giff74

Let me say I have enjoyed reading and enjoying this forum my entire time on HT and now I considering moving "up" from auto X events and am trying to decide what to do about my car situation.

I have ran in a bunch of auto X events over the years, I really enjoyed it in my '05 Si hatch, and by last year I was scoring near the top of regularly. However, the Si is no more for me as I know drive a land yacht '03 TL-S and am considering buying something to try out HPDE on a regular basis.

First things first, I need instruction at HPDE's, and lots of it, so whatever I get must have two seats. I guess that rules out a true race prepped car, but I am wondering if I would be better served buying a stock ep or ek Civic and sorting out the tire, wheels, brakes and suspension and leaving the rest as is this summer or buying something that is more prepared.

I need a lot more experience on big tracks before I could actually race in any kind of series, but I think I want something I can "dedicate" to track use (still want it to be street legal as I have no tow vehicle right now). I am about to order Get Behind the Wheel as I have read that this book has a ton of insight, but I was wondering how most of you guys got up and running for real race tracks.

Thanks, Giff

granracing

Giff,
Since you don't have a tow vehicle & trailer, buying an inexpensive yet farily reliable street car would probably be the way to go. You can buy a racecar with two seats and have it street legal, but it would probably be easiest to do the other route. Then buy 5 extra rims (the cheapest you can find, even OEM junk yard rims will do) for some HPDE tires (Toyo Proxes?). If you can find an inexpensive Civic, go for it. For brakes, just change the fluid and pads. Skip the large brake upgrade and suspension - just focus on getting as much seat time as possible.

There are also other books on racing which would be worth the investment - Going Faster and some of the Speed Secrets series.

If/when you decide to get into a race series, you can sell the Civic and buy a pre-built racecar.

giff74

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by granracing &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Giff,
Since you don't have a tow vehicle & trailer, buying an inexpensive yet farily reliable street car would probably be the way to go. You can buy a racecar with two seats and have it street legal, but it would probably be easiest to do the other route. Then buy 5 extra rims (the cheapest you can find, even OEM junk yard rims will do) for some HPDE tires (Toyo Proxes?). If you can find an inexpensive Civic, go for it. For brakes, just change the fluid and pads. Skip the large brake upgrade and suspension - just focus on getting as much seat time as possible.

There are also other books on racing which would be worth the investment - Going Faster and some of the Speed Secrets series.

If/when you decide to get into a race series, you can sell the Civic and buy a pre-built racecar. </TD></TR></TABLE>

So what you are saying is; buy the car, load up on some tire, pads and brake fluid, but dont mess with any suspension or anything else until I have had my rear in the seat for a lot of time.

Giff

.Thomas

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by giff74 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

So what you are saying is; buy the car, load up on some tire, pads and brake fluid, but dont mess with any suspension or anything else until I have had my rear in the seat for a lot of time.

Giff</TD></TR></TABLE>

Exactly, As long as your car is safe, and all maitence is done, it should be good to go.

sazdasl

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TanCar &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Exactly, As long as your car is safe, and all maitence is done, it should be good to go.</TD></TR></TABLE>

+1 from my time autoxing it seems 2 things are major factors (tires, and seat time)

giff74

I am wondering why the tire upgrade without doing anything to the suspension? I was thinking tires, suspension and brakes myself. Then drive all I can, not even worrying about horsepower, just handling and stopping.

Thanks

1200 Hobos

iTrader: (7)

Also, to add to this, what about a high mileage car? Would a swap be a good idea to get into HPDE's? I own a 1991 Integra LS and it has a good 193,000 miles on it right now and it's seen better days. Should I take a car like that to the track and bang on it? Or would a swap be the better idea? Something which would be more reliable.

granracing

Tires - for the first two events or so, you may not have a problem using your current tires depending upon what they are, the track, how hard you are driving it, ect. What can happen is the tires can reach a point where they can no longer take the heat generated from track driving and they'll chunk. You'll also have faster tire wear than normal. It wouldn't be a horrible idea to try a HPDE with street tires - just keep a close eye on them to ensure they don't chunk and be sure to bring a spare tire.

Swap? Meaning motor swap? If that's what you're referring to vs. a car swap, change the oil and check over other basic things (timing belt included) then run it. My Prelude started it's HPDE &gt; racing with about 187,000 miles on it. The car was driven hard and raced with the same engine (never rebuilt) and the only reason I took it out was because I was ready for a built race engine.

It's never a bad idea to have back-up plans regardless of what engine will be in the car. If something happens to the car, how can I get it home? (Bribe a friend or someone at the track with a trailer, rent a trailer/tow vehicle, ect.) You don't need to over-think this, but I've usually felt it is nice to have some game plan for the "what ifs". Then again, this is the same guy who drove this car 6 1/2 hours to a track by himself for a HPDE and never even gave this a thought.