The 92-95 hatchback seems to be the shell of choice for H1, but what about the drivelines? What power plant is most dominant in H1? Is it safe to assume no one is using an H22 due to weight and positioning? With so much room in the rules, are there many maximum prepped H1 cars out there? Do you have to use a stand-alone management system and the biggest brakes you can fit behind you wheels to be competitive? Sorry for so many questions at once, Im trying to weigh out the difference in cost and developed for running a competitive H1 car versus say an H3 GSR?

 

If you're considering an H1 car, you should probably wait to see what happens with the rules. They are in the process of being re-written for the '04 season.

Most of the H1 cars are not currently prepped to the limit of the rules.

 

Head over to the HC forum and keep an eye out on the H1 developments. The national rules are getting worked over for 2004 and H1 is one of the places they are making some changes.

http://www.honda-challenge.com -> Drivers -> Forum

H1 cars that I know of to date (in ECHC):
* B18C5 EGs
* B20/VTEC EG
* B18A EG
* B16 CRX
* B18C5 wagon

We nore more H3 cars, so I vote you build the GSR.

 

92 CX is a great choice for H1. Lightweight, de-optioned, etc.

No H-seies that I know of, but I think the power/torque may outweigh the weight penalty (not sure, and I don't have the money to prove it). JDM H-series pistons, VTEC head on H23 block, open head work (under current rules) would equal a beast of an engine.

As for standalone ECU - not needed currently. Under the current rules a Hondata shold be more than adequate.

Big brakes - not required, but what you really want is big, thick, well vented rotors to act as heat sinks and help prevent fade.

If you're new to racing, which I assume you are, H1 is an expensive and engineering intensive place to start. Can I recommend something slower and less costly like H4 or H5? The cars in these classes are still fun to drive, class reasonably well in SCCA IT(sometimes), and a lot less expensive to build.

 

I'm with CrackMonkey....start cheap...I made the mistake of jumping into H1 and its not picnic..

My estimated expenditures were NO WHERE close to what it is actually costing to race once a month....

H4/H5 is the way to start, may not be as "glamorous" but you'll be better for it...in a number of ways.

Matt

 

Thanks for your input guys. I though H1 might not be the best place to start, but initial cost was worrying me, meaning cost of buying a GSR versus buying an early hatch and doing a swap etc. to make it competitive. I've decided to go with either H3 or H4, depending on what I can build within my budget and possibly move up later. Again many thanks...

 

Start cheaper. Showroom stock (equates to H4 or H5) or SRX7.

Or just keep instrucing/doing schools. Thats what HeroinBaboon is doing and i've decided to do.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .RJ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Or just keep instrucing/doing schools. Thats what HeroinBaboon is doing and i've decided to do.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Oh, .RJ. Get up on your narcotics and primates, or quit paraphrasing. The closest would be "free-base chimp", or "coke chimp". Heroin is derived from morphine, while crack is derived from cocaine. free-base is the '80s version of crack. baboons aren't as closely related to monkeys as chimpanzees.

 

LOL...

CrackMonkey
HeroinBaboon
FreebaseChimp
CokeChimp
MethOrang

What else we got?