i was thinking about turning my 510 into a IT car , THOUGHTS?
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i was thinking about turning my 510 into a IT car , THOUGHTS?
I sold mine several years ago and still regret it. It handled as good as anything out there, that independent rear end saved my rear end many times. On the long tracks like Daytona and the long Sebring course it was very competitive. I never won but finished second and always was competitive in the top five (usually), but that was in the early nineties, not today. Parts then were readily available and relatively cheap as racing parts go. Again, that was nearly 15 years ago. The 510 community is awesome and there is a great deal of info and help. I'd say go for it and don't look back! By the way, have you seen the picture of a 510 at Road Atlanta under the bridge with the front wheel off the ground? Three shades of cool! Good luck.
David
I you had an already-IT-prepared 510, I'd say go for it but building one at this point in history seems like setting yourself up for a major headache over the long term. Parts are very much an issue for a car that's approaching 40 years old. (How can THAT be? Sheesh.) The aftermarket isn't supporting them the way they were when IT was a new idea.
That, and if you've got a good one, maybe it deserves a more restful retirement, buzzing through the countryside on Saturdays, rather than getting its fender knocked off...
K
K's correct.
Great car, but Vintage.
Unless you can get OEM NOS stuff off ebay, that would be a tough one.
Quote:
K's correct.
Great car, but Vintage.
Unless you can get OEM NOS stuff off ebay, that would be a tough one.
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you guys are right , it a little too nice of a car to kill :dead_horse:
I have an ITC 510. It's still competitive even though I'm not. I would have had a second and a third place :happy204: on my second ever race weekend if I hadn't spun the car on the last lap - both times :bash_1_: Even though the strips are gone I'm still a novice.
Finding parts for the 510 is not unreasonable. It still has a good following and a bunch of guys with parts cars. Nissan Comp still carries some parts for it. Personally, I think if it's already set up for vintage racing keep it there. Less likely to get bent up. I have a group of guys trying to get me to go H Production but I have a hard time justifying cutting the quarter panels for box flares.
510's are still at the pointy end of the field in ITC, and will be until they push more ITB cars down and/or start adding more car like the New Beetle (BTW, anybody seen one out there yet?). They are also very competitive GProd cars, and seem to do well as limited-prep HProd cars. However, w/ things as up in the air as they are w/ GP and HP right now, I don't know if I'd build anything for either of those classes. But, as Kirk said, parts aren't exactly common.
As a current ITC 510 racer, here's my two cents:
Pros
blast to drive, pretty forgiving, great handling, fun to beat up on "faster" cars in corners
Cons
slow straightaway speed, parts can be a challenge to find (but not impossible), limited future as IT car, few cars in class
510s are slow compared to just about everything else out there. It is frustrating to have faster Miatas and others beat you down straightaways to a corner only to hold you up through the corners. The fact that they are older cars means things do break more often and when they do, you need to sometimes get resourceful in finding some parts. Overall though, I really enjoy my 510. The parts issue isn't that big of deal. I have yet to need a part that I could not find.
parts will soon become the issue for the 510 - and parts were the reason I sold my RX3, which was a LOT more fun to drive than the GTI is.
When it got to the point that I had to make my own brake rotors from scratch at a machine shop, I knew it was time to move on.
I really wish I could find a newer equivalent to the RX3. The 318 is close, but I keep hearing 318i parts are pretty high.