Alright first post.

I'm pretty well experienced when it comes to cars. I'm also pretty well experienced with driving well. Ive been thinking about getting into road racing for quite a while. I know the costs and the sacrifices involved. What I don't really know are the nuts and bolts about getting into it.

To make good decisions myself I need some advice from people that have already been 'there'.

I'm sure I want to use and mazda and im pretty sure I want to use a 7 (spec miata is tempting but the prices they pay for their motors isn't, or do you really need a $7-8K motor to keep up on the straights?)

In my area the SCCA has decent participation in ITA, ITE, ITS and ITX, NASA has 4 people that show up to every race for Pro 7. Both have large fields in spec Miata. Honestly im a little disappointed at the local results pages. It seems to me that all you really have to do is show up and finish to be in the top 5. Is this just part of the game or is participation better in the rest of the country.

I plan on buying a built car except for one problem. I need to be able to drive it to and from races. All the built cars I have seen for sale have emissions completely removed. My inclination is just to drive it anyway and deal with registration and smog checks when the time comes. Are there any other solutions?

Besides that I can't make up my mind about what class to shoot for? I'm really looking for a car that can grow with me or be sold easily. If im constantly winning (i'm a bit ambitious) I want to move up to the next class. What would be a better car for this strategy? FB or FC? Should I even consider running an FD in nearly stock form?

Long post I know but after searching through here, scca, nasa, class websites, and team websites im on information overload.

 

i really doubt that you will be able to build any sort of race car that you can register to drive on the street.

buy a used car, save the money to make YOURSELF faster

 

Local ITX rules say that your emissions equipment has to be in place, I could build a FB for that. I'm sure there are other options as well.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Go-Ahead-Wheel.../dp/0977786005

I haven't read it yet, but it's getting great reviews from many of the other racers I know. Dave (the author) started racing a few years ago, and got frustrated trying to find a good book to help. He never did find it, so he wrote one. It'll save you much more than the cost of the book in avoiding wasted expenses.

 

Also: http://www.goaheadtakethewheel.com/

I have the book and it's an excellent resource. Dave Gran gives a lot of sound advice. There are a couple things that I don't 100% agree with, mainly dealing with prepping and improving the car's performance. But that's more a matter of personal preference than anything else.

His emphasis on "improve the driver first" is spot on.

If you are looking at how to get started in road racing, this is the book to have.

It's doable, but you will have to make concessions on the car (eg. emissions). There have been people over here in the east who have driven IT and SPEC-7 cars to the track. The main issue is what do you do when the car gets damaged or breaks at the track?

Good luck,

-b

 

AAA? Good point though.

Thanks for the input so far guys, I will check out that book.

 

Here in the South East SCCA you will not be able to compete and drive an IT car on the street. I am sure it is the same everywhere. What you will end up with is a car that is painful to drive on the street and not competitive in the class.

Spec Miata I could see a mid pack car driven on the street.

To be honest with you. If you are not ready or financially able to haul a race car to the track on a trailer you can not afford road racing. You should look into the solo program.



-billy

 

So you have autox, track or race experience? All of us thought we could drive well until we tried it and found out all of us suck No harm in that. Just realize there's a learning curve and you should get to know the more experienced guys and ask for advice.

As you read already the #1 rule not to drive your racecar to the events is that you need it to get home and racecars have a tendency to get broken or wrecked when raced wheel to wheel.

If you want to experience high performance driving in your street car, autox or track days is what you want to do. Wheel to wheel racing is best left to cars that are built to do nothing but race.

 

Oh im sure I will get destroyed in the beginning. What I meant by that sentence is that in my sporty street driving I have placed an emphasis on driving smoothly, not fast. Is the speed there? probably not, but I wont know till I get out there. If I were to quantify my skill I would say that at the least I'm looking in the right direction.

Points taken about a tow vehicle, ill go back to looking at pick-ups.

 

[QUOTE=Eagle7]http://www.amazon.com/Go-Ahead-Wheel.../dp/0977786005

I haven't read it yet, but it's getting great reviews from many of the other racers I know. Dave (the author) started racing a few years ago, and got frustrated trying to find a good book to help. He never did find it, so he wrote one. It'll save you much more than the cost of the book in avoiding wasted expenses.[/QUOTE


I bought and read it.

A Must read for any newbie

 

Go get Gran's book and read it. One of the points he emphasizes is getting the driver trained well before you consider starting door-to-door racing. Start with auto-x if you are inclined. It will teach you car control. Go to an auto-x school. Then start doing track days with an instructor, preferrably with a good organization. After you are reasonably comfortable with track driving, then consider door-to-door. This approach has some benefits -

1) You don't need to invest in modifications for the car initially. Your money is best spent improving the driver at this point.
2) A track weekend/HPDE is much cheaper than a race weekend, plus you get a lot more seat time.
3) You can drive the car to the track and back, since there is much less chance of accidents versus door-to-door, since you arn't having to be competetive.

Don't be in a such huge hurry to roadrace. Take your time and build up your skill level. While I like the fact that you seem to have a good level head with respect to street driving, auto-x and track driving are entirely different animals from a skills and reaction point of view.

Good luck,

-b

 

You can rent my FD from me for track weekends brotha

 

Your legs are too short.

 

Get your self a 100cc Sprint Kart which is where MANY people start their driving enjoyment. You'll find out in a year or less of racing if you have what it takes to further your desire. A pretty cheap open trailer behind you normal car is all you need to get back & forth to the track. Can you say ECONOMICS ?

Have Fun
David

ps: Find a Kart racing track & learn about Karts before you buy.