Stumbled upon this while googling some race car interiors. I'm in the long process of prepping a car just for HPDE's and thought this was a nice straight forward approach to describing what it's about to step into racing.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Written by: Scott Good &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Man, I'd forgotten how much there was to do to start racing again. It all sounds so easy: Get a car, sign up for a race and go. Oh, don't I wish.

You don't want to build your own race car. I do know that. People who build their own cars end up selling them to people like me for a big loss. So, you buy one that's already ready. But then, when it's time to pick it up, you realize you need a trailer.

Oh yeah, a trailer. Crap.

So, you get the trailer and bring it home and start doing research. Hm. Well, this car has 16" wheels but the fast setup is with 18" wheels. So you need a couple of new sets of wheels plus one of the old sets for rain tires. Oh, and you need the tires for them.

Since I last raced, cars all have transponders. You know, little radios that tell timing-and-scoring systems embedded in the actual race track when you pass over it. I don't have a transponder. Well, didn't. I do now.

There are all these things you need to have. A new fire suit (too fat for the old one). A new helmet (wrong certification in the one I had). New fireproof shoes (the old ones were just too damned ugly).

New fuel containers. New stickers with my name on them to put on the car (ok, sure, I could have forgone those but they were really cheap and look cool!). Peel-and-stick tiles and paint for the inside of the trailer (makes it a lot nicer).

Oh yeah, and you have to get a license. To get the license, you have to get a physical. Then you have to fill out a bunch of paperwork and send in some money.

Then you have to go through Rookie Orientation. To do that, you have to go to a race that's offering it. To go to the race you have to fill out more paper and write more checks.

There's a lot of check-writing involved in this process.

Got the new tires. Oh, but new tires need to be heat-cycled. That means you have to run them slowly up to temperature over 5 or 10 minutes, do one hot lap, then stop and let them cool for at least 24 hours. So, crap, you really have to do it before the race weekend. Have to find a big abandoned parking lot.

You get the idea. My first races are the weekend of September 17-18 and I can't wait if for no other reason than getting there means I've made it through at least the first full round of check-writing.

Beats the heck out of not racing, though.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Taken from: http://www.scottgood.com/jsg/b...FST98

 

It's as complicated as you make it. And that's yet another reason why it's a great idea to participate in HPDEs for a while all the mean time completing some of these items on ones own pace and not being stressed out about it. Yeah, there's a lot to it but as long as people remember it's for fun and to enjoy the process, it's not so bad. In fact, it's a blast!

 

That is another reason why karting is attractive to those who want to do it for fun.

You can race a kart at the club level for a very small investment. This is going to be my 2nd year of karting and it has not broken the bank.

m-

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Mario_D &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">That is another reason why karting is attractive to those who want to do it for fun.

You can race a kart at the club level for a very small investment. This is going to be my 2nd year of karting and it has not broken the bank.

m-</TD></TR></TABLE>

I &lt;3 Indoor Karting

Perhaps when I have a garage i'll purchase a real one and go racing outdoors...

 

I'm going through that process for Honda Challenge H2 right now. Fortunately I have almost everything done except for one set of tires a tune on the car and one more check to write.

 

I have a few friends who race karts outdoors AND race (a SM and the other one an IT car). They both have stated that racing karts is just as expensive and time consuming as racing a car. Again, it can be as expensive as one makes it, just like karts.

 

I like the artice because if there was someone just getting into racing it would definately help them realize they need to do a fair share of researching before jumping into something like this. Like for me, I'm building a 91 integra for HPDE's but I'm doing so in a fashion so I could enter Honda Challenge down the line so things are going to be to spec, but I started with this car as a regular old daily driver going to and from work-working on it alittle here and there and never had any big plans for it, it just kind of turned into this really big project. Had I known I wanted to do this I probably would've bought a race prepped car and a daily driver and done that but there's no going back now. Besides I enjoy doing the work it's just I'm itching for track time so to speak so I have to be patient.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by granracing &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have a few friends who race karts outdoors AND race (a SM and the other one an IT car). They both have stated that racing karts is just as expensive and time consuming as racing a car. Again, it can be as expensive as one makes it, just like karts. </TD></TR></TABLE>

This is true. If you are racing at the national level, it can get very expensive. But there are classes such as that stock moto 125 class that minimize cost. You said it best about making it as expensive as you want.

The OP is making an HPDE setup so that means he isn't racing. If that is the case, he is can get some track time for even less money going the kart route and just going on non-race days.

Just as an example, at my track, the year membership costs 350.00 for new members. With 8 hours of mandatory track help. After you complete that you get to race credits that cover the costs of running 2 races. You also have a gate key to access the track and run your kart free of charge on non-race days.

I am not sure how much one HPDE costs, but in any case, I hope OP gets some sort of track time.

m-

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Redcivic92 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm going through that process for Honda Challenge H2 right now. Fortunately I have almost everything done except for one set of tires a tune on the car and one more check to write.</TD></TR></TABLE>
H2? bye bye cams and pistons?
can u bump-draft me please? i only make 160 wheel.
if all goes well, ill be racing at hyperfest!!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Mario_D &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
The OP is making an HPDE setup so that means he isn't racing. If that is the case, he is can get some track time for even less money going the kart route and just going on non-race days. </TD></TR></TABLE>
I don't think so. HPDEs don't require physicals, transponders, names on gas cans, etc. Looks to me like he IS going real racing.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Stumbled upon this while googling some race car interiors. I'm in the long process of prepping a car just for HPDE's and thought this was a nice straight forward approach to describing what it's about to step into racing.</TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I like the artice because if there was someone just getting into racing it would definately help them realize they need to do a fair share of researching before jumping into something like this. Like for me, I'm building a 91 integra for HPDE's but I'm doing so in a fashion so I could enter Honda Challenge down the line so things are going to be to spec, but I started with this car as a regular old daily driver going to and from work-working on it alittle here and there and never had any big plans for it, it just kind of turned into this really big project. Had I known I wanted to do this I probably would've bought a race prepped car and a daily driver and done that but there's no going back now. Besides I enjoy doing the work it's just I'm itching for track time so to speak so I have to be patient.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Not sure where the OP is doing physicals, transponders, etc. Maybe I missed something here. He quoted someone explaining what they had done and OP wanted to bring that out as a good reference.

FYI, in karting we run transponders and beacons on non-race days to monitor speed, lap times, temps, etc.

Good luck to OP again.

m-

 

its not alot of work unless u make it alot nah i know its alot of work ! the faster u go the more work it is !

 

im just happy all the big stuff is done (motor is back together, trans is back in the car)
just gotta put the new shocks and springs in when all that stuff comes in and wire the kill and transponder. but dam, its been a long time commin.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Mario_D &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Not sure where the OP is doing physicals, transponders, etc. Maybe I missed something here. He quoted someone explaining what they had done and OP wanted to bring that out as a good reference.

m-</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes that's exactly where I was going with this. Although I am building an HPDE car that's setup for real races, meaning things are going to be to spec and not just setup the way I want them. If and when I get the time and resources to actually go racing I'd already have a set-up to do so. I know it would've been easier to just buy an already built car but this project kind of just happend, it wasn't planned so I'm going through with it. I guess there was alittle confusion in my first post becuase it says I'm in the process of setting up a car for HPDEs then I post the quote about what it's like to go real racing...

I'm currently saving for an 8-pt cage, ACT clutch and a few small things and I should be ready.

 

which is why i would like to get into prerunning vehicles because in the end (as long as you dont break anything) you can still drive home.

he also forgot that with a trailer, you need something to haul the trailer. so you go out and throw down 20k for a 04' Chevy with a duramax diesel motor in it.

so there goes maintainese for 3 expletiveing vehicles.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the faster u go the more work it is !</TD></TR></TABLE>
This is such a true statement!!!! I started off using Toyo Proxes when racing (they do NOT require a heat cycle) which last quite a long time, stock suspension, just about no go-fast parts except for a super cool sounding muffler LOL, and the basic safety gear. A friend of mine only uses take off tires which he obtains at the track for free (he does pay to have them mounted.) Now I've decided I want to race at the pointy end and that's where a race engine, LSD, blah, blah, blah comes into play.

Duramax Diesel? Again, people can make this sport as expensive as they feel it "needs" to be. There are tons of nice vehicles out there that can easily tow 3,000 lbs allowing a person to use a tow dolly and have a great daily driver. (A used tow dolly can be found for $500.) Zephyr, Knesis, and many others even drive their racecars to the track and I might add win numerous races while doing so. Zephyr now tows with his Subaru car. It all goes back to the simple needs versus wants.

 

Racing/HPDE is as expensive as you want to make it. I choose to not spend a lot money. I drove my H5 Civic to and from every race for two seasons. Now with the H5 CRX I dolly tow it on a used dolly that I picked up for less then $500 bucks with my Subaru, the Subaru, a swapped 2.5RS, gets 20mpg. Sure, I'm limited for space but you really need to ask yourself, "How much of this **** do I actually need to bring". At the start of the season the trunk of the Subaru was full, now I have enough space to fit a very large cooler full of beer in there. Honda's are great, you don't need a lot of tools to work on them so there is no need to bring a roll away tool chest, you don't need a standard set of wrenches, 15, 16, 18mm wrenches.

If you really want to race, you will find a way to do it that is well within your means.

 

And Z's Subie has a rollbar in the back no less

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Zephyr-The Subaru Guy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you really want to race, you will find a way to do it that is well within your means. </TD></TR></TABLE>
dam expletivein right man
that mode of thought is why i WILL be on the grid this year. and fo sho on the grid at hyperfest. tomorrow is not promissed. if u want something, go for it. dont wait. or one day you'll find you waited a day too long.
-captin motivation