Hi Guys,
I need people's thoughts on which of my Speed Red coupes to put on the track please.

I've got an OMP cage just waiting to go in to one of them but I just can't decide??

The 16vt is in fantastic condition with very low miles.
CONS: It does have a sunroof which would need some work removing/plating if the cage was fitted.

The LE is again in good condition with FSH (but not as good as the 16vt which is really very good).
CONS: It is obviously an LE which I would make mint if I kept it for the road. I know Sparco has already converted his LE - and made a fantastic job of it too.

Help I can't decide and other people's opinions would be very useful!

I can't give you much advice on which car to put the cage into, but can tell you that it isn't an easy job to fit. You will probably find that the cage doesn't line up with the bolt holes all that well, and what i had to do, was end up taking the nuts off and welding the plates in, followed about the cage being welded on top. I do have pictures of doing the install if you're interested, oh and the dashboard needs to come out too.

Hi Begbie,
Any help on the cage front would be very much appreciated thanks.

The dash side of things is worrying me a little I have to say!

Easy - keep the mint 16vt as the makers intended

Sell the LE to someone who want to preserve it

Buy a slightly shabby but mechanically sound 20VT to put on the track and spend the extra cash from the LE on making it stop and corner better

job done

Hi Nigel,
I like your thought process and it does make a lot of sense.

I should however of mentioned in the original post that both cars mean quite a lot to me.

I've had the 16vt for 6 years now and have ALWAYS wanted a Speed Red LE as I think it's the best looking Coupe produced bar non - This is obviously only my opinion.

I'd therefore really like to keep both of them.

I should also have mentioned that the car will still be road legal (but with an obvious track bias - Cage, stipped interior, Sparco seats and belts, coilovers and uprated brakes) and will only run a maximum of 300 bhp.

I'm not really sure if my 300 bhp target makes one of them a better bet from a tuning perspective?

I think Nigel is right and I think you're bonkers if you use either as a track car.

In fact, there ought be a law

(Oooh, I've been desperate to do a post where I can use that smilie)

I suggest that you keep the two cars as they are,they both deserve not to be raced imo.
I am sure you can pick up another for cheap money and race prepare it.It seems that you know you,re way around any coop to do this. Good luck.

if i had the pick of things, i probably wouldnt use a coupe for a track car, im not saying there bad at it, infact there quite reasonable...but there are better track cars for the money

sell the LE to some one who will restore it, and get ur self something that may not need quite as much attention after a track day as a coupe will

Thanks for all the replys guys, it's much appreciated.

AlanW - I love that smilie - nice find.

Buy that red le that has been half stripped (most of the le bits gone) which is for sale on here and put your cage in it. The seats are already gone so that saves you a job.

I've got a 16vt around the £1300 mark. Its had lots of work done, its lowered, got new rear shocks, four new tyres, new exhaust, new rear discs, pads and overhauled calipers. Comes with 2 ecus, chip (Not fitted)Leather (Which you can sell) a pipecross induction kit. 75,000 miles. also has a private plate (Makes you go faster!) and lots of history. I have a brand new Valeo fast road clutch to go in. Its also has two very good suspension arms and shock mounts that will go with it. The car also has replica LE skirts. I was going to get it resprayed (It has been done but not particularly well) Ideal for a track car. Tax until end of May, MOT till end of Nov.

I've also got a 20VT that would probably make a good track car. Cheap as well, see my old for sale ad on the forum

Stevo - I thought long and hard about that particular LE and nearly caved in to temptation. I have to be realistic and stop buying cars - I've got 6 at the moment - I know, way too many and I'm really struggling with storage space.

Goonv8 / benje - Your cars sound and look really nice but unfortunately as mentioned above I really need to stop buying cars and focus on the ones I've already got. Thanks for the posts though and good luck with selling your cars.

TBH - if you butcher an LE (which you WILL have to do to fit a cage) you are committing sacrilege to an LE - Coupes are already rare enough without defacing the rarest version.

If you already have six cars, you clearly have four non-Coupes, so just get rid of one of the other cars and buy a basic non-aircon non-sunroof 20VT and track that. In fact, seeing as you'd then also own the two good road Coupes, you could REALLY go to town on the track car and strip it right out, fit hard suspension, etc etc

You know it makes sense

You've always wanted the LE, so keep that.
Sell the 16vt, sob a little for losing such an emotional attachement, and once over that buy an MR2 Turbo. Much lighter, more fun as a track car. I'd imagine.

Don't butcher the 16vt, there aren't many around!

I understand and appreciate all of your comments about keeping both cars as they are and now I'm even more confused as to what to do!

I really fancied taking one of my Coops to track days on a regular basis hence the dilemma - I've rolled a car before and wouldn't go on a track day without a cage now.

What do people think to a half way house - I could just use the rear section of the cage which would require far less butchering of the car and still give some additional protection and chassis rigidity?

Begbie - Do you think that my sunroof could be kept if I just use the rear section of the cage please?
Also, could I adapt the rear seats in any way to fit around the rear section of the cage in your opinion? I'm pretty sure that this is not possible but you'll know far better than me.

Thanks all.

Don't do it for gods sake... please. Just buy a shi**er, rip, tear, destroy and thrash the hell out of that. While your at it sell your 2 other track cars because nobody needs 3 track cars!

Jube.On this forum you will allways find that we all want you to preserve the nice coops you have.And i think you know enough about the coop scene to race another coop .Than the two nice examples you have allready.

Think we need some pics of these nice examples. That will be surely the last of the butching days, on here certainly

Unless you are doing competitive racing then why do you need a cage?

To get a coupe in good enough condition for track use reliably you will need to spend a lot IMO...particularly if you want 300bhp from one.

Thanks everyone for your replys and point taken on not modifying two nice example cars.

Suba - I've rolled a car before and still have the scar to prove it, so i really don't like taking cars on the track without a cage.

I do realise that 300 bhp will cost a lot but I intended to do the engine work in stages (240-250 bhp being relatively easy and cheap to achieve without a turbo swap) and concentrate initially on the handling and braking.

fair enough - a good approach to take then.

You are correct about the cage, Dont think I'd even want to be on a track in a car without a cage.

Keep the LE as is, and convert the 16vt.

Rich

If you use the rear half, you're going to need to chop down the bits by the B pillar, where you get the front section joining to it. You wouldn't be able to keep the rear seats, as you would need to chop them from where the rear joins to the wheel arch. Not sure about the sunroof, you should be okay if it was just the rear.



A cage also sorts the handling out, as the car becomes a lot more rigid. So much so, that jacking the front side up, results in the rear lifting too

Jube, to give you an idea on what is involved with the cage fitting, take a look at these

Cheers Begbie,
That's fantastic thank you.