406 Track Tool

[turbolag]

In the new year, and once my house move is sorted, I'm looking to build a 406 track car, just for track day tomfoolery rather than any desire to compete, though who knows...?

It's gotta be a 406 - anyone who knows me'll know it's pugs all the way. I can't be arsed to buy a small pug and try and make it quicker, so better to buy a quick one and concentrate on making it handle. 405s too old now, 407s too expensive, so a 406 it'll be.

I'm thinking a late D8 2 litre, though I wouldn't rule out a V6 or even a coop. I'll have up to a grand for the car, and about £4k for prep. I'll do all the work myself.

I reckon 2 litre, so headwork and cams, decent suspension, 17s (I prefer the more progressive breakaway on smaller rims), uprated discs and pads, stripped, prepped, caged, polycarbed side windows, as many fibreglass panels as can be sourced (probably not many!), all the fuel lines and brake pipes properly bulkheaded, fuel cell in the cabin for safety & weight distribution, that kind of thing. If I get a good spec one or a coop i can recoup some money selling the interior etc.

Anyone else done this, or have any ideas?

[406silverhdi]

madness, you will have much more fun with something small like a citroen saxo vts

[Welly]

Buy a 306 GTi6 and, one you've fixed the gearbox , strip it out, great big brakes, decent sussy, decent weels/tyres etc etc....

[Doggy]

Small, (or at least light), is the way to go.

The god of motor racing is definetly on the side of the big budgets...

[turbolag]

I've had 6 x 306s (1 x S16, 1 x HDi Dturbo, 4 x Dturbos) and they're veritable ditch magnets with the way the rear unloads and steepens the geometry. Plus even old snotboxes go for stupid money - i saw an S16 the other day, a bit frayed, for £900. How can they justify that for a ropey 14 year old hatch?

Conversely, £500 and some perserverence should get me a solid and usable 2 litre D8.

I'm a little bit big for these puny Paxos and other shopping hatches, especially by the time a compo Recaro and a cage has been installed. I'm not quite so worried about the ultimate performance, i'm up for the challenge of turning something rather unsuited into a halfway decent track tool as much as anything, and if it turns out looking a bit like a 90's 406 touring car contender, then so much the better ;)

[Welly]

Why not squeeze a 306 2.0 16valve engine and box into the D8? 167 BHP

[mjb]

406 V6, strip it, cage it, get a few new manifolds made up and bung in a pair of nice big turbos

[CountryPug]

Would personally love to see this, as long as your not aiming for something ultra competitive i think you could have alot of fun. It'd definately be different. I would probably stay clear of the V6 as it makes the car heavy at the front end, it would probably take some of the driving enjoyment out of the car if your looking for cornering fun

The 97' btcc colour sheme would rock!

[munfred]

There may be a French Car Sprint series starting next year. (still in planning at the moment) Seems reasonable, so maybe something to plan for in the long run?!? I may be taking part once it has been set up and I know the details.

You dont tend to see many 406's at track days, (or at least I havent seen any) so would be good to see one and what one can do.
I do quite a few track days in the saxo, and have done for the past 3 years. (on my 3rd engine now ) your welcome to pop along to one if you want to 1. passenger or 2. have a go to see what its like. Where abouts in the country are you?

Personally if you wanted to stay french and didnt want to go with a 406 route I would be tempted to go for a 205 1.9GTi or 205 Mi6 conversion. I wouldn't really go for the 1.6gti though as my little 1.4 saxo can quite easily out do them on the corners and on the straights.
I have friends who have sold their saxo's/106's and moved onto 306 Gti6/rallye/S16, and all but 1 reverted back to saxo's/106's as the 306 just wasnt that great other than the extra power. I do know someone who is still trying to sell their S16 though if you are interested

TBH if you have £1k for the car and £4k for the prep there is loads you can do to any french motor, and if you are going to do most of it yourself then I probably would be tempted to go with the 406 option and see what things your can really get it to do.
My 1st engine and suspension transplant on the saxo (which included labour and parts) only cost me about half of your budget....All great fun when you have a car that is cheap as chips, but can put some much more expensive track toys to shame.

[mjb]

I would probably stay clear of the V6 as it makes the car heavy at the front end, it would probably take some of the driving enjoyment out of the car if your looking for cornering fun

Pffft! The options are 2.2SRi (too rare), 2.0T and the V6. Get the V6 over 4-5000rpm in a corner and it's very easy to flick it into some lift-off oversteer fun *cough* The tubby's good, but the uneven power delivery of forced air induction isn't really suited to track use and it'd be a lot of work to get the power up and throttle response time down. The extra 100kg of the V6 is a lot, granted, but there's a lot of weight that can be removed to compensate and tbh it's a much more fun car to drive. Not to mention the sound when you get over the other side of the rev counter... electrifying! ;)

Strip it down (there's a hell of a lot that can go on 406s) and it'll go like stink. Improve the airflow through the engine (why the hell does the stock intake need to have 5 million bends in it???) and it'll fly. Fit drastically lower/stiffer springs, low profile rubber and it'll handle like a demon too...

[munfred]

Lower suspension and lower profile tyres doesnt necessarily improve handling....
I would imagine there is loads you could take out from a 406 to make it lighter.
I was able to get rid of nearly 100kg from the saxo without needing to cut anything and I still have the dash in. I reckon you could easily get between 150-200kg out from a 406 easy. Dump the air con unit and Im sure it will be closer to 200kg.

[steve_earwig]

The heaviest thing that you could remove is the driver. No, hold on...

By the way you racing type adranalin junkies, has anyone ever thought about adding a hydraulic handbrake to a 406?

[munfred]

Radio controlled 406....................Now theres a good idea for a project!!!