Looking at IT

[jhd11]

Hello,
I am new to this forum but have been lurking a little bit. I am seriously considering an IT 7 purchase to get back on the track. I have no experience w/ Mazdas but have heard they are good, dependable cars to learn with. The car is a sunroof car. Pros? Cons? Anything I should be looking for? Thanks in Advance.

Joe Downer
Charlotte, N.C.

[Mike Spencer]

The car is a sunroof car. Pros? Cons? Anything I should be looking for? Thanks in Advance.


Hi, Joe. First of all, welcome! :023:

I'm far from an expert, but I'm just a little bit farther along in the direction you are contemplating. I bought a "turnkey" IT-7 a little over a year ago, went to the double school in Savannah in February and earned my Regional license in May.

From your question, it's not clear if the car is a finished race car or a "project". FWIW, I hope it's not a project. I started with a non-running but very straight 2nd gen and ultimately sold it off and bought the completed car (with results showing how it ran). Building your own car takes *LOTS* of time, *LOTS* of money and ultimately *LOTS* of patience. Buying a completed car gets you racing a lot quicker and usually the car is already sorted.

Sunroof? I don't have the GCR in front of me, but you have to basically weld it in place. Those cars also come in just a little bit heavier and the weight is high up. Not good. (It won't make a huge difference when you're learning, but will become an issue later unless you plan to sell the car)

Reliability; Well, I absolutely *LOVE* mine! Here in the southeast, you run with ITA and ITS (which means you get passed a lot <_< ) but building or buying a competitive ITS car is quite a bit more money. In a double school and two race weekends my car has needed zero maintenance (other than the preventative kind beforehand). I&#39;m planning to run the SARRC race at VIR the end of October and the ECR (same weekend). If you can come up, there will be lots of 1st gen owners to talk to and cars to look at.

If you want, I can probably even get you on a crew list. (SCCA membership required)

Mike Spencer
IT-7 #60

[jhd11]

Mike,
Thanks for the info. The car is a completed car w/ log book, current tech and some race history. Since I will just be learning I expect to be passed a lot! The car I am thinking about is in High Point and advetrtised in the NC Region classifieds. Do you know it? The sunroof looks to have 2 bars across to secure. Have not seen the car in person yet but hope to see t soon. Also thanks for the invite to VIR. Would love to meet you an pick your brain!

Joe Downer
Charlotte N.C.

[Mike Spencer]

Originally posted by jhd11@Sep 18 2005, 12:34 AM
Mike,
Thanks for the info. The car is a completed car w/ log book, current tech and some race history. Since I will just be learning I expect to be passed a lot! The car I am thinking about is in High Point and advetrtised in the NC Region classifieds. Do you know it? The sunroof looks to have 2 bars across to secure. Have not seen the car in person yet but hope to see t soon. Also thanks for the invite to VIR. Would love to meet you an pick your brain!

Joe Downer
Charlotte N.C.

60472


Joe,

The fact that it is a finished car (I believe) makes the sunroof less of an issue. If you were thinking of starting from scratch I would recommend looking for a different car, but it&#39;s really not a big deal.

By all means go to see the car in person. I was fortunate enough to have a couple of friends (one of whom occasionally works in tech for NC Region) come with me to look at what became my car. Both have raced rotaries in the past and were a tremendous help!

I don&#39;t know of the car, but I did just look in the classifieds. If it&#39;s the one I think you&#39;re looking at, here are my observations; 1) I&#39;ve heard the name. There are lots of 1st gen drivers and the cars vary somewhat in potential. Fortunately, the drivers tend to vary a great deal more! :lol: 2) 6 race wheels ain&#39;t much! Diamond wheels cost in the neighborhood of $70 each. My car came with 16. I currently have 1 set of good Toyo race tires (They will be the spec tire after the SIC this month so you won&#39;t be able to run anything else), 1 decent set of Hoosiers (at this point I will probably end up using them at a test day some time in the future but otherwise are of no use to me), 1 set of Toyo rains and 1 set of lousy Hoosiers (I park the car on them when it&#39;s not being used). The stock wheels may serve the latter purpose for you. If possible find somewhere you can buy *USED* street tires and get something an inch or more taller than race tires. It makes getting the car on and off the trailer a lot easier! Now, after all that realize that I don&#39;t have a single spare Toyo. You will want at least one and two would probably be better (I have at least 2 spares lined up for the Goblins weekend. I just don&#39;t own them unless I use them) 3) The 4.88 rear end is good for starters. Eventually, you will probably want to get a 5.12, but they are VERY expensive ($700+) and you need to spend the money on the driver first. The 4.11s are essentially useless unless you have lots of paper you don&#39;t want to blow away. (I got one of those, too!)

Finally, without seeing the car it sounds like a good deal. My car was quite a bit more expensive than that. The car I believe you are looking at is probably at the low end of what I&#39;ve seen pricewise, which either means it&#39;s a really good deal or you&#39;re going to need to spend money on it to make it fast. That&#39;s not necessarily a bad thing. What you are going to need immediately is something that doesn&#39;t break. A first gen with a new (or newer) motor should fit the bill. You spend a *LOT* of time on the track in school and you have to get through the school and then *FINISH* two races afterwards to get your license.

BTW, another plus with a rotary is that you can run pump gas. Instead of buying 110 octane at the track for I&#39;m-afraid-to-look-how-much, you can fill your 5 gallon jugs at the local gas station with 87. Most rotary owners run pre-mix, but that usually amounts to 1 oz. or so per gallon.

Speaking of money, I hope you realize this is not a cheap sport! In addition to the car you will need (this is *NOT* necessarily a complete list) a helmet, firesuit, driving shoes, nomex socks, driving gloves and at least access to a tow vehicle and trailer *JUST* to get to the school. That stuff should last you a while, but it&#39;s a lot of cash to lay out up front.

This is getting a little long and I could probably ramble on all night. If you have any specific questions I&#39;ll be happy to take a stab at them. Just take your time and spend wisely. And please let me know if you are planning to come up to VIR next month. I think it would be a big benefit to look at some other cars and talk to some drivers. Who knows, someone might know the car or live close enough to want to go look at it with you.

If you&#39;re not an SCCA member, you can either pay to come in as a spectator (I think it&#39;s $20) or join the club. I&#39;m a big fan of going to the races first. I spectated once, crewed several times and flagged corners before I bought my car. I really can&#39;t explain how much I learned doing it that way. If you are already a member of SCCA (or plan to become one) you either have to be on someone&#39;s crew list or you still have to pay to come in as a spectator. If you want, I&#39;m sure I can find a crew list to get you on.

Good luck, and I look forward to meeting you!

[tom_sprecher]

You should take Mike up on crewing at VIR where you will have the opportunity to see many cars and talk to many people. I crewed for 4 years (9-10 races a season) before I deciding I&#39;d had enough of wrenchin&#39; and watchin&#39; and wanted to do some racin&#39;.

Next join the SCCA and buy a ECR, put it on the back of the toilet and read it.

Then make a wish list and watch it get smashed as you set a budget that has to encompass everything through Driver&#39;s Scool or you will not make.

Look at as many cars for sale as possible. There is an IT-7 for sale that I looked at that appeared to be a solid ride from some decent guys. It&#39;s in the same $ range as the one you are looking at. The car is outside of Greenville/Spartanburg.

Nutdriver Racing (http://www.nutdriver.org/RX7.shtml)

If you happen to be in the Atlanta area you can stop by and take a look my car since I just bought it and you can use it as a additional example. I wanted an entire racing package (car, trailer, spares) and luckily found really great one. This allows you to concentrate on the details, like driving, w/o spending time and money with infrastucture.

This is a good time of the year to buy a car but you&#39;ll have to wait all winter for the double school at Roebling like me. :(

Good luck and I hope to see you in Feb. :eclipsee_steering:

[Mike Spencer]

Originally posted by tom_sprecher@Sep 23 2005, 09:14 PM
<snip> This is a good time of the year to buy a car but you&#39;ll have to wait all winter for the double school at Roebling like me. :(

Good luck and I hope to see you in Feb. :eclipsee_steering:

61079


Tom -

First off, it&#39;s always nice to have someone come along and say, "ya know, he&#39;s right!" ;-) Seriously, it sounds like you are just getting into this. If you are planning to attend the double school at Roebling, you are in for a treat! I went to the 2005 version. Great course! Great instructors! Great time!

SCCA has really become one big extended family for me. If you are planning to be at VIR any of the next 6 weekends please let me know. My son and I will be flagging at the Grand Am race (1st weekend in Oct), I will be driving both the ECR and SARRC races at Goblins (last weekend in Oct) and crewing for the 13-hour "Charge of the Headlight Bridage" (1st weekend in Nov). It&#39;s always nice to meet another racer.

[tom_sprecher]

Thanks for the invite and I will look you up when I go to VIR. It&#39;s the one track here in the SE that I have wanted to go to but never had the chance.

I am new to driving and IT but like you the SCCA has become and extended family and of all the guys that I hang out with from the formula group 5 live within a mile or two of me. Nobody from IT that I know of is close but I don&#39;t know anybody from IT, yet.

AS the Atlanta Region SARRC rep I get the opportuinity to meet a lot of the top guys in each class as a part of my responsibilities.

Better than 4 years ago I went to the school at Roebling help Mark (owner/driver) get his license and you&#39;re right it was a blast. I&#39;m really looking forward to doing it the other way around (I drive, Mark crews).

Hope to see you next year.

[jhd11]

Mike,
Tried to PM you about getting on crew list for VIR. Email me @ [email protected] with your e-mail address. Looking forward to picking your brain!

Joe Downer
Charlotte, N.C.