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SNiPER_Magnum posted:Get a dedicated track car or get a dedicated daily driver. As someone that just lit his engine up on the track... get a dedicated $4-5k Honda daily driver. I'm just glad I stick to tracking bikes so I'm only out about $1500.
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Mar 13, 2013 15:14
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BlackMK4 posted:As someone that just lit his engine up on the track... get a dedicated $4-5k Honda daily driver. I'm just glad I stick to tracking bikes so I'm only out about $1500. I hope you have health insurance! Octopus Magic -- with Lemons/Chump you spread those expenses (and work on the car) out over a number of people who all get a bunch of seat time. Consumables are way cheaper too. No race tires or race gas. I also personally like racing with 100+ cars on track.
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Mar 13, 2013 16:57
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Does Chuckwalla have fuel on site or am I going to pay assfuck dollars at the only gas station 25 miles away?
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Mar 13, 2013 18:33
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Blooot posted:Octopus Magic -- with Lemons/Chump you spread those expenses (and work on the car) out over a number of people who all get a bunch of seat time. I think OM was saying that the $500 limit on value of car itself is too low. That he'd rather pay more in that area and get a nicer car to drive.
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Mar 13, 2013 18:34
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Bumming Your Scene posted:Does Chuckwalla have fuel on site or am I going to pay assfuck dollars at the only gas station 25 miles away? Fuel on site.
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Mar 13, 2013 18:37
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I sold my BMW 330Ci I was autocrossing (and planning to track) for an old beater steet legal miata just for racing, and a Chevy Prizm for a daily driver. Best Decision I've ever made. Yes I miss the BMW, but not having to worry about getting to work if I blow something up was absolutely worth it. And the miata is beat to poo poo looking but mechanically sound, so even if I boof it hard, I don't really care.
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Mar 13, 2013 18:43
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Yup, I enjoy my beater track E30 a hell of a lot more than my NSX. Nice cars are almost more of a hassle than they're worth.
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Mar 13, 2013 19:45
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I guess i'm lucky in of the fact that I don't drive to work/see people/etc, I zipcar/zipvan when I need to actually do the dumb stuff of using a car, my car is completely and totally extraneous and a money pit I keep around to drive on the track only. I think it's a thing that I like having some pride in my car a little more than some of the (totally admitted) heaps I've seen at Lemons/Chump events (no offense intended, it's just not my bag). Octopus Magic fucked around with this message at 21:35 on Mar 13, 2013 |
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Mar 13, 2013 21:32
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Octopus Magic posted:I guess i'm lucky in of the fact that I don't drive to work/see people/etc, I zipcar/zipvan when I need to actually do the dumb stuff of using a car, my car is completely and totally extraneous and a money pit I keep around to drive on the track only. I think a lot of us would like that as an ideal, but good year-round weather and decent transportation network, and ability to reasonably acces the car and work on it is pretty rare. I could store my racecar on my parents property in my workshop, but it wouldn't be easy to get here with the transportation network, which stops 15 miles away.
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Mar 13, 2013 22:06
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Finally got around to installing my new (to me) Sparco Evo 2 L seats and I have a question about harness fitment: While seated, should the top of my shoulders be lower than the bottom of the shoulder openings? I'm planning on picking up a rollbar and harnesses soon and really want to do everything right the first time.
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Mar 14, 2013 00:26
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http://www.schrothracing.com/sdocs/2009_Competition_Instructions.pdf
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Mar 14, 2013 02:23
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Octopus Magic posted:I think it's a thing that I like having some pride in my car a little more than some of the (totally admitted) heaps I've seen at Lemons/Chump events (no offense intended, it's just not my bag). Got it. I was more speaking to the "if you need a tow vehicle, why not scca?" argument. My brother came and ran with us at the last race, and that was his take away too. He likes running his vintage race 240Z as he finds racing a cool/nice car very satisfying. Everyone I race with also has a "nice" sports car that they track (which maybe satisfies this side of things), but we all save the wheel-to-wheel stuff for our M1 CRX, which IMO is actually one of the cooler Lemons cars. It at least looks like a race car (from 50 feet) and not some random themed POS. I'd say DJ Commie is probably proud of his Dai, it is as well put together as many club racers. Edit: One other thing Lemons is missing is the amassing of trick parts thing that higher spec racing opens up. If shopping's your thing (not counting junk yards and CL), then Lemons doesn't satisfy. Blooot fucked around with this message at 16:41 on Mar 14, 2013 |
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Mar 14, 2013 16:36
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Blooot posted:Everyone I race with also has a "nice" sports car that they track (which maybe satisfies this side of things), but we all save the wheel-to-wheel stuff for our M1 CRX, which IMO is actually one of the cooler Lemons cars. It at least looks like a race car (from 50 feet) and not some random themed POS. I'd say DJ Commie is probably proud of his Dai, it is as well put together as many club racers. Having actually built a club racer and having driven DJ Commie's Dai, and I mean this with no offense, but his car is nowhere even in a somewhat distant galaxy of a competitive club race car.
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Mar 14, 2013 17:18
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That's why he said many. 
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Mar 14, 2013 18:04
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For me, its all about seat time. Building the car is a means to an end. I can see someone getting their kicks from the engineering and ending up in a completely different place. If I had a lot more money, and someone to do all the work on the car for me, I'd probably be club racing a nice car too  .On a side note, I'm unreasonably excited for the $200 26" LCD I just got for my trailer. Our live camera system has been out of service for the last 4 races purely due to the lack of a TV. I'm thinking about maybe getting a raspberry pi or something similar to do live timing as well. I wonder if we can figure out some kind of PIP or overlay to keep the video up and use the same screen for position/laptime data. parid fucked around with this message at 23:12 on Mar 14, 2013 |
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Mar 14, 2013 23:08
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Remember how there was only 1 325 section Pilot Super Sport left at Tirerack, and the local shop was gonna charge me $160 extra? I cheaped out and got 345 sections, which were actually cheaper than 325s on TR somehow, and which people report fitting just fine. How much difference will I feel on the track?
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Mar 15, 2013 06:50
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If you're asking then probably none i'm shooting from the hip here. i don't know anything
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Mar 15, 2013 07:33
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kimbo305 posted:Remember how there was only 1 325 section Pilot Super Sport left at Tirerack, and the local shop was gonna charge me $160 extra? I cheaped out and got 345 sections, which were actually cheaper than 325s on TR somehow, and which people report fitting just fine. How much difference will I feel on the track? The guys that told you the tires will fit should be able to give you more specifics on what the impact will be. grover fucked around with this message at 12:59 on Mar 15, 2013 |
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Mar 15, 2013 12:57
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grover posted:What size wheels? Is it still within Michelin's spec for the tire? If they're not pinched too bad, will probably increase rear grip a slight bit and shift balance a bit towards understeer, but you can compensate somewhat with tire pressures if you feel the need. Or adjust your swaybars/dampers. (does Z06 have adjustable sway bars or shocks?) C6 Z06s don't have adjustable shocks. The rear wheel is 19x12, and according to my shop, its tire width range just barely covers a 345. People haven't reported issues with running the 345, but CorvetteForum tends toward street driving, I think. Handing pumping a 325 is already a huge chore (my left tires have both developed 1psi/week leaks). 345 is gonna be ridiculous. A big Corvetter racer noted in the latest issue of GRM that he actually runs square tires on his track C5, saying he is happy with infinite front grip and working the rear as needed. When I last tracked my Z06, I had it on the aggressive end of the factory alignment settings. The power oversteer is available and easy, but you run up quickly to oversteer. I had to catch it quite a few times powering out of tighter turns in 2nd or even 3rd. I partly blame the poo poo F1 Supercar EMTs. Sidenote: that's one thing I liked about the ZL1. It was pretty neutral, maybe less understeery than the Z06? But what I liked was that the rear end was much more progressive in its approach to oversteer. I felt like I had more "safe band" to play with before the rear would let go, whereas in the Z06 it always feels like an ever-present danger.
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Mar 15, 2013 19:53
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Phone posted:That's why he said many. I was picturing mid-pack ITC when I said that, not whatever money pit class Belldandy was running in.
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Mar 18, 2013 17:18
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Is this the place to post/talk about Rallycross? I really want to try it, I've never had the luck to do a proper track day or even autocross.
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Mar 20, 2013 05:33
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Belldandy posted:Having actually built a club racer and having driven DJ Commie's Dai, and I mean this with no offense, but his car is nowhere even in a somewhat distant galaxy of a competitive club race car. At the race you drove, absolutely a badly setup shitpile run by idiots. We ran 2:40 at Thunderhill that race, the next race was a 2:19. A few races later we ran a 1:55.0 at Laguna Seca, which is faster than stock 986 Boxster S. Not bad for 110hp on 7" street tires. Everything sucked at the beginning but learning how it all worked really helped.
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Mar 20, 2013 05:39
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VanNuys posted:Is this the place to post/talk about Rallycross? I really want to try it, I've never had the luck to do a proper track day or even autocross. Autocross thread is probably best for rules/day-of organization. We lost the rally thread, so maybe here for technique or prep, since rallyx is tougher on a car (suspension and bodywise) than autox.
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Mar 20, 2013 05:50
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DJ Commie posted:At the race you drove, absolutely a badly setup shitpile run by idiots. We ran 2:40 at Thunderhill that race, the next race was a 2:19. A few races later we ran a 1:55.0 at Laguna Seca, which is faster than stock 986 Boxster S. Not bad for 110hp on 7" street tires. Everything sucked at the beginning but learning how it all worked really helped. And really, this is the difference between a spendy club race car and a cheap one. You're paying for experience, development, parts choice, and setup. I would venture to say a well-developed ChumpCar can be comparable to midpack club race cars (the lap record in SCCA ITC at Laguna Seca is a 1:51) but cannot possibly keep up with cars with fully balanced, blueprinted, limit-of-the-rules engines that are rebuilt every other season and have $8k and dozens of days of tuning in the suspension and brakes. A full-pull-no-excuses-front-of-the-pack club race car will cost at least $25k to build, no matter how meager the starting point is. A good ChumpCar is what, maybe $5k? You can still have a poo poo-ton of fun for 20% of the cost.
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Mar 20, 2013 17:25
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Exactly. I had to learn these things, guess about suspension settings, and hope 200K mile engines would hold together when taken 800RPM over their factory fuel cuts for hours at a time. Its been an awesome trip so far, and although the Charade is really as developed as it could be running one of the tightest racing budgets in the two series, I'm still not really done with racing. In fact, I start a job on Monday selling communications systems to LeMons/Chumpcar teams, so who knows what my role in that racing will be.
DJ Commie fucked around with this message at 18:18 on Mar 20, 2013 |
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Mar 20, 2013 18:14
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Just finished my first track laps this past weekend while at Las Vegas Motor speedway. I did the Dreamracing street car experience. I have to say, WOW. Definitely recommend this thing, the staff treats you like a king (for the price, they had better!) and they are all professional and not condescending towards newbies at all. You get some time in the lounge where food and non-alcoholic beverages are provided and the pro drivers come around and chat, then you move on to the simulator where you get to crash your video-supercar constantly. Once you are sufficiently terrified they drag you out to your car and shove you in and then that's about it. Granted I had no idea what I was doing and probably would have gotten a lot more out of it had I had any prior track experience. The car sounds absolutely BEASTLY. Anyway I chose the Ferrari 458 italia, here's the youtube I got: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nih3XwiOgn4 You can sorta see my speedo by the wheel, I top out at 104! Having a pro driver with me yelling what the hell to do made all the difference. Again, for anyone that has always wanted to drive a ferrari/lambo/mclaren around a racetrack it's totally worth every penny (at least to me, someone who will never ever buy one).
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Mar 20, 2013 19:37
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Spudalicious posted:Just finished my first track laps this past weekend while at Las Vegas Motor speedway. I did the Dreamracing street car experience. I have to say, WOW. Definitely recommend this thing, the staff treats you like a king (for the price, they had better!) and they are all professional and not condescending towards newbies at all. You get some time in the lounge where food and non-alcoholic beverages are provided and the pro drivers come around and chat, then you move on to the simulator where you get to crash your video-supercar constantly. Once you are sufficiently terrified they drag you out to your car and shove you in and then that's about it. Granted I had no idea what I was doing and probably would have gotten a lot more out of it had I had any prior track experience. The car sounds absolutely BEASTLY. First, I have real problems with racing simulators. I've yet to sit in one that really gives you the feeling of a car rotating. By the time your eyes say "you're spinning" it's often too late. I can drive them, but I crash a hell of a lot. Second, nothing wrong with having a healthy respect for the car. Especially, when it's not your car. So don't worry about that. Realistically, you can't have missed out on much because of your lack of experience. Your first time is full of strange sensations and forces. After time you learn them and they vanish into the noise of "normal". Then you hit the limit and learn new ones. They'd have asked you to slow down way before you got to limit. So perhaps, being a novice actually made the experience way more exciting.
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Mar 20, 2013 22:45
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Aurune posted:First, I have real problems with racing simulators. I've yet to sit in one that really gives you the feeling of a car rotating. By the time your eyes say "you're spinning" it's often too late. I can drive them, but I crash a hell of a lot. That's good to hear. I had received some advice to try to get some time on a track beforehand hence my expectation that it would have been better. I know my lap times would have probably been better! It definitely was crazy to be in a car where when you put your foot down it accelerates so quickly. Very scary/thrilling/awesome. I typically drive a truck around, but I'm seriously contemplating getting a lovely little whatever and go thrash it around a track event with PCA or something. I'm fairly certain that all things considered I would have had almost as much fun in a civic as the ferrari. I've raced little go-karts before that haul rear end, but this is just so much more intense - nothing like the thrill of accelerating all the way up to the brake signs with barriers in front of you and noticing that you happen to be going over 100mph.
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Mar 20, 2013 23:06
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DJ Commie posted:In fact, I start a job on Monday selling communications systems to LeMons/Chumpcar teams, so who knows what my role in that racing will be. When you start, I might be interested in some sort of cheap system to shove into an enduro CRX.
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Mar 20, 2013 23:44
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c355n4 posted:When you start, I might be interested in some sort of cheap system to shove into an enduro CRX. PMed! I'm considering writing a cheap/free little eBook in the future about how to make a durable, reliable, and fun crapcan racecar since we've been enormously successful with such small budgets and total lack of technical information about the car I use. Anyone interested in that? I'd go over the basics of race alignments, team management, and ways to turn around problem situations and technical issues.
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Mar 21, 2013 00:00
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DJ Commie posted:I'm considering writing a cheap/free little eBook in the future about how to make a durable, reliable, and fun crapcan racecar since we've been enormously successful with such small budgets and total lack of technical information about the car I use. Anyone interested in that? Are you kidding? Of course! Just get that poo poo finished before I get a ChumpCar team together 
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Mar 21, 2013 00:24
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DJ Commie posted:PMed! I don't think i would ever build one in the near future, but i would love to read that. I'm going to try to find a chumpcar or LeMons team in the LA area to see if i can hang around them.
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Mar 21, 2013 00:47
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VanNuys posted:I don't think i would ever build one in the near future, but i would love to read that. I'm going to try to find a chumpcar or LeMons team in the LA area to see if i can hang around them. You're more than welcome to come hang out at the Buttonwillow 24 hour race April 20-21, Team Dai Hard wil be there and probably some other goon-run teams.
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Mar 21, 2013 00:50
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Hmm, thinking about it more, some things I'd find particularly useful would be: How to design and fabricate a safe rollcage, or ensure a purchase is safe How to hook up a harness safely Seat advice How refueling during a race works, eg where is the fuel stored at the track and what to install on the car to safely and quickly refuel Gear for yourself advice (helmets, firesuits, shoes...) What to expect from the tech session How to prep the car for race day, including tweaks for a particular track How to prep yourself and your team for race day ... There's lots of stuff I'd love to learn more about
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Mar 21, 2013 03:39
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DJ Commie posted:You're more than welcome to come hang out at the Buttonwillow 24 hour race April 20-21, Team Dai Hard wil be there and probably some other goon-run teams. That would be really cool. 2 Hours driving each way, alone, to hang out with stressed people I've never met, haha. I recently moved down to the LA area (im in the valley) to be closer to family and for work. I don't have my car nerd friends from being a tech at ford to hang out with anymore.. 
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Mar 21, 2013 04:56
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DJ Commie posted:I'm considering writing a cheap/free little eBook in the future about how to make a durable, reliable, and fun crapcan racecar since we've been enormously successful with such small budgets and total lack of technical information about the car I use. Anyone interested in that? I'd go over the basics of race alignments, team management, and ways to turn around problem situations and technical issues. I'd read it, heck I'd even pay for a copy if you decided to charge.
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Mar 21, 2013 14:42
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Blooot posted:Got it. I was more speaking to the "if you need a tow vehicle, why not scca?" argument. There are plenty of Chumpcars in our region that don't look like pieces of poo poo or parade floats.
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Mar 21, 2013 17:14
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drgitlin posted:There are plenty of Chumpcars in our region that don't look like pieces of poo poo or parade floats. I don't run Chumpcar so I'm not familiar with the fields. While I realize it's not for everyone (especially SERIOUS RACE CAR DRIVERS), I actually love the enforced zaniness and slew of bizarre builds at Lemons.
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Mar 21, 2013 17:23
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Blooot posted:I don't run Chumpcar so I'm not familiar with the fields. While I realize it's not for everyone (especially SERIOUS RACE CAR DRIVERS), I actually love the enforced zaniness and slew of bizarre builds at Lemons. We never really got into the zany feel of LeMons, Chumpcar is really our bag, but we aren't competitive in it. We're hoping the general reliability of the car gets us through the 24 hour race at Buttonwillow next month, while we brainstorm our next car. I like the really exotic builds in LeMons a lot, but I'm more excited in a motor cycle engine in a Metro than an old Cessna body on a Toyota van. LeMons has a lot of different things to offer, and some teams like Eyesore Racing can fill a lot of the niches at the same time, where our zaniness stopped past "we're seriousracing a Daihatsu." Its so much just to do that bit, we never really got into a theme beyond making it look like a touring car, and even then function was still more important with that. DJ Commie fucked around with this message at 17:44 on Mar 21, 2013 |
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Mar 21, 2013 17:41
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Anyone interested in a track day on March 30th/31st at Buttonwillow? http://www.ncracing.org/ are the guys running it, I've never heard of them before, but they can't be worse than Xtremespeed I'm just going Saturday and I'll be in the Open class
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Mar 22, 2013 01:42
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