thanks people the vr6 is cheap as it had a very light front end smash, its also a highline so the interiour may make me some money back i guess? what suspension would people recomend?and what arb's? thanks again for your help ill mainly be using the car at castle combe the ring and donnington park thanks again regards sam
you seem to be on the right track (excuse the pun) best way to build a track car in my opinion is to sell off all the bits you dont need like - seats - to buy buckets + harness - rest of the interior trim - to buy suspension / arb - sell existing suspension + ARBs - some basic breathing mods for the engine id argue that everything you dont need or want to upgrade can be sold off. Then its a case of getting the engine serviced and in your case sorting the front out (i wouldnt worry about pro spray job as you will pick up millions of stone chips on the track) If you are considering tracks like castle coombe then investing in a GTI 16v gearbox and swapping the final drive over will make a HUGE difference as the problem with the VRs standard box is that you are reduced to 2nd gear for a lot of corners that would be better blasting through in 3rd. Dave
Koni kit certainly rides better on a VR than an ABF...I really can't get along with mine...nut sure if it's the front springs just a tad too hard for an ABF. You do... You can't chuck a VR about like a 16v even with the same rough set up so you have to be more measured with your inputs. Sorting out the front geometry and adding a Diff will help for sure. Typical well driven M3 time...which is a full 2 seconds slower than a certain 8L S3 I watched to a 1:08 in the rain, passing an M3 SMG and 996 C4S as it did so! That 1:13 was also hindred by a lack of ventilation induced fogging, an abysmal gearbox ratios, a failing MAF (that failed the next lap or so...as I was at the helm!) and 18st+ of passenger (me!).
A lot of 'interesting points' on this thread. I might as well add my tuppenceworth If you're buying a car to use on the track, what do you expect to get out of it? If it's just to have fun, then something that is a weekend toy only, then it doesn't really matter if you buy the fastest thing out there, as long as it's quick enough to be enjoyable, and you can find ways of making it better as you go. Mk3's are getting to the point where there are a lot of them being broken, so as long as you find a solid one, you should be able to get replacement panels for it (I think the front end is mostly bolt-on, as long as it's still straight), and have something ready to go for sensible money. If it's not a road car, then you can strip out (and sell) the interior, chop up some bits of perspex to make windows, take the sunroof out, and probably get it down close to the weight of a Mk2 golf / scirocco. Coilovers, polybushes, decent brake pads, and you'll be a lot quicker than any standard Mk1,2 or 3. The VR6 engine doesn't seem to be as reliable as the 4-pot lumps, but it's important not to get carried away and think that they're all disasters. If it hasn't been done recently, you might expect to need to rebuild the top end of the engine. However, that could be a whole year (or more) of trackdays away. Just treat it gently when it's cold, and make sure it's well serviced before you go ragging it. Above all, don't rush to buy it just because it's cheap. Have a good look over it, and make sure you know what you're getting for the money. If it needs an engine rebuild as well as the bodywork, suddenly it's getting expensive. You're probably talking about a grand's worth of suspension, bushes, brake pads/hoses and other bits n pieces, if you do some of the fabrication work yourself. It might already have some of the bits too... Would I buy one? No Can you have a lot of fun with it? Absolutely!!
Anway, quick turnaround track car builders, repeat after me: 'suspension, brakes, tyres, geometry - and grab the keys' Ground up track car builders, repeat after me: 'weight, power, shell stiffness, cages, hours toiled, suspension, brakes, tyres, geometry - and then grab the keys'
mk3 shell must be stiffer than mk2 surely, i think a mk3 vr with suspension sorted and all the bits that weigh it down thrown away would be the perfect budget track car. Daz's vr engine did loads of track miles and was great, for smiles/ vr6 mk3 has to be pretty high
Quite fun TBH loads of grunt and if you stipped it right out i bet there not 50 kg's between the mk2 / mk3.
