Elder wrote:
In article ,
says...
MR2 is a much better bet - good enough to do track days out the box and
hugely entertaining. A mate of mine sold his recently, he used it on
autotests, and it came with uprated suspension, decent pads, spare
wheels/rubber etc etc and was up for £500 IIRC. Body was tatty, rear arches
were finished with a rattle can (although quite well), but it was totally
solid. Ideal for your needs!

Others to consider - 205/309/106/306 GTi, BX 16v, ZX Volcane, Xsara VTS,
Carlton 3.0, E30 325i, MX5, 200SX. Well, they're the ones I'd consider
anyway

My brothers other thought was a VW Diesel to lower running costs. I said
as long as it runs on veggie, he said "Why?". Dumb ass.

Hmm. Sounds like you and your brother have totally different ideas on
what you want.

Can't see you reaching an easy descision by mutual consent. Are you
sure this is a good idea?

--
Douglas

In article ,
says...

Hmm. Sounds like you and your brother have totally different ideas on
what you want.

Can't see you reaching an easy descision by mutual consent. Are you
sure this is a good idea?

Probably not.
But we are talking about family here. Nothing is ever easy or a good
idea.
--
Carl Robson
Get cashback on your purchases
Topcashback http://www.TopCashBack.co.uk/skraggy_uk/ref/index.htm
Greasypalm http://www.greasypalm.co.uk/r/?l=1006553

"JackH" wrote in message
...

That's the other thing; I managed to spin my KA as well. ;-)

I still fancy a 2l Ka as per Dan's suggestion .

At least I know they stand up to crashing well.

On Sun, 28 Jun 2009 07:00:33 +0100, Elder grumbled:

In article ,
says...
Change the seat in the £600 MX-5.

I am at least as tall as you. I wear £5 slip on Asda Moccasins to
drive in because even trainers are too high. I removed the footrest
next to the clutch for a bit of extra leeway.

My car has later MK2 heated seats which are higher than the ones in the
MK1 and the earlier MK2s.

I fit.

It's not perfect but changing the seat for one with a lower squab would
help.

I've driven my car with the drivers seat removed completely. It was
almost ideal - I would almost certainly fit in with the roof up and a
lid on.

When I got in, the roof was up, could operate the pedals OK, loads of
foot space even wearing my size 9 steelie boots. Leg and arm extension
was OK, without a lid, head room was OK, didn't think to take a lid for
a road test of a main car.

Problem was knees hitting the underside of the steering wheel or if I
moved them arround the side difficulty in getting higher gears and
rubbing against the side trim, annoying on the road, but bloody stupid
on a trackday car. Definatly wouldn't be able to get my hands round the
wheel quick enough for sharp turn ins without giving it the captain slow
shuffle, even with a smaller wheel.

THat's easy enough to sort out with a new wheel. On the MK1, the standard
wheel is quite large. I found it much roomier with a smaller steering
wheel. THe steering's quite quick as well so you don't have to turn it
that much..

MIke P

"JackH" writes:

"Timo Geusch" wrote in message
...
JackH wrote:


"Timo Geusch" wrote in message
... Elder
writes:

What would be good? For me, either something jap or something
silly.

Doesn't have to be too fast, nothing too exotic parts cost wise.
My thoughts were
Tatty Mk1 MR2 with ticket.

This one if you can find one that's not terminally rusty.

I seem to remember you finding them a tad too tame, for track work...

Yes, but at least you're not at stupid speed in order to drive it at
10/10.

They have a reputation around these parts for spitting people off the road,
do they not?

IIRC you're thinking Mk2s, not Mk1s. With a Mk2 you probably want a late
model one on account of the improved suspension geometry.

--
'88 Porsche 911 Targa '00 Golf TDI estate
'99 Integra Type-R

On Sun, 28 Jun 2009 01:10:35 +0100, Carl Gibbs grumbled:

"Elder" wrote in message
t...
What would be good? For me, either something jap or something silly.

Doesn't have to be too fast, nothing too exotic parts cost wise. My
thoughts were
Tatty Mk1 MR2 with ticket.
Volvo 340 1.7 (usually immaculate due to one giffer owner rwd not as
slow as reckoned, pretty hard to break). Volvo 740 turbo saloon (cheap
because it isn't an estate, will take a manual boost controller for
some extra oomph, rwd). My brother who fancies going halves suggestion
was an Escort SI. Nothing else, just an Escort SI. No other car on the
planet comes close to providing the performance, parts cost and
handling per quid than an Escort SI in his world and he would be happy
to trailer it behind his Shogun. Or maybe a Nova at a push. He has no
imagination.

Dont bother with a 340 - you'll soon be bored of it in standard trim.
In fact for a track slag you'd almost certainly need to sort the wallowy
suspension and woefully inadequate brakes which wont be cheap. And with
70bhp(?) on tap they're really not very quick and probably are as slow
as reckoned. However if you put a little bit more money in and find one
converted with a Clio Williams engine, and all the appropriate upgrades
that could be fun!

MR2 is a much better bet - good enough to do track days out the box and
hugely entertaining. A mate of mine sold his recently, he used it on
autotests, and it came with uprated suspension, decent pads, spare
wheels/rubber etc etc and was up for £500 IIRC. Body was tatty, rear
arches were finished with a rattle can (although quite well), but it was
totally solid. Ideal for your needs!

Others to consider - 205/309/106/306 GTi, BX 16v, ZX Volcane, Xsara VTS,

I'd add a Punma 1.7 to that list of FWD things. I've driven all of them
apart from a Xsara VTS, and the Puma handles as well as any of them.
126BHP when new too, it won't be more than 12 years old. It's
effectively a Ka/Fiesta MK4 with a slightly longer wheelbase and more
power. Brilliant. I wasn't convinced at all about Pumas before the missus
got one. Pity mine's got a bent MOT..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Pd3mQbwppI


Carlton 3.0, E30 325i, MX5, 200SX. Well, they're the ones I'd consider
anyway

Maybe the 325i, 200SX or MX5 but a 3.0 Carlton as a track car? I used to
drive a Senator 3.0 sometimes years ago, it was "ok" but it was a big
heavy old tub

Mike P

Elder wrote:
In article ,
says...
MR2 is a much better bet - good enough to do track days out the box
and hugely entertaining. A mate of mine sold his recently, he used
it on autotests, and it came with uprated suspension, decent pads,
spare wheels/rubber etc etc and was up for £500 IIRC. Body was
tatty, rear arches were finished with a rattle can (although quite
well), but it was totally solid. Ideal for your needs!

Others to consider - 205/309/106/306 GTi, BX 16v, ZX Volcane, Xsara
VTS, Carlton 3.0, E30 325i, MX5, 200SX. Well, they're the ones I'd
consider anyway

My brothers other thought was a VW Diesel to lower running costs. I
said as long as it runs on veggie, he said "Why?". Dumb ass.

There is no VW diesel engined car that is affordable that would be worth
tracking. Even the 90 horse MK3 Golfs are worth a grand. As you don't plan
to do any engine work (wisely, if you're on a budget), get something with as
powerful an engine as possible.

A bit of ebay looking suggests that ropey 172s are now well under £2k, and
some go as low as £1500. A MK2 Golf / 205 GTI / MR2 in half decent order is
getting on for £1000. One option for a really cheap car with a big engine
for it's size would be an old Ibiza Cupra with the 2L ABF - 150 brake in a
car around a tonne. OTOH the 205 has about a 150kilo advantage on anything
else around.

Mike P wrote:
On Sun, 28 Jun 2009 01:10:35 +0100, Carl Gibbs grumbled:

"Elder" wrote in message
t...
What would be good? For me, either something jap or something silly.

Doesn't have to be too fast, nothing too exotic parts cost wise. My
thoughts were
Tatty Mk1 MR2 with ticket.
Volvo 340 1.7 (usually immaculate due to one giffer owner rwd not as
slow as reckoned, pretty hard to break). Volvo 740 turbo saloon (cheap
because it isn't an estate, will take a manual boost controller for
some extra oomph, rwd). My brother who fancies going halves suggestion
was an Escort SI. Nothing else, just an Escort SI. No other car on the
planet comes close to providing the performance, parts cost and
handling per quid than an Escort SI in his world and he would be happy
to trailer it behind his Shogun. Or maybe a Nova at a push. He has no
imagination.

Dont bother with a 340 - you'll soon be bored of it in standard trim.
In fact for a track slag you'd almost certainly need to sort the wallowy
suspension and woefully inadequate brakes which wont be cheap. And with
70bhp(?) on tap they're really not very quick and probably are as slow
as reckoned. However if you put a little bit more money in and find one
converted with a Clio Williams engine, and all the appropriate upgrades
that could be fun!

MR2 is a much better bet - good enough to do track days out the box and
hugely entertaining. A mate of mine sold his recently, he used it on
autotests, and it came with uprated suspension, decent pads, spare
wheels/rubber etc etc and was up for £500 IIRC. Body was tatty, rear
arches were finished with a rattle can (although quite well), but it was
totally solid. Ideal for your needs!

Others to consider - 205/309/106/306 GTi, BX 16v, ZX Volcane, Xsara VTS,

I'd add a Punma 1.7 to that list of FWD things. I've driven all of them
apart from a Xsara VTS, and the Puma handles as well as any of them.
126BHP when new too, it won't be more than 12 years old. It's
effectively a Ka/Fiesta MK4 with a slightly longer wheelbase and more
power. Brilliant. I wasn't convinced at all about Pumas before the missus
got one. Pity mine's got a bent MOT..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Pd3mQbwppI


Carlton 3.0, E30 325i, MX5, 200SX. Well, they're the ones I'd consider
anyway

Maybe the 325i, 200SX or MX5 but a 3.0 Carlton as a track car? I used to
drive a Senator 3.0 sometimes years ago, it was "ok" but it was a big
heavy old tub

I wouldn't bother with the 325i or 200SX. A 24v Carlton might be ok, but
it's not ideal.

What you need is to find a couple of grand and exchange it for my Mk1 GTi.

--
Pete M - OMF#9

Range Rover V8 Turbo (sold)
Volvo 850 T5 CD Estate
Mk1 Golf GTi 1.8 (For Sale)

"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of
people very angry and is widely regarded as a bad move."

"Mike P" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 28 Jun 2009 01:10:35 +0100, Carl Gibbs grumbled:

"Elder" wrote in message
t...
What would be good? For me, either something jap or something silly.

Doesn't have to be too fast, nothing too exotic parts cost wise. My
thoughts were
Tatty Mk1 MR2 with ticket.
Volvo 340 1.7 (usually immaculate due to one giffer owner rwd not as
slow as reckoned, pretty hard to break). Volvo 740 turbo saloon (cheap
because it isn't an estate, will take a manual boost controller for
some extra oomph, rwd). My brother who fancies going halves suggestion
was an Escort SI. Nothing else, just an Escort SI. No other car on the
planet comes close to providing the performance, parts cost and
handling per quid than an Escort SI in his world and he would be happy
to trailer it behind his Shogun. Or maybe a Nova at a push. He has no
imagination.

Dont bother with a 340 - you'll soon be bored of it in standard trim.
In fact for a track slag you'd almost certainly need to sort the wallowy
suspension and woefully inadequate brakes which wont be cheap. And with
70bhp(?) on tap they're really not very quick and probably are as slow
as reckoned. However if you put a little bit more money in and find one
converted with a Clio Williams engine, and all the appropriate upgrades
that could be fun!

MR2 is a much better bet - good enough to do track days out the box and
hugely entertaining. A mate of mine sold his recently, he used it on
autotests, and it came with uprated suspension, decent pads, spare
wheels/rubber etc etc and was up for £500 IIRC. Body was tatty, rear
arches were finished with a rattle can (although quite well), but it was
totally solid. Ideal for your needs!

Others to consider - 205/309/106/306 GTi, BX 16v, ZX Volcane, Xsara VTS,

I'd add a Punma 1.7 to that list of FWD things. I've driven all of them
apart from a Xsara VTS, and the Puma handles as well as any of them.
126BHP when new too, it won't be more than 12 years old. It's
effectively a Ka/Fiesta MK4 with a slightly longer wheelbase and more
power. Brilliant. I wasn't convinced at all about Pumas before the missus
got one. Pity mine's got a bent MOT..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Pd3mQbwppI


Carlton 3.0, E30 325i, MX5, 200SX. Well, they're the ones I'd consider
anyway

Maybe the 325i, 200SX or MX5 but a 3.0 Carlton as a track car? I used to
drive a Senator 3.0 sometimes years ago, it was "ok" but it was a big
heavy old tub

It'd be funny though. Start off with a tatty 24v, strip it out totally to
get the weight down, stiffen it up a bit and I bet it could show a few
things a clean pair of heals.

Another old barge with plenty of go - 850 T5, they don't handle too bad
considering they're FWD, but they've got plenty of tyre smoking, grin
inducing power

In article , Carl Gibbs says...

"Elder" wrote in message
t...
What would be good? For me, either something jap or something silly.

Doesn't have to be too fast, nothing too exotic parts cost wise.
My thoughts were
Tatty Mk1 MR2 with ticket.
Volvo 340 1.7 (usually immaculate due to one giffer owner rwd not as
slow as reckoned, pretty hard to break).
Volvo 740 turbo saloon (cheap because it isn't an estate, will take a
manual boost controller for some extra oomph, rwd).
My brother who fancies going halves suggestion was an Escort SI.
Nothing else, just an Escort SI. No other car on the planet comes close
to providing the performance, parts cost and handling per quid than an
Escort SI in his world and he would be happy to trailer it behind his
Shogun. Or maybe a Nova at a push. He has no imagination.

Dont bother with a 340 - you'll soon be bored of it in standard trim. In
fact for a track slag you'd almost certainly need to sort the wallowy
suspension and woefully inadequate brakes which wont be cheap.

Don't forget the white metal propshaft splines. When I was working in a
scrappy, we sold dozens of Volvo 3 series propshafts as the splines
were always failing.


--
Conor

I only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't
looking good either. - Scott Adams