Hi,

Hi guys i am after some advice here from the pros,I am currently looking to buy a Spirit R atm and i have recently seen a car for sale,i know he used it for tracking and was heavily modded but he has put everything back to normal atm to sale the car,the car seems to be in good condition but i was wondering is there anything i should watch out for because its been tracked before? like gearbox? can the car get damages in anyway from tracking? or am i thinking too much?

Regards

 

Ask to have a compression test and an inspection of the turbochargers performed. If the car was previously modified, I would be very curious about these two indicators...

Clutch/transmission would probably be the least of your worries. If available, I would ask to see what the previous modifications were.

 

Yes, track time is harder on the car. Bushings, ball joints, wheel bearings, differential internals, gearbox internals, brakes, and anything in the engine bay that might be susceptible to heat (rubber and plastic).

In the engine bay it makes a huge difference if the car is set up with the proper gauging and cooling mods to keep intake air, oil, and coolant temps down. Marginal setups can be really hard on the car.

 

heres the list of mods that was previously installed on the car.

Apexi power fc
Knightsports ks420 Turbos
Koyo radiator
R E Amemiya AST
SMB Exhaust 3.5 Inch Twin Tip Exhaust,4 Inch Cat with Mid Muffler,3.5 Inch Dump Pipe
Trust SMIC intercooler
RaceLogic Traction Control with Digital Adjuster
Cusco Front and Rear Swaybars
Ohlin Racing Coilovers
EXEDY Twin Plate Clutch
DEKKA 7 Kg High CCA Battery
ESSENTIAL Catch Can
HKS TwinSpark and Harness
SAMCO Radiator Hoses
SARD Low Temp Thermostat
SARD 280 L Per Hour in Tank Pump

 

Seems like it was a decent setup. Should have had a moderate power increase over stock, nothing wild. Is there a reason the seller reverted to stock to sell?

In any case I'd get a skilled mechanic to do a full inspection, and get to know more about the track time run on the car: how many hours, what kind of tires, how many off-track incidents, etc.

 

AFAIK he couldnt get the price he wanted with all the good parts on it,so hes gonna part out with the parts and sell the car stock.

 

I do not see a dedicated boost controller in that mod list. Did he use the PFC to control boost?

Can you find out what pressure he was running at?

 

If he wasn't pushing the boost levels he could have been fine with the PFC and stock solenoids. High boost is not popular with track prepared cars.

 

sorry i forgot to add this to the list

Blitz IColor Boost Controller

and the car was boosted,i just cant remember what he had it on tho.

 

ok so far it seems i have to check compression test & check turbos? anything else important apart from the usual stuff?

Is there anyway the chassis or body can sustain damage from tracking too much? im not talking about accidents,for example can a car(FD) be weaken in body contruction from too much tracking time?

Thanks in advance.

 

i'm curious if there's a way to check for signs of body damage after repairs? like under body chassis brace across your mid pipe, or any underbody damage in general if he spun off the track or clip'd a wall.. etc

 

Over thinking the issue a bit?

Car is fairly well known, with the number of kms on the vehicle, which is equivalent to around 15,000 miles( for those north of the equator!)......and most, I'd hazard to guess, on the road, it's highly improbable that it would be sloppy.

Don't know the guy, but he seems to have spent a lot on the car, both on maintenance and whizzy bits.

Best advice, is to get an independent workshop to give it a once-over, if you're new to the world of FD - no amount of internet speculation will substitute.

 

yeh i am probally over thinking like you said but just wanted to know more thats all.. no harm right?

 

Big question is how many of those miles are track miles? If this guy occasionally tracked the car, I wouldn't give it a second thought if the car drove fine(no gear grinding, no rear end clunk, etc...). Alot of the time, these cars check out better than a normal street car due to the owners keeping a closer eye on maintanence. I'd be more concerned about the driveline and suspension than anything else. The reality of the situation is that if the engine can sustain 20-30 minute sessions on track at high rpm's, it's not going to have any trouble putting around the street and occasionally putting the pedal on the floor. That's assuming the compression is still good.

 

There are some things you can do. Weak magnet, funny paint behavior, check the thickness of the edge of the doors toward the rear. If repairs were done on the door skin, it will probably be thicker. Check the gaps of all the panels. See if the car tracks straight. I'm sure there are alot more things you can do.