Why wouldn't you race a formula car?

In reply to Tom1200 :

My costs typically were substantially underwritten by my customers to have me there if something should happen. 
  Speed week in the Bahama's cost me less than $300.  
  $2000 a weekend I'd have to stay in a motel. I normally sleep in the hauler at the track.  Would be closer to $1100-1200. But then I use E85 instead of race gas. That probably saves me $3-400

The other thing that keeps me from Formula cars is endurance racing.  I'm not alien fast, but I can maintain a fast pace for two to three hours.  I wish Champcar and WRL had been around when I started racing.  The Showroom Stock Endurance Series that were around then started having large speed creep, and thereby needed more cash.  WRL reminded me of the IMSA Firehawk series when it first came around, but it too has experienced speed creep.  I'm hoping Champcar can maintain the creep.

In reply to racerfink :

Champcar originally was Chumpcar and the limit was $500 car.  Minus safety stuff.   I put together a $500 Jaguar XJS with twin junkyard Saab turbo's  I went to a local event and was carefully explained the rules and about crushing cars ( they actually did that back then). I got the message that they would look very harsh at anything with the speed potential  that had. 
        That seems long past now days when turbo's are actually allowed and the rules not the budget limit things. 

In reply to frenchyd :

Lemons crushed cars in the early days.  Champcar came about because of that rule, more or less.

In reply to Apexcarver :

45 seconds into that video and I had to stop. Nope. Not glorious to me.

In reply to vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) :

If a 14,000 RPM 600cc Suzuki sport bike engine doesn't sound great to you that's cool. We like what we like. 

While I do think the high rpm 4 stroke bike motors sound great I like the the two strokes. I grew up around Yamaha 2-stroke twins (RDs & TZs) so I like the snowmobile engines.

I've been racing Champcar for a couple years now, but I've been interested in Formula Mazda for a while. There used to be a cost breakdown somewhere for all open wheel formula car series, but I can't find it. Probably the biggest barrier of entry for me is cost compared to Champcar, though I'd love to try open wheel racing.

6'2" and 340+ means no formula cars for me. 

Toyman! said:

6'2" and 340+ means no formula cars for me.

Just your height alone could be a problem if you want to be competitive, I've heard that 6'2" is the upper limit of who can be competitive in F1, and US 11 is the limit of the shoe size that can fit in an F1 pedal box. Mark Webber was being carefully starved to be extremely thin throughout his F1 career since drivers who are almost too tall are also almost too heavy - when he retired from F1, he tweeted and then deleted something about "finally, I can eat again!" and his cheeks are way less sunken-looking since retirement. David Coulthard had similar issues. And they aren't even quite 6ft.

Weight and CoG are not the only issues, but also drag, a helmet that sticks out more can work like an air brake. At 6'2" I stuck out of a Radical SR3 like a human giraffe even when sitting on the bare chassis-integrated seat with no padding.

In reply to dannyp84 :

There are a lot of open wheel race cars in vintage racing.   What I like about that over  most  other racing is the no contact rule.    Especially with Formula cars,   I'd want people who can control their car.  That's so I don't get involved in their accident.  
  The other real advantage  of Vintage racing lis that you don't have to buy the go latest fast trick.  In fact if you show up with one you can't join the event.  Makes racing something that costs are controlled. 

In reply to Toyman! :

TransAm, A production,  

dannyp84 said:

I've been racing Champcar for a couple years now, but I've been interested in Formula Mazda for a while. There used to be a cost breakdown somewhere for all open wheel formula car series, but I can't find it. Probably the biggest barrier of entry for me is cost compared to Champcar, though I'd love to try open wheel racing.

I have a copy of the breakdown and it said running costs for Formula Mazda were $1700 per weekend.  

By contrast my F500 runs me $1100 per weekend including amortized costs such a tire wear maintenance etc. 

So what formula car lets me drive at 6'6" with a tall torso and size 15 feet?  Bonus points if I can make minimum weight for the class while weighing more than 250 lbs.

In reply to ojannen :

The original Formula Mazda is probably one of the few you will fit in. I think some of the Van Diemen Formula Continentals and Formula Fords fit taller drivers. 

If you just want a single seat car you'd fit a Spec Racer Ford.

In reply to ojannen :

There are multiple non-spec classes which mandate entirely DIY-able tubular frames.

In reply to Tom1200 :

Those classes have a pretty expensive buy in cost.  The only one with numbers locally is SRF.  With that class, I am looking at spending $30-50k before the first race.  That is what is keeping me out of open wheel cars right now.

In reply to ojannen :

I used to own and race up to a Lola 324 FSV (aircooled) . Towed it open behind a 1959 Volvo in the mid 1980s. It got too expensive, and I had my best racing in the 1990s in other people's cars. For someone who can only afford to race 5 times a year or less it comes out cheaper to rent an SRF than own. I rented the last 15 years that I raced. Try before you buy.

In reply to ojannen :

The Zink Z10s and Citation Formula Fords would likely just fit you.Y ou most certainly would not need 30K-50K. You could buy one of those for 12K-15K.

Your weekend spend would be around $1200 for a regional weekend.