Track or Rally Car Build Costs - how much have you spent ?

[Superleggera]

There are obviously plenty of threads on here regarding track and rally car builds which are great reading, but one thing the threads dont go in to are total costs of the builds.

Would be great if people could contribute to this thread by stating there total build cost - and high level spec.

Im interested for two reasons - having a reference point to determine what sort of money I should be paying for a track ready car (as I am currently looking at 2 and the asking prices vary considerably although the specs are different but in one case the price seems expensive for what it is), and secondly how much I need to supplement my wallet in order to do a build from ground up.

[DanThe]

Unless your paying top money for toshed up scrap, ie you dont know what your looking at and the seller is conning you, you will always spend less buying an already built car

[martinpallot]

Track car and rally car will have very different budgets - also depends on how much of the work is farmed out and how much is done yourself.

at a guess i would say I've sunk around 30k into my car as it is now. This would be double had i not done it all myself. Would realistically see about half back if i decided to sell.

[Superleggera]

Any views on this car. I think it's quite overpriced

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/ ... ox/2964942

I haven't seen it yet as the car is quite a distance from me but I've spoken to the guy a few times and have a reasonable amount of info on the car. I would be using it as a track car so I would need to do the following to get it suitable:
- fuel lift pump and swirl pot
- extend the cage so it ties to the diff mounts
- needs a radiator temp sensor so the fan can run off that instead of a switch inside
- diff ratios need changing as it tops out at 115mph
- coilovers need changing as spring rates are quite soft and are long throw for off road use.

Thoughts ?

[Mikey_Boy]

Building your own will always cost more but it's justified by a combination of man maths and that it's tailored to what you want and need. If you get a kick out of doing things yourself, that's an added bonus.

The car looks ok, but just that - I've never liked 'pretend' M3s and there are areas where this car has been scrimped on - the seats are utter gash and the cage looks a bit compromised. Given its suspension isn't track focused but rally focused you might be carrying extra weight? Also, if you are having to alter the cage, diff and fuel system there's a good few grand there. I'd hold out for a track car that's suitable or an unfinished project.

[martinpallot]

How does the cage looked compromised?

Why would rally suspension be heavier?

You wont be using a fan on track so that hardly a priority

Why would you need to change the coilovers? the whole point in coilovers is that the springs can be swapped easily and cheaply. The cas is set up for tarmac so so the dampers wont have too much travel - anyway, the more travel the better in any situation provided your not running on the bump stops!

Not sure why its would need the diff mounts tying into cage as a track car? It would need it much more as a rally car crashing between 1st and second gear when forces are at their highest.

400 quid would do the work you mention above unless your handing it over to a garage

Only thing I don't agree with on that car is the m3 bodykit the rest of it looks like a well executed build

[Mikey_Boy]

Check out the 'gusseting' on the door bars - that is horrid. Quality of the welds to the front turrets doesn't look great either from the shots in the advert.

Also, there are far too many shots of it from the outside and not enough of the working stuff - always rings alarm bells for me.

Cheap seats also rings alarm bells - what else has been scrimped on?

Rally suspension is always going to be heavier given the pounding that it receives - if it's a proper rally car then that should be the case.

Granted, it looks a hell of a lot better than a lot of the stuff for sale, but I don't think it should command that price!

Also agree that the diff doesn't need to be tied into the cage necessarily - it's nice, but not essential.

Just my 2 pence worth!

[maxfield]

Check out the 'gusseting' on the door bars - that is horrid.

Are you looking at the pic where you can see the passenger side? Where the gusset looks completely bent inwards?

This maybe because the door bars have been designed to come outwards. I've seen this a few times to make it stronger:

[Mikey_Boy]

I can see why they have done it, it just doesn't look very good to my eyes.

Seems I am on my own here thinking this car is a bit overpriced and a bit underspecced?

Superleggera, seems like you have the support of the Zone on this one - get out and buy it...!

[maxfield]

When it comes to track cars or something that's modified. Someone will always pick fault.

I'll be building my own car (when I get round to it) as if I bought something I know I would change most stuff to how I want it.

[Superleggera]

Seems I am on my own here thinking this car is a bit overpriced and a bit underspecced?

I dont disagree with you on this - which is why Im trying to get views on the forum to get an idea on what is reasonable.

Also, until seen in the flesh some of this is guess work.

[milescook]

Superleggera, I have been tracking my costs. I took a standard 320ise off the road and turned it into a race legal track car (build thread here somewhere). Granted I may have missed a few but this is fairly comprehensive:

Car 800
Clutch replacement 550
Steering wheel and boss 170
Servicing parts 60

Halfords paint and rust kit 50
Wheels 125
FX,Batt cable, Bat cutout, switches 376.95
Paints4U 20
More parts 60
Bonnet part 11
Seat 270
Goodridge hoses 60
Harness 60
Aerocatch, harness bolts, pads, spreader plates 131
Fuel filter 10
Roll cage 1740
Halfords paint and rust kit 35
Bob empson garage - tow strap and harness spreader plates 136
Windscreen 40
Race battery 135
Paints 20
More paints 22
Screws etc 20
Alternator 12
Fuel pump 80
Fog blanks 12
Rear disc conversion 60
Yellow stuff used front pads 20
Wheels and tyres 80
3 subframe and 4 trailing arm Lemforder bushes 67
17 Inch Rear view mirror 55
Brake fluid 20
Rollbar padding 20
Front eccentric lolipop powerflex bushes 30
Garage fees for rear bushes 30
k&n filter 20
Handbrake cables 33
Clutch slave, fluid 45
Gaz gold 450
Clock 10
Toyos and wheels 180
Wheel revalve 7.5
Lemforder tie rods, wishbone joints and arb links 100
Paints 15
Gaz refurb 30
Pas seat & harness 40
Road tyres 180
Quick release boss 40
Handbrake part 7
Oil 40
Otto lap timer 68
Toyos part worns 245
Wheel bearing 57
Car decals 3
Wheel balancing 40
Transponder 240
Oil 28

Total on car £7266

Tracked tools cost too that's getting on for £700 in addition to the bare basic bits I had before. That all said, because I have sold parts totalling around £600 - nearly what I bought the car for!

That's just my story - hope that helps.

[ross_jsy]

Quick look, that car looks pretty nice. Think you would be mad spending £20k on a track car mind, when in reality is it going to do much better of a job than a £5k caged up e36 m3?

[DanThe]

Its a plastic M3 kit glued on, forget it!

[Mikey_Boy]

I will be honest in terms of costs, I am far too frightened to add up how much I have spent, so hats off to Milescook for keeping track - good man

[rix313]

People normally post pictures and details of the parts they buy and where from so it is easy enough to look up the prices of them if you're interested. You'll find any sane person doesn't really tally up how much it costs because it would scare the living crap out of them.

[milescook]

People normally post pictures and details of the parts they buy and where from so it is easy enough to look up the prices of them if you're interested. You'll find any sane person doesn't really tally up how much it costs because it would scare the living crap out of them.

Doesn't bother me that much. Maybe because I'm....

That said, life's too short to put off your dreams why let money get in the way!

[rix313]

I spent a similar amount to Miles on my car roughly adding it up in my head.

The other thing to consider with it, is always ask for a deal. I got some mega deals on stuff for mine. There is always a discount to be had some where. The only thing I had to pay full price for on my car was the tyres, because there is no margin for the distributors to give a discount and still make some money. That said I got a free set of part worms with them so....