Looking to start racing ITB in 2010 any advice?

[ridgeracer24]

Got Dave's book today and havent put it down yet. I have done Skip Barber intro to racing and a HPDE w/ SCDA. Sadley I learned more w/ the SCDA then I did Skip Braber. From what I'm told the VW's are fast but can lift an inside wheel on the turns hindering handeling. My thought is if your lifting an inside wheel your gettting alot of bite in the corner. The 2 cars I have seen and liked so far are the GTI's and Crx.

[Bill Miller]

Chris,

That's the nature of the suspension geometry in a VW. It's just what they do. Looks a bit intimidating to the uninitiated, but it's not really that bad, and you can tune a lot of it out w/ the proper suspension components.

[CRallo]

I was gonna ask "Is this the Chris I think it is?" And then read your last post...

Haha, what's up man!? Welcome to the fray!

[924Guy]

Well yes, it does help of you can keep all 4 on the ground... but what Bill said.

As an ITB competitor not running a VW, I would definitely second the motion that they're a great choice. They're both very competitive and plentiful for parts and knowledge.

My car's faster than them or the Accords - but good luck finding parts and knowledge - they're just too uncommon yet in IT. Not a great place to start as a beginner - you want to just be able to go turn laps, and having a car that can become competitive later, when you can too, is even better.

Though they do have an ugly tendency, like most front-drivers, to go turtle (we had a MKII I think GTI do two barrel rolls followed by two endos last weekend... think he'll be looking at a '24 now...)

[CRallo]

Though they do have an ugly tendency, like most front-drivers, to go turtle (we had a MKII I think GTI do two barrel rolls followed by two endos last weekend... think he'll be looking at a '24 now...)

Vaughan, are you tryin to scare the poor guy!? lol

[dickita15]

One cannot over stress the idea of running a car that multiple other people in your area are running when you are starting out. It just makes it so much easier to have people around when you have a question. I would go as far as saying go to the track and meet competitors in different cars and chose a car like the guys you seem to find best to hang out with. In ITB I guess that would mean VW, Honda, Volvo or maybe Audi.

[Bill Miller]

Well yes, it does help of you can keep all 4 on the ground... but what Bill said.

As an ITB competitor not running a VW, I would definitely second the motion that they're a great choice. They're both very competitive and plentiful for parts and knowledge.

My car's faster than them or the Accords - but good luck finding parts and knowledge - they're just too uncommon yet in IT. Not a great place to start as a beginner - you want to just be able to go turn laps, and having a car that can become competitive later, when you can too, is even better.

Though they do have an ugly tendency, like most front-drivers, to go turtle (we had a MKII I think GTI do two barrel rolls followed by two endos last weekend... think he'll be looking at a '24 now...)

Hey Vaughn,

There's a pretty nice looking street 924 for sale near me. I can stop and get a phone # and a price if you know someone looking for one.

Interesting comment about 'turtling' in a VW. I wonder how many VW racers have rolled their car?

[CRallo]

Got Dave's book today and havent put it down yet. I have done Skip Barber intro to racing and a HPDE w/ SCDA. Sadley I learned more w/ the SCDA then I did Skip Braber. From what I'm told the VW's are fast but can lift an inside wheel on the turns hindering handeling. My thought is if your lifting an inside wheel your gettting alot of bite in the corner. The 2 cars I have seen and liked so far are the GTI's and Crx.

typical considering the course you took... The "Intro to Racing" is nothing more than an amusement park ride

[Bill Miller]

Chris,

Saw this on the VW site. I know it might be a bit over your budget, but probably a decent car, and not too far from you. And you can probably negotiate a bit on the price. Not to mention that it's a cool piece of VW history.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=4482614

[924Guy]

Hey Vaughn,

There's a pretty nice looking street 924 for sale near me. I can stop and get a phone # and a price if you know someone looking for one.

Interesting comment about 'turtling' in a VW. I wonder how many VW racers have rolled their car?

Thanks, but no need - there's actually a built IT 924 in this area... and street '24's are anywhere...

[ridgeracer24]

My main goal for 2010 is to get on the track. I don't care much about racing wheel to wheel as taking a year or more to learn, understand and grow as a driver. I guessing there is no more events for the year. What I would like to do is "crew" for some one to see a little deeper into ITB racing.

[gran racing]

Chris,
Dick makes an excellent point of having an idea of what cars people are running in the N.E. who might be a potential resource for you. At the same time, there's often quite a bit of cross-over knowledge among same makes but different models. If you were going to build a car from scratch, I'd believe the decision making process of which car to run would be different than if buying a pre-built car. In your situation, get some general knowledge about a bunch of the ITB cars running. Also try to figure out what your goals are. Is this first car the one you'll hold onto for a long time and have aspirations of winning races with? Or is this car just going to be a short term method to get out on the track and you're not concerned with winning now or in future. I will say that once you get a car, it can be difficult to get rid of it later as you begin collecting a supply of parts and knowledge. Ask me how I know. lol

Keep your options open to various cars and don't limit yourself too much. When you're serious about buying one, ask around to learn who might be in the market to sell their car. Take a close look at those options and determine if any of them meet what you're looking for.

In regards to the crewing for an ITB driver, I'm sure you won't have any problem finding people who would be happy to have you join them including myself (depending upon what happens with my engine that needs to be rebuilt).

[ridgeracer24]

My goal is to get a car, gain seat time, take a mid pack car and build it into a race winning car(if possible).