Racing n00b.
 

Welp, I'm spending cash on my 1st gen and I'm stuck at kinda crucial dillema.

WHAT THE HELL DO I WANNA SPEND CASH ON?

There's tri-link setups, panhard bars, coilovers, camber/caster plates. Not to mention the multitude of sway bars and bushings, and the plethora of shocks and springs available to buy...

Unfortunately to decide on what to buy means I've gotta decide what I wanna do with the car...

Thing is, I've never actually BEEN to a real, organized racing event, except I've gone to Mazda Rev It Up 2003 and 2004... So I assume that's a taste of autocross...

It was pretty fun, but the course was kinda short and low speed...

Plus someone sent me a SCCA Rulebook for the 2000 race season... I don't get all this ESP, CSP, ITA, class stuff... Does it really matter what class you're in? Do you win anything? I thought it was just for fun...

In the lounge, in a thread about street racing, I found a link to Summit Point Raceway in West Virginia (About an hour from me.)

That looks cool as hell, I'd like to try it sometime. I don't think they'd appreciate a pickup truck (My Daily driver) on the track though...

I assume that's road racing... I think I'd like it because of the way I drive on public roads... I speed constantly, corner hard, etc... I really shouldn't, which is why I'm trying to fix up the RX-7 and race it...

What else is there to do? Rally?

Drag racing seems mildly retarded... I've streetlight raced... I dunno... Too short, no turns... weak... Plus, it requires me putting a bigger, heavier engine in the front of the car, something I'm trying to do the opposite of...

If you don't know what type of racing you plan to do then you don't want to spend any money yet.

Well, I do, sorta... Autocross and Road racing... But if asked the question, so I wanna keep it IT or SP legal, I have no clue...

I just wanna have fun driving fast without getting tickets like I always do... *shrug*

Well, going to check out your options first hand is probably your best bet. Plenty of ppl have already figured out the answers to most of your questions...benefit from their experience...ask questions.

Granted, I'm biased, but you should come to a MARRS event (next one is Oct 9-10). The Washington DC Region (www.wdcr-scca.org) holds most of their events at Summit Point, and it seems like the SpecRX7 class might suite you (www.specrx7.com).

Pele, The classes are there for you to build according to your budget and speed preference. In your profile you say you have an 85. The classes you can run with it would be IT, EP, GT. The GT class is won by Tube frame cars, So that is kind of out of the scope.

IT is based on lesser mods, that cost less to build. Many years back you had the perfect car for ITA. Since then it really is not that competitive. They have since then started a IT class specifically for first gens. IT7 is for 79-85 12A powered rx7s only. Great class IMOP.

EP (E Production)
Allows for more modifications which drives up the cost. You can Street port, Fiberglass the panels and pretty much gut the car. These are faster than the IT7's. I know here in the South East I have heard of numbers above 25K to build a competitive E prod rx7.

You should head out to VIR and check out a race. Talk to the guys with first gens. Like posted above. Don't spend any more money until you decide.

-billy

You can also look up some car clubs such as carguys.com and nasaproracing.com. They organize track day events for people like you and I to take our street cars out and drive them on track. That is a great start w/o spending a ton of cash. VIR in VA is another great track not too far from you.

You can also hit your local autocrosses as the car is so that you get an idea of what that is all about. Check scca.com.

Lastly you can always go kart racing. Most bang for the buck of any form of racing and the best place to build skills.

A few web sites:

http://www.mscw.com/ - a good bunch of folks.

http://www.mazdadrivers.com/ - great driving schools. a good alternative to racing if you want to get a taste of the track before committing.

http://www.improvedtouring.com/ - read through their forum. it's chocked full of good information on what it would take to club race (door to door) with your first gen.


hope this helps,

-bill

:withstupi:

As a complete beginner, buy a set of race tires and go race. The car will faaar outperform you for a long time to come.

Well the car has a trashed steering box and a fairly beaten up passenger side strut (wrecked it when I was 19) plus all the bushings and springs are original...

So tires aren't really gonna cut it... It's up on blocks now being taken apart to rebuild, repaint and etc.

And I doubt they'd appreciate a pickup truck on the auto-x track...

Stay in IT or Spec7... best places to start because it teaches you how to drive plus is relatively cheap.

In SoCal, the hot class is Pro7... its basically a Spec7 without the interior.... we are trying to get other regions to adopt this class so we can make it national.

If you're going to build the car to racing specifications (full cage, etc.), don't plan to drive it on the street again, and have the budget to go racing, I agree that IT-7 is the place to start. Definately check out NASA and SCCA events at Summit Point and VIR.

However, there's a lot to be said for working up to wheel-to-wheel racing by doing driving schools (aka high performance driving events - HPDE's) with a streetable car. You can drive on track with just a safe, street-legal car and a helmet and get lots of track time and experience. If the racing bugs gets you bad, then you can gut the car and convert it to IT-7 spec later. If you look over the IT-7 specs carefully, and just don't spend any money on something you can't use later, this could be a reasonably incremental way to get into motorsport. Once you're committed to real racing, you're probably talking about a trailer, a dedicated tow vehicle, and a significant budget for tires & brake pads, not to mention sheet metal, engines, and transmissions. BTW, you can usually buy a sorted race car for less than you can build one for, starting with your street car.

Yes, you can race a street-legal car, but it generally won't be competetive on the track and it will be punishing to drive on the street.

Check out Coco Strayer's web site for HPDEs at a variety of tracks. www. trackschedule.com

Actually, the reason I bought the truck was so that I could use it as a Tow Vehicle...

Question: Are steering mods allowed for IT?

When I wrecked the car, I trashed the stock steering gearbox. Junkyards here are fairly expensive. I was quotes over 700 bucks for another box at one yard...

I went to CP Racing and bought one of their Rack and Pinion conversion kits back when it cost $500...

What else can't I mess with in IT? No porting... How bout modded carb? How bout Headers?

I've heard that I need to defeat my sunroof for Solo II... Can anyone tell me what they've done for their sunroof?

Anyone point me in the directionof a good, inexpensive certified cage? Perhaps I'll get one used.

If the first gen has rack & pinion from the factory then no probem. ITA cars are basically stock. I feel stupid that I don't know if its r&p or not.
No porting is allowed, some carb modifications are. Exhaust is open. Intake must be stock. You must bolt or weld sunroof. There are a few cage options, all but the custom cage guys advertise in the SCCA magazine. Your best best is to join SCCA and get the current GCR (general competition rules). Then go to some races and check it out.
If your redoing the suspenstion anyway, I'd go with Jim Suskos recomendations, I saw your post in the first gen section.
I'll be selling my ITA car next year. (I think) Going to EP and going broke.:)

I have weld in a steel panel into the roof, but not for SCCA. Check their rules before doing anything. Why don't you head over to Manassas and talk to Brett? He has been building and racing spec 7s and you might get some ideas from him. Mitch Piper is up the street also and makes excellent cages.

Rack & Pinion in a 1st gen is going to be illegal in IT racing. Forget about it. That mod would put you in the tube frame all out GT car class, cars that have the appearance (from a distance) of being related to RX-7s. Up close and underneath their fiberglas skins, GT cars only have engine housings from Mazda. Everything else is pure aftermarket race parts. This is a very expensive class to compete in.

Get the SCCA General Competition Rulebook and read it and re-read it before you make any other expensive mistakes.

I have a SCCA GCR from 2000. I think it's kinda outta date.

I also don't wanna trash the sunroof. And when I repair the bin rust, it'll probably qualify as chassis stiffening, which I read somewhere is illegal for some classes...

Is there a classless, run what you brung just for fun category? Aside from that, looks like it's time to go shopping for another shell. Just what I need... Another project I don't have space for, when I'm not even done with the first one.

:(

Pele,

Speaking from experience it is a lot cheaper and easier to buy someone elses used race car. They're already setup and the owner will give you tips and tricks. And you can then do whatever to your street car.

Don't forget price of trailer and storage if there's no room @ home.

Brad

Come to some meets or MSCW meetings. There are quite a few people in the area that go to the tracks. For example:
http://reganrotaryracing.tripod.com/traktime.htm

Most of the basic modification concepts will still be the same today as they were in 2000.
The sunroof must be bolted or a steel panel welded in its place. If the bin repair is done so that it looks sort of stock that will be close enough. Keep in mind that ITA or Spec7/IT7 is a regional only class under SCCA and unless your kicking everyone's ass no one will look too hard at your car.

Good advice above. Buy a car from someone who races in your area. I paid $3500 for my ITA car and have gotten $3500 in advice. The former owner is a friend and he even went to my SCCA schools and crewed for me.