Buying a Car

[RoyDietsch]

Well my friend is buying a new car and We're thinking about IT...It needs to be street titlable...emissions and noise dont matter and were thinking $3000-3500 track ready...I checked the classifieds here and some local clubs...what should I look for in a car? where can I find more for sale? any advise to get into IT? It dosent have to be competitive I just need seat time...

Thanks,
Roy

[Speed Raycer]

Originally posted by RoyDietsch:
We're thinking about IT...It needs to be street titlable...emissions and noise dont matter
Where are you located?? The two (street legal and emissions) are intertwined in some areas. If the car has to meet emissions to be street legal, then it will have a tougher time being competitive, but if you're truely looking to get seat time, that's not a big factor.


<font face=\"Verdana, Arial\" size=\"2\"> we're thinking $3000-3500 track ready...I checked the classifieds here and some local clubs...where can I find more for sale?</font>sccaforums.com, grmotorsports.com and marque specific forums are a great place to find used racecars.

what should I look for in a car? ... any advise to get into IT? It dosent have to be competitive I just need seat time...

Thanks,
Roy

Make sure you can see the car run or that the seller has a documented history of lap times or events it's competed in. Be sure that the car isn't just an aborted project that never saw the track. Check the cage for quality construction. Look for bad welds and feel for complete welding at the top of the A-pillar bars and other areas that are hard to get to.

The best thing you can do is read through this website religiously and take notes. You'll be amazed at how much you can learn here in a couple of days.

If I was in the market for a car right now, I'd be leaning towards the current underdog ITS cars or the 5+ year old SSB/C cars that are loosing their SS eligibility after this year and are being strongly considered for reclassification to ITA (early ACR and Se-R come to mind).

Not everyone out there in IT land knows that there's a chance of reclassification for some of the ITS cars into ITA. It wouldn't be your fault if the seller didn't know that their slow ITS car might be a competitive car next year. http://Forum.ImprovedTouring.com/it/biggrin.gif

Of course, if you end up needing a cage... http://Forum.ImprovedTouring.com/it/wink.gif


------------------
Scott Rhea
It's not what you build...
it's how you build it
http://www.izzyscustomcages.com/images/IzysLgoSm.jpg (http://www.izzyscustomcages.com)
Izzy's Custom Cages (http://www.izzyscustomcages.com)

[Edited to actually complete my thoughts]

[This message has been edited by Speed Raycer (edited September 22, 2004).]

[benspeed]

Go for a make/model that is competitive. I started with a 944 in ITS - burned up much cash and then had to take a loss as it was too expensive to make it competitive and sold it. I went RX7 - competitive out of the box and pretty cheap. Pick a platform that is not doomed as back marker from the start.

Safety is the critical deal - quality cage is major important. Also - think about how much spares and repairs cost.

[Speed Raycer]

One more thought on the price... 3-3500 can get you a pretty good car to get seat time, but don't forget to factor in how you'll be getting the car AND EQUIPMENT to the track. Since you're looking for a street legal car, we'll assume that you plan on driving to the track. Unless you've got a fairly local track, you'll need an extra set of street tires and wheels and possibly a small trailer for tools/racing tires.

If you plan on trailering... look for a package deal on the car and trailer, otherwise a good open trailer will set you back at least $800+ alone.

Check for outdated harness' as well.

[Edited because I'm scatterbrained today]

[This message has been edited by Speed Raycer (edited September 22, 2004).]

[Knestis]

Find someone who knows what's what in your area and see if they will help you with your shopping. Where are you?

Kirk

[RoyDietsch]

I live in milwaukee, I was thinking about racing with MidWest council because I think its only $150 to get a novice license. No emissions where the car will be titled. We saw a few promising Sciroccos how competitive are they? thanks for the links and info...

Roy

[Knestis]

A Scirocco wouldnt be a cripple ITC car (1st generation) but the trick is getting one that isn't either junk or a cheater. It's cheaper to buy a built race car than to build one but it needs to be explicitly said that this is only the case if you don't get dorked on the initial buy.

K

[jake7140]

Originally posted by RoyDietsch:
I live in milwaukee, I was thinking about racing with MidWest council ...

Roy

Roy,
I'm in Racine, email me offline. MidwestERN Council is a great org, but each org has it's +/-.


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Steve
[email protected]
<A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/jake7140" TARGET=_blank>My racing page
</A><A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/elrss" TARGET=_blank>Elkhart Lake Racing_&_Sipping Society
</A>

[planet6racing]

Roy:

I'm in Milwaukee (well, technically West Allis, but I'm only 4 houses from the border) at 60th and Cleveland. If I can be of any help, let me know.

Also, the Fall Sprints are coming up at Blackhawk Farms. Some people may have there cars up for sale there...

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Bill
Planet 6 Racing
bill (at) planet6racing (dot) com

[bobpink]

Wow, a few cheeseheads. Bill, before I moved to Atlanta you would have found me at 68th & Beloit Road.

Now back to buying a car...

You can never be sure about getting dorked on an initial buy. The ITS Prelude we bought was missing a big ticket item that was said to be in the car and had a major drivetrain problem we were not told about. We would not have paid near as much for the car had we known. Car was purchased from some "reputable" racers as well so you just never know.

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Bob Pinkowski
Atlanta Region SCCA
ITS Honda Prelude (no longer for sale, I think)

[This message has been edited by bobpink (edited September 23, 2004).]

[RoyDietsch]

Actually, if you guys have an extra spot in to pit for a race, I would be more then happy to help out your team, writing down splits, changing tires and what not...I've been autocrossing for about 4 years and broke alot of stuff so Im pretty handy with a wrench. I would really like to see what Im getting into...

Thanks,
Roy

[gsbaker]

Originally posted by bobpink:
Wow, a few cheeseheads. Bill, before I moved to Atlanta you would have found me at 68th & Beloit Road.

One more Bob. Brookfield.

Gregg

[1stGenBoy]

I'm in Milwaukee too. You would be surprised at the number of IT racers around here.
Bill give me a call if you want to park with us at BHF we should have room in Shanty Towne #3. We park by turn 5 between 5-6.
Roy, Give me a call if you want to come down to BHF and i'll put you on my crew list if you do not get a hold of Bill.
Just remember you have to register to get in the track when registration is open or you cannot get in. We can get you these times that they are open..
Bob Clark
262-317-1225 wk
414-351-1465 hm
414-254-5702 cell

[planet6racing]

Roy:

Did you still want to get in this weekend at Blackhawk? If so, let me know (unless someone else already took care of you) before Friday so that I can put you on the list and get you in. As Bob said, you'll need to come during the hours that Registration is open, but spending all day at the track is never a bad thing!!

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Bill
Planet 6 Racing
bill (at) planet6racing (dot) com

[RoyDietsch]

Sorry it took so long to reply, I kinda zoned out there when I got an offer to drive a competitive STS2 car next year...anyway, Bill and Bob(are you Solo2 Bob Clark?) are there any races after this weekend? or saturday races? Thanks alot guys, hope to keep in touch soon...

Roy