There are many things to consider when choosing a brand/type of car to play with on the track.
If you truly intend to do competitive "wheel to wheel" racing, such as SCCA, then you have some homework to do before making a decision on which car to choose.
Also, you should realise that you don't necassarily "need" to own a car in order to go through your drivers schools or even your first few race seasons, as many groups (and sometime individuals)will lease or rent you a car on a per weekend basis.
This is particularly a good idea for your schools, so that you can concentrate 100 percent on your driving and you can let the owncrew of the car take care of keeping the car ready to run.
Off the top of my head, here are a few things to consider when choosing a "track only" type racing car.
open wheel or closed wheel?
well, this is an emotional one for alot of people....
purists will say that the only way to go is with a "purpose built" racing car such as a formula atlantic,etc.
Well, the fastest of the open wheel cars, the formula atlantics are incredibly fast(heck they look like F1/or indy cars).....
...but they are also incredibly expensive to own and be competitive in, and such a car is probably not a good plan for a "newbie driver".
Other open wheel choices available are formula continetal, formula ford, formula ford 1600, and even the formula vee.
The atlantics and continentals use front and rear adjustable wings, so that adds to the fun (confusion) of car set up.
The club ford and 1600 cc cars are much more affordable, with a regionally vcompetitive example going for around $10-15k depending on condition and spares.
Before comiiting to any open wheel car, (especially if you are a "large" fellow) you need to see if you fit into the thing. Chassis vary alot and some cars seem to be made for midgets with tiny feet.
at the supposedly "most econommical end" of the open wheel cars is formula vee, which is the air cooled vw powered dinosaurs you see at the races. This class remains to be very competitive, but I personally think it is ridiculous to race a car with drum brakes, a vw beetle front end and spend upwards of $6k on a nationally competitive engine.
formula vee is weird, either people love them or they have no interest in them at all. I am of the latter opinion as the cars look goofy,and I see alot of vee drivers walk with a limp. (these guys tend to have ugly crashes)
GT class cars
this was kind of discussed in my first response. Basically a "GT" car is a steel roof, and production block and the rest is purpose built. You can buy "cheap"older GT cars, but they will be slow and expensive to maintain.
production class
production cars are mostly older british cars that have a cult following , but no one else on the planet seems to care about anymore. (I'm not trying to anger or offend anyone but this is the palin and simple truth. One reason the SCCA has a problem with the "greying" of their membership is because they spend soo much energy on old bugeye sprites and mgbs, that they are completely missing the boat when it comes to attracting new young members with their hondas and subarus.
I've been saying this for years, and am a former board member of my region.
Anyways, if you want to spend $25k building an mgb, to race against a bunch of other guys with mgbs, the production class is for you.....although they did finally start letting some asian and german cars like the vw rabbit into production.
Modification wise a production car is not too far from a GT car except it retains most of its original unibody, and still uses stock dimension brakes. Engine and suspensions are modified heavily.
sports racers
alot of options in this group.
you can run anything from a 2.0 liter ford powered car to something with a motorcyclle engine and a sequential six speed. This is where cars like the Dasio,come in. They kind of look like old can-am cars. they don't offer really anymore foot protection than an open wheel car and they do have a little more "body work"to them. You can go from a mild used s200 starting around $10k, up to a new radical or other bran for around $50k.
Then there's the SCCA's own "spec racer". These first came out in the 1980s and had little renault engine ins them. They were cheap to buy at the time and cheap to run,,,, and all the cars were "tecnically" the. They now use a ford engine and trans, and they are in the mid $20s for a new one I believe, and used one are usually around $15k.
Very popular class and fun little cars to drive. They are very tough little cars and can take a beating. They are pretty safe and you will always have someone to race with in this class. They even have a "pro" series with the cars.
The downside is that they (the SCCA) seem to screw the spec guys out of money every chance they get.
for example, the tires are branded with the word "spec" om them as are other parts. Of course you get to pay about 20 percent more than the non branded parts for the priviledge of getting to use them. They also charge the spec guys more for entry fees than everyone else, which in my opinion is extorsion!In the mid -div it costs usually 20 dollars more per entry to race a spec racer. 20 bucks doesn't sound like much until you add up how many times a year you will run, and then add that to the extra gouging you get on parts that you are only allowed to source through "scca enterprises". (sounds like a racquet to me)
"showroom stock"
uhhh, yeah,,,,, how about "showroom-in your dreams-stock",
I was also a nationally licensed scrutineer for about ten years, and one of my friends races in showroom stock.
Let's put it this way,,,,,, a few years back, he considered having his "stock" mitsu eclipse set up for the runoffs, by the Archer brothers as they were doing a bunch of them for the event. Now these guys wanted around $10k just to "set up" a showroom stock eclipse for the event!!!!
Oh, and guess what? I believe that cars prepped by them finished 1rst,2cnd,&3rd,,,,only to be disqualified for uhhh, bending the rules. Also a showroom stock car is no longer eligible after it is 5 years old, if I remember right. Good concept, but probably the most "sneaky" class there is.
If showroom stock truly is just that, then why would you take your own car to the national championships?
I brought up the idea years ago, to approach the auto manufacturers to bring enough cars for competitors to use for the event. Competitors would then only have to show up with thier own helmet, safety gear, and choice of tires. Since all of the cars are "supposedly" showroom stock, then there would be a lottery to see who would drive each car.
MYsteriously, none of the showroom stock guys liked my idea? hm,mmm.
American sedan
this one is for the mustang and firebird/camaro fans.
American sedan was originally alot of fun, and still can be regionally. You do need to think about this though.
Heavy v8 powered cars do tend to go through alot more fuel tires and brake pads than the little cars do, so yuor per weekend expenses on those things are a little higher.
A-sedan was really a great grassroots class until the SCCA decided to make it into a "national class". Basically this "upped the ante" overnite, as the big boys now got into them. You can no longer have $10k in an a sedan and be competitive,but you can still have fun regionally.
IT, improved touring
IT class is supposed to be the next step after showroom stock. You are allowed to modify the suspension, but the engine has to remain pretty stock. Alot of choices here in cars and type, as there are sub classes called ITS,ITA,ITB,ITC,ITD and even ITE 9which is what I run in at the moment) The letters basically designate engine size with ITS cars being the larger bore datsun z cars and 2cnd gen rx-7s, down to the little ford fiestas in ITC.
You can race in IT class for cheap, but it costs to be competitive. ...not too much though.
I have a friend who was national It champ at the AARC race for 5 years in a row. He races a VW gGTI in ITB, and I have seen himsell his champ winning car for $5k exactly as it came off the track! Building an It car yourself, you can easily spend $15 l or more, but you can buy a used ITA rx7 for around $5k for a decent one.
the big drawback to IT is it tends to be a "violent" class, as the numbers of participants are large, but some of them are total idiots.
which brings me to rule number one about a track car!
You track car needs to be "expendable".
#2, is it something you can easily repair yourself or will you be paying someone else to work onit?
#3 is it such a "unique" car that sourcing spare parts will be an issue?
#4 will it be a competitive car in the class?
#5 how much will I be spending on tires, brake pads, fuel, expendable per week end.
etc,etc, well, I better stop before I write an entire book.
I'm not trying to turn anyonne away from track time. I just seem to always see the plus side being talked about , and never the opposite.
These are just my opinions and observations over the last 15 years or so.
