Hey T.R.

I've been thinking about entering auto-x / road racing again for the 2011 season(s).

My current vehicles are a 97 Mitsubishi Eclipse and a 2009 Ford focus.

I used to own a neon about 2 years back, and i loved the way the car responded in tight corners.

I want to get somewhat serious, and i have 4-5 people that are willing to form a team with me.

Should i stick with one of the cars that i have or i just get another neon?

 

also would it be in my best interest to get a trailer to the car to events? I know some people drive it over to events, but we all know what happens when a car craps out.

 

Id say the Ford. I have seen a few Focus's out auto Xing and doing very well.
Plus there are quite a few upgrades for the Ford.
Now a track car is a bit different, the larger tracks like higher HP. so neither car is a great track car.

But before any car comes into play, you need the skill set. So going out with any car and getting seat time is the most important.

 

What's your experience level? How much money do you and your friends have to spend? What kind of racing are you looking to do (besides autocross)?

If you're just getting started, the best thing you can do is just go autocross in whatever car you can get your hands on. The Focus would be a safe bet. Reliable, decent handling, a good car to learn in.

You can also do some track events in the Focus... again, reliable and decent handling. Put some decent tires on it and maybe a set of track pads.

I'd recommend doing it that way simply because you won't disrupt your learning process with having to fix a broken car at the track. Ask anybody who's ever build a race car out of an old beater car, they break!

Of course, if you've got 5 friends who are willing to pitch in $1k each, you could build a LeMons/Chump racer. It'll probably break, too... but you'll have fun.

 

Well once my DD is up to maint. again i will have about 5-800 a month to throw around depending on my work schedule. I personally want to make this part of my life. I would love to see myself managing a real crew to race at major events.

As of right now auto cross and friendly circuit racing will do. Now for the seat time like i stated i did some autocross 2 years ago but it was not much. At most 5 maybe 6 hours of seat time. I've done auto x courses and i was a passenger at Sebring once. I have had some 1/4 and 1/8 seat time, and some seat time back in Germany ( if that counts). All in All i would say if i get a team together we would be around 1500-2k with all of them showing dedication. I don't count on them going 100% with it. so really it would just be 2.

so no more then 1000 a month. Which is after all bills are paid and food is put on the table.

 

focus would be best because that can run in a showroom stock class. you need to read up on the rules to see what you can run though.

fyi neither of those cars will ever be in a "major" series though. or even close to a major series for that matter...

sounds like you have extremely limited seat time and stupid friends if I'm going to be completely honest. You should have at bare minimum in the high hundreds of hours of seat time before you go racing...if not thousands. I spent 4 years doing 30-40 days a year at the track before I actually went racing. Had at least a thousand hours... plus the 3 years that I raced in karts when I was younger and the 2 years running 2 different clubs seasons as well. You don't just say "I want to go racing, lets do it." and then do it. It takes tons of preparation, time, and money. And I don't see why your friends want to chip in money. With either of those cars there is NO money to be made out of it... just tons to spend.

Sorry if you think it is harsh but I am a realist.

 

What he said. And then it takes even more money.

Cheapest wheel-to-wheel racing (in a car) that you'll find this side of a dirt track is "crap can" racing with LeMons or Chump. Even that is going to cost you a MINIMUM of $3k to buy and prep a car, plus $500 for your personal gear, plus actual racing expenses (transportation, tires, brakes, fuel, food, lodging, broken parts, entry fees, etc). Bottom line to the starting line of your first LeMons race should be around $5k give or take a couple hundred. Not too shabby split 4 or 5 ways, if you can find that many reliable people with money.

Cheaper than that would be to sign up with an already established LeMons team, but that's still going to cost you close to $1k per race weekend. (plus all of your driver's gear)

And just to be nitpicky, you never said you had 2 years of autocross experience, you said you had a Neon 2 years ago and liked the way it handled.

Anyway, I'm gonna stick with my original suggestion: Get some more autocross seat time, as much as possible. You learn car control skills at autocross that you can't safely learn on a track. Then find a track club (Chin, SCCA, NASA, whatever) who will give you track instruction and start learning the ropes at the track. If all you've ever done on a track is a ride along at Sebring, you're light-years away from being ready to race. (but, back to the LeMons gig... there are a LOT of people who show up at those races with NO experience whatsoever, not that I'd recommend it)

 

If you check out Taj racing out on facebook. He is actually working as a crew person for other teams. I think they are SCCA teams etc.
I also think he volunteers for this, they may cover his costs but thats it.
Taj has also raced about 6 Lemons- Chump races. So he has been running his team for over 2 years and their cars have done well.
He may be able to give you some insight on crewing a race.

 

i mentioned that i only had a total of about 5-6 hours in the above statements. I know also that the cars mentioned above are not meant for any major type events. The Cars i mentioned where meant for auto-x. I basically figured you would say that. i did some reading and figured that it would take at least 6-7k to get a all the supplies together. This is something i consider a life passion so i have time to get those light years of seat time. I guess my 1st and best interest is to just run auto-x for a few years and then see where i am at. Thanks for the info guys

 

it scared the shit out of me when i was in the seat just watching him take those corners. I agree with you 100%. i'm not ready for a real race. So what car should i go with then. As far as i am concerned a fwd would be better for auto -x for a novice correct? They are also cheaper to maintain correct?