jeepdipper Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 This question is geared towards you AI,AIX and CMC guys. Whats the cost to build a car like that. I got a Camaro shell and i kinda wanted to build either a AI or AIX but if cost are to high ima run Cmc. Thanks to those who might answer. Trevor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Watson Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 CMC is the cheaper route, but you certainly could build a reasonably competitive car for AI for not much more, AIX on the other hand big dollars. Doing everything yourself I est a CMC would run $6-10k, AI maybe $6-15k, AIX alot. Depends on so many things and how crazy you get. I'd recommend you build an entry level AI car, nothing crazy but a solid platform to get started with, you can always ugrade along the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Tornado Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 You mean competitive or just be able to race. Unless you to spend a ton I would stick w CMC. For AI in a fbody I would go to phoenix in pa or Mti in Atlanta and have a pro build it and do it right. Especially the rollcage. Have just rolled mine trust me pay extra don't skimp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Algozine Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 Cost to build is certainly a major issue in regards to deciding on a race class, but there are some other important factors you should consider, inlcluding cost to maintain the car for several seasons and cost to become competitive. I would do some research on the classes. Talk to/interview racers in your region about the perspective class. Get to know some of the racers. Find out the history of class, inlcuding rule changes, and other info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbrew8991 Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 You can generally buy an existing car for fifty cents or so on the dollar for what it cost to build. Sometimes even better than that too. However, it may not be 100% to your liking - pluses and minuses and all that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UBR Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Here's the easy answer. Small, Medium, Large for CMC, AI, AIX. If you are starting from scratch (street car) and plan on doing a lot of the work yourself, (I'd still farm out the cage to a pro shop- see Red Tornado comment above) a competitive CMC car will still run you $8,000-$12,000 unless you can get some good deals on used parts. AI cars-You can buy a VERY competitive car from Rehagan for $75,000 or so. You do the work and get some deals- $20,000-$30,000. AIX? Competitive has a big definition. In Midwest/Great Lakes, you're going up against 900-1000 HP car of the multi national champ. Chris claims he built his car for a lot under $100,000. Unless you have mad engineering and build skills, I'd say $100,000 is a good target. If you run anywhere else in the country, there is a big difference in AIX. Some areas 500hp will be competitive. That kind of hp and suspension and brakes can be had fro nearly AI dollars. If I were doing it again, I'd start in CMC. Get your skills built up on a cheaper level car. There will be a lot more competitors in many regions in CMC compared to AI. If you want to go faster, converting to an AI car isn't too bad (more motor, aftermarket suspension and brakes and good aero). The other thing to consider is maintenance costs. There are a lot of CMC cars that run hard for a long time with minimal mechanical support. You see them running very well in enduros (3-6 hour races) AI cars are more temperamental. We have 2 that I prepare and maintain. We usually come home from a race with a list of things to check or repair on each car. AIX- multiply broken things by 2 or 3 compared to AI. j Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
99cobra2881 Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Thats a good point about maintenance involved with campaigning an AI race car. Coming from an aircraft maintenance background, I've compared my AI car to an F-111 on a bad day. Those things had a maintenance average of about 70 hours for every flight hour. Luckily, I worked on C-130s. Be prepared to spend a good amount of time working on the car versus the hours its on the track. Hopefully you can do most of the between race wrenching yourself, it will make the costs of racing much more affordable. I will say this with the top notch competition in AI, the car is only half the dog in the fight. You can build the best of everything to the very edge of the rules but if you cant wheel it around the track like a mad man then you're gonna be mid pack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbodleimages Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 i think the maint costs depend a whole lot on what you are racing. i started with a 95 cobra r. i broke a clutch in 3 years of racing it. the 2nd car was acquired in boxes and reassembled. it was evil and never right. the 3rd car for this year lost power to the reverse lockout and needed a new connector to get reverse back. other than that it was just oil changes and brake pads.....and fuel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILIKETODRIVE Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 AIX? Competitive has a big definition. In Midwest/Great Lakes, you're going up against 900-1000 HP car of the multi national champ. That is just silly stupid power lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UBR Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 That is just silly stupid power lol. I see you've met Chris. Actually it is a very nice car. 200 mph at Road America. The first time I met Chris was at Gateway about 5 years ago. It was at the driver's meeting. Chris asked who was new. We raised our hand. He said, "I'll make this simple. Check your mirror when you get on the front stretch. If you see anything blue, just hold your line and I'll be past before you can react." He wasn't far off and we are running in American Iron- not a slow class. Oh ya. Then he asked if bump drafting was still allowed. Grinning the whole time. j Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbodleimages Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 i wonder how often chris actually has a wheel to wheel race with someone? or is just lapping all the sheep like a video game Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UBR Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 or is just lapping all the sheep like a video game That's why he has a Spec Miata. Likes to actually race with the common folk. j Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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