Tools & Equipment
Tooling Up #1 – You & The Car
‘Tooling Up’
As every father tells his son at some point – you need the right tool to do any job well.
As with the sentiment above – this is the same with going on track with your car. You will find a plethora of hardcore track vehicles and some track orientated road cars from a number of European and Japanese manufacturers and a few from the US, however American machinery normally doesn’t have the same desire to go around corners as vehicles produced by the rest of the world. [the recent exception to the rule]
It would be very easy for me to recommend that everyone goes out and buys a BMW M3 CSL or an Ariel Atom it however would not be within the spirit of what I am trying to achieve here. These two cars are now affordable for a lot of people but – running them as a track car could be almost impossible due to the enormous costs of the components and servicing.
What we are going to be looking as an example vehicle throughout this guide is the Clio 172 Cup. It was first produced in 2002 by RenaultSport as a light-weight road car to the Clio 172. There have been plenty of other vehicles produced by other manufacturers on this principle, from Porsche and their GT3 RS to the Peugeot 306 Rallye and the “commonly” referred to BMW M3 CSL (Coupe Super Light).
Using Your Everyday Road Car As A Trackcar?
Everyday I receive phone calls from people looking for components for their everyday road car to make them “go faster” or to improve some specific element of the cars performance. Most people who attend trackdays are not incredibly rich, they are just the same as you and I – They love cars, they love driving and they are attempting to participate in a form of racing. Now let me clarify this… Trackdays are not racing – it is not competitive motorsport, however for a lot of people this is the closest that they will ever get to “racing” as the costs will be prohibitive for them to enter a small championship or event. They will spend years and thousands of pounds modifying their vehicle to get it to perform exactly how they want it to, and then, they will thrash their pride and joy around circuits up and down the country.
There are limits to modifying your everyday car and those limits are normally relating to levels of comfort. Noise, ride quality and ride comfort and what you and your passengers are able to tolerate on a daily basis are the significant factors in this comfort factor.
As someone considering embarking on taking part in Trackdays you should consider the following things before you purchase your vehicle:
Am I going to buy a standard vehicle and modify it, or am I going to purchase a vehicle that has already had some work undertaken?
A vehicle that has already had some work undertaken is likely to be cheaper than a standard showroom condition vehicle – modifications do not add value in many cases. This is also important for you to remember when you are modifying your own vehicles.
What is your budget for the initial purchase and getting the vehicle to the condition that you want it to be in before you would be happy taking it on track
Working out what you total budget is before you start is critical – If you spend £10,000 on a car and then need to spend another £1000 on servicing then you are 10% over budget – you should be bang on budget when you make that initial payment.
How many trackdays a year do you intend to do?
If you are only going to do one trackday a year – would you be better advised to hire a trackcar for the days that you are going to be out on track and having a standard road car for your normal day to day driving?
How much are you consumable items going to cost you and will it let you maximise the use of the car?
Before you purchase your vehicle, you should establish the cost of the following items which could be considered “consumables”: Engine Oil, Oil Filters, Wheel Bearings, Brake Discs, Brake Pads, Brake Fluid and obviously Tyres. For example if you purchase an M3 CSL the running costs might be so high that you could only do one trackday every three months, however, in a Citroen Saxo it might mean that you could do one trackday every three weeks due to the lower (track)daily running costs.
Is it going to be cheaper for you just to buy a second hand race car?
The answer is going to be vague – MAYBE… It depends on the condition of the car that you could get for your budget. I will be posting up some guides as to what you should consider for a variety of budgets – both new and used in the coming weeks.
Some sites that will be useful for your search for a vehicle:
AutoTrader.co.uk
PistonHeads Classifieds
RaceCarsDirect.com
NorthLoop.co.uk Cars For Sale
ClioSport.net Cars For Sale
RenaultSport Important Websites:
United Kingdom
RenaultSport UK
ClioSport.net
MeganeSport.net
ClioTrophy.co.uk
V6Clio.net
France
Clio RS Concept (FR)
RS Team (FR)
YozzaSport Suppliers
Welcome to “ReadyForTheTrack.co.uk”
ReadyForTheTrack.is a blog written to give you all of the essential information that you will need relating to preparing your vehicle for your first trackday and then what you can to to develop and improve the vehicle and your driving to make your experience more and more fulfilling.
Trackdays – both on British circuits and also on European circuits such as Spa Francorchamps and Nurburgring Nordschleife are now common place in the annual calendar of the British Petrolhead.
This guide will hopefully give you all of the information that you will ever need to prepare your vehicle for going on a race circuit and what you will need to do this from scratch. Our intention is to show you how you can take a standard road car and turn it in a weapon that will show up much more expensive vehicles out on the circuit (and on the road should you desire).
The idea is to keep the information very simple to start with – giving you almost everything that you will need to know but over a period of time – letting you develop with the car.
Always A Hooligan,
