Hi all,


I’ve been thinking about getting a car for mostly trackdays and have been considering all sorts (944, M3, Catterfield etc). So I thought I would ask the collective on the relative merits of the following two cars - Toyota MR2 or Mazda MX5!

The key requirements are:

• Cheap to buy
• Cheap to maintain/mod
• RWD
• Fun to learn with
• Not too slow

Toyota MR2 (Mk2)
+ Cheap to buy
+ Tuneable
- Mid engine handling can be a bit more challenging
- Needs a bit of weight loss

Mazda MX5/Eunos (MK1)
+ Light weight
+ Chassis balance and easier to drive
+ Cheap consumables/mods
- A little slow (unless turbo’d/supercharged)
- Ghey rep (although I’m not too bothered about this)

My original budget was about £1.5k but this was keeping a couple of grand aside to add suspension, brakes, tyres, cage, seat etc. so I can stretch to around £4k for a car with everything done! I’ve also found a few turbo charged beasties for this budget…..

So what do people think – anyone driven both. I’ve had friends with MX5’s and loved them but wanted more power, but never really known anyone with a MR2.

Cheers

R

 

Mx5 or a mk3 MR2 (mk2 handling was pretty cack) with engine mods - one of the best handling cars I have ever driven. Just needs a bit more power.

 

So turbo'd MX5 with around 240hp would be quite fun then...

I have my eye on one at the moment!

Cheers

R

 

I have quite a bit of experience with MX5's - and, just for the record, its the Eunos you want as it has an LSD.

I would avoid forced induction cars- they rarely appear again after lunch on trackdays. If you want reliability stick with a regular 1.6 or 1.8.

You should be able to pick up a suitable candidate for about £700- the last one we bought was £515 inc tax and 12 months MOT so shop around, there are bargains to be had.

You should be able to find a half cage for about £250. Avoid style bars and anything that just attaches to the seat-belt towers as they offer very little rollover protection.

Suspension - we run koni coilovers as per race spec- I think you'd have them done, fitted and setup for about £750 tops. There are cheaper options.

Harnesses will set you back a few hundred quid, ideally only buy harnesses with a crytch strap in case of a roll.

Brakes are cheap. ignore everyone that says you need big brakes- they're a light car, and standard disks with either Mintex (think we're running 1144 at the moment, real cheap) or Carbotech pads (which I prefer but are 3x the price), braided hoses and decent fluid. I bought a full set (disks / pads / hoses / fluid) from the Max5 organisers and I think it came to about £220 all in. We run the race cars all day on trackdays, they only get turned off at lunch, and I've never experienced any fade whatsoever.

They do benefit from an induction cone of some description, and advance the timing to 14 degrees. I usually use a cat replacement pipe as well, but the standard system flows pretty well and isn't worth replacing.

If you want to get real serious, then polybushing the suspension makes quite a lot of difference. The bushes aren't too dear, but fitting is an absolute pig of a job.

The other thing you'll want to do is replace the water pipes, which tend to split when used hard. Silicon pipes all round isn't expensive but will save you a lot of frustration in the long run.

If all the above sounds daunting, there are several ex race cars up for sale from about £4500, although you'll need an enclosed trailer and storage as the roof won't fit over the full race cage.

The MX5's get a lot of stick from people who don't know what they're talking about. Sure, there are faster cars out there- MX5s are quite slow. However, with such a lack of power you have to learn how to drive properly- you can't afford to scrub off speed as it takes so long to re-gain, so you have to learn to carry it.

I'm not a fan of the MR2s. They do seem to be pretty good value for money, but being mid engined they don't have the same chassis poise and balance as the Mazda.

Hope this helps

 

my mate is selling a mini just now he raced for a few years its now running a 1.6i vauxhall engine he is looking for £650 ono full rollcage quick wee car

 

Wow - thanks for all the info!

My head says a nice tidy 1.8 my heart says a turbo!

Can you comment on the relative power of the 1.6 and the 1.8 - some say there isn't much difference others disagree!

Cheers for the tip off Chris - not really interested in a mini though, although it does sound fun!

Richard

 

Actually Chris a friend might be interested in the mini - got any photos/specs/links to the advert?

Cheers

R

 

A track car can only be 2 of the 3 statement below:

Cheap
Fast
Reliable

 

Ain't that the truth!

I guess the MX5 hits cheap and reliable so I'll just have to substitute fun for fast! I guess there is always the option to supercharge/turbo charge later on, once I know what's good/bad. Less risky but much more expensive than buying a turbo'd one at the start....

Can't seem to find one close to £700 though (a 1.6??) even on ebay - must be time of year. Any tips finding one at that price range?

Cheers

R

 

E30 325I

Should cheap to buy
Its German
Its not exactly dog slow
RWD

Think 318IS have LSD.

 

Unfortunately that did not meet the WAF (wife approval factor) although I quite like them in a retro kind of way! Started looking at e36 M3's too but I think it would have become too expensive for me right now...

 

I went from a classic Sti to a Eunos 1.8.
Although I lost the rear seats and the power, to be honest I didnt really miss it.
To say they are fun is an understatement.
Took me a few months to get used to the handling and how responsive they are, but no sooner, I was catching myself grinning like an idiot while blasting down some B-roads with the top down.
I can only say how good these cars are.

Though, as an everyday car, I needed more room as was back playing hockey, so took the car off the road, put her in the garage and bought myself an Integra Type R.
May not be RWD, but this thing really does fly and holds its own.
(If you dont mind not having rwd, its well worth a look into these)

Ive unfortunately had to put my mx5 up for sale now, and I wish I could keep her and do some subtle mods for track days as never been on one, but needs must....

Honestly though, for the money and fun factor, you wont be able to beat an mx5.

 

Sure you won't consider FWD?

Renaultsport Clio 172 Cup ??
Peugeot 106 GTI ??

 

These fits the bill?
Track Day Cars : BMW 325i Track Day Car
Track Day Cars : E30 - road legal - Track Day Car
Track Day Cars : "Breaking " Track/Drift Prepped Supercharged 1990 Mazda Mx5

Or FWD?
gordon mill car super market : YAMAHA R1 CARBS - PUG 106 GTI 16v

 

Cheap car here Mazda : UK MX5 1.8i I reckon you'd probably own that for about £300. Don't let the mileage scare you.

 

RWD - Nissan 200SX? Easy to tune, go drifting if you want.

5t.

 

I did consider a Integra Type R at first but I feel like RWD is a scratch I must itch!

I've always felt that 200SX's are a bit frail, probably no more so than anything else though!

 

Must not spend house move money.....

Steve

 

200sx's are great, but nothing matches the reliability of the MX5. Having to fix a car at a circuit while everyone is out playing ain't no fun

 

I'm pretty sure I couldn't either...

 

Just to be the ying to your yang, there are duff MX5s out there.

I bought one 18months ago. It had an intermittent fault in the engine electronics that 3 local garages and a specialist couldn't fix. I ended up getting rid and making a big loss but it just dove me crackers. It was a good spec to - 1.8 S-Special with the extra bracing, Bilsteins and Torsen LSD.

However, the bub bit! Once I get a new house sorted, I'm having another!

Might be a mk2.5 as it would need to be as much road car as toy (yes, the wife).

Steve

 

I've got an old mk1 mx5 with some uprated suspension bits (not sure what, as I haven't even looked underneath, but allegedly they're "apex springs" and fresh shocks).

It's brilliant fun, much more fun than the subaru, so I definitely think you should go for the mx-5. Mine hasn't been on track yet, but I'm hoping to take it out towards the end of the 2010 season as it's undergoing some restoration.

 

Just **** it with a hammer. I've not come across anything on an MX5 that can't be fixed with a similar method.. other than ruptured water hoses.

If you want to experience how good an MX5 can be you're welcome to come out for some laps in one of ours... just PM me.

HTH
Simon

 

Cheers. Let me know the next time you are out in them.

Steve

 

True but as others have said there are good and bad. Brother in law has a stage 2 200SX running over 300bhp. Done many a track day and drifting session and driven there and back. Shreds a set of tyres and mintex pads though (same front pots as the impreza)

5t.

 

Must be a great car but might be tough to get one in my budget! Also I do want to try and minimise running costs so I need something where tyre shredding/buring through brakes will be avoided.

Cheers

R

 

The 5 will be a lot more forgiving on it's consumables being lighter and slower.

I think Davyboy's post earlier summed it up well.

Steve

 

Yeah I'm pretty much set on the 5 now - hopefully going to look at a couple over Christmas/New Year - standard 1.8's and a supercharged one and a turbo'd one.

Cheers

R

 

Charade GTti can make a killer track car, weith very little and very robust engine. Easy to tune to 130-150bhp and will be very quick.

I know of one MOT failure needs some welding on the arches for not much at all. Strip out interior, replaces bushes and fit braided brake hoses. Friend of mine does a bit disk conversion to help the breaking further. A well set up one can be very rapid.

Here a clip of one going round Brands and yes it does overtake M3s and the guy the owned it built track M3s for a living

YouTube - Matt Smiths Daihatsu Charade GTti going round Brands Hatch


AllanB

 

106 GTi???? Saw one for sale the otherday for 2,5k o.n.o and it was already set up for trackdays, stripped and caged and had a few mods running around 150bhp and weighing 900kg, so a great power to weight. Handling on these cars also gives you that proper go-kart feeling, and because its a peugeot parts are cheap and there exactly the same parts as the citreon saxo VTS so there's plenty of parts in the scrap yards etc.

Other then that maybe a Saxo VTS, as there less desireble then the 106 Gti and near enough the same car, there are a few on pistonheads for 700-1500 quid!!!!