Must have/Proper upgrades for newbs

[Purist]

It's a class in most hillclimb events. Not sure about the US. I hope you find what you're looking for; cheap, grassroots motorsport.

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[why?]

Originally Posted by soundman98

so then why are all the recommendations about track usage?

honestly, i'm just getting really tired of the expectation that everyone lives 5 minutes from a track, and track time is the easiest thing to set up in the universe.

the nearest track for me is about 2 hours away. every time i've looked into it, they require a 2-day introduction for new drivers. there's no 'toe in the water' with my nearest tracks. it's hardcore, full commitment, 2 day driver training sessions, and you better have your own gear, or don't even bother showing up. tried talking to the local cone racing guys a while back, they laughed at my-then car selection, and told me the ONLY way to go was a fully prepped, stripped out and caged miata, which also requires a tow vehicle and a trailer...

i can spare 1 day, but it means that i have a minimum 4-hour round trip drive, 2 hours early in the morning (4am start time) after working 50 hours, and 2 hours drive back after a long day in the hot sun, while beating on my only way to/from that destination-- tell me all the ways this can go wrong between personal fatigue, and unexpected maintenance items...

i will likely never, ever get to a track. i bought the car for having fun. pulling vacation days and favors, having to buy tons of equipment for something i'm not even sure i want to do, and driving long distances just to be told how i'm doing it wrong doesn't sound like any sort of fun to me.

Precisely why I've never done it. And on the east coast it's all $300 at minimum every day or more. Even autocross is getting near $100 a day in some places.As much as I want to try it that is just not worth it.

[jcw99]

armrest

[Yoshoobaroo]

Originally Posted by why?

Precisely why I've never done it. And on the east coast it's all $300 at minimum every day or more. Even autocross is getting near $100 a day in some places.As much as I want to try it that is just not worth it.

SCCA autocross here is $40 for a 1day event. All you need is a bone stock car and some masking tape for numbers. They have loaner helmets even if you don’t want to buy a cheap helmet.

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by why?

Precisely why I've never done it. And on the east coast it's all $300 at minimum every day or more. Even autocross is getting near $100 a day in some places.As much as I want to try it that is just not worth it.

i've got no problem with $100-300 for a day, and i've got no qualms about buying a helmet, but it's got to meet my other requirements. if i'm going, i'm going to have fun. i am not going to stand for some prick trying to tell me that i can't race because my tires bump me up to class x00123, but that class requires a cage that i don't have or any of the other million things they can pick apart. i'll just keep screwing around on the street if they're going to be so elitist.

[Atmo]

Originally Posted by Purist

Have you investigated autocross or similar as an entry level competition?

Good suggestion if staying in a Stock class that develops skills directly applicable to road and track at relatively safer speeds, but not completely safe. The 'net is full of videos of auto-x accidents, mostly minor of cones and timing lights damaging body parts but some have totaled cars and injured themselves.

Then there's the insurance angle in the U.S. I don't think many auto insurers will cover damage incurred during a timed event or within the boundaries of a racetrack. There's supplemental insurance available but there goes the budget.

I used to like the $5 plastic trophies but they're in a box somewhere now. The photos are nice to look at occasionally, like whenever I walk into my home office and have a wall of them explaining why my retirement account isn't going quite as planned.

You're right though, participating in motorsports at the amateur level adds to the appreciation of watching pros and their superhuman skills knowing full well that could've been us.

[VTEC]

Originally Posted by soundman98

i've got no problem with $100-300 for a day, and i've got no qualms about buying a helmet, but it's got to meet my other requirements. if i'm going, i'm going to have fun. i am not going to stand for some prick trying to tell me that i can't race because my tires bump me up to class x00123, but that class requires a cage that i don't have or any of the other million things they can pick apart. i'll just keep screwing around on the street if they're going to be so elitist.

Where are you getting your info on autocross from? Nobody is going to tell you can't race because your car isn't fully prepped for a certain class. The point of having classes is just for the PAX adjusted time which is a handicap system to give an advantage to slower cars. For example, the idea is that a Porsche Cayman GT4 should beat a stock Corolla by a pretty large margin, lets say 10 seconds. If the GT4 is only 9 seconds faster than the Corolla, then the higher PAX ranking and points gets awarded to the Corolla instead because in theory the guy driving the Corolla was the better driver. As you modify your Corolla, then that PAX advantage will drop because the Corolla should be getting faster. If you go crazy with modding the Corolla with some turbo LS swap and racing slicks then the PAX will eventually give the advantage to the stock GT4 instead.

Originally Posted by soundman98

but there's what i call 'class warfare' in most of them. upgrade the wheels and brakes puts you in a different class, etc. i don't care about warfare. i want to pull up to the line, drive, get a time at the end--i don't need or want to partake in rankings, status, or classes. i just want to fight against my own time, or just lose myself into the methodology of revmatching around an endless line of cones.

Again I don't know what is this class warfare you're talking about. If you don't agree with the class you've been given and don't care about the competition then just don't look at the PAX. You will also get a raw time which is the actual time that you ran without any PAX adjustment. Just focus on improving that time. The ranking and competition is there so you have some benchmarks to compare with. But the main focus is always on improving your own time, doesn't matter if you're already a national level champion in a fully modified GT4 or it's your first event in a stock Corolla

[Yoshoobaroo]

Originally Posted by VTEC

Where are you getting your info on autocross from? Nobody is going to tell you can't race because your car isn't fully prepped for a certain class. The point of having classes is just for the PAX adjusted time which is a handicap system to give an advantage to slower cars. For example, the idea is that a Porsche Cayman GT4 should beat a stock Corolla by a pretty large margin, lets say 10 seconds. If the GT4 is only 9 seconds faster than the Corolla, then the higher PAX ranking and points gets awarded to the Corolla instead because in theory the guy driving the Corolla was the better driver. As you modify your Corolla, then that PAX advantage will drop because the Corolla should be getting faster. If you go crazy with modding the Corolla with some turbo LS swap and racing slicks then the PAX will eventually give the advantage to the stock GT4 instead.



Again I don't know what is this class warfare you're talking about. If you don't agree with the class you've been given and don't care about the competition then just don't look at the PAX. You will also get a raw time which is the actual time that you ran without any PAX adjustment. Just focus on improving that time. The ranking and competition is there so you have some benchmarks to compare with. But the main focus is always on improving your own time, doesn't matter if you're already a national level champion in a fully modified GT4 or it's your first event in a stock Corolla

Yea I’m with you here, there is no rule that says you have to be competitive in your class. My sway bars put me in STX. Does that mean I HAVE to put on 245 track day tires? Hell no. I’m the guy with 215 wide Prius tires in STX. And I’m not last!

I didn’t build the car for autocross, but that doesn’t mean I can’t take it autocrossing. I couldn’t care less what class I’m in or if my car is competitive. This is for fun guys.

[anodic]

Most cars are classed way beyond being competitive at autocross. Comes with the territory of modding before finding motorsports.



Best suggestion is show up, meet some cool people and have some fun.


Also no idea what soundman is on about. Sounds precisely like someone talking directly out of their sphincter with absolutely zero real world experience.

[Purist]

Sounds like a cool auto x scene over there!

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[NARFALICIOUS]

Originally Posted by soundman98

i've got no problem with $100-300 for a day, and i've got no qualms about buying a helmet, but it's got to meet my other requirements. if i'm going, i'm going to have fun. i am not going to stand for some prick trying to tell me that i can't race because my tires bump me up to class x00123, but that class requires a cage that i don't have or any of the other million things they can pick apart. i'll just keep screwing around on the street if they're going to be so elitist.

Dude, autocross is the easiest thing to do. All the one's I've done have been less than $50 and I get at least 6 runs, usually 8.

You'd probably go once or twice a year, don't worry where you are classed. And they won't tell you you "can't race" just because you run a certain mod. Autocross is the farthest thing from elitist in racing. If you don't own a helmet, they may have some to loan out but I don't know if they'd do the whole sharing thing right now during the pandemic.
Not sure about the cage thing.

You could even probably list your mods in the Autocross sub-forum here and someone will tell you what class you'd fit in.

I just Googled Autocross in Chicago and it's $60 for Chicago SCCA region.

[7 skulls]

Originally Posted by jcw99

armrest

This!
Summer tires or performance all seasons in the stock size. No need to overtire. Note: summer tires don't like to be driven or even stored in the cold so this means a second set of tires for the cold weather.

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by NARFALICIOUS

Dude, autocross is the easiest thing to do. All the one's I've done have been less than $50 and I get at least 6 runs, usually 8.

You'd probably go once or twice a year, don't worry where you are classed. And they won't tell you you "can't race" just because you run a certain mod. Autocross is the farthest thing from elitist in racing. If you don't own a helmet, they may have some to loan out but I don't know if they'd do the whole sharing thing right now during the pandemic.
Not sure about the cage thing.

You could even probably list your mods in the Autocross sub-forum here and someone will tell you what class you'd fit in.

I just Googled Autocross in Chicago and it's $60 for Chicago SCCA region.

yes, but all the info i've found online says that they require a 2 day course for anyone starting. you can't just 'show up' as a new guy. like i said. i have 1 day, i can't spare 2.

i was told directly by chicago scca rep's at the chicago auto show to not even bother bringing anything less than a fully stripped and caged car to scca events.

[VTEC]

Originally Posted by soundman98

yes, but all the info i've found online says that they require a 2 day course for anyone starting. you can't just 'show up' as a new guy. like i said. i have 1 day, i can't spare 2.

i was told directly by chicago scca rep's at the chicago auto show to not even bother bringing anything less than a fully stripped and caged car to scca events.

And we're telling you that your info and research is wrong. There is no mandatory 2 day training session for autocross. I'd recommend it because you will benefit from the added coaching but there no requirement to do so if you want just to show up at the regular events.

And have you looked up the Chicago SCCA page? Cuz me and NARFALICIOUS found it pretty quick and the first picture is a Miata with no roll cage. The second picture has a bunch of stock or lightly modified hatchbacks, sedans and coupes with full interiors. Which is pretty much what every autocross looks like across the US and Canada if you spend some more time searching on google or youtube.

But if you don't believe us, email the Chicago SCCA people directly and make sure they know you are asking about autocross. I duno how your conversation went at the auto show, but the only series that requires fully caged and stripped out Miatas is the Spec Miata class at SCCA Runoffs. That's a wheel to wheel racing event on road course. Autocross is SCCA Solo