What to buy for a big buy
OK,
Some baseline questions to consider
1. Are you going Nationals racing - if you are then you are pretty much going to run a 98+ Van Diemen to be competitive - which can be a bit tight for a big guy - you can try one or two and know if you are going to fit or not. There are some small volume cars like a Tatuus, Carbir Mygale etc that you are going to have to try them out. My experience tells me the Van Diemen's will be OK for height but you will be sitting on the floor and may be pinched at the hips
2. Are you going regional racing - are you considering Club Formula Continental or regular straight FC?
Good news is that the older the car the bigger the cockpit in most cases. Cars here could be 98 or newwer VD's but you could also run 90-97 VD's but I would probably suggest that 97's may be too tight in the shoulders. Also consider 87-90 Reynards which are tighter than the 86-91 Crossle's but bigger than the Van Diemens. Swifts of all vintages are pretty tight - probably not a winner for you
3. Fix your own - You can always cut off the roll cage and move bars around - not preferred but not uncommon. My 1990 Reynard had the cage cut off and redone to accomodate a 6'3" driver about 12 years ago. Here is where a good job is critical. After that owner redid the cage, he re-powdercoated the car and performed a ground up. Would I recommend that path - only if no other option was available.
Good luck
David Keep
Getting Started/ How many $$$
I would like to spend no more than $20K on the car, preferably $15K or less. Also leaning toward ff2000 rather than ff1600. (BTW, many years ago I spent a couple of years as a Ford mechanic before changing course. I'm not afraid of engine/tranny work and can rebuild an inline 4 (stock) in my sleep.)
This would be for occassional regional racing only.
I appreciate the responses and your time.
Steve
CFC is no longer in SEDIV
David:
Thanks for the compliment.
Because not enough folks came out to play in SEDIV CFC (1990 & earlier) this year, the class was dropped. So, all cars, even the really old ones, are now FC in SEDIV.
Also not a problem, because we went to 8 races and often were one of two or three FC that showed up. Consequently, we have plenty of second place (and one FIRST PLACE) trophies hanging around.
We (Mark and I) do it mostly for fun, but we are working on getting the car to perform like Chuck's. When we do, watch out! At the SIC we were gridded in front of (just barely) all of the FMs and holding our own in the 'real' (newer) FCs. We got several 1:09's (high) on the test day but could only manage a low-to-mid 1:10 on race day. Rob Poma (97VD) smoked everyone with a low 1:07!
This will not be a problem for MSFlynn since they are in NEDIV. I think CFC is 1995 up there too. (Ambrose or someone: please correct me if that is wrong)
Regional Racing and What to buy
Rick,
You bring up a good point for a new driver to consider. That is what are the local conditions for regional racing. Is there a CFC class to provide a race for older cars. What do the participation levels look like for CFC and FC. Also what is the age range of vehicles.
For CenDiv, we have CFC as 90 and back and we have a sub race series which is the Great Lakes Challenge for both CFC and FC cars. FC peaked two three years ago and fell off and is now approaching the best participation (12-16 cars) we ever saw in my 8-9 years - and we expect up to four new cars/drivers in 07. It does take a Corey Collins and friends to make that happen.
David
The folks are first; car is 2nd
Quote:
I love the look, technology and simplicity of these cars but am hesitant to try to get involved and have it not work out. I fear being new, older and inexperienced could be a problem when thrown in with the young bucks who have been karting in diapers. Don't want to be the odd man out. Is there a broad experience/ability span within the organization?
"Who are you going to be on track and in the paddock with" is the most important question when you're just racing for fun (translated: over the hill; ask me how I know). Go to the tracks and meet your future friends. (Might be tough in the off season, so see if you can find out who they are and e-mail or call them; they'll be happy to chat) If you like them just talking to them, it will work out regardless of which class it is. If you don't have a good feeling and aren't excited after meeting them, then move to another class and a different group of people til you find the guys (and gals?) you like; then go buy the car.
Check the poll about age of drivers on this forum; most of us are comfortably over 40.
As for experience/ability........well, my race reports are titled: "Postcards from the Back". :o