DD, Track, Burn: <$20k Racecars Edition

"Bman76 (no it doesn't need a WS6 hood) M. Arch" (bman76)
06/23/2018 at 22:42 • Filed to: None

Yeah, you’ve gotta daily one of these.

Option 1: 1985 Corvette GTO

https://www.racingjunk.com/Vintage/183030858/Corvette-Road-Race-car.html?category_id=4438&np_offset=12#1

Option 2: 2000 F-150 NASCAR Craftsman T ruck set up for road racing.

https://www.racingjunk.com/Vintage/183016765/For-sale-2000-NASCAR-Craftsman-truck-set-up-for-Roadracing.html?category_id=4438&np_offset=38#6

Option 3: 1997 Formula Mazda

https://www.racingjunk.com/Formula/183026407/1997-Formula-Mazda-SCCA-Legal-Race-Ready.html?category_id=82&photos=&location_distance=25&location_zip=&price_min=&price_max=20000&seller_type=&order=time-new-old&np_offset=8

None of the three look very easy to live with, but all look like an absolute blast to drive.

DISCUSSION (17)

pip bip - choose Corrour > Bman76 (no it doesn't need a WS6 hood) M. Arch
06/23/2018 at 22:48

Dd corvette

Track Mazda

Burn ford

scoob > Bman76 (no it doesn't need a WS6 hood) M. Arch
06/23/2018 at 22:48

DD Ferd

Track Mazda

Burn Vette

Mr. FiSTer of Team FiST Fetish > Bman76 (no it doesn't need a WS6 hood) M. Arch
06/23/2018 at 22:51

DD: Ford

Track: Mazda

Burn: Vette

Kiltedpadre > Bman76 (no it doesn't need a WS6 hood) M. Arch
06/23/2018 at 22:54

Dd: Ford

Track: Vette

Burn: Mazda

This order may change if my fat ass can somehow squeeze into the Mazda.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Bman76 (no it doesn't need a WS6 hood) M. Arch
06/23/2018 at 22:55

DD Ford

Track mazda

Burn corvette

aberson Bresident of the FullyAssed Committe > Bman76 (no it doesn't need a WS6 hood) M. Arch
06/23/2018 at 22:56

dd mazda

track ford

burn corvette

MM54 > Bman76 (no it doesn't need a WS6 hood) M. Arch
06/23/2018 at 22:59

Daily the truck, track the Mazda, burn the ‘vette

Maxima Speed > Bman76 (no it doesn't need a WS6 hood) M. Arch
06/23/2018 at 23:01

Daily and track the Mazda.

Burn the rest.

Bman76 (no it doesn't need a WS6 hood) M. Arch > Maxima Speed
06/23/2018 at 23:02

Why do you hate yourself? lol

Matt Nichelson > Bman76 (no it doesn't need a WS6 hood) M. Arch
06/23/2018 at 23:29

Daily the Vette

Track the Mazda

Do burnouts in the Ford

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Bman76 (no it doesn't need a WS6 hood) M. Arch
06/23/2018 at 23:44

None of those will even be remotely capable of driving on the street, but the FM is the only one you could actually run without being independently wealthy. Spec rules and sealed motors go a long ways toward keeping things somewhat reasonable.

Bman76 (no it doesn't need a WS6 hood) M. Arch > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
06/24/2018 at 00:05

The other two are carb ure ted small block tube chassis though, probably not tremendously costly either.

boxrocket > Bman76 (no it doesn't need a WS6 hood) M. Arch
06/24/2018 at 01:00

Recycle the vette.

DD the Ford (I have some sizeable hills and imperfect roads to & from work).

Track Mazda & have a blast every single time.

boxrocket > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
06/24/2018 at 01:02

If you removed the stickers from the Ford and put on side view mirrors, it might just fly under the radar, especially being such an old body style , relatively speaking.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Bman76 (no it doesn't need a WS6 hood) M. Arch
06/24/2018 at 01:24

Pull up a chair, young roadracer. ITA97 has a story for you... Not really, but something to consider:

With any racecar, the purchase price of the car is just the down payment on club racing. Running costs will quickly surpass the cost of the car, and relationship between horsepower and running costs tends to be an exponential curve.

Those are not anything like running a street motor. 800+ HP race motors are not cheap, and they don’t live very long. Think along the lines of a $ 60k motor with a lifespan in the (very low) tens of hours on the track (if nothing bad happens, which it always can). I hear some folks now in TA at the club level these days run “take out” used motors from Nascar teams, but that’s still a $ 20K motor, and it isn’t fresh. $15k for a transmission, and those get rebuilt all the time. It would probably be reasonable to expect a motor and gearbox rebuild every year , if nothing goes wrong. If you want aim for runoffs, you’re going to spend a whole lot more than that.

The other thing is that all those cars are heavy and going around the track very, very quickly on v ery expensive tires that will have a lifespan of very few heat cycles . Call it $ 2K for a set of tires, and you’re probably going to need 2 sets per weekend for a club race (or 2 sets per day if you want to dabble in a pro race) . Brake rotors and hats aren’t cheap either, and a big heavy car with a whole bunch of HP will eat them. Heavy cars are hell on bearings and rod ends, too.

This doesn’t even take into account the cost of staying competitive . Those aren’t spec classes, which means anyone is welcome to spend $ 15K on the best shocks they can find and rent time on a c hassis d yno from an indycar team to set them up to find the last half second around your local track.

And those long, low and fiberglass noses. Off course excursions happen, and they’re going to be expensive.

On that FM, they’re a spec class with a sealed motor. There is exactly one allowed builder for the motor, they’re all dyno’d before they’re sealed to ensure parity, a rebuild is more around 6K and lasts 2-3 seasons (unless you’re aiming for runoffs, then a motor every year and another right before if you get the invite ). Brakes aren’t terribly expensive, and they’ll last many race weekends. Tires are around $1k a set, and can last 2-3 race weekends depending on how close to the pointy end you want to be (a set every weekend if winning is always the goal) . The gearbox is the hewland that is in the back of a ton of formula cars. I suppose a new one would be expensive, but they’re durable and designed to be rebuilt easily using mostly tools you already have . They’re only driving ~ 180hp, not 800. Parts are everywhere. The rules also limit you to a few spec gear se ts, so you don’t have to own dozens of gears to mix and match for each track. Shocks are spec and sealed, so figure a few $k for a set that will last many seasons. B earings and rod ends should last at least a season. All this running gear is supporting 180hp and 11 00lbs, as opposed to 800hp and 3,000lbs. If you crash an FM, it will get expensive, but the car itself isn’t necessarily much more expensive than a spec miata to run so long you avoid hitting things. You can buy a nice FM for less than the cost of a motor rebuild in those other two cars.

Folks going road racing (even with just a spec miata) are spending orders of magnitude more money than going autocrossing or running track days. One of the reasons that most cars at an SCCA club race by car count tend to be either small formula cars or production based cars at around the spec miata hp level is that how fast you’re going around the track isn’t really related to how much fun you’re having, but it is directly related to how much money you’re spending to do it.

Bman76 (no it doesn't need a WS6 hood) M. Arch > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
06/24/2018 at 10:20

This was a good novel, and also describes a lot of why I bought my Miata after AutoXing my TA for a season. Smaller lighter cars are definitely cheat codes for more fun/ cheaper racing.

ihm96 > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
06/24/2018 at 13:05

He never said we couldn’t mod them. I would daily the truck and if/when that engine went I’d just swap in a more reasonable daily ish v8. Track the spec Mazda then