Anyone here auto race? (Rally, autox, etc...)

[seether]

Just wondering



My brother in law knows I'm obsessed with my fox , so he gave me an 88 2dr for Christmas - it runs great, but cosmetically trashed (from all the permits on the windshield it was probably a college student beater until graduation). I'm starting to invest in maintanence and modifications for it - I'd love to turn it into a little racer for fun, but I've never raced (aside from the average goofing of with friends and bigmouths, but that doesn't really count).

I know pretty much jack schitt about the whole scene though - just what I've read online at sponser sites and forums. My goal is to be competing occasionally by next summer ($$ for car mods pending of course).

So,
anyone here race? stories/advice to share with the rest of us?

[GuchiGuh]

13yr VeeDub? awesome you must have the car that my sister had. It died last year, lasted 16 years!

Ummm racing.....does Dragging a VeeDub MK6N (Polo) against a Merc E240 count? well........rev up the engine, put 2nd gear, burn some rubber, hold steering, and just put the foot flat on the floor. change gear manually once reving close to red. Hmmm.....brake hard when you see cops

[Dr Mordrid]

I raced & rallied in the late 60's to early 70's. Then I had to settle down to my career and start thinking about raising a family

Before you do anything else you need to get in contact with the regional SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) in your parts and attend an approved driving school so you can start as a Novice with the eventual target of getting your Competition License for Club Racing. To get a Regional Licence you'll need to attend two schools and drive in two races within two years. School tuitions run $100-200 on average.

Until you have all this in hand thoughts of regional competion at multiple tracks is all mental masturbation. It's also a lot of plain old fashioned hard work.

You can get your local SCCA contact info here;

http://www.coloradoscca.org/

The most convenient racing schools to you look to be at Second Creek Raceway in Commerce City and La Junta Raceway in La Junta, though the classes are over for this summer save for one at Second Creek that runs Oct 18-19.

Second Creeks number is 719-574-2217.

La Juntas number is 719-574-2217

Careful; it's like women in that it's both addictive and expensive

Dr. Mordrid

[GuchiGuh]

Careful; it's like women in that it's both addictive and expensive

[seether]

[seether]

Darn

I was hoping some ground effects and a 3ft wing on my trunk would be all it would take



Dr Mordrid, thanks for the info

GuchiGuh, yup, 13years and 165,000 + HARD miles and still drives like new (about time to replace the strut bearings though, I noticed last Tuesday the steering column picks up a little vibration at 110 ). The poor thing's spent half its life treated like a wannabe ferrari and the other half treated like a wannabe land rover. I see big repair bills coming one day, but I'll still have my GL when I die.

The Polo seems like a great little car, don't know why they don't sell them in the US.

[RhinoZ]

I used to race go carts, when I was 15->16 yrs old. The carts had a max speed of about 40mph. But like Doc, I had to quit and concentrate on school (or get my ass kicked by my father) I won a couple of races as they are about 40->50mins long, but the travelling over the weekend was just getting ridiculus. I didn't have to go to a real driving school, but you did have to get a race licence and to keep it you had to complete 2 races per year to keep you status. My one regret is that we have a F1000 driving school near Belleville ( where Zokes works ) that I always wanted to spend $2000 -> $3000 for the 3 day weekend where you learn in a classroom how to drive one of these babies, then go out and drive with an instructor, then go solo on the last day. Almost a 50/50 split with class time and driving time.
Hmmmm I wonder if the class is still around....it's only been 20 years.

[GT98]

I went AutoXing at Englishtown two times last fall with my SVT Focus and it was a blast. I met up with another guy who lives in the same town as me who has the same car (though his is striped and its his wifes car ) and had a good ole time. I even bested the laptimes of an old Ferrari 348 GTS that was there, but I think that was due to the lack of driver skill on the Ferrari then my car

Its a great way to learn the limits of how your car handles in a emergency situation, which is well worth learning, though the downside is that you'll push the limits out on the main road....I know I get a little carried away hitting the jughandles getting on to the main highways....suggested speed is about 25-30 and I'm doing 50+ around them

I haven't gone this year yet and I doubt I will since I'm in the process of trying to find a condo to move into and money will be tight for a while.