Should I change my Mx-5 Project Car into a Drift Car?
Long story short I have my daily Mk5 Golf (2004, 1.4L Petrol).
I also bought a 1997 NA Mazda Mx-5, 1.6L Petrol.
I paid €850 including delivery (not running).
I now have it running, but no insurance, tax or NCT (road worthiness test, legal requirement) so I can't put it on the road yet.
I bought it while in an apprenticeship so I had money coming in but I'm now going back to college and paying out of pocket (€3.8k this year and €3k for the next 2 years) so I won't be able to afford to run the car.
It's also in need of a respray, the passenger door has a scuff/crack and the passenger fender has been poorly sanded down.
I had planned on selling it, listed it for €1.4k, had 21 messages about it and a few offers (€1150 being the highest), so that made me rethink selling the car.
I can't afford to tax and insure it but I could potentially turn it into a drift car! Which is something I'm really interested in doing.
Not Tesco parking lot handbrake turns, but actually on a track.
I could pull it on my golf (legally), so I'd need to fit a tow hook, buy a car trailer (€700 or so), and then set the car up for drifting, it already has an LSD.
It's €700 for the trailer.
€200 something for a roll bar, and and a couple of hundred for a few other bits like (helmet, clothing, tyres etc).
This way I could mod the car more as I got some cash together, and when it got down to vintage years (4 years time), I'd be 25, working and it'd be on vintage tax - €56.
So it'd be cheaper to buy a trailer and kit the car out for drifiting than to get it insured, taxed and NCT'ed.
Is it worth doing?
What do you guys think?
I had thought of going down the route of selling and buying a BMW e36 or a Opel Omega but that would be too heavy (legally) for the Golf to tow.
I also bought a 1997 NA Mazda Mx-5, 1.6L Petrol.
I paid €850 including delivery (not running).
I now have it running, but no insurance, tax or NCT (road worthiness test, legal requirement) so I can't put it on the road yet.
I bought it while in an apprenticeship so I had money coming in but I'm now going back to college and paying out of pocket (€3.8k this year and €3k for the next 2 years) so I won't be able to afford to run the car.
It's also in need of a respray, the passenger door has a scuff/crack and the passenger fender has been poorly sanded down.
I had planned on selling it, listed it for €1.4k, had 21 messages about it and a few offers (€1150 being the highest), so that made me rethink selling the car.
I can't afford to tax and insure it but I could potentially turn it into a drift car! Which is something I'm really interested in doing.
Not Tesco parking lot handbrake turns, but actually on a track.
I could pull it on my golf (legally), so I'd need to fit a tow hook, buy a car trailer (€700 or so), and then set the car up for drifting, it already has an LSD.
It's €700 for the trailer.
€200 something for a roll bar, and and a couple of hundred for a few other bits like (helmet, clothing, tyres etc).
This way I could mod the car more as I got some cash together, and when it got down to vintage years (4 years time), I'd be 25, working and it'd be on vintage tax - €56.
So it'd be cheaper to buy a trailer and kit the car out for drifiting than to get it insured, taxed and NCT'ed.
Is it worth doing?
What do you guys think?
I had thought of going down the route of selling and buying a BMW e36 or a Opel Omega but that would be too heavy (legally) for the Golf to tow.
I suppose it'll just come down to how much you want to do it really :/
You can't afford to put the car on the road, you're not keen to sell it at the offers you've got, and it'll cost what, £1500 to rig it for drift? What fees/memberships does the track need? how often will you get the use of it?
You can't afford to put the car on the road, you're not keen to sell it at the offers you've got, and it'll cost what, £1500 to rig it for drift? What fees/memberships does the track need? how often will you get the use of it?
Original post by S47W4N
What is the mileage of the MX-5 and has the engine been maintained properly?
It's 169K Miles, the car was sitting for at least a year before I bought it.
Had some issues with a vacuum leak but it seems to be 100% now, it was idling low but not rough which is good.
I haven't changed out oil or petrol yet even, but the car has only been driven for a hundred or so yards to test the gears.
It's in surprisingly good nick overall, my friend rebuilt his mx-5 a while back and he couldn't believe how lucky I got.
Original post by StriderHort
I suppose it'll just come down to how much you want to do it really :/
You can't afford to put the car on the road, you're not keen to sell it at the offers you've got, and it'll cost what, £1500 to rig it for drift? What fees/memberships does the track need? how often will you get the use of it?
You can't afford to put the car on the road, you're not keen to sell it at the offers you've got, and it'll cost what, £1500 to rig it for drift? What fees/memberships does the track need? how often will you get the use of it?
I'm thinking of doing something major, I'm really tempted to fit a b13 rotary from an Rx8, but since the original engine is going so well I don't see the point.
I don't want to just keep the car in the garage for 3 years and not work on it.
So it'd cost around 1.5k to drift and most tracks around me are around €200 for a full day, some deals and stuff too.
I'd hope to use it every month or so and work on it in the mean time.
If I was engine swapping, turboing or whatever else it'd be off the road for a long time.
Original post by SeanLaurentParis
It's 169K Miles, the car was sitting for at least a year before I bought it.
Had some issues with a vacuum leak but it seems to be 100% now, it was idling low but not rough which is good.
I haven't changed out oil or petrol yet even, but the car has only been driven for a hundred or so yards to test the gears.
It's in surprisingly good nick overall, my friend rebuilt his mx-5 a while back and he couldn't believe how lucky I got.
Had some issues with a vacuum leak but it seems to be 100% now, it was idling low but not rough which is good.
I haven't changed out oil or petrol yet even, but the car has only been driven for a hundred or so yards to test the gears.
It's in surprisingly good nick overall, my friend rebuilt his mx-5 a while back and he couldn't believe how lucky I got.
Definetley too high of a mileage if you are to drift it. You would be pushing the car to constantly peak at redline and since that motor isn't in the best condition I would not recomend doing it unless you want a blown motor or bent valve
Original post by S47W4N
Definetley too high of a mileage if you are to drift it. You would be pushing the car to constantly peak at redline and since that motor isn't in the best condition I would not recomend doing it unless you want a blown motor or bent valve
A 'new' motor would probably cost me €200..
I'd also be interested in swapping it down the line, but for now the engine is running great.
Original post by SeanLaurentParis
A 'new' motor would probably cost me €200..
I'd also be interested in swapping it down the line, but for now the engine is running great.
I'd also be interested in swapping it down the line, but for now the engine is running great.
If its running great, keep it that way
Original post by SeanLaurentParis
I'm thinking of doing something major, I'm really tempted to fit a b13 rotary from an Rx8
Rotary's maybe not the best way to go if you're working to a budget...
What about setting up the car for trackdays instead of drifting? You've already got the LSD and an N/A 1.6 might be more bearable in a trackday instead of trying to hold a drift...
Original post by aaronK340
The LSD is alright but if you never drive on the road just weld the diff, fit some cheap ebay coilovers, nice steering wheel and maybe a bucket seat and have some fun
Don't weld the LSD. Buy a standard MX-5 diff, weld that, and sell the LSD for considerably more than you bought the standard diff for.
The LSDs are relatively sought-after. You'd be utterly stupid to weld up a decent LSD when everyone wants an LSD over the standard diff.
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