Not sure what to do

jamesfuller191 · 1 Oct 2013, 19:55 (Ref:3311630)

Hi everybody, I've just joined the forum to chat with like minded people.

I have just bought a 98 Fiat Seicento Sporting (yes its yellow)
And I'm looking for some ideas.
I don't need to use the car often but want to keep it road legal.
I chose this car as its a lot of fun to drive and the whole point for me is to have fun as I cant really afford to go crazy.

I intend to keep the car virtually standard, just rebuild the brakes with decent branded stuff and braided hoses then run the pipes inside the car.
Maybe some new shocks as they are probably tired by now!
A sump guard and a tidy up of any vulnerable parts underneath.

I intend to enter some 12car and road rally events with the car.

My question really is what else could I get into cheaply?
I dont mind fitting a cage and seats etc but costs would mean only out of date stuff!

McMuttley · 1 Oct 2013, 22:29 (Ref:3311687)

Would something like MSV's Trackday Trophy be suitable?

midgetman · 2 Oct 2013, 07:30 (Ref:3311778)

I think racing is a bit like pregnancy - it's all or nothing! I think the days of racing a car you've driven there and intend to drive tomorrow are gone although there will always be someone here to prove me wrong. But reading your post you want to keep the car more useable than the average race car needs to be to get competitive.

You could try hill climbs and sprints. Very little needed in the way of car mods, and at club level the driver makes a huge difference. Alongside your 12 cars you will have a great grounding in this sport and will have a huge amount of fun. Speed events are good training for racing as there are no speed limits unlike the road rally stuff! So if you want to go fast, or at least feel you're going really fast up someone's single track drive, then they are well worth a look.

HTH

jamesfuller191 · 2 Oct 2013, 20:29 (Ref:3311972)

Thankyou McMuttley and midget man for your advise.

I will look into MSV TT

Sprinting and hill climbing sound good too!

I doubt I will ever be competitive, but will have a lot of fun trying. I'm not bothered about practicality or drivability as the car isnt a daily. I want to learn to get the best out of what I have before I spend mad money modifying it, just safety and reliabilty mods for now and then I will probably be better of spending on a ready built/prepared car in the future I reckon.

Once again thanks for the advice, I have lots of ideas wizzing around my head now

midgetman · 3 Oct 2013, 07:00 (Ref:3312135)

Where do you live James?

jamesfuller191 · 4 Oct 2013, 22:12 (Ref:3312937)

I'm in bedfordshire. My previous 12car and road rallying was with the Kettering and district car club as I knew a member before I joined.

I don't mind traveling for 2-3 hours to get to an event.

midgetman · 7 Oct 2013, 11:18 (Ref:3314056)

Not so many classic hill climb venues near you then. There certainly used to be some sprints, Wethersfield comes to mind. Many of the good hills are west Cotswolds, I can't think of too many in your area but I expect someone here can correct me.

It's a great grounding. When I started racing I was always in the top half of the field for the first half lap because I was used to being "on it" from the green, I didn't play myself in. It fell apart in the second lap though