Whizbang

Okay, so i would be in the Neohio part of the Area 4 part of the central divison of the scca. I am thinking about building a road race car (solo 1) and run it. At the same time i was hoping to run in a all RX7 series. Well seeing that it is ONLY 85 and ealier cars, i kinda dont want to do that. Cost is alot higher on an older car such as that. The other option is to run a small little VW in the ITB(?) divison because it is cheap as hell. Can anyone give me an idea of where to start or what direction to go in? There websites just confused me to no end. Endless PDA files on things that just talk in circles. They need a clear set of information.

I also looked into the NASA racing thing. That is really f*** up to. They have no divisions i could enter ANYWHERE near where i am. But i would really like to have a GTI cup in ohio.

ANy help or advice or input would be great!

RotaryAXer

iTrader: (4)

Just cause they don't have what you want where you want it doesn't mean it is bad.

With that out of the way.

It seems if you want to build you car for SOLO I as a first priority then do that.

The 85 and earlier cars are far less expensive than a 2nd gen. I'm not sure where you got your info on that. They are cheaper to buy, build and maintain. If you have a 12A car it should be elligible for the IT-7 class. The engines are reliable and last a decent amount of time....as good or better than any other RX-7.
Whether or not there is anyone running that class in your region or not is impossible to know without getting out to the races and seeing what cars/classes are running.

christaylor

First of all, Solo I and Club Racing are two entirely different animals. Given the classes you're discussing, Club Racing is what you're looking at. While Solo I may run on the same type of courses, it isnt' wheel-to-wheel racing.

Secondly, you WILL NOT find a cheaper cost:fun class than IT7/Spec7/Pro7. The Miata girls claim they do, but they're full of ****. I don't really feel like going into specifics, but don't believe their hype. An IT7 can be built/bought for 7k, and you can be relatively competitive. You won't be at the front, but you'll be in a group somwhere behind the front fighting for every position like it's a win. If you have a Pro7/Spec7 class in your area, that same 7k will buy you a championship winning car.

Yeah, the Rabbit is probably exponentially cheaper to run, but is a few grand worth not having anybody to race with and being in a class that's the laughing stock of pretty much everybody? Except for the SouthEast, I don't think anybody takes ITB/C too seriously.... at least not in Texas.

TrentO

I've done the road race and autocross thing with a form of spec 7 car. I the solo stuff (solo 2 in my case) the car was a dog due to the conflict in the rules (my suspension put me into a prepared class, where the old 12A just didn't have the grunt. Luckily, I didn't care about how I finished in the solo events, so it was a good time nonetheless. As to building a competetive car, check the class you want to be in for the winners at the runoffs over the last few years. You'll likely see a real trend. To get started, I'd have to suggest spec Miata, you won't be competetive, but you will have someone to race with which is much more important.

-Trent

31rx7

You are correct; SCCA's processes and rules are not the easiest to understand for a new person.

Having said that, educate yourself before spending money. Join NEOhio SCCA and start going to their meetings / events. Ask around and see if you can start crewing for somebody. That is the easiest way to get exposed to SCCA racing and understand it.

Buy the GCR / Rulebook and start reading - given it's the end of the year you can probably get a 2004 copy cheap or free.

There are tons of discussions on "build" vs. "buy" that speak for themselves. Read them on various web sites (improvedtouring.com, this web site, various SCCA region web sites).

There was a great series of articles in Grassroots Motorsports not too long ago about how to get into racing. See if you can get a copy of these articles.

The Ohio Valley Region web site (www.ovr-scca.org) has a couple of articles on getting started.

Also, there is a regional race right now at Mid Ohio. See if you can find an SCCA member who can get you in or call the NE Ohio numbers on their web site for guidance.

Good luck!