BUILD A BIG VALUE SEVEN
Ballistic Orange paint (£500) and triple black stripes (£395) are clearly essential. Clearly! More sensibly, we’ve gone for some weather protection: the half hood (£195, plus £80 for the bag) is far less arduous to pack than the full hood. The LED headlights (£800) with clear lenses (£125) make sense. The half doors (£300) and side armrests (£95) make driving to trackdays easier. Running total: £33,980
Fancy a weekend weapon? Our Caterham long-term test car is a great example, but it showcases a lot of options and costs £45k. Aiming for a 360S that’s as good to drive as ours, but at a lower price, we’ve started with the standard-width chassis and vowed to minimise the extras. Starting price: £31,490
The lowered floor option (£495) improves the driving position massively, while the four-point race harness (£250) and quickrelease steering wheel are vital for track use (£150). Bring out the best of its cornering with the rear anti-roll bar (£195), sports suspension (£795) and di erential (£995); better go for the dry sump oil system (£1550) too. We had our car built for us, but you can save that £2395 if you tool up yourself. Total price: £40,805