New racer looking for advice on first car

[Andy Bettencourt]

I'll push the Miata. $10K buys you a decent one and you will be able to sell it for $9500. Pay now, or pay later...

RWD, 'beginner power', forgiving, great brakes, great support...it's all there. The best thing is that it will make you a better racer. You will always be 'in' a race so you will learn racecraft. You have to focus on momentum and you will pay dearly when you make a mistake. You also have a platform to convert to ITA or ITS should you desire to do so.

....and depending on where you are, you will have a multitude of run groups to double up if you are sharing the car.

[arpenn]

First let me thank everyone that has given input on our questions. Like I said before we need all the help we can get to shorten the learning curve. We have ordered the book should be here next week. We have also ruled out the Saturn. We like the idea of the Miata's but simply can't spend that much right now, we still have to buy safety gear, a trailer, probably tires for the car we buy, etc. We are looking at a Honda civic right now. After weighing the options we feel the Honda is the way to go for our first car. Lots of support and easy to get parts for. This too should help shorten our learning curve. Please keep the advice coming!!!

AP

[anrkii]

Small world.

Im in springfield, too, strafford, actually.
Im partial to the crx myself, I run a 1st gen in B. The first gen isnt as tail happy as the later crxs, also cheaper to run.

I am also glad I started out in B instead of A, the prep level and $$$ needed to be competitive in A is a lot higher. I can get a lot further along in B on my budget.

Also, if you do decide to build a car, the tech inspector for our region lives only ten minutes from springfield, so getting teched before your first race will be plenty convenient, especially if it takes a few tries, as was the case for me.

[SATURNRACER]

SAFETY SAFETYSAFETY!
Don't skimp on safety! A Hans device is one of the best investments I have ever made!
Get a good firesuit and helmet I know this is first grade but you would be surprised at what some people have out there.
O.B.

[NutDriverRighty]

I have no affiliation with them, but for budget safety equipment, I like the G-Force stuff. You can get a suit that will pass current specs for less than $250. You can get an SA2005 helmet for about the same. Shoes cost about $60, gloves for about $40.
Have to ditto a Head-and-neck restraint. The Isaac is well liked by some, I have a HANS, some use the G-force SRS-1, some like the R3, some the Hutchens. If you're going to race in hot climate, strongly consider a Cool Suit or Cool Shirt system. Could be the best $400 you've ever spent.

Scott

[camop]

For your first race car:

Spec Miata. Great prices on good used cars.

You can run SM and then your brother can run ITA. Track time, double the fun.

You will have other guys to race with - maybe not at the front, but you probably won't be at the front for a while anyway.

Very reliable and cheap to repair.

Strong and freindly community.

You can convert to a full on ITA car when you feel the need to go faster.

My 2 cents. . .

Neal Norton

[Chris Wire]

Please keep the advice coming!!!
[/b]

1. Any Honda - for all the reasons you mentioned.
2. Miata - RWD, blast to drive, mega-support, lots of options - be careful on what you buy though, due to market forces, lots of guys with $6000 cars think their worth $15k. They're not.
3. RX7 (1st gen) - cheap buy-in, but support is waning due to same market forces favoring Miati.

Darkhorse - Neon....wouldn't have listed that one before last weekend, but I raced one around Sebring and can say it with conviction. Easy to drive, good power, decent pricing on already built cars. Put a VERY entry-level car 9th on grid out of 25 in class with old tires and no setup on the car (I was just out to keep my license). No corner weight, no alignment, oil change, brake bleed, 1 tire rotation. That was it.

Darkerhorse - MR2 - good pricing on built cars, Toyota-reliability, hi-revving 16v exhaust note, easy on tires and brakes; I'd guess they lack the support level of the others listed but don't know fersure.

[SATURNRACER]

Chris,
ya should have stopped by and said hi!
We were battling brake issues all weekend!!!! NO pedal going into 17 EEEEEEEEEEKKKK!!!
We still had a decent weekend qualified 4th .....whats up with Ronie running a 2:35 man that guy is fast!
Next Time!
O.B.

[dj10]

Deffinately do a Mazda so some kind and save money from Mazda Motorsports, I hear they get 40% off. Just ask any BMW driver how much we save from BMW Motorsports!

[JeffYoung]

Or TriumphWorld!

You can't go wrong with a BUILT Miata as your first car. Won't break, and you can selli t in a few years for nearly what you paid for it. Then you can build something you are really interested in.

One competing viewpoint, not that this changes teh above, but I find Miatas boring to drive. No drama. Eerytrhing works. No power.

[Cobrar05]

I will throw my two cents in as I had never been on the race track with other cars until February.

The easy way to go is small bore, Miata-Honda. Forgiving. Lots of cars to race with. The other side of that is that I know a number of guys with as much money in their Miata as I have in my Cobra R Mustang that has a professional podium(IMSA GS) at Daytona on its resume.

A Mustang is more advanced, there is no question. It is less forgiving and bites harder. But it goes faster and there is power and the cost in the end is not what you think it might be compared to a competitive Miata.

My suggested expenses. Buy a car that has been raced competitively. Then you know that the car is capable when you catch up with it. I have a friend that is convinced his slow lap times are on the car and not his driving.

My car has more cage than it needs. That is good.
OPM driving suits, Sparco gloves, Piloti boots, Bell Helmets(Simpson still on my head), racetech seats and belts. Get a Traqmate and chasecam combo. You will learn more than you can imagine from that stuff.
Cool Shirt and Mirror visor. I ran the cool shirt at Road Atlanta when it was 105 degrees and was comfortable. The mirror visor is the darkest and also helps keep you cool. Amber visor when cloudy.

[camop]

Watch out for the amber visor. . .

I found that a yellow flag and a white flag look the same with my amber visor. I have retired that visor and use clear or smoke.

Regards,

Neal Norton

[arpenn]

Thanks guy's for all of the advice. We really appreciate it. We have considered the Miata's for all the reasons mentioned, but we have yet to find one in our price range ($5,000 or less). The buget got cut some because my brother is going to have a baby in Feb. so he decided he better wait on the race car for now. Now it is up to me, my dad said he would help some, but that cut the budget for the car some. We have found a Honda we are trying to buy, race proven and turn key. Just a little above our budget. We still have to buy a trailer and safety equipment which adds up! I hope we can find something. My brother may buy in after the baby comes and he can save up some more money. If anyone knows of a good car for less than $5,000 let me know! I am also looking for a open car trailer, preferably with a steel deck. I did buy the book "Go Ahead Take the Wheel" very good book, pointed out some things that I hadn't thought about. I would definately recommend the book for anyone like me trying to get into road racing. Keep the advice coming guy's, I know it is helping me and I am sure it is helping others that are considering this as well.

[gsbaker]

...The budget got cut some because my brother is going to have a baby...[/b]

If your brother is going to have a baby, he won't be lacking for money after the talk show circuit and book sales.

[arpenn]

Just had to be a Wise Guy didn't you!!

[Knestis]

Your $5000 budget puts you in range of any number of reasonable pre-built ITB MkII Golfs and ITB/ITC Honda Civics. I'd stay away from the MkI GTI and older ITC Rabbits and Sciroccos (and older Hondas for that matter) - they're just getting scarce/old enough that parts are becoming a problem.

Any of these options are easy on hardware, parts are in good supply, and most importantly there's a good knowledge base built up around them. Remember that in order to actually spend $5K to get a race car on track, you're probably looking at something with a sale price of $4K. You'll be amazed how quickly the difference gets sucked up.

K

[pigout]

Don't be afraid of a good used honda... all the kids love em ..they made a blue million of them ... when inspecting a potential purchase take a good look at the rear subframe...check for cracks.

they are an easy car to maintain... fun to drive ... people have a tendancy to read all the "how to drive fast" books... and try to apply all thet fancy book learnin' to a front drive car and it doesn't always work out so well.

good luck and have a great time.

[Chris Wire]

Chris,
ya should have stopped by and said hi!
We were battling brake issues all weekend!!!! NO pedal going into 17 EEEEEEEEEEKKKK!!!
We still had a decent weekend qualified 4th .....whats up with Ronie running a 2:35 man that guy is fast!
Next Time!
O.B.
[/b]

Sorry OB, I didn't do a very good job of making the rounds that weekend. I didn't even stay for race 2 once I got thru race 1. I guess I had the "just get it over with" mindset.

I'll be debuting the RX7 this year by Daytona if not sooner. I don't think I'll be doing the Feb Sebring race, but I'll be looking into the "Petit Petit". I'll try to look you guys up next time.

Ronie's got that Acura off the charts. Funny how we think that's fast when a certain BMW or two were running 34s a few years back. I'll live with Paul's times, the others.....not so much.

Be good!

[wbp]

The ITC Honda Civic, 1986, in the classifieds here now looks to be a great starter car. $3500. I know nothing about this car, but I raced one just like it for so little money that Andy B. couldn't believe me. Very low maintenance, they go a long way on tires, reliable.

[EdForrest]

There are lots of ways to do this with many opinions. I have built them from scratch and purchased them and developed the car. At the end of the day you will spend the same amount. What you have to consider is your initial invenstment money and then what funds you will have to complete or develop the car. The are cars out there for reasonable costs...say $2500-3000. You can be pretty sure that someone did something to the car...and these cars CAN provide you a great platform to become competitive. The most important thing to remember is that you -most likely- will not win a race or event the first or second time out. So...be prepared to have fun just getting out there. FAST will happen...but your first step is buying the car. Honda-Saturn-Mazda...just buy the most you can for what you have to spend...and be ready to invest more time and money into it. That is what "the book" teaches...and experience will also add that this sport is all about a budget of time and money and skills.