestly believe they get better with miles.

Your choice re: buy built or not. I would always buy built - the £12 to join here is the best money you'll spend. So many people build cars on here at significant cost and lose when they sell.

 

[Cub.]

http://www.cliosport.net/threads/do...fference-when-looking-for-a-track-toy.771960/

http://www.cliosport.net/threads/lo...-doing-trackdays-buying-advice-please.771677/

Hi - please use one of your previous threads and bump it, as opposed to starting another one. If it helps PM me and i'll move one of them into Clio discussion.