Starting off! Some tips?!

[Bswan657]

I'm looking to get into road racing and do some HPDE. What's a good car to start out with thats not too expensive to own or buy. Let me k ow of your suggestions. Thank you

[getfast]

I'm looking to get into road racing and do some HPDE. What's a good car to start out with thats not too expensive to own or buy. Let me k ow of your suggestions. Thank you

 

A good car to start out with is any car that passes HPDE tech. Whatever you like and can afford.

 

Mustang, Miata, Civic, BMW 3-series, etc - all very common in the $2k to $5k range, or you could spend much more on a later model one.

 

If your plan is to go racing, I'd suggest figuring out which roadracing class you'd like to end up in, and starting with a car that will end up there. It's personal preference, really, about which make/model/type of car that might be...

 

Where are you located? Coming out to an event and checking out some cars and talking to some drivers may be very helpful.

[Bswan657]

I'm from Colorado. Was hope in to keep it pritty low in price. That's def a good idea I'll go to race check some cars out.

[Cobra4B]

Whatever you have now + a helmet will get you going in HPDE-1. Just come on out and drive! I have a bunch of car friends who always talk about wanting to come out to the track but they think they have to do X, Y and Z first before they can get out there. Not the case.... i.e. your Mustang doesn't need exahaust and gears and the latest trick suspension for you to start learning.

 

After you've run a few HPDEs and are addicted to the hobby and want to build a track only car make sure you build a car you can afford to track i.e. consumables. I've seen more than a handful of people build C6 Z06s or Vipers only to realize they can't stomach the brake/tire expenses.

 

Once you're ready to compete make sure you build your vehicle to a specific class vs. building the car then trying to see what class it will fit in.

 

My $0.02

[Bswan657]

The only thing about that is my current car will not work out there and my other car is a drift car and has an LSD in the back so turning smoothly is not it's thing. That's why I'm looking to do a simple build. Where are these classes posted?

[Calif_Kid]

The only thing about that is my current car will not work out there and my other car is a drift car and has an LSD in the back so turning smoothly is not it's thing. That's why I'm looking to do a simple build. Where are these classes posted?

 

The main Nasa event page is http://www.nasaproracing.com/, and if you select Driving Info, you can get on Open Track/HPDE, Time Trial, and Road Racing. For road racing, the webpage is http://www.nasaproracing.com/proracing/index.html and it has a section http://www.nasaproracing.com/proracing/Which-Class-To-Choose.pdf on which class you should choose, plus links to the various series. The best thing would be to go to an event and look at the various types of cars that are running, and to talk with some of the owners to see what series you might want to get into. In Northern Calif, when I was running HPDE 1-3, I sometimes would wait in the instructor area with my helmet around 10' before the HPDE-4 session as some of the instructors would drive in that session and some would have room for a passenger so you could get a feel for the various types of cars at speed. Anyway, I hope the info helps... - Jim

[Bswan657]

I will def be going to a race as soon as i can. In going to be racing a 2004-2006 Mitsubishi Evo so I think the PT class is where that would fall.

[kbrew8991]

The only thing about that is my current car will not work out there and my other car is a drift car and has an LSD in the back so turning smoothly is not it's thing. That's why I'm looking to do a simple build. Where are these classes posted?

if it has an actual LSD and not a spool/welded diff then no big deal - and even then, could tune around it anyway or swap a different diff in instead for track use. Might also want to tweak some spring rates and alignment back towards grip, but that drift car would be fine as is otherwise I suspect. Try it out for your first few trackdays before dumping a ton of money into another car

[ILIKETODRIVE]

if it has an actual LSD and not a spool/welded diff then no big deal - and even then, could tune around it anyway or swap a different diff in instead for track use. Might also want to tweak some spring rates and alignment back towards grip, but that drift car would be fine as is otherwise I suspect. Try it out for your first few trackdays before dumping a ton of money into another car

Agreed.

[obzezzed350]

I will def be going to a race as soon as i can. In going to be racing a 2004-2006 Mitsubishi Evo so I think the PT class is where that would fall.

 

If low cost/budget track weekends are your goal...I dont think a boosted awd car is the answer. A n/a older car would be better.

[kbrew8991]

I will def be going to a race as soon as i can. In going to be racing a 2004-2006 Mitsubishi Evo so I think the PT class is where that would fall.

 

If low cost/budget track weekends are your goal...I dont think a boosted awd car is the answer. A n/a older car would be better.

the fun is in the turns - get a Miata, MR2, or something else that handles and doesn't have a ton of HP to cover up your mistakes if you insist on getting a "new" dedicated track car

[Cobra4B]

The correct answer is always "C5 Corvette".

[getfast]

According to kbrew it's "MR2 or RX8", according to me it's "E30 or E36 BMW"

[kbrew8991]

hey I did say Miata didn't I?

 

Series 1 RX8s are getting cheap... And that chassis is sublimely easy to drive... hmmm. If its a track only car so the slightly abnormal care & feeding isn't a big deal, nor is the poor street fuel mileage... and its easy to find one at less than half the cost of a beat-to-shit basic C5 too.

 

E30s are fun, not the worlds biggest E36 fan though.