Daily with occasional track use setup ideas

After experienced track drivers' thoughts please.
After driving my better half's Puma, I have decided to get rid of my ST24 and get a 1.7 for myself, I'm fed up with being on first name terms with all the local petrol stations!
I will be using it as my daily commute and be tracking it about 6/8 times a year.
The mods I have in my head for track use are as follows. If anybody wants to advise any differently then their input is welcome.
Fiesta ST calipers with Brembo discs and DS2500 pads.
Lowering springs and maybe uprated adjustable dampers to follow in near future(Koni/Spax or similar) not coilies as it's a 38 year old's daily drive first and foremost.

Questions:
What tyres do most track drivers use - I'm not after semi slicks 888s etc. It's a budget track car and I haven't got the space for many spares, as much as possible I'm looking at arriving and driving.

If I change to the ST calipers and upgrade to braided brake lines, do I get Puma or ST ones, is there a difference?

Any other BUDGET ideas please.
I'm not looking at a complete track car so no stripping is planned YET but you never know.

Thanks,
Adam

not sure about the reference to coilovers and your age?

ride quality will be no worse then normal lowering springs and dampers, and you will have a better setup, if you are worried about height again that can be adjusted

All sounds reasonable, my one word of caution would be to ensure you get the sliders at the same time you get the calipers, some sellers particularly refurb and exchange places will expect you to use your old slider which of course is unsuitable if you are going larger at the exchange.

Also - the ride should be better on uprated dampers because they're working in the right position - lowered springs on standard dampers can cause you problems with them working in the wrong portion of the damper assembly and also bottoming out in extreme cases.

IMO my wife's is pretty firm so going to coilovers would make it too hard for commuting. Probably been spoilt with the ST. thanks for the heads up on the sliders.
Anyone help on the brakelines please?

madgit said:

If I change to the ST calipers and upgrade to braided brake lines, do I get Puma or ST ones, is there a difference?

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I have Fiesta ST150 brakes on my Puma and using HEL (Puma) braided hoses, although the car is lowered with Eibach -30mm springs.
HEL list part number FOR-4-419 for Puma and FOR-4-217 for Fiesta ST150. You would need to contact them for any possible differences.

Thanks for that Rick

I would seriosly consider a weight reduction excercise fo track day use though, do you really need the aircon, do you need the spare wheel, do you need the back seats on the day of tracking it...toyo are good tyres for road and track...

i personally think that lowering the rear would be great, widening the track with spacers on the chassis beam a good idea and 20 to 30 mm spacers on the front wheels should aid cornering a tad...

all of which will not reduce the cars effectiveness on the daily commute..

Pumas are without any doubt in my mind one of fords best cars ever...

Agree and disagree to an extent with what you've put Paul. Without sounding funny because I don't mean to be and I appreciate your input and I like the spacers and tyre thoughts thanks but I don't get why people go to the effort of weight reduction for daily/track day cars. Fully blown racing cars and dedicated track cars I totally understand but with what you could sensibly take out (back seats and spare etc) might gain you about a second at a guess not that you'd notice and of course officially no timing is allowed anyway and save a tiny bit of fuel and realistically you totally alter the balance of the car which when totally stripped you should have the car corner weighted to reinstate the balance. Basically I'm just saying it seems to me to be a load of hassle for a couple of hours driving on track. I really just want to turn up and give it some and enjoy it at the moment. As and when funds allow maybe I will make it a total track slag and strip it to bits and look at the power a bit but for now it's about cheap as possible fun which is why really only brakes and tyres are my concern.
Maybe I'm just getting old lol.

I would agree, you don't need to go crazy if that isn't the car's main purpose. And that is coming from someone with plastic windows and no inner doors. What you could do to keep it a road car wouldn't contribute all that much to your time on track.

Its an easy way to get the car faster, but you need a cumulative effort to make it worthwhile, ie. lots of minor stuff, which is too high a price to pay if you need it comfortable for the other 360 days per year.

Plus removing air con isn't cheap - you need parts from a non-air con car to complete the job, spare wheel weight is in the wrong place to lose it etc. etc., tyres and brakes are your biggest thing. That and ensuring the car is healthy, ie. fluids, bearings, bushes, even if that is only to ensure you don't waste your track time with a low oil, noisy bearings, wobbles etc.

I'd just leave it standard it will be plenty good enough

I would do:
- brakes (maybe you can get away with just track pads)
- decent tyres
- strut braces
- suspension

But other than that theres not much else that will make much difference on a budget, and the biggest and most noticable difference is in the brakes and tyres IMO.

Thanks for all the input everybody. Just got to find a relatively tidy one now.

here what you say madgit just a suggestion, not an order...if your not into weight reduction your not. easiest few mph and seconds you will gain are through weight loss....and that is a lot of meters on the track...other things will take more effort, changing the brakes...

No I get where you're coming from but it's the bends that I get the buzz from and to spend an afternoon stripping it to bits is a bit extreme for me but fair play if that's your thing. Plus I'll probably have the missus next to me screaming to slow down anyway at first lol.

madgit said:

Thanks for all the input everybody. Just got to find a relatively tidy one now.

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Buy mine :lol:

Talk to me lol.

Thread is in 1.7 for sale, cat C so you need to be happy with that but its the cheapest Puma in the world, give me a call and you can haggle me down to £500 and get free bits when you come over to collect :lol:

Very tempting mate, I'll have a think as you're a bit far and not 100% on cat c and door. If it was just track then I'd have it but I'll bear it in mind cheers.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/Cars-/9801/i.html?&_nkw=2000+puma+red&_catref=1&clk_rvr_id=306954375836" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

What you doing with your spare grand that you saved :lol:

Grand? Go to bed have you seen the time! Enjoy not having the wife bending my ear mate! Is it ok? Is it safe blablabla lol.