Buying advice: cheap & scruffy vs. pricey & pampered

[Digital]

I've been researching buying a Mk1 as a second car/occasional track day toy, and had originally been thinking of buying one for <£1K with most likely some minor work needing done, parts to uprate etc.

However, a friend of someone I know is now selling one of the last Mk1Bs for around £1.5K, with sub 100K mileage and apparently in very good all round condition. The only thing about this is that I'm not sure if for a trackday car I'd be better off buying something cheaper and immediately replacing brakes, with maybe a longer term view of doing suspension, getting a smaller steering wheel and stuff like that. Obviously that would be harder to justify with a car where all these bits are in fine condition.

Just wondering if anyone has any ideas on what you thing would be the better option, given that there would be less expenditure immediately if I was to go with the car mentioned above?

Any input welcome

[steve b]

get the best one you can, else you'll spend all your money on getting it running.

Small steering wheel??? why??

[anna]

I'd recommed going the cheap and cheerful route for a trackday car tbh, cos then you won't particularly mind if you kill then engine or accidentally lose some bits off it from 'spirited' on track driving . Especially if you are new to track day driving.

So it depends on how you are going to want to drive it on track, and how much a more expensive/minter car would put you off driving at the limit.

[Digital]

Hmm, 2 replies, 2 different points of view so far

Even if I did buy the more expensive car, it would still be a "cheap" trackday car, the main reason I'm considering one is because I'd be less concerned about anything breaking than if it were my main car (which needs to get me to work and back!).

Steve, the Mk1 I tried earlier this year just struck me as having a much larger wheel than required, for track use I would imagine a smaller wheel would be more suitable. Only IMHO of course!

[Lauren]

Go the cheap and cheerfulish route. Basically buy one that is in good mechanical fettle, ie good engine etc.

the dampers and springs will be well past their best even if it is a shiny and well looked after example, so you'd need to change them anyway.

Like you say though £1500 isn't a bad price for a good MK1.

Best combo i've found handling wise is TRD settings Konis and uprated lower springs (fensport do a good set for this), plus A539s tyre wise as they work really well with the MK1 IMO.

yep the OEM wheel is a bit large.

Other thing to bear in mind is that the early MK1s have an edge handling wise and are the lightest out of the box, but its not a mega difference.

[Adam_B]

Go the cheap and cheerfulish route. Basically buy one that is in good mechanical fettle, ie good engine etc.

sound advice. and ooh, thats what i did Paid £600 with a mate (£300 each) for a 85 mk1a coupe in white with 65k on it and a bit of rust . interior was perfect so we sold what we could and i pulled a few favours at work to get koni dampers, spax springs, cobra seat and a sparco harness.

Dunno what its cost all together but im not ar$ed really, it doesnt break the bank and its all good fun.

[MartG]

Steve, the Mk1 I tried earlier this year just struck me as having a much larger wheel than required, for track use I would imagine a smaller wheel would be more suitable. Only IMHO of course!

If it was a mk1a you tried, the mk1b's wheel is 2.5" smaller

[Lauren]

Steve, the Mk1 I tried earlier this year just struck me as having a much larger wheel than required, for track use I would imagine a smaller wheel would be more suitable. Only IMHO of course!

If it was a mk1a you tried, the mk1b's wheel is 2.5" smaller

yep the MK1b wheel is smaller but still pretty big. I went for a sparco suede 350mm wheel which is a good compromise with being a bit smaller than stock but not so small that the steering gets too heavy:

as seen in my old SC:

[Digital]

The one I tried was a C reg, so I'm guessing it would have been a mk1a, hadn't realised the wheel was any different between the two.

Thanks for all the advice everyone

Hmm, decisions...