Making some decisions about racing, might get rid of the 914... might not... Options

[nebreitling]

so, i want to race. i've wanted to race forever, and i've seen this becoming more possibly the last year or two. i'm tentatively planning to get my scca license next march, but may wait til 2007.

so i've been throwing around ideas and doing a lot of research into what class i might race in, what cars i might rent or buy, and of course, the possibility of racing the 914. it doesn't seem like a cost-effective or logical platform, but hey, i've already got one and it's fairly well sorted.

I can race the 914 w/ my engine (very fast 2056) as is and no weight requirements in the catch-all class of ITE. it's basically an anything-goes DOT-race-tire class. I'd run mid-pack or slower (probably slower), so I don't know how much fun that'd be. ITE times at thunderhill range from 2:00 to 2:20. we'll see what I run this saturday, but I'm guessing that with some experience, the car and I are capable of running 2:15's... maybe less, but I ain't going to be running 2:00s without serious power AND tire width AND some real experience.

now, with a stock 2.0 engine and some ballast, I'd be in ITB, where I'd have a chance. front runners in ITB are running 2:16s at thunderhill. an ITB car is almost exactly a BP car with ballast. BP cars can run 2:17 to 2:25 at thunderhill. so with some experience, I'd have a chance to be competitve.

stock 1.7 engine and very little ballast is ITC (2:20s and up). this is a class it'd do well in, but a stock 1.7 would break my heart after being used to my engine... (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/sad.gif)


SO, the latest idea is to turn the car into a BP (PCA class)/ITB car. I could run PCA AX and TTs, as well as race SCCA (never mind the proposed points system). seems like it might be a decent compromise, in terms of having a class/classes where I can judge my improvement and progress.

If I sold my engine (just broken in) for a fair price I could pick up a decent used 2.0, do a budget top-end on it, and hopefully have a little money to spare for safety equipment. I fucking love that engine though. it really *makes* the car....

now, I'd run my current engine in NASA GTS-1 (http://www.gtschallenge.com/Rules/2005rules.htm ) if it was in Norcal, but it's only in SoCal right now... (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/sad.gif) that seems like a cool group.


above are the only ways I can really envision racing the 914. vintage racing isn't active enough for my plans (I'd like to do a full 10-11 race season).

if I sell the 914, the doors are wide open. spec rx7 (scca) and pro7 (nasa) are basically the same class in norcal, so I could run both series and get all the damn seat time I wanted. miatas are also a possibility, but cost about 2x as an rx7 to get into. running costs appear similar, though -- and slightly less than a 914, which will never be as reliable. frankly, i think a spec series would be a better place for me to learn racing.

I definitely do not have the space nor can I probably afford to keep the 914 and buy another race car. it'd break my heart to get rid of the 914 i've built, and i'd sure as hell miss being as active a part of this awesome community, but i want to race that bad.

so if anyone wants to make this decision easy for me and buy a very well-prepped AX/TT/Street car for, say $6750, let me know.

maybe i'll just buy a cheap kart for 06...

all input welcome
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/beerchug.gif)

[andys]

Been around racing all my life, and ran a few assorted cars when the occasion arose. Cars are expensive any way you cut it IF you want to be reasonably competitive. That's big IF, as if you are content to run somewhere other than in front, well that's your deal. Many are quite ok with that, and the costs can be reasonable. Outside of that, the costs quickly escalate to the unreasonable, as you soon find yourself running against the "cost is no object" crowd. Everything SCCA seems overpriced, to me. A new D/SR rolling chassis for $40K!! Forget it!

At the last NASA event I attended at Willow Springs, I was talking with a bunch of stockcar guys with regard to a pro roadrace class they run (don't recall the designation). Basically, these guys are buying up the old ASA cars, and run a spec ZZ4 crate motor and spec tires. The motors are cheap and reliable....many don't even rebuild them; they sell them off and buy a new crate motor. Evidently, as a group buy, they get these motors for around $3K. The series pays real money! This reminds me very much of a series they ran at Willow several years ago called the Toyota Sportsman Stockcar Challenge (can you believe Toyota sponsored a stockcar class!!). I drove one of these, and they were plenty fast; 355 cu. in. iron head 2 bbl 14:1 motor made 465HP. That series also paid real money. Stockcar parts are cheap by comparison.....lots of competition amongs the vendors keeps the prices low. there's alos tons of used race parts out there.

I did run roadrace shifter karts for better than 25 years. What this allowed me to do, was to run up front with a chance to win every time I ran..........without mortgaging my home, angry wife, etc. I could run the best and the latest equipment; though granted I did my own motor work and development. Point being, running for the potential of winning was far more satisfying to me, than running un-competitively somewhere in the lower half of the field. FWIW.

Andy