I’ve been thinking about this for a while. A long while. I’ve watched a lot of “budget” track projects over the last year and have been itching to do my own ever since. I don’t think I’ll ever stop watching mates crowd around a $500 beater and then a few months later revealing their amazing track car. But there’s something wrong, something that they all leave out.
Take Mighty Car Mods for example. I love those guys. I’ve been watching them for what feels like forever. Last year I was fortunate enough to be able to write an article for their magazine – a dream come true. Marty and Moog represent just about everything that being a car enthusiast is all about. Fun, friendship and a shared love of all things cars.
Their latest build, a Subaru Liberty wagon lovingly dubbed ‘Gramps’ has been one of the best track projects to watch. Seeing Gramps go from a smelly old car destined for the wreckers to running stupidly fast quarter miles was such an awesome experience that I probably shared with a lot of you. With each episode I was more and more pumped to do my own track project. By the time Gramps was done he had an entirely new engine, gearbox, wheels, suspension, turbo and a 4th gen shell. I wanted that. I wanted to go from nothing to chopping super cars on the drag strip.
So I decided I would do it. I did some research. A lot of research. I’m not a mechanic and I don’t have any friends that are. My car experience lies somewhere between Forza enthusiast and guy who sees Fast & Furious the minute it comes out. Basically, I’m very new to cars and especially track projects. But that shouldn’t put me off right?
After doing a lot of research I realized to get anywhere close to what Gramps was, I’d be looking at probably around 20 grand or more. Which being a student (and a bad one at that) I really don’t have. The MCM dudes rely heavily on friendships and connections made (and definitely earned) through what they do. People are willing to throw down time, effort and even more time just to help them out. I don’t have that going for me, so anything I do I’m going to have to do myself or pay someone to do it (unless anyone wants to put their hand up, I’m all ears!) which limits me a tad.
With that in mind, here is what I believe and what I want to achieve with a realistic track/daily project.
I believe you don’t need a ridiculously fast car to have fun on a track. I especially believe that when you’re just starting out. There’s no point trying to wrestle 700hp when you’ve not even maxed out your skills with 70hp right?
My goal is to have a simple car, that’s easy to buy, easy to own, easy to fix and more importantly one that is cheap and readily available. I’m sick of hearing about people finding a $1500 S13 from a granny who can’t drive manual anymore, that shit is so uncommon and ruins expectations for when buying a car. I’m not saying it’s impossible but I’d bet anything that there’s more Silvia’s in Sydney that have been skidded around every corner at Nasho then there are ones that have only been taken to church every Sunday. Again, this is a realistic track project. That said, if you find a cheap S chassis then heck, go for it!
My main goal is that at the end of this series of articles (maybe videos if that’s of interest?) there will be a step by step guide so that you can finish reading up and jump on the interwebs, grab a car and follow the same steps as me. I’m going to be 100% honest about all costs and if I get any deals/handouts/help I will be honest about that too. This project is going to be designed for people who have no idea what they are doing or where to start, because that’s essentially what I’m doing.
Now, about the car.
I test drove so many cars trying to find the right one for this. I drove everything from Hondas to Nissans, even a BMW. I had originally planned to do it in an MX5 due to them be low power, cheap and just great cars in general. I was test driving one with the top down, ignoring the fact that if I did do a track project there wouldn’t be any room for my camera stuff in the car, wind in my hair and having a blast going through the twisties with no power steering. I loved that car. I was so close to buying it. Then it started to rain, the top went up and I had to back off the corners because it was slippery and I didn’t want to trash a car that I hadn’t even bought. I realized I needed a practical car, a car your mum would drive, for this to be a realistic track project, the car had to be a little bit…lame.
You won’t have to choose the same car as me, but I want to choose a car that is readily available and more importantly, that hasn’t really been done. Skylines are amazing, I’ve owned two, but they’ve been done over and over. No one would find anything new in a Skyline track car, not to mention that cheap and unthrashed and not words that I would use to describe a Skyline.
If you find a more suitable car then by all means grab it! But for this project, for my project, I have chosen a Gen 4 Subaru Liberty sedan. Why? Honestly, because I wanted to challenge myself a little without making it hard. I wanted a car that is readily available, low chance of being thrashed by some P plater, safe, practical, cheap, manual, easy to work on and upgrade etc etc the list goes on.
It’s a good car. More importantly, you don’t see a lot of them being used for a track project – probably because they aren’t great for them but I guess we will find out in the coming months just what can be done – if a Ford Panel Van can be a track car (google it) or a Toyota Tarago can be a drift car, then I should be able to make something of it right? Riiiight? *waits for Subaru owners to reassure me*
…
I found an Hyper Rev (basically a style guide for modifying Japanese cars) dedicated to the Gen 4 Liberty/Legacy which made me think I’m on the right track (see what I did there?) and it’s on it’s way to me as we speak. I’m looking for a 2.0L slow as hell base model, like super basic. Not a GT, not a 2.5L, I’m talking the bottom spec one. Why? Because it’s going to be the lightest and the cheapest. I’d rather spend money on making the car better than the initial outlay.
You can pick them up pretty easily for around $5000 (less for the base model like I’ve found) or even cheaper for the 3rd/2nd Gen which are even lighter again and have the 2.5L engine ready to go. I’ve managed to find one for $3200 with some little things to fix and I’m pretty happy with that. Just waiting for a mechanic’s inspection on Thursday to confirm it’s all good, or good enough! If it turns out to be a good one I’ll post up another article about it.
In the mean time, before you call me crazy (I am though) have a look online at some photos! There’s a lot of really nice looking ones around and it doesn’t seem too hard to get them looking the part.
Otherwise I’ll see you in the next installment of The Realistic Budget Track/Daily Project! Hopefully with a shiny new 4th Gen Liberty.
If anyone has any ideas for me then get in touch! I would love to hear from you. You can comment below or get at me on twitter @pikalew
Wish me luck!
– L
