C230 Kompressor as track toy?

[cjab98]

A mate has found a W202 C230 Kompressor going very cheap as it has run out of tax and MOT. It's got a manual gearbox, so he was thinking of getting it and making a track toy out of it.

The only thing of concern is the traction control. On my C43 it interferes even when I switch it off, does it behave the same in a C230? And is there a simple way to turn it off completely?

 

[Will]

I'm fairly sure there's a way to disable the traction control, but it might also lose the ABS - not so much of a problem on a track though I would've thought

How cheap is cheap? And is the car in mechanically-ok condition?

Will

 

[cjab98]

Don't know about the mechanical condition, he's having a look at it tomorrow. I guess the biggest worry on those is the supercharger?
Its £400 with 96,000 miles.

 

[Adam230K]

The 230K engine is a tough little unit, and at 96,000 miles i wouldn't worry about the supercharger just yet, although if its going for that cheap, it could be because the supercharger is actually gone.

230K's of that mileage are usually going for £2k, so there must be a reason for it being £400.

 

[wemorgan]

If he's after a cheap track day car, the Mazda/Eunos MX5 is highly recommended. Light, cheap to buy/repair and good handling.....a shame about the hairdresser image I know. There's even a low cost race series for them.

Sorry if all the above is of no interest, if your mate has his heart set on a C230K.

 

[Will]

Don't know about the mechanical condition, he's having a look at it tomorrow. I guess the biggest worry on those is the supercharger?
Its £400 with 96,000 miles.

£400 sounds fine.

I assume it's a bit tatty - rusty etc but for that money you just can't lose.

Drive it till it breaks then sell it on for the same money

Have fun!

Will

 

[A210AMG]

Hello

We do some track days, great fun but it does get expensive even on a budget.... Trailers are around £1000 then you get spare wheels, tyres, fuel, helmets. Cheap track days mid week are around £100.

Thing is with a C class, the bits will still be a little pricey, discs, pads, suspension etc compared to say the MX5 above.

Also on a track its completly different to how car drives on the road. What you think should be quick isn't always the case. Our car is properly set up with rose joint adjustable suspension, Roll cage, saftey extinguisher, engine cut off, roll cage etc etc. ooh and now we have Nos.... It wipes a smile off many a BMW and Lotus elise


Great fun though, Even if you get a year out of it?

 

[bolide]

At £400 you can hardly go wrong

See if you can find a set of Yokohama 032R or A048s for it - they make track driving great fun and they last well if you're not a complete hooligan

You'll need to stiffen up the suspension a bit. The cheapest way of doing this is to cut a coil off each spring front and rear. Not recommended, of course, but cheap and quite effective. If the car rolls too much try buying a second anti-roll bar and pipe clamping it to the original one - it'll give you a big increase in roll stiffness for little outlay

The best way of "tuning" it would be to lighten it by throwing away the interior or selling it on eBay

I wouldn't worry about brakes - just learn to corner faster

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[cjab98]

He was going to have a look at it today but someone bought it last evening...
It was this car:
http://www.driftworks.com/forum/dri...edes-2-3-supercharged-manual-c230k-sport.html

 

[Will]

Cheap car.

FWIW, that car wouldn't have had traction control being a P-plate pre-facelift model.

Shame, I know the feeling of missing good/interesting/cheap cars

Will

 

[jaymanek]

that was a bargain..

 

[Adam230K]

He was going to have a look at it today but someone bought it last evening...
It was this car:
http://www.driftworks.com/forum/dri...edes-2-3-supercharged-manual-c230k-sport.html

lol thats been on sale there for a very long time over 3 months i think. started at around £1500

 

[manalishi]

Lucky miss - it had a "tasty burberry interior".

 

[Will]

Lucky miss - it had a "tasty burberry interior".

Standard factory check cloth trim on all pre-facelift sport models.

Will

 

[scotth_uk]

I'd buy it for 400 just to thrash it for one day! Bargain!

 

[230K]

Hi

And as it was a pre-facelift there was no traction control to worry about.

230K

 

[w124amg]

I have one and i just unplugged the 2 sensors under the plastic tray in the boot directly under the parcel shelf , back from the spare wheel , you have no abs but i see that as a bonus , and if you use it on the road aswell you can simply plug it back in abs light goes out and its sudate again , the car although it obviously has no more power it is a very different car to drive and feels much quicker as you can accelerate and corner with intervention .

 

[wemorgan]

Welcome to the forum. Do you have any photos of your track car?

 

[Smarties]

HECK!! Just came across this. That was cheap as chips. Paid that for some trim parts not long back.