Madspeed

okay the deal is im just getting into building a car for the honda challenge, this is my thought and im looking for some advice from some of the experienced guys out there....maybe its a "no-brainer" but i dont know i hear all kinds of race stories.....

The car is a civic hatch Si....which as you well know i should have a single cam vtec stock motor...but of course it doesnt have that any more...but i was thinking i should start in H4 considering my skill level....like i said im new at this still building the car ...planning on running in the '06 season...so would it be better to begin in a class such as H4 v/s starting out in H1 with the "hybrid" set up i have now?

this way i would gain some "real track time" in the actual event and maybe the following season run the hybrid engine set up.....some local "freinds" say go all out and run H1......but im just looking for some words of wisdom from some experienced drivers .....thanks

bad-monkey

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Madspeed &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">okay the deal is im just getting into building a car for the honda challenge, this is my thought and im looking for some advice from some of the experienced guys out there....maybe its a "no-brainer" but i dont know i hear all kinds of race stories.....

The car is a civic hatch Si....which as you well know i should have a single cam vtec stock motor...but of course it doesnt have that any more...but i was thinking i should start in H4 considering my skill level....like i said im new at this still building the car ...planning on running in the '06 season...so would it be better to begin in a class such as H4 v/s starting out in H1 with the "hybrid" set up i have now?

this way i would gain some "real track time" in the actual event and maybe the following season run the hybrid engine set up.....some local "freinds" say go all out and run H1......but im just looking for some words of wisdom from some experienced drivers .....thanks </TD></TR></TABLE>

well, in the defense of the h4, h5, h3, and anyone who isn't driving in H1, all of these guys driving the honda challenge are spectacular drivers. their reasons for running their particular classes are their own, and whether that's because of money, or personal preference, or their horoscope, i don't know. with that being said, i think your own class selection should be made based on more than just your skill level.

chassis, how much $ you've got, what kind of mods you have planned, how many people are already running the class (do you want to run in h4 with lots of competition, or do you want to blaze trails in h5 or h3 with only 2 other cars?) are all factors to consider. Spending money on a b18c5 swap or a k20 swap and having lots of spare parts on hand won't fit into some people's racing budgets, so H1 wouldn't be for them.

keep in mind that i am a casual observer as opposed to participant of the HC, so take my comments with a grain of salt. hopefully some seasoned racers can come in with more insight as to how to pick the right class for you, and what your rookie season in HC would be like.

Back in Black

Start in H4. I highly recommend that and can honestly say I would have done it if I knew what I know now.

Simon Tibbett

Even though I have not road raced yet, I would say start slower where the cost is a little lower...yet still $$$$ because it is racing because you can think a lot more on driving without having to have the real high tech stuff in a real fast class. You can learn a lot about your car, and driving without having so much to loose or whatever see what I am saying? Just my idea

phat-S

Strikes me that you are likely to be the same amount competetive in any class you start out in. If that's H4 or H1, you won't be any further up or down the curve driving-wise because of what you choose. The upside of the lower class is that you are rather limited as to what you can do to the car, therefore, you are less likely to have as many mechanical excuses as to why you are where you are. Knowing what is holding you back, to me, seems like the biggest hurdle to get over.

civicrr

Some good advice above. Let me add to it.

H4 will be cheaper to build & run. Since there are fewer allowed mods to engine & as a whole, the car, there is less to spend. In addition, the spares tend to be cheaper.

H4 cars are, while not quite 'complete momentum' cars, are much more so than H1 cars. Learning in a momentum car will teach you to be more efficient. eg You can't afford to scrub off speed in a corner & come out as well down the straight. You have to be good slow before you are great fast. Sort of like learning to walk before you run.

There is more...I am sure others will chime in.

chad

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jason Franza &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Start in H4. I highly recommend that and can honestly say I would have done it if I knew what I know now.</TD></TR></TABLE>


agreed.....

Sean O'Gorman

H4

johng

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by civicrr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You have to be good slow before you are great fast. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Racerboy03

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=924933

Another advantage of leaving the stock motor in and running H4 is that you can run the car in SCCA events, and your car was recently put in ITA, so the car will be more copetitive then it was in ITS, there are plenty of SCCA events on top of the NASA and ECHC events for you to get track time, which is the most important thing. Good Luck

-Mark

ybgnidils

Go for H4 it's never good to skip the first chapter of things, so to speak, unless it's a hot date and shes ready to go/

FLATOUTRACING

Agree with most of what has been said here. As an H4 driver though I will warn you that skill level has nothing to do with starting in H4. At least here on the East Coast (and please excuse my bias) some of the closest racing is in H4. Our last race we had the top 5 positions in H4 seperated by less than a second in qualifying.

There are normally four things to consider when you start out:

1) Cost....you want to keep things as cheap as possible
2) Competition.....you want as many cars as possible to race against
3) Equality......you want a class that has cars that are pretty close in performance
4) Seat time........H4 allows you to possibly run SCCA ITA or ITS class depending on your car

In general H4 meets those requirements. And as pointed out you will be driving a momentum car that at most might put out 120-125 hp (depending on engine).

That being said there is no reason you couldn't do H1 but the cost factor comes into play and also the "equality" point I made. Some people spend twice as much as others in H1 so you never know where you stand.

Ideally the best race class is one that is close to "spec" class like SM. I started racing in Spec Racer Ford and I lerned more on one season of racing than 5+ years of HPDE's.

Regards,

Jon P. Kofod
http://www.flatoutracing.net

Madspeed

all of this information is great...thanks for not flamming and telling me im stupid for asking and all.....i am sincerly stoked to be building a car that one day will compete....and all of the advice given in this thread is helpful. hope to see you all at the track....and as always anymore thoughts on this topic are welcome and helpful....Madspeed to all of you.