cant decide to keep the rx7 or get something else.
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Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 38
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From: Tamp
cant decide to keep the rx7 or get something else.
Can't decide if next year to sell the rx7 and buy a full on scca race car, or just keep putting money into her. All I need is a full cage and Swap it from auto to manual . I just hate to race a mint condition rx7 and hit a wall.
It is all stock with a brand new engine efini turbos, drive shaft,work rims and re amemiya headlights pretty much everything but the ac has been replaced.it only has 60,000
I really want to get into racing,scca,time attack but hate to ruin a great car because im just learning.
It is all stock with a brand new engine efini turbos, drive shaft,work rims and re amemiya headlights pretty much everything but the ac has been replaced.it only has 60,000
I really want to get into racing,scca,time attack but hate to ruin a great car because im just learning.
Last edited by kly13b; Jul 18, 2011 at 02:49 AM.
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From: Tamp
I have done some scca events a few years ago in my Celica over in bremertion, and have drag raced a bunch on the track but not really into that any more.
Last edited by kly13b; Jul 18, 2011 at 12:16 PM.
Thread Starter
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Joined: Jul 2010
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From: Tamp
I see 0 suspension mods, your car is no where near ready to actually race at an autox. Go get a miata and learn how to drive first. Power and a fear of hurting the car will do nothing but slow the learning process down. Especially in autox having 250 hp is unnecessary on most tracks.
Go drive around the track once, then have an instructor drive your car with you as a passenger. Without any previous experience in your car he will drop your time by a considerable amount just because he knows how to drive and how to feel the car. You need to go break sheit and learn. You won't be able to actually throw up a reasonable time until you complete 1 or maybe 2 full seasons.
My recommendation, get a miata until you can drive.
Go drive around the track once, then have an instructor drive your car with you as a passenger. Without any previous experience in your car he will drop your time by a considerable amount just because he knows how to drive and how to feel the car. You need to go break sheit and learn. You won't be able to actually throw up a reasonable time until you complete 1 or maybe 2 full seasons.
My recommendation, get a miata until you can drive.
I have Tein coil overs, I just haven’t installed them because i need to roll the fenders first plus come up with the cash to put them because I just spent a large amount of money to restore her she was in pieces if you look at my pictures. I am paying for a big wedding, that is why I need to come up with a strategy for next year because I will have the funds to do it right.
This week I went down and talked to the guy off of canyon with all the Mazda’s and seems like the Miata’s are the way to go i just don’t like them lol, that’s my pride getting in the way. But a new Miata engine is like 800 not 3,000 for the FD and money talks.
I would really like to get my hands on an FD with lsx and all the goodies already done but probably way too much power and not realistic. Plus i know how to work on a piston motor at least the basics so maybe that will be two summers away.
My FD will outperform right now hands down, but I really don’t know how to work on her besides how to maintain her and how to do basic bolt on’s besides tuning which is the most import thing from what I have read which is why i have left her stock, I would need bigger injectors fuel pump intake exhaust some type of comture like hell tech, and run meth
I have a dd so this next car will be only for the track only
Also I need for someone to take me under their wing and show me what’s it’s really all about. I have read a lot on the net but I want to go with someone who races and see what it really takes to do my dream.
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Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 38
Likes: 1
From: Tamp
I see 0 suspension mods, your car is no where near ready to actually race at an autox. Go get a miata and learn how to drive first. Power and a fear of hurting the car will do nothing but slow the learning process down. Especially in autox having 250 hp is unnecessary on most tracks.
Go drive around the track once, then have an instructor drive your car with you as a passenger. Without any previous experience in your car he will drop your time by a considerable amount just because he knows how to drive and how to feel the car. You need to go break sheit and learn. You won't be able to actually throw up a reasonable time until you complete 1 or maybe 2 full seasons.
My recommendation, get a miata until you can drive.
Go drive around the track once, then have an instructor drive your car with you as a passenger. Without any previous experience in your car he will drop your time by a considerable amount just because he knows how to drive and how to feel the car. You need to go break sheit and learn. You won't be able to actually throw up a reasonable time until you complete 1 or maybe 2 full seasons.
My recommendation, get a miata until you can drive.
I have Tein coil overs, I just haven’t installed them because i need to roll the fenders first plus come up with the cash to put them because I just spent a large amount of money to restore her she was in pieces if you look at my pictures. I am paying for a big wedding, that is why I need to come up with a strategy for next year because I will have the funds to do it right.
This week I went down and talked to the guy off of canyon with all the Mazda’s and seems like the Miata’s are the way to go i just don’t like them lol, that’s my pride getting in the way. But a new Miata engine is like 800 not 3,000 for the FD and money talks.
I would really like to get my hands on an FD with lsx and all the goodies already done but probably way too much power and not realistic. Plus i know how to work on a piston motor at least the basics so maybe that will be two summers away.
My FD will outperform me right now hands down stock, but I really don’t know how to work on her besides how to maintain her and how to do basic bolt on’s besides tuning which is the most import thing from what I have read which is why i have left her stock, I would need bigger injectors fuel pump intake exhaust some type of comture like hell tech, and run meth
I have a dd so this next car will only be for the track
Also I need for someone to take me under their wing and show me what’s it’s really all about. I have read a lot on the net but I want to go with someone who races and see what it really takes to do my dream.
Last edited by kly13b; Jul 19, 2011 at 02:48 AM.
Take my advice with a grain of salt, I am by no means an expert. I have done a decent number of autocross events and no track days. I do love racing and I am working hard to be good at it, so I have spent a lot of time learning from people that are SCCA national champions. I have autocrossed a stock Miata and a CSP Miata, and now I am working on setting up my FD so I can have fun at the autocross and do lapping days at the race track once in awhile, but it won’t be competitive in any classes. Also I used to be the novice chair for a local autocross club, meaning when new people showed up I rode with them and gave instructions as well as telling them about what to do and not to do.
I think Tweak is wrong about the suspension. The FD has great suspension stock. Look up Howard Coleman, he is a great racer and he recommends stock shocks with Eibach springs. When people want to start autocrossing, I tell them to not spend any money aside from making sure the car is in good condition and all the regular maintenance is taken care of. When you first start, mods aren't going to help. Working on the driver will drop your times by a huge amount. I have seen guys that have autocrossed 30 or 40 events and they have really good driver hop in the exact same car and co-drive with them and drive 1-2 seconds faster than the owner of the car. Coilovers may make the car a bit more fun to race, but they won’t help your times by much when first starting.
If you get serious about racing you will learn a lot and decide you want something different. My Miata was modded. I started getting competitive, but the mods put me in a class I wasn't competitive in. I had to change the mods to run in a stock class and be competitive, so I wasted a lot of money on mods. Learn to race and learn the classes, then decide where you want to take your car. Otherwise you are going to make lots of expensive mistakes. FYI, the FD isn’t competitive in any of the cheap autocross classes (stock, street tire). If you want to be a competitive autocrosser, then you will want to sell your car and buy something else.
Racing is also expensive. If you race at more than a few events per year, you will learn quick that this stuff gets expensive. Autocross costs ~$25 per event, if you want to be good you need to do 20-30 events per year. Then you have the cost of gas to drive to an event, and 20-30 events will eat up your tires. Here are my estimated expenses for one autocross in the LS1 FD.
$25 – registration fee
$30 –fuel
$10 – tires
$5 – general maintenance, brake pads, etc.
$70 total
Doing an SCCA track event or lapping day is significantly more expensive. I am just guessing here because I have not gotten out to a lapping day yet, but I am prepping my car for it and been doing some research and estimation.
Getting started:
$300-$??? - Car prep – change fluids, street/track pads, good tires, make sure cooling system is prepped, set up proper alignment
$500 – Proformance driving school – necessary to race on the track
$150 – Follow up session with an instructor to get track approved
~$1000+
Per event fees
$125-$500 event registration fees
$100-$200 fuel
$150 – tires (if they last 6 events)
$50 – wear and tire, maintenance, brake pads
~$400+ per day
Also running an FD will be comparatively more expensive than running a Miata. 1st and 2nd gen NA RX-7s make great learning track cars as well. They are actually pretty reliable and they handle well. Also they are much cheaper to purchase, maintain, and you won’t care so much if you damage it. With a lower power car, you can also run smaller tires and get better gas mileage. Tires and fuel will be the biggest expense. You could cut your costs in half here easily by going with a low power car.
Ultimately you need to get some experience first to see if actually want to do this. Some people try it out and never do it again, other people do it once or twice a year so why sell your nice car and buy a race only car if you don’t have time or don’t want to do it seriously?
Here are a few paths you should think about to help you decide what you should do:
1. I want to have a cool nice car (the FD) to drive on weekends
a. And I also want to autocross a few times per year – keep the FD auto and autocross it, do the manual swap after a few events if you really feel inclined.
b. I would like to do 1 or 2 track days per year – take your FD to the Proformance racing school and see how you like it, or buy a really cheap car like a Miata or 1st gen RX-7 and try out the Proformance racing school – you can also rent a Mini or Lotus for an additional cost
c. I would like to do several lapping days per year – here is where you will need to make the tough decision of whether you should sell the FD and buy a cheap car that you can afford to take to several events each year.
2. I want to get really serious about racing and I don’t care if I have a nice car to drive on the street
a. I want to be a serious autocrosser – take your FD and race it a few times, learn what is competitive in different classes, buy a car that is already competitive or buy a stock class car. Stock RX-8s and 1st gen miatas are competitive in street tire classes, this is the cheapest ongoing cost option. Look at the SCCA event results to see what cars are competitive in what class. Obviously the stock or street tire classes will be the cheapest to set a car up for.
b. I want to be a serious track racer – You should probably have a ton of money and you would not be on here asking about selling your RX-7 to accomplish this. You will need a truck, a trailer, and a race car. Race fees and ongoing expenses for even a cheap car in just one season could easily surpass what you could sell your Rx-7 for.
I have never seen an accident or a car get damaged at an autocross. For lapping days at the track, I am not too concerned about damaging my RX-7, it happens but the risk seems pretty low. With a stock FD, I would be concerned about the reliability. I would want to make sure everything is on the up and up and I have plenty of money for a rebuild and other parts. That was a lot of info, I hope it helps.
I think Tweak is wrong about the suspension. The FD has great suspension stock. Look up Howard Coleman, he is a great racer and he recommends stock shocks with Eibach springs. When people want to start autocrossing, I tell them to not spend any money aside from making sure the car is in good condition and all the regular maintenance is taken care of. When you first start, mods aren't going to help. Working on the driver will drop your times by a huge amount. I have seen guys that have autocrossed 30 or 40 events and they have really good driver hop in the exact same car and co-drive with them and drive 1-2 seconds faster than the owner of the car. Coilovers may make the car a bit more fun to race, but they won’t help your times by much when first starting.
If you get serious about racing you will learn a lot and decide you want something different. My Miata was modded. I started getting competitive, but the mods put me in a class I wasn't competitive in. I had to change the mods to run in a stock class and be competitive, so I wasted a lot of money on mods. Learn to race and learn the classes, then decide where you want to take your car. Otherwise you are going to make lots of expensive mistakes. FYI, the FD isn’t competitive in any of the cheap autocross classes (stock, street tire). If you want to be a competitive autocrosser, then you will want to sell your car and buy something else.
Racing is also expensive. If you race at more than a few events per year, you will learn quick that this stuff gets expensive. Autocross costs ~$25 per event, if you want to be good you need to do 20-30 events per year. Then you have the cost of gas to drive to an event, and 20-30 events will eat up your tires. Here are my estimated expenses for one autocross in the LS1 FD.
$25 – registration fee
$30 –fuel
$10 – tires
$5 – general maintenance, brake pads, etc.
$70 total
Doing an SCCA track event or lapping day is significantly more expensive. I am just guessing here because I have not gotten out to a lapping day yet, but I am prepping my car for it and been doing some research and estimation.
Getting started:
$300-$??? - Car prep – change fluids, street/track pads, good tires, make sure cooling system is prepped, set up proper alignment
$500 – Proformance driving school – necessary to race on the track
$150 – Follow up session with an instructor to get track approved
~$1000+
Per event fees
$125-$500 event registration fees
$100-$200 fuel
$150 – tires (if they last 6 events)
$50 – wear and tire, maintenance, brake pads
~$400+ per day
Also running an FD will be comparatively more expensive than running a Miata. 1st and 2nd gen NA RX-7s make great learning track cars as well. They are actually pretty reliable and they handle well. Also they are much cheaper to purchase, maintain, and you won’t care so much if you damage it. With a lower power car, you can also run smaller tires and get better gas mileage. Tires and fuel will be the biggest expense. You could cut your costs in half here easily by going with a low power car.
Ultimately you need to get some experience first to see if actually want to do this. Some people try it out and never do it again, other people do it once or twice a year so why sell your nice car and buy a race only car if you don’t have time or don’t want to do it seriously?
Here are a few paths you should think about to help you decide what you should do:
1. I want to have a cool nice car (the FD) to drive on weekends
a. And I also want to autocross a few times per year – keep the FD auto and autocross it, do the manual swap after a few events if you really feel inclined.
b. I would like to do 1 or 2 track days per year – take your FD to the Proformance racing school and see how you like it, or buy a really cheap car like a Miata or 1st gen RX-7 and try out the Proformance racing school – you can also rent a Mini or Lotus for an additional cost
c. I would like to do several lapping days per year – here is where you will need to make the tough decision of whether you should sell the FD and buy a cheap car that you can afford to take to several events each year.
2. I want to get really serious about racing and I don’t care if I have a nice car to drive on the street
a. I want to be a serious autocrosser – take your FD and race it a few times, learn what is competitive in different classes, buy a car that is already competitive or buy a stock class car. Stock RX-8s and 1st gen miatas are competitive in street tire classes, this is the cheapest ongoing cost option. Look at the SCCA event results to see what cars are competitive in what class. Obviously the stock or street tire classes will be the cheapest to set a car up for.
b. I want to be a serious track racer – You should probably have a ton of money and you would not be on here asking about selling your RX-7 to accomplish this. You will need a truck, a trailer, and a race car. Race fees and ongoing expenses for even a cheap car in just one season could easily surpass what you could sell your Rx-7 for.
I have never seen an accident or a car get damaged at an autocross. For lapping days at the track, I am not too concerned about damaging my RX-7, it happens but the risk seems pretty low. With a stock FD, I would be concerned about the reliability. I would want to make sure everything is on the up and up and I have plenty of money for a rebuild and other parts. That was a lot of info, I hope it helps.
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 89
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From: In a van down by the river
If you decide to keep the FD I have one solid advice for you...
"Reliable Mods"
Also research your every mods since some may kill your motor. This car have been around so there's ton of info out there. But FD is a high maintenance girl so you will need to be ready to keep her happy.
I have been running my precious FD at countless autox, lapping days at Bremerton, PGP, and Pacific Raceways and will continue to do so.
Racing is expensive but running FD is not as expensive as one would think. If you were able to afford it then you should be able to run the car. It's a light car. So the only big ticket is the fuel. I would burn more than a 1/4 tank in less than 15min on lapping days. But for autox I would kill about 1/2-2/3 for the entire trip.
Start with high grip s-tires. I run StarSpec and they lasted for over a year now(not enough fingers and toes to count how many events). 17" are way cheap. 18" looks better but more $$.
You can definitely find lapping events that runs under $200. Autox is a lot cheaper but not as much seat time unless you attend practice day. As far as risks, in autox if you hit something then you were probably trying to safe it too much, just go both feet in. But lapping day, especcially at PR, there's no room for error. 135mph+ turning into turn 1 is no joke. Your machine and you have to be in tip top shape. So start slow and know your limit.
But if you plan to drag your fd. Please sell it.
Oh and swap it to a manual immediately. Then you will be kicking yourself for even considering of selling it.
"Reliable Mods"
Also research your every mods since some may kill your motor. This car have been around so there's ton of info out there. But FD is a high maintenance girl so you will need to be ready to keep her happy.
I have been running my precious FD at countless autox, lapping days at Bremerton, PGP, and Pacific Raceways and will continue to do so.
Racing is expensive but running FD is not as expensive as one would think. If you were able to afford it then you should be able to run the car. It's a light car. So the only big ticket is the fuel. I would burn more than a 1/4 tank in less than 15min on lapping days. But for autox I would kill about 1/2-2/3 for the entire trip.
Start with high grip s-tires. I run StarSpec and they lasted for over a year now(not enough fingers and toes to count how many events). 17" are way cheap. 18" looks better but more $$.
You can definitely find lapping events that runs under $200. Autox is a lot cheaper but not as much seat time unless you attend practice day. As far as risks, in autox if you hit something then you were probably trying to safe it too much, just go both feet in. But lapping day, especcially at PR, there's no room for error. 135mph+ turning into turn 1 is no joke. Your machine and you have to be in tip top shape. So start slow and know your limit.
But if you plan to drag your fd. Please sell it.
Oh and swap it to a manual immediately. Then you will be kicking yourself for even considering of selling it.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 38
Likes: 1
From: Tamp
Thanks for all the advice it can really add up and it give me an idea of how much to budget for. I’m getting the car all tuned up tomorrow at JLC and buying all the safety mods this month. I will also need to put the battery in the little storage unit behind the seat and take the subs out. Then I will auto cross it and go with a coach to get the most out of it.
Hopefully I can keep the rx7 and practice on a 90’s Miata next year in some SCCA races and get a license and a log book. Hope to see u guys at the Marymoor Park meet 8/6/11 @ 2:00.
Hopefully I can keep the rx7 and practice on a 90’s Miata next year in some SCCA races and get a license and a log book. Hope to see u guys at the Marymoor Park meet 8/6/11 @ 2:00.
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