What car - Race car edition

I Am Keyser Söze wrote:

racerfink wrote: I think a lot of y'all would be surprised at how much "REDNECKS" know when it comes to racing and bending the rules... In general, I've found the roundy-round boys to be MUCH more innovative than road racers.

yeah, Rednecks invented rule bending. The trick here is if they know Mazda's or not.

We've all seen the beginning of "Days of Thunder"

I Am Keyser Söze wrote:

Vigo wrote: Anyway, i think it's funny that it was mentioned that dohc were frowned on and everyone and their mother in this thread decided that didnt fit their reality and went on to suggest mostly dohc cars.

You noticed that too???

I didn't see that DOHC's were "frowned on" anywhere in the thread. The rule says that weight may be added. Most tracks will do that to anything different, if it starts to dominate

Tech is track dependent. I have 3 dirt tracks nearby. One techs very tight. One looks at nothing, and one is concerned only with weight, and have absolutely retarded weight rules.

Im just saying, you could PROBABLY scrape together a reasonable facsimile of a spec miata and run it in LeMons, and in fact people have.. and guess what? The whole 'discretion' thing bit them in the ass and possibly in some cases actually destroyed their vehicle with heavy equipment.

Why go in there asking for it when you can just be more creative? Only my .02.

If I coulg get an eslinger head by them on an old 2.3 Ford I would really be flying. I know I can't though.

I am really liking the Mazda idea. 110 hp to 170 should be doable.

We're still talking about running in a low budget circle track series, right? Don't all of these have some sort of budget claim rule? I think I would avoid putting too much effort into a car for this type of racing. Especially if just starting out and nobody knows you. If you show up out of nowhere and run a fast car, it's likely to get claimed quickly. Start out slow, build a rep and make friends... then bring a fast car.

In reply to Ian F:

Well I don't want to show up day one and blow their doors off but I want to get a car that has the capability.

so I can show up stone stock, and then a little here, a little there....

Most do not have a claim rule.

You do not have to give up your car (or motor) if it is claimed.

Unless you have a lot of talent behind the wheel, even if you have the fastest car on the track, you're not going to show up and win. There's a lot more talent, even in mini stock, than you think. The top 5-10 cars are usually fast. The rest are typically perennial mid-packers.

The claim rule comes in and out year by year. Mini-stock is actually a level up from this.

There are two brothers that can dominate. Then there are two groups after that. Older preludes and then everyone else.

I talked to a local race builder and he let me in on a few things that will, with the right car, get me close to the older prelude group. (Told me what they weren't doing that the leaders are)

I just want a car that as I develop, I can develop it to get where I want to be.

Hence this thread.

There is a very interesting part of our local track, it is a dip between two of the curves. It is very interesting to watch guys who have some of the cars bottom there.

Besides, I figure my first few races will be like,

What would be wrong with chasing down a Prelude of your own?

The '97-on cars have the ATTS over-torque-biasing differential. That'll be a huge advantage if traction is at a premium.

The ATTS has failures in high stress situations

I can follow their lead and at best match them or I can go a different direction and try to beat them, or loose horribly.

Kind of a risk vs reward situation.

Keep watching and see what else looks good out there. Sometimes when one car does well, the following years you'll see a lot of driver show up with the same car thinking they're going to run up front. Is that why you're seeing a lot of Preludes?

The key is finding a car with the right power, handling and weight, that fits the rule set the best. My local track is a big dirt oval that favors cars with horsepower. The one I'd like to run is a smaller, tighter track with a little more bank. I find that track more exciting, and know I could run up front with a 98-01 Swift 16V (and surprise a lot of people). The problem is the retarded (this track only) weight rule which sets min weight at 2000 lbs. That's a 500 lb penalty on that car.

In reply to Zomby Woof:

I Am Keyser Söze wrote: I have listed the rules below. The top two guys right now drive the 92-96 Prelude. 3-5~6 drive the previous gen Prelude.

The top two brothers drive the same gen Prelude.

I am looking for an odd ball like a Swift to run. The back stretch is where their power just shows up. They have the cars reasonably dialed in as well.

I bought Cobalt for my wife a few years back, and the car impresses me every time I drive it. I am convinced it would make an excellent mini stock, so I did a quick search to see if anybody is doing it and found this

Colour commentary by the driver's brother is priceless.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osAU8ERmFSE

Apparently he's breaking spindles, so I'd look into it before I built one. Looks fast, though.

In reply to Zomby Woof:

Did they buy it crashed? Cheapest Cobalt near me is $4k w/ a blown head gasket and I just can't see having that much money into a mini-stock car before I even start prepping it to race.

EDIT: I do LOVE the Cobalt SS btw. Torque steer is a bitch, but with a little pedal modulation they are smoking fast on an autocross course.

Awesome. Daddy needs a new inner tube!

In reply to ShadowSix:

I thought they would be cheaper there. I've seen them here for $2500 in not bad shape.