BUILDING A TRACK CAR ......WHAT PART CAN U RECOMMEND?????

[woodlehouse]

HI GUYS

im building a mk2 golf 2.0 16v abf track car wont be road leagal just a trailer queen / track slag

im about to order al the parts i need and everyones parts are the "best" if you belive there own adds ?

what works ?? & what to avoid

need to find the best brakes combo & best suspension be it coilovers or shox & springs

also concider used good parts if anyones selling

danny

[MK2RussRacer]

slicks, coilovers, wilwood brakes...

omp safety gear (they make good exhaust for the 16v too)

 

[Paul86S2]

Depends on what price you're willing to pay.

The hottuning coilovers on ebay are good value for the money and work well on my track car. Benefit of fully adjustable ride height.

Magnex Cat back exhaust is lighter than standard, increases performance, and not too noisy. You can get away without your Cat but watch the noise, lots of tracks have noise restrictions.

Safety is good, so get quality safety items like bucket seats, harnesses, roll cage etc. Most major brands are all ok (OMP, Sparco, Cobra etc)

Brakes are mainly down to personal preference. Which brand you like the look of. Whatever you do brake wise the most important thing is to fully change the brake fluid for a high temp racing brand which won't boil first time out. Euro car parts sell Racing Blue fluid for about £10. Standard brake set up on my Mk3 16v has been fine so far, but now they're worn out I am replacing with drilled discs and Black diamond Predator pads. I've used EBC Green and Red pads in the past and I'm not impressed with them.

Most choices are personal and you will get a lot of advice from people recommending what they've got, a recommendation is always better than no recommendation.

Good luck

Cheers

Paul

[Diamond Hell]

The first best modification you can do, before buy a load of bits, is to remove as much as possible weight from the car.  You will instantly and cheaply get a faster, more responsive car. 

Unless you know the radiator has been replaced relatively recently then replace that and swap out the thermostat for a genuine VAG item.  You might also like to fit a remote oil cooler, or you're probably going to overheat your oil.

If you've already got 16V brakes then replace them with OE-spec discs and pads and flush the fluid out.  Also check all of the brake pipes and flexis, make sure they're not corroded.  remember if you're brave enough to fit slicks (not allowed on many track days) or cut slicks then you're going to be asking a LOT more of your brakes.  I'm just going with fresh mid-brand tyres at the moment, they provide a good level of grip with which you can explore the handling of your car.

Also check all of the bushes and mounts for corrosion and failure, replacing with new OE spec where needed.  Coilovers for track use (rather than on-road speed bump predation) will take an awful lot of setting up and tuning before they provide a better solution than something like -40mm springs and some branded gas-dampers (Koni or Bilstein etc).  Laser wheel alignment on fresh bushes etc will also ensure your car is handling as it should.

If you want to buy harnesses then make sure they are 3" wide, or they're going to cut you up and snap bones if you have an impact.  You need a 5 point harness to secure you safely, really.  Bear in mind you also need somewhere proper to mount the harness - rear seatbelt mounting points are too low and will quite possibly crush you and your seat in an impact.  A rear strut bar is not designed to restrain fat blokes in an impact.  This means you must have at least an FIA-spec 6 or more point rollcage before you can fit them.   You can get a seatbelt 'locking' clamp, which will keep you in place better than the standard three point belt and is sold by places like Merlin Motorsport.

The 16V exhaust shouldn't need upgrading immediately (it doesn't have a cat) and if you do then you're going to see the biggest gains from replacing the manifold with a less restrictive tubular affair.  Before you replace any of the steel, get underneath and check the rubber mounts are all there and in good condition.

After you've checked your car is 'reasonably fit' and all of the consumables are fresh then the best thing to do is to take it out on a track for a day, to give you an idea of what the car is like to drive - this will illuminate any shortcomings much better than just fitting 'hot' bits you might not need to change.  The biggest, cheapest improvement you can make is to jettison as much of the interior and sound deadening material as possible.

[leavingeasy]

I've built two, I suggest:

Strip it.
OMP 6 point cage
SPAX RSX coilovers
280mm Pagid 16 groove discs and DS2500 pads
Magnex full system
28mm rear ARB.

That will get it handling, stopping and keep it safe without costing a fortune.

Avoid cheap/ second hand parts. Youi'll only end up buying them again and wasting your money- trust me!

[tallchap]

I have a D reg Mk2 16v which I built up with the following, trying to keep to a reasonable budget, but using my experience of racing and race cars to build something that would be quick, fun and reliable. Anyway, here's whats on it;

Bespoke multipoint rollcage (very btcc!)
- Cages off the shelf are OK, but I wanted more protection and it was either bespoke or add tubes to a Sparco or OMP and the cost difference was negligable.

Bembo 4-pot calipers
- Used up front from Seat Ibiza Cupra R with backets to fit the std hubs.
- Standard Seat Ibiza discs
- Racing pads
- AP 550 brake fluid
- Later 16v master cylinder
- Braided lines from master cylinder, throughout car
- Brake bias valve, located in car

Engine
- Standard 1.8 16v with 130k on the clock
- MOCAL Oil Cooler - mounted alongside radiator
- Aeroquip braided hoses
- New radiator
- New head gasket
- Samco water hoses
- Late model inlet madifold
- OMP exhaust
- 9a 2.0 engine in bits waiting to go in...

Gearbox
- 020 box
- Quaif Limited Slip Diff
- Lower final drive
- All new gear linkages
- Standard clutch

FK Coilovers with Koni inserts
- Got these cheap, second hand and thought 'give em a go...' they have been great for the money.

Anti-roll bars
- Nuspeed front
- Eibach rear
- For no other reason than I got given the rear one, new and for free and there was no stock in the country of the fronts..

Lower strut brace
- Sits between lower wishbones

Corbeau Evolution Seats
- Luke 5-point harnesses

Wheels/Tyres
- Road: 17" white 5 spokes with Yokohama A539's
- These look great on the road, but are crap on the track!
- Track: 15" Compomotive 5 spokes with either Toyo 888's or Dunlop Slicks
- Awesome!

Other bits;
Big bumpers
Front brake cooling ducts where fog lights used to be
G60 arches
Carbon fibre door cards
Carbon floor panels to make the floor flat and raise slightly front footwells
Water temp, Oil temp and Oil pressure guages mounted where the stereo should go
Perspex rear window and rear side windows
Remote boot release
Removable OMP steering wheel
Fibreglass bonnet
Single headlamp grille
Rear M3 style lights
Crystal indicators front and side
De-locked 'cult society' boot plinth
Cystal headlamps
Front windows are electric as I use it on the road and couldn't fit manual winders because of the cage
Peltor rally intercom
New wheel bearings
New Powerflex bushes everywhere!
Solid front engine mount
Lifeline 'plumbed in' fire extinguisher
Race spec ignition cut-off switch

I have done 2000 miles on circuit in the car this year, including a 4 day trip the the 'Ring. I drive it to circuits in the UK, but it did get trailered to Germany...  It has not broken once, or even missed a beat. Quite incredible really as it gets very, very abused! It is a great car and I can't wait to get the 2.0 in it! Let me know if you want any more info, pictures, etc.

Cheers,

Martin

[Diamond Hell]

Tallchap, how much money do you think you've sunk into that project - I'm just curious.

Also where did you get the cage built?  I've got someone lined up to build me one, but it's always good to look around.

Cheers.

[tallchap]

Well Diamond...

It took about 3 years, and I collected stuff that I thought I would need or wanted on the car...  quite alot is the answer, really! I try not to think about it....   Seriously though, it is worth more in bits that as a whole car, which is often the way with race cars. Anyway, he're the big stuff I can remember;

Cage = £1,000 (bespoke, fitted)
Gearbox with lsd and final drive = £700
Bembo's, discs, pads = £400
FK/Koni's = £200 (second-hand)
Wheels = £200 (x 2 sets)
Tyres = £200 (For toyo 888's)
Front ARB = £150
Carbon bits = £100
Oil cooler = Free
Aeroquip braided hoses = Free
Persex windows = Free
Samco's = Free
Guages = Free
Exhaust = Free
Interior/cage fully painted (free)

So that is nearly £3,000 without a lot of the 'little bits' that really add up - good job I didn't buy the base car really, that makes me feel loads better! The 'free' bits are from mates in the trade, or trading parts, or generally calling in favours. So, with the other bits and my time, plus the 'favours' I will have to repay for help from my mates, etc, it has cost a forture! In reality I should have just bought a nice M3 or Audi Quattro - but hey, that would be boring! I do have a great car, which I really enjoy!

I can post some pictures if someone wants to tell me how, or I am at Bedford Autodrome on a trackday next Saturday 23rd Feb if anyone wants to come and have a look at the car.

Martin.

[leavingeasy]

Tall chap- I'm at Bedford on 23rd too, be good to check out your car.

I'll be in this:




Nick

[lewis1641]

your brakes are glowing. i'm impressed!