Best e30 as trackday toy

[Geeman]

I had the same idea with my 'iS' - but now i wish I'd spent more time looking for a 325i... but where would I have found a sound 325 for Ԛ£500 from...? No where...

Still, funds pertaining, there's always the potential for an engine swap... everything else is perfect... Rover V8 powered E30 anyone...? Got one sitting doing nothing...

[M5pilot]

Youll end up spending thousands on an M20 engined car to be good on track.

save yourself the hassle, get yourself an M3 with loads of money spent on it.

The best thing is the gearing is so much better than that of a 325i sport and the power band is much more geared torwards tracks. Oh, and they are so much bettter at going round bends, you dont need to spend any money on that area.

[Lordschleife]

Youll end up spending thousands on an M20 engined car to be good on track.

save yourself the hassle, get yourself an M3 with loads of money spent on it.

The best thing is the gearing is so much better than that of a 325i sport and the power band is much more geared torwards tracks. Oh, and they are so much bettter at going round bends, you dont need to spend any money on that area.

Yeah but an iS is a lot better at the bends too!
The thing is unless you're racing, a trackday should be about fun, and generally fun is in the bends, not that a 325 is bad in the corners, I had great fun at the ring in one.

So the amount of fun is down to 2 things - how much you're prepared to spend on the car, and which track you are driving

eg:
for similar price:
is: good in corners, not so good on straights
325: good on straights, not quite as good in corners

for a fair wedge more:
m3: better than both in corners/straights
But Russ is on a budget and that rules out an m3

Also if you're on a great track (eg NÃÂarburgring nordschleife) you can have fun even in a shitty 50bhp hatchback

Therefore Ԛ£1500 on car +Ԛ£500 ring trip > Ԛ£4000 m3 + Ԛ£150 UK trackday

[racecar]

hi
i looked at this topic with interest - i have just bought a stripped out 325i sport for trackday fun - i bought a car which was already stripped out - full cage - uprated brakes/braided hoses - h and r nurburgring springs and shocks - buckets/harnesses with 2 sets of rims for a couple of grand - it's a really clean car which has been well looked after.

beforehand i considered buying a base car and doing the work myself but then i thought:

a - i am a lazy bastard and i would end up with another project part finished
b - it would cost the same in parts to get what i have and all the work has been done
c - at this money i can use it as a dedicated track car and of anything goes bang it's not a major disaster

so my advice is go find something where somebody else has done the hard work (whatever model you buy) and spend money and energy on actually going to trackdays straightaway - i am using mine at goodwood next month - can't wait!

[Geeman]

I paid Ԛ£500 and did all the work myself. Probably spent more on it than it cost to buy yours, but I LOVE working on my own car, especially when the results are as good as they are.

Still need bits to finish, like an LSD, drivers race seat and a 3.5 litre conversion, but it's still boody good fun!

Giles.

[Lordschleife]

racecar, this wasnt Francis of the ringers-lists black 325i was it? Recently on ebay and pistonheads

[Geeman]

Aaaaah, the series one Sport with the black 5 spokes...?

[racecar]

yeah that's the car - bought it from francis
have not used it yet - one of the black rims is buckled - probably too badly for repair so i am either going to buy some more rims - francis has got a new set which look similar - or just buy a replacement for the one which is buckled.

in fact i am change over to the 15" rims this afternoon and for the first trackday might just try like that

[bmwm3n528]

Since when is a 318is expensive to fix?? With the exception of the profile gasket which has been changed on most cars over 80k miles.

[Geeman]

Most cars, with history...!

[Russ]

Most cars, with history...!

My iS was really cheap to repair.....not!

[Boots_Walker]

my idea of a great e30 track car (excluding m3) would be an early 318i

upgrade to rear discs and add a rear sway bar to bring it up to par with a 325 (using 2nd hand 6cyl factory parts this wouldnt cost much to do), strip out interior do bushings/supension etc

build a nice 2 litre with some high comp pistons, throttle bodies, 316deg cam running on megasquirt... should see 170hp+ easily - i would expect 180-190

not the cheapest way to get power (compared to just buying a 325), but old 318i's are cheap as shit so you would have a fair bit more cash to play with after purchasing the car itself.

well thats what i would do anyway, 4cyls is where it's at

[Karan]

my idea of a great e30 track car (excluding m3) would be an early 318i

upgrade to rear discs and add a rear sway bar to bring it up to par with a 325 (using 2nd hand 6cyl factory parts this wouldnt cost much to do), strip out interior do bushings/supension etc

build a nice 2 litre with some high comp pistons, throttle bodies, 316deg cam running on megasquirt... should see 170hp+ easily - i would expect 180-190

not the cheapest way to get power (compared to just buying a 325), but old 318i's are cheap as sh*t so you would have a fair bit more cash to play with after purchasing the car itself.

well thats what i would do anyway, 4cyls is where it's at

in the UK 325s are pretty much just as cheap.... so this is not worht it

[Lordschleife]

Dunno, could be worth it for the sharper turn in with less weight up front if you have the time, and dont mind spending a bit of money

[Boots_Walker]

Dunno, could be worth it for the sharper turn in with less weight up front if you have the time, and dont mind spending a bit of money

yeah thats pretty much what i'm thinking. costs aside, a 4cyl will always be a more agile car than a 6. combined with a peaky little m10 i think i would find that combination more enjoyable than a six even if it is a bit slower round the track (not that it would always be slower...)

the e30's agility is probably its greatest attribute imo, keeping the 4cyl up front makes the the most of this.

that just the way i see things of course, flames welcome