Best cheap track cars – affordable performance cars for your track day fix
We pick the most affordable routes to big circuit driving fun with our best cheap track day cars
Trackday season is well and truly underway in 2025 and now more than ever the freedom to let loose on a circuit is appreciated by enthusiasts. As our road network continues to crumble beneath our wheels (and be strangled by sweeping regulations), trackdays look more and more like a safe haven for us. But not all have the budget for a dedicated track car, nor the well-stocked, dehumidified garage in which to store it. So now seems like a good time to take a look at what cheap track cars are out there for the budget-conscious enthusiast to enjoy.
Affordability is key, obviously but so is durability – you pay to look after a car after you buy it, after all. Good parts supply and ubiquity are also important, ensuring that turning your road car into something that will be fun, reliable and safe on track is as easy as possible.
Our list of the best cheap trackday cars comprises open-topped sports cars, hot hatchbacks and powerful coupes, plus a rally-bred saloon - something, potentially, for everyone. While affordability is the order of the day, our selections do come pre-loaded with a bit of enthusiast focus or performance pretence. We’re not quite scraping the barrel of Micras with cages and bucket seats yet but obviously, if needs must, a basic hatchback with some choice mods will work for some.
Best cheap trackday cars
- Ford Fiesta ST
- Mazda MX-5
- Renault Sport Clio
- BMW Z4 Coupe
- Mazda RX-8
- Mini Cooper S
- Renault Sport Megané
- Honda Civic Type R FN2
- Honda S2000
- Nissan 350Z
- Toyota GT86
- Porsche Boxster
Ford Fiesta ST (Mk7)
Prices from £4k
Look out for: Dodgy engine maps
If the Mk6 Fiesta ST played second fiddle to the Renault Sport Clio of its day, the Mk7 Fiesta ST positively dominated the small hot hatch market, as Renault effectively went to sleep with the Mk4 Clio. Here was a car that sold like hotcakes and deservedly so, because it was fantastic to drive and stout enough to take a good drubbing, whether from ham-fisted motoring journalists or boy racers with mechanical sympathy to rival the heat resistance properties of a chocolate fireguard.
> Read our Mk7 Ford Fiesta ST review
Because they sold well there are plenty of them, and because there are plenty of them (and that they’re quite old), they’re now pretty cheap. The top-spec runout ST200 model is the best obviously but commands a premium. You can actually get an earlier car with a few miles on the clock for less than £5k. One of these is just a set of decent tyres and heat-resistant pads away from being a Porsche-bothering pocket rocket on track.
There are plenty of upgrades to be explored too with Ford fettlers Mountune offering everything from a basic remap to total engine overhaul work. Either way the Fiesta is happy to go from sub-180bhp to over 200bhp at very little cost. It’s worth splashing out on some polybushing too, especially for the engine mounts. The 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine is generally considered to be made of sturdy stuff, though earlier cars could crack their heads due to overheating. You don’t want a car that’s had a dodgy engine map all its life either – pop and bang maps aren’t just irritating to everyone within earshot, they can potentially shorten the lifespan of an engine too. Be sure your chosen example has decent clutch feel and of course, as much evidence it’s been serviced and looked after as possible.
Mazda MX-5 (NA/NB/NC)
Look out for: Rust
Prices from £2k
You can’t compile a list of cheap trackday cars without the Mazda MX-5. No, they’re not particularly quick in a straight line, but they do have great balance in the corners and they’re light enough not to shred through a set of tyres and steam through pads and discs every time you take them out on track. In fact, their reliability gives you the confidence to drive flat out trackday after trackday and they'll rarely suffer any ill effects.
> Performance Link Mazda MX-5 R300 review – an MX-5 with Honda VTEC power
Mk1s have always been popular but we’d actually be tempted by a Mk2 - the 1.8 models are more powerful (particularly later cars with variable valve timing) and Mazda implemented a few structural improvements over the earlier cars. Plus, Mk2s are often cheaper than Mk1s these days.
Best of all, if you have around £5k to spare, would be a Mk3 - they’re not quite as interactive as the first two generations and early models were a little unpredictable in cornering (easily fixed with the many suspension upgrades available) but they’re even quicker out of the box and just as reliable. Save some cash for tyres and brakes and buy one that isn’t too rusty, and you’ll worry plenty of faster machinery.
Renault Sport Clio 172/182/197/200
Prices from £3k
Look out for: Belts, electrics, crunchy gearbox
While some Renault Sport Clios have always been better than others, all are a fantastic basis for a fun front-drive track day car. There are plenty of points in their favour: Cheap, plentiful, lightweight, powerful, simple to fix, and upgrade parts pretty much grow on trees thanks to the hot Clio's popularity as a track car. They’re much like a front-drive alternative to the MX-5 in fact, though realistically you’d have to spend a lot more on the Mazda to make it go as fast as the Clio will with just a few simple tweaks.
Early cars are getting thin on the ground so you’ll most likely be looking at one of the facelifted models. The 172 Cup was a popular basis back in the day - it featured fewer toys and cheaper trim in the expectation that people would modify it anyway - but 182 Cups are even more plentiful.
> Renaultsport Clio 182 buying guide
Don’t discount the Clio 197s and 200s based on the third-generation car either - they’re a bit more expensive, but seriously capable on track. Due to their increasing rarity, 172s and 182s have risen in value from their bargain basement days, to the point that their prices now overlap with 197s and 200s but you can still get a decent example for £3000.
What all these Clios share is their engine and capricious belt-based timing system. These need to be changed at regular time and mileage intervals, with belt failure often resulting in an engine block good only as a decorative coffee table. Be sure to get them done at specialists too, as timing them up requires special tools. Another failure point, more so on the 197s and 200s, is the gearbox. Have a good feel for crunching as this is the mark of a ‘box that won’t last for much longer. The electrics can be iffy too.
BMW Z4 Coupe
Prices from £4k
Look out for: rust
We once featured an E46 BMW 3-series on this list, and rightly so too. Rear-driven with a range of six-cylinder engines and great chassis balance, it’s almost a no-brainer. Evidently, as these attributes inform its popularity as a drift car and subsequently, their rarity in 2025. A worthy alternative?
The consistently slept-on Z4 Coupe, which isn’t such a famed drift hack and can still be procured for under £5k in non-M form. They weren’t perfect road cars, often dismissed as being too stiff and snappy, but as a track car? There’s real potential in this platform. Decent tyres and brakes on a Z4 Coupe would make it a properly commendable circuit hack, we’d wager.
Issues? Well there’s always the six-cylinder engine that needs looking after and as with the 3-series, it’s worth keeping a close eye out for rust. Being a BMW – and a rarer one at that – parts and the services of reputable specialists will be a bit pricier than for your average hot hatch, too. The range of aftermarket modifications isn’t so expansive as for the ubiquitous saloon either.
Mazda RX-8
Prices from £2k
Look out for: Oil consumption/smoky exhaust
Yet another front-engined, rear-drive Japanese car to consider, but not without good reason. First, RX-8s are really, really cheap right now - even the best struggle to scrape beyond £5k and the cheapest begin at under two grand or so. While that’s down to a reputation for mechanical frailty, it means you can get a car that’s been looked after with meticulous attention for less than ropey examples of some of the cars above.
Service history is more critical than on any other car here (look for plenty of oil changes and a compression test) but the rewards may well be worth it. RX-8s are light on torque but high on refinement, and on a trackday you’ll spend most of your time at high revs in any case. Many owners swear by giving the “Renesis” engine regular thrashings to keep it healthy. Throttle response is sharp, the gearbox precise and the chassis is much like that of the Mk3 MX-5.
Mini Cooper S (R53)
Prices from £3k
Look out for: Rust, tensioners, oil consumption
A neat alternative to the Renault Sport Clios, Minis have many of the same benefits, namely great parts backup and a plentiful supply of inexpensive cars. The R53-generation models were supercharged, giving them a little more character than later R56 turbocharged cars - the supercharger whine is always audible - and they still have a decent turn of pace.
Those early Minis have nicer steering than those that have come since too, great for sniffing out apexes, and there are plenty of companies offering to tweak supercharger pulleys and improve the breathing if you’re after a little more power - though the usual combination of better tyres, uprated brakes and some choice interior parts removal will be more immediately beneficial on track.
£3k-plus should get one that isn’t too ropey and £5k is enough for a low-mileage, well looked-after example.
These Minis can suffer with oil leaks and have been known for issues with tensioners on the timing chain and serpentine belt. Water pumps are also a known failure point. On top of all this, check your chosen example isn’t showing any signs of tinworm. These cars can and do rust.
Renault Sport Megane 225/R26/250
Prices from £4k
Look out for: Belts, electrics
The Clio might be the most affordable Renault Sport-badged way of getting on track, but the Megane will have you mixing it with much quicker machinery a lot sooner. It’s easy to get wrapped up in thoughts of R26Rs with their bucket seats and roll cages but the regular R26 and even the Megane 225 that preceded it are inexpensive but highly accomplished machines in which to hone your skills on track.
The 225 didn’t get the greatest reception on its debut, but the fundamentals are there and prices start at under £3000. You get 225PS - or 222bhp - and a compact platform ripe for modification, with everything from uprated suspension to remaps available to take you a little closer to the excitement of the later cars. Even better to start with one of the Trophy or Cup models, which had revised steering and chassis tweaks.
> Renault Sport Mégane R26.R (2008 - 2009) review – Dieppe's finest hour
The R26 goes one better with a standard limited-slip differential. The Mk3 Megané 250 takes the R26’s talents to the next level and is now within range of affordability, with prices starting from around £7k. Go for one with a comprehensive service history and make sure it’s had the 72,000-mile cambelt change.
Honda Civic Type R (FN2)
Prices from £4k
Look out for: oil consumption, chain rattle, rust
There was a time when the EP3 Honda Civic Type R was all the cheap track car you could ever need. Now attrition and the fact it’s a popular one-maker racer mean they’re rare and expensive. So where is one to look? Why, the much-maligned FN2 Civic Type R of course. No, it doesn’t have the EP3’s sophisticated rear suspension.
No, it doesn’t have much torque to play with. But here is a hot hatch that thrives in its last thousand revs before the redline, with one of the most satisfying gear shifts in motoring and a chassis that responds well to proper tyre, suspension and brake setups, with good aftermarket support. In other words, it’s a boon as a cheap track car.
> Used Honda Civic Type R (FN2, 2007 - 2011) review and specs
Issues? They can rust, aft the windscreen on the roof and in the rear sub assembly. The engines are generally bombproof but can have an appetite for oil. Check for rattly stretched chains, too. A weird one but bear in mind, even the mildest of exhaust upgrades can make these naturally-aspirated screamers too loud for some tracks. If you get a good one (they’re out there for around £4k), it’ll scream at 8000rpm on track all day long with no complaints.
Honda S2000
Prices from £8k
Look out for
Think of the Honda S2000 as an MX-5-evolved. They’re a little more complex, both visually and mechanically, but that gets you a more serious machine as a result. It’s got one of the all-time great four-cylinder engines (not something that can be said of Mazda’s hardy but relatively unsophisticated units) and a gearbox to match (that trait is shared with the Mazda).
Like many of the cars on this list, tuning parts aren’t difficult to come by. A set of wheels, tyres and perhaps a suspension tweak or two should erase an earlier S2000’s slightly tail-happy tendencies (though fixing the slightly numb steering will be more difficult), but this is another car you can drive hard all day and expect it to carry you home without a whisper afterwards. Like the Type R, they can have an appetite for oil and can develop slightly baggy timing chains, though only the ropiest cars will suffer from this. There’s potential for rust too.
S2000s are inexorably creeping upward in price - Honda’s inaction on replacing its iconic sports car and the relentless push towards turbocharging means a car like the S2000 has never appealed more - but you’ll pay as little as £8k for one right now, rising to significantly more than £14k for the very best.
Nissan 350Z
Prices from £5k
Look out for: Rust, water pump
Nissan’s brawny V6-engined coupes will never be cheaper, so now is a good opportunity to get hold of one and enjoy muscle car-like power (well, 276bhp in early cars - still more than anything else here) with balanced front-engined, rear-drive handling. Good reliability too and strong parts availability, with big tuning scenes in the United States and Japan particularly providing everything from subtle tweaks to insane power upgrades.
Buy wisely and there’s little here of real concern, with solid engines and transmissions on looked-after cars. At nearly 1500kg the 350Z is carrying around a fair bit of weight so a brake upgrade wouldn’t go amiss, and suspension bushes take some punishment too so consider poly bushes as an upgrade. Prices begin at under £5k and if you stretch to £10k then the newer 370Z comes within reach.
Toyota GT86
Prices from £10k
Look out for: Accident damage, lumpy idle, valve spring issues
Now coming into the affordable sports car (and therefore affordable track car) fold is the Toyota GT86. At 13 years old, the prices are becoming palatable, with reasonable examples available from £10k. They’re a curious car, famed for and designed to have the opposite of high limits and pace but the aftermarket support for them is such that a standard car really is just a blank canvas for you to create any kind of car you want.
There are advantages to the meagre standard appointment of the 86, though. Cheap tyres, cheap brakes, cheap servicing. In terms of issues, they can develop notchy gearchanges (some would argue they were like that from new) and the engines have been known for overheating issues. Being a flat-four, you don’t want to tempt headgasket fate, so supporting upgrades for serious track work are advised. Being billed as a starter drift car even by its makers from new, look out for accident damage, too…
Porsche Boxster (986)
Prices from: £5k
Look out for: IMS bearing, bore scoring, electrical issues
Ah, the bravest entry on this list. One of two approaches must be taken by the individual entertaining the idea of a cheap Boxster, as a road car or a track car. Either you run it until it blows, or you get it sorted. So pervasive are the issues with the engine IMS bearing and its propensity to scratch up its own cylinder bores. The other option of course is to buy one that’s been done, in which case you’ll be paying significantly more.
The rewards for persistence and gritting your teeth on getting a Boxster sorted are well-known, though. Because, well, it’s a Boxster. It’s a beautifully-balanced, singing six-cylinder mid-engined sports car. Like most (proper) Porsches, it’s a few choice mods – tyres and brakes – away from being a properly satisfying track hack. Get a sorted one (or get one sorted) and it’ll be dependable too. Really baggy cars are around from £3k. Nicer examples are £5k and up.
