Hi all,
After doing 4 races in the 24 Hour of Lemons in the French Fried R21 and a couple of track days in my 306, I have been bitten by the racing bug... and bitten hard!
I have decided to retire the 306 from the road and start doing it up for racing.
Cage is easy, can get a kit from CHCH for $300 for a half cage all CNC bent and I can fit that easy as.
Seats and belts are pretty much the same.
The hard bit I'm finding is brakes and suspension.
I've been looking round on-line for spring and shock kits but there seems to be nothing local, it's all UK stuff and the freight is a bit of a killer. I'm wanting to go fully adjustable so I can dial in the camber.
Brakes is a little easier, I've already got a set of 283mm rotors and calipers I've fitted but trying to find a decent set of pads that aren't over $300 a set is difficult.
I grabbed some Roadhouse heavy duty pads which seem ok but the car lacks the stopping power that the R21 has on small rotors.
Once I get these sorted I can look at engine improvements.
The Car runs the 1.8 16v engine which has a few go faster goodies available but that will be once I'v got the most out of the rest of it.
Any ideas or advise would much appreciated.
Demon-tweaks will be your friend for performance parts, and shipping is pretty cheap 8)
You'll have a few options for pads if you stay with that 283mm setup.
Also if you're serious about racing then a half cage won't cut it. Do yourself a favour and find the local cage builder to do it properly - it's your main safety feature so don't skimp.
There's a fair few people racing 306s already, so there's no shortage of experience with making them go well.
Rear suspension is probably the biggest pain in the arse, because what you really need are proper large diameter hardened torsion bars. I got some for my Saxo from the UK, but they aren't cheap.
All the other suspension bits are easy enough to get. Demon Tweeks are good for most of them, including coil-overs for the front suspension (which is what you'll want if you want to start really dialling in the front geometry).
Decent brake pads are hard to get for a reasonable price in NZ. I've been getting my race pads through Demon Tweeks as well - I've used Ferodo DS2500 and DS3000 on the track without any issues, and they're under $200 per set, including freight (although pricier options may give better pedal feel and modulation).
I'd ditch the XU7. It was shit when it was new, and there's no point in giving away 200cc on an XU10! If you can find a GTi-6 engine and box, grab them. Are you considering stand-alone ECU etc?
Thanks guys, I'll have a good look at Demon-tweaks over the next week and make a wish list.
I'm going to run with the 1/2 cage to start with as the guys in CHCH can do the other half later on.
The cabin will get a full refit later on with the dash removed and a custom one fitted so I don't want to cut it up now to fit the cage.
The XU7 is to start with. I'll look at a GTI-6 motor and box once I have the basics sorted out.
This will be a medium - long term project with bits added as the budget allows.
I also have the R25 to get going and that looks like it going to need either a gearbox swap or rebuild and that ain't gonna be cheap.
Thanks again.