Any suggestions on what to buy for a hillclimber??

[murfy49]

I am currently looking to purchase a relatively cheap car to use as a hillclimb car but im not really sure what to get. Is an early golf any good for this or would i better off looking for a cheap jap car? I would rather the golf but is it worth it money wise?

[Mischa]

I am currently looking to purchase a relatively cheap car to use as a hillclimb car but im not really sure what to get. Is an early golf any good for this or would i better off looking for a cheap jap car? I would rather the golf but is it worth it money wise?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8ti5G4jFSo

my uni builds one of these every year. costs around 20000.

[Jarred]

mk 1 would be ideal. Its small and light, has a pretty damn good chassis as standard, let alone with a cage etc.

There are plenty of upgrades availiable too, in terms of power, drivetrain, chassis etc etc..

THere is even an ex-race/rally car for sale atm on this very forum, no eng or g/box though. search for "gunter"

Really depends on how much you want to spend. You could be up and going for 5 grand on the cheap, but much better to spend 10K and have some nice stuff imo, that would be just the beginning though..!

[RhysQ]

an MG Metro 6R4.....the ultimate hillclimber.

6 Cylinder, Rear Engine, 4 Wheel Drive.

This 410bhp beast pulls a 0-100 time in just 3.2 sec and rides on rails.

check out some vids on youtube.



may be a little hard to find one on the market though and i don't think they are too cheap.

if you are not too concerned about it being a dub i would be jumping into a Mazda Familia 4x4 turbo or a Pulsar GTi-R. you can pick one up pretty cheap these days and they go like the clappers.

[Golf Houso]

an MG Metro 6R4.....the ultimate hillclimber.

6 Cylinder, Rear Engine, 4 Wheel Drive.

This 410bhp beast pulls a 0-100 time in just 3.2 sec and rides on rails.

check out some vids on youtube.

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may be a little hard to find one on the market though and i don't think they are too cheap.

if you are not too concerned about it being a dub i would be jumping into a Mazda Familia 4x4 turbo or a Pulsar GTi-R. you can pick one up pretty cheap these days and they go like the clappers.

X2 on the gti-r and the familia, or you could just go mainstream and do the subies and evo's they would be alot more manageable with parts and labour I'd imagine.

[static1800]

All depends on the budget you have, a mk1 would be a good cheap way to start or even a mk2. It would also depend on what class and what restrictions you would have, might be worth looking up the cams rules on what you can do modification wise as that can effect the decision as what chassis to get e.g if you want to run a 16v it might be easier to run a mk2 as they came factory with the engine so running one within certain rules would be easier.

The cams site has the manual available online check it out and read up on the hillclimb rules and then go from there.

[gtimk5]

http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/newforum/upload/showthread.php?t=18803

Theres the link to "Gunter" It isnt any show car but it is very competitive. The very last event down here was a hillclimb and we finished up 5th outright. Got beaten by an Evo, 2 GTRs and a cosworth Escort.
The cage alone cost around $2,500-$3000. Expecting around $4000, no less..
Andrew

[RhysQ]

http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/newf...ad.php?t=18803

Theres the link to "Gunter" It isnt any show car but it is very competitive. The very last event down here was a hillclimb and we finished up 5th outright. Got beaten by an Evo, 2 GTRs and a cosworth Escort.
The cage alone cost around $2,500-$3000. Expecting around $4000, no less..
Andrew

and what came in behind you....anything substantial worth knowing? thats the real question!

[TSi2NV]

I would have to 2nd the nissian GTi-R or the mazda GTx 1.8 Turb 4wd both are light weight and go like a stink,

[gtimk5]

and what came in behind you....anything substantial worth knowing? thats the real question!

Are you picking on me???
WRX's a couple of Porsche 911 comp cars, BMWs and the normal run of the mill comp cars, you know, 4 cyls, holdens ect ect... all types of brands.
The weekend before, I snapped the exhaust cam on the 16v and drove it home on 2 cyls from the Rallye of Burnie. Thats 400 kms of driving.
Stuck another cam in it and after a couple of days of work deliveries the compression was back up. Wasnt sure how it was going to go in the hillclimb.
Andrew

[Bug_racer]

Id hate to spoil the part , but best car (in my terms and keeping it VAG) would be an old bug with a 1.8t donk or even a VR6 Turbo in the back . FWD cars will always struggle to get off the mark with big power , and a bug is lighter than a mk1 as well

[RhysQ]

Id hate to spoil the part , but best car (in my terms and keeping it VAG) would be an old bug with a 1.8t donk or even a VR6 Turbo in the back . FWD cars will always struggle to get off the mark with big power , and a bug is lighter than a mk1 as well

in regards to hillclimbs i just can't see how people look past small AWD turbo's such as those mentioned before (and of course your WRX, EVO etc.). what would be the costing and reliability of setting up a hillclimbing bug with that type of gear? as far as VAG goes however, yeah you are probably right, the bug would be the goods.

finally, i can't imagine the chassis and drivetrain setup would be better than that of a GTi-R. and all the work is done for you. just buy it and find the nearest hill.

[gtimk5]

Fellas have bought GTiRs to compete in down here and have had to spend heaps on the brakes and suspension to be competitive. Only been one decent one here and he was 2 times state rally champion. As a gravel rally vcar they were found to be too nose heavy.
Ex forum member "britchie" bought one a couple of years ago and found it lacked the power of the Mk5 GTI. A simple hard acceleration test out in the country proved that.
He only had it for 2 weeks until some thugs stole it and burnt the thing to the ground. Mongrels

[murfy49]

cheers

thanks for all the advice so far,
I am currently only in the planning stage so sorry im not interested in buying gunther sorry. The car will more then likely be a dual purpose vehicle (i.e for the street as well.) As soon as i sell on my current vehicle i will more then likely looking to start with a standard mk1 golf to drive when im home from duty and id really like to be able to go to the brand new local hill climb track.

Im not looking to spend huge dollars to begin with but id like to start with a car that can be developed over time to eventually become a permanent race car.

Check it out the new track

https://www.gippslandcarclub.com

[Bubu]

The convienience of being able to drive the car home at the end of the day would be great. Having said that if you want to have a street car and eventually make it a full comp car then you may find that you will have a car that does not perform well either way. It may not be extreme enough to perform well on hillclimbs and it may be difficult to live with as a daily driver.

You could also consider a non-complianced import. I have seen WRX's and RX7 Series 6 for around $8k. They are good base models to start with and there are plenty of aftermarket parts available.

I dont have the answer to satisfy your needs. I guess it also depends how much you have to spend, how serious you are about it and how long you plan to do hillclimbs for.