Help determining what (if any) road racing class my RX7 can be built for

I'm trying to get into road racing, and per the suggestion of a relative (who's been involved with the SCCA since the '70s), I want to build my FB RX7 to be SCCA legal in some class. About the car: -Fully stripped 1985 Mazda RX7 Shell (First gen, "FB") -13B -Weber 48IDA carb -Ford Mustang II steering rack -Aftermarket Re-Speed front subframe to accommodate above rack and 13B -Aftermarket Re-Speed front sway bar -GSL-SE Suspension (Illegal in SpecRX7) -FC (2nd gen RX7) Turbo II Transmission I've looked through the SCCA rulebook, it's hard to decipher. Is there a series I can race in with this car without significant modification? It doesn't seem to make sense to me to get rid of the front subframe, suspension and motor and race a stock class; i'd basically just be keeping the chassis at that point. Again, I'm just starting, and don't anticipate being very fast.

You might be looking at E Prod, due to the engine modification. But that could require a lot more work that you didn't plan on.

Production class runs on slicks and allows more modifications than improved touring.

If you have not done any racing up until now forget about the car class for the moment. Just make it reliable as gravity and safe and go learn and get track time. Once you get some seat time under your belt you can then think about classes and what not. My bet is you will want a different car at that point as you will have to undo a lot of your car to get it into a class that is not filled with all out race cars.

In reply to TED_fiestaHP:

Thank you. Good to see this exists. I can't quickly find their rules on rotary engines, but from what I've skimmed through this looks like the appropriate class.

In reply to dean1484

I would love to forget about the headaches of car classes. But If my car is not built to a class, what level of preparation should I have done to use the car in a licensing event? Does the car need to pass an inspection other than a day-of tech inspection?

Really my main objective is to not spend $2,000 to rent a Miata for a weekend if I can put a similar amount of money into my own car and keep it in the end.

You can always do the new SCCA Bracket Enduros.

You can also do NASA Performance Touring as its ruleset is points based so you just take points for the mods you have. I believe your car will be running on the border between PTC and PTD (you'll need dyno sheets to be correctly classed). You can also run slicks or DOT slicks if you have headroom in the class (ie you are barely bumped into PTC) and you'll be going against faster cars on street tires, or you can run street tires if you can make the numbers work to stay in PTD. The caveat of all this is of course if NASA runs races near where you live.

I agree with dean1484, here's my suggestion as a person who bought a "prepped" car then tried to class it. Get all of the basics covered, you know general maintenance stuff - get the car safe to operate. Then track down your local SCCA chapter and ask questions. To run an HPDE event, you need a safe car, proper diver gear, and the same restraints for the instructor as the driver (i.e. stock belts on both sides or harnesses). In the beginning, as you work through your novice license (track days mostly), it won't really matter what class your car is in, just as long as it, and you are safe. Make friends with the scrutineers (tech people) and others running RX-7s, they can shed a lot more light on classing especially regional classes that may not be in the Official Rule Book. I'm not as familiar with the Road Racing classes as I am the Solo ones, but the subframe and rack may have more to do with your classing than the engine/suspension.

E Production only allows a street port. Go to SCCA.com and then go to rules and cars. Based on what you have posted, it sounds like you would have to be in GT3. Probably not a good fit, as you would be running against purpose built tube frame cars. At a Divisional level you might fit into SPU. Again, it will take some reading and investigation on your part.

WatanabeWannabe wrote: I'm trying to get into road racing, and per the suggestion of a relative (who's been involved with the SCCA since the '70s), I want to build my FB RX7 to be SCCA legal in some class. About the car: -Fully stripped 1985 Mazda RX7 Shell (First gen, "FB") -13B half-bridgeported engine (any porting is illegal in SCCA improved touring) -Weber 48IDA carb -Ford Mustang II steering rack -Aftermarket Re-Speed front subframe to accommodate above rack and 13B -Aftermarket Re-Speed front sway bar -GSL-SE Suspension (Illegal in SpecRX7) -FC (2nd gen RX7) Turbo II Transmission I've looked through the SCCA rulebook, and thought my car would be in improved touring, but saw that my motor is ineligible because it's ported. Is there a series I can race in with this car without significant modification? It doesn't seem to make sense to me to get rid of the front subframe, suspension and motor and race a stock class; i'd basically just be keeping the chassis at that point. Again, I'm just starting, and don't anticipate being very fast. Are there some things that I can get away with, at least initially, to help me fit it into a class? (e.g. How would they know my engine is ported?)

Chumpcar or Lemons. Seriously.

What about SCCA regional only class of SPU? Depends on the region though

In any event look at the scca rules regarding safety requirements i. E. Roll cage requirements seat requirements Fire Systems Etc

I was going to say chumpcar as well. At the very least you could run EC.

Your base car could be considered a '85 GSL-SE for 200 points of an allowed 500 before penalty laps start kicking in. I would argue your porting is 0 points (some might argue 100 points), different carb - 50 points (if you want to run an aftermarket ECU with OEM manifolds it would be 0 points), front sway bar - 20 points, transmission - 25 points. I'm not sure how the new subframe and steering rack would work for points (10 points for each non-oe suspension component?), but you have a lot of points left over. If you're interested you could email chumpcar tech. I suspect you might have other modifications that could add a few points as well eg. header - 25 points, but you have lots of room to maneuver.