Bench racing exercise: Fastest road course build on a budget

Every once and awhile, I fantasize about building a car for the UTCC, as well as HPDEs and time trial type activities. My goal for the build would be the fastest car possible, within a reasonable budget. What's a reasonable budget? $10k? $20K? Don't know.

With no rules to build to, what would you build? Logical goals would include a highly favorable hp/weight ratio, the ability to stuff really big tires underneath it (box flares are better, right?) and a chassis that has proven to be road course friendly.

The easy button would be the best Corvette one could buy, then proceed to make it as light as possible and stuff giant tires on it. But that's boring.

So what would you build?

<----- Curiously waits to see how "reasonable budget" is defined.

C4 Vette, LS motor, turbo. The rest is details.

LSx RX8 would be an interesting option.

It would look a lot like an Exocet but would be based around a C5 or C6 engine/transaxle. In fact, I'd love a kit car like an Exocet but using a corvette instead of a Miata as a donor.

Oh...I thought that you were talking about a course...an authentic RallyX course, one that wold dictate a cool AWD turbo build.

Need to define more parameters.

20k opens the door to a lot of used sprint car\american iron race cars. Look in the past few years UTCC and they're consistently in the top 5.

Again, not a "build" per se, but definitely the easy button.

Otherwise: salvaged evo 8, gutted, crank the boost, add aero and r compounds to taste

I don't necessarily want to limit one's imagination through more parameters. The goal is to have a car that is reasonably inexpensive to build/put together and then get around a road course as fast as possible.

Feel free to set your own budgets. Got $10k to spend? Great. What would you build? $20k to spend? Have at it. That said, I don't have 6 figures (or even mid 5 figures) to throw at such a build, so those are my parameters.

After seeing what the guys at the $2013 challenge can come up with, I assume if they had $5000 it would start to get scary fast.

Unfortunately I agree buying the newest Z06 you can afford and stuffing giant tires on it would be the easiest solution.

What ever I built, it would likely be tube frame and definitely not weigh very much. Budgets get expensive when you need big tires, big brakes, etc.

In reply to mazdeuce:

Ha, beat me to it.

Just a regular Exocet would get you pretty far.

Zamboni?

I'm thinking something like a wedge-bodied, LS-powered Locost... I'd want to do it mid-engined... Perhaps a wrecked Corvette could donate that trans-with-diff-attached? How close can you come to deleting the torque tube from that arrangement? Wonder if that would still make for a too-long mid-engine drivetrain?

You could re-use a lot of a 'vette on a build like that... Count grams, design carefully; it would suck a lot to use 50% of a Corvette and not be as fast

calteg wrote: 20k opens the door to a lot of used sprint car\american iron race cars. Look in the past few years UTCC and they're consistently in the top 5.

This. If any $ is left in the budget, use it to do easy mods that yield more performance not allowed in their ruleset.

you could spend a lot of money making a super fast street car only 5 seconds a lap slower than a mid pack C Sports racer.

I'd start with a real race car if I had it to do over again.

I could build one hell of an Accord for $10K.

My life goal over the next 1.5 years is an answer to the OP's question.

Since my time is free for budgetary purposes, it would have a lot of aero. A LOT of aero. Start with a mid-engined big V8 on a custom tube frame (or a supermodifed), build an enclosed body for a great L/D ratio.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: you could spend a lot of money making a super fast street car only 5 seconds a lap slower than a mid pack C Sports racer. I'd start with a real race car if I had it to do over again.

This...

There are a myriad of purpose-built cars that are more than fast enough to satisfy the OP and most others. I'd be looking for an older, tube-framed, GT-bodied car that used to be competitive in SCCA.

Something that sports a Sentra, Corolla, or Tercel fiberglass body would the easy AND fast button would fulfill a lot of personal fantasies. Then again, less than $50K could buy a nice Radical SR3.

Add power until you can't flat all of the corners, then add downforce until you can again.

Repeat as necessary.

Stock car chassis converted to road race, LS power and aero. Waitaminit, there were several posted here recently.

Formula chassis w/ MC engine conversion. F1000, C or D sport style. West or Stohr would break the budget so something older prolly.

My build rule is: If I plan for $10K it'll end up $15K. Plan on $18K... $25K... etc., etc.

The problem with old racecars is part availability. There is a lot of custom fabrication involved in many of those cars, and getting replacement parts will likely require a bit of reverse-engineering, especially with many specialized parts manufacturers going bust in the last 5 years. There are companies that specialize in this stuff (Comprent in Athens GA comes to mind), but it would absolutely destroy your budget to keep the car running.

If I had my own CNC shop, I'd get an old Formula Atlantic, add a bit of power, and eliminate the rules-constraints in the aero package. I would also die very quickly but I'd have a grin on my corpse only 3g of lateral cornering can provide.

best buy for the budget, I'd purchase someone else's already complete. It's not nearly as fun, but bang for the buck it's the way to go.

DSR 18k

OMS D-Sports racer,new Yamaha R-1 190hp,new flatshiffter exert w/ paddle shift,auto-blip,new sprockets and chain, new fuel cell,Penske shocks, Kiezer wheels w/ new hooser tires plus oms wheels w/good hoosers and new rains unmounted. car is in new condition and well sorted it is a fast and fun car to drive,it is 850lbs. w/ fluids.

More... SR-3 $29k

Scca Enterprise Sports Racer (P2/SR2) $35k

To my earlier point... each one of these will wipe the ass of best efforts with a C6 Z-06 or old stock car conversions and you can tow them with that RX8 or C4 you were going to dump $20k into to try to make less embarrassing.

I only wish I would take my own advice for once.

$2013 challenge can come up with, I assume if they had $5000 it would start to get scary fast.

CORRECT.

That's why i've always been against any kind of higher-budget (scored) class at the challenge.