I've had a variety of cars that I've run on track over the years. C5 Corvette, FR500S Mustang, '93 R1 LS1 RX7, and a host of other cars.
After running the FR500S nothing else really makes up for having a properly setup race car. It was a race car, I rented it from a team that campaigned the car so it was always setup right.
I owned a C7 Corvette for a few years but it was supercharged and could not make it 2-3 laps without overheating but it was never intended to be for the track.
I wanted something balanced, decent power, and ultimately something that I did not really care if I went off track in. I wanted to do another LS1 RX7 but I want to buy one and keep it. Only car I've bought and made money on and for a good one the price is pretty high. Plus for as fun as they are they are far from an easy to drive car. They are as fast and fun as they are terrifying to drive fast.
Didn't want another Corvette. The C5 is the bang for the buck car but the steering is horrible. I hated my C5 on track and compared to the C7 it was light years behind. My wife had a Giulia for a while and I've yet to drive a better steering car. I enjoyed driving it hard with 300hp as I did my C7 with 750. Going backwards in steering was not my idea.
Since there is no LS swap for the Alfa Romeo I settled on an E46. I had considered an E36 and after being into this 2 weeks would have for sure been the easier choice but in the end its going to be within a grand or two of the E46 since I only paid $500 for the donor car.
I decided to document this because even when I was looking into this the true cost is what everyone wants to know. Everyone says 'build a track car for 20k' but by the time your done it usually more and the pitfalls you run into. So I've estimated what I think my costs are and what I will finally end up at.
I'll update this as I go. I'm missing a cage and paint so far in the estimate but we're going to paint it ourselves. Items in the right column which are bold and italic are extra's not considered, and tools that most probably do not have.
Pics are posted in the link below and here is the current build idea:
Track DE car only, never be plated or titled
LS3 clone built from L92 motor(same motor, $4,000 cheaper)
525-550hp
Coil overs and all chassis reinforcement
Big brakes
That is about all I have right now and I'll add this as I go. These are all estimates from just going to a site that sells E46 parts and picking some options.
Pics are here:
https://photos.app.*******/hoeykBjRvohsyLCv6
Item Estimate Item Actual Chassis Dolly
140 Engine Mount 1879 Engine Mount Trans 1459 Trans Wiring Harness 1095 Wiring Harness Header Bolts 58 Header Bolts Starter 210 Starter E46 Shell 500 E46 Shell 500 L92 2500 L92 Seats 800 Seats Wheels 1200 Wheels Tires 1150 Tires Steering Wheel 800 Steering Wheel Brakes 2450 Brakes Front/Rear Suspension 3533 Front/Rear Suspension Radiator 549 Radiator Sway Kit 549 Sway Kit Wheel Studs 249 Wheel Studs Auto Blip 395 Auto Blip Heads/Cam/Intake 1800 Heads/Cam/Intake ABS System 1244 ABS System Total $ 22,420.00 640
Last edited by ericspt; 09-30-2018 at 01:10 PM.
Subscribed. Looking forward to this build thread.
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