I’m taking inspiration from Sam McKee of Mckee Motorsport and his very successful BMW E36 328i which he drives to and from every race. Multiple podium finishes including class wins but more importantly it’s budget motorsport and it’s FUN.
I started searching for a suitable donor car and having owned an E36 in the past (albeit a diesel) I was familiar with the handling, impressed by the solid build quality, and the ready supply of parts.
Finding a good E36 328i for less than £4k I found out was proving difficult.
To have a competitive car you first look at the series you’re planning to race in and look at the other cars that are doing well in class. ‘M’ cars were ruled out on cost since this was to be racing on a budget. Other options were Mazda MX5, Renault Clio, Seat Leon, Golf Gti etc.
However the 750 Motor Club run a BHP per ton class system:
A – Super GT – 300bhp/tonne
B – GT – 240bhp/tonne
C – Supersport – 180bhp/tonne
D – Sport – 145bhp/tonne
The Civic Type R, Clio Cup 200, MX5, E36 and E46 feature at the top of the Supersport Class C finishes.
Personally I feel that front wheel drive cars are a little compromised with the front wheels both driving and steering simultaneously. It’s a big ‘ask’ for the tyres. However they do however perform well with variable track conditions and can conceivably be easier to control on the limit.
Rear wheel drive splits the tasks between the front and rear tyres but can be tricky at the adhesion limits.
So what I need is a good base car that I can convert easily with a ready supply of performance parts ‘off the shelf’. It has to be cheap (relatively) and something that I’d be confident to work on in the driveway as I don’t have a garage.
I’ve been told to look out for an a race car as these can represent good value. I don’t have a trailer so it would still need to be MOTd, taxed and insured for the road.
So I’ve set these requirements:
- rear wheel drive
- cheap
- MOTd
- possibly already a race car
- ready supply of parts
- easy to work on
The search continues.