Might be Joining the FM racers
I have been thinking about switching from running open track and racing in modified street cars, and getting a formula car. A friend has an FM for sale and I am seriously considering it.
I will probably rent the car for a day before deciding. Anything in particular I should be looking out for? Thanks.
Watch out for cracks forming in the corners of your mouth from too much grinning.
Scott Woodruff
83 RT5 Ralt/Scooteria Suzuki Formula S
(former) F440/F5/FF/FC/FA
65 FFR Cobra Roadster 4.6 DOHC
Welcome to Formula Mazda Richard,
Go to www.formulamazda.com and call Moses or 1 of his dealers. They know where all the Mazda's are and what they are worth. If they don't know the car it's not worth looking at.They can also hook you up with a rental and show you how to maintain it. I looked for 3 months last year and couldn't find anything within 2 days of driving. I called Moses and within 1 week he found the right car for my budget 1 hour from my house.
Once you have 1, all the drivers and teams are fantastic with help and knowledge, You will wish you went Mazda sooner.
Good Luck,
John B.
Canada
Richard We are in So Cal More than happy to help you Give Us a ring Dwayne & Mike Anderson dwayneanderson42@gmail.com
A couple years back I was in your shoes. The FM is a lot of fun, well supported and a lot faster than what you have been driving. I have found the car easy to maintain on my own. May not be the fastest in the pack, but I am having fun.
Talk to Moses Smith, he may be able to give you a history on the car, and the stuff to look for. Most of the time you will need two sets of tires and a set of rains. Spare noses are needed. Options like aluminum brake calipers and electronic dash are the most popular.
Steve Flaten
Thanks for all the advice and referrals, guys. I understand you need to check the suspension uprights because if a bearing spins, you have to replace them and they aren't cheap. I think I will be testing the car before getting back to anyone who offered help.
Uprights
Richard, don't let the upright problem frighten you. At the worst, you just machine the inside dia of the upright, press in a steel liner and your ready to go. And you will never have the problem again.
These cars are a blast. Go get one; you will never regret it!
Tom
Tom Owen
Owner - Browns Lane and Racelaminates.com
Wheel Brg
Hi Richard; With all the FM's we have taken care of we have never seen a wheel bearing spin & they dont cost that much. Call if we can be of help Dwayne Anderson
Originally Posted by Richard EVO
Things are progressing. I sold my track day Honda S2000 rolling chassis with blown motor, which puts me in the position of having the cash for the FM. I am renting it for an open track day at Willow Springs (big track) next week, with cost of rental to be applied to purchase price if I decide to buy. Assuming I go forward with this, I'll be back here soon looking for all kinds of advice from the experienced FM racers here. Thanks for all the comments and referrals to shops that can help with maintenance, etc.
I rented the Formula Mazda today at Willow Springs big track and got close to 3 hours of seat time. That was enough to convince me to buy it. I need to spend a few months running open test days and getting some coaching in order to really learn how to drive it, before going racing. I plan to start racing after the summer break in Sept. 2012 with SCCA, and might make it up to NorCal for a FM challenge event. This thing is a hoot!!!
Last edited by Richard EVO; 01.19.12 at 2:28 PM.
OK
Richard, welcome! You will not regret this move
Tom
Tom Owen
Owner - Browns Lane and Racelaminates.com
Congrats on the new racecar - enjoy!
Here are some pics:
Welcome
Welcome to the FM Family!!!
Let me know if I can help!
Moses
Good looking car...One question, why are the rear shock bodies red? Do they have red duct tape around them or are they non spec shocks. Not trying to bust your chops, just making an observation that may keep you out of trouble in tech.
In preparation for going racing in my FM, I ran my second track day, first time with a coach. The track was Streets of Willow, which is a tight "technical (read: slow)" track that is not well designed, but for some reason, lots of SoCal drivers like it.
I had to learn how to shift without using the clutch and left foot brake, while driving an open wheel car for only the second time, on a track I hate. I had a lot of fun and improved significantly by the end of the day.
Plans are for 2 open test days at the Willow Springs big track, a fast and much better track than Streets of Willow. Then go racing in FM class with SCCA/CalClub at Buttonwillow Raceway in May. Hoping to get up to at least one of the NorCal Formula Car Challenge races at Infineon Raceway/Sears Point (my favorite track I have ever driven) in the fall.
One other thought -- I am used to getting lots of seat time at open track events in modified street cars, and have driven for over 3 hours per day at many events. About 2 hours of seat time in the FM, and I was absolutely beat. It's much harder work than driving a modified street car on track, and you experience much greater g-forces.
Richard. Starting my SCCA school in the Crossle in March with Cal Club. I'm about 6 months behind you in open wheel experience. Be seeing you on the track. Skeeters
Buttonwillow
Richard you need any help just call on the Buttonwillow weekend. We are in southern Calif outside Temecula Thanks Good luck Dwayne Anderson
Thanks. Since you are out in the SoCal desert, have you driven any open wheel cars at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway yet? I really love the newest road course in California (except for the location, 50 miles east of Indio).
So Cal racing
We have not been out there. We ran the Formula Car Challange last year all the races were in northern Cal. Moses has been there for their opening. Dwayne
Things are progressing well with my FM and my plans to go racing. There are 3 race sanctioning organizations I can run with in California: SCCA, Formula Car Challenge, and HSR West (4 if you count SCCA CalClub and SCCA SF Region separately). I made a calendar of every open wheel race day and open test day for those organizations' race schedules for 2012, and there's no way I can run anywhere near the available race weekends. Lots of events at Infineon, WSIR, and Buttonwillow, and a few at Laguna Seca, Thunderhill, and ACS Roval.
My race support shop is going through the car and making sure everything is good, or fixing it if it isn't. Going to WSIR for an open test day on Mar. 8 to get a lot of seat time.
Working on getting updated safety equipment, including a new helmet, SFI 38.1 device (leaning towards Simpson Hybrid Pro Rage, NOT Hans or R3), and a new harness. My current SCCA and NASA competition licenses are good for all these organizations. Life is good.
WOOOOOOHHHOOOOOO!!!
Willow
You will be having to much fun. Who is your prep shop. Dwayne
What happened to the handful of FM/StarMazdas that were running with VARA? I see only 1 ran with them last year...
Willow Springs Racing, located at the track. Car purchased from father of shop owner, who runs open track events at WSIR about 6 times a year, and owns a Stohr and an FC.
I dunno. I thought VARA was only "historic" race cars, and FM is too new to qualify. Obviously I was wrong about that.
Yesterday I got 2 1/2 hours+ of seat time at an open test day at Willow Springs Int'l Raceway (big track), which is a high speed road course in Rosamond, Calif. I had fun driving, but was disappointed in my performance. I probably have 5,000 laps on that track in modified street cars, and yesterday I only went 1 second faster than my personal best lap time, which was in a 439 awhp, 383 awtq built and caged '04 Mitsubishi Evo VIII RS that had a well-tuned suspension and R-compound tires, and weighed about 3,000 lbs.
I am probably 6 or 7 seconds off a pace where I think I need to be to go racing in the FM. I think the problem is that I just have no idea how fast I can go in the corners in this car, and I have to work my way up to it gradually. I certainly came nowhere near the limit yestarday, never came close to breaking the tires loose. Maybe I just have to grow a bigger pair.
At least I'm getting the hang of clutchless shifting and left foot braking, and I even strapped myself into the dang thing by myself for the first time. And having FUN!
And the braking. ...... At high speeds with the wings working you can literally stand on the pedal, with either hawks or the pfc's
Despite what you may have been told, left foot braking is not required. If it is a major distraction....use your right foot.
Do you have a data logger in the car? If so, check and see how much lateral acceleration you are achieving in the fast sweeper corners. With a decent set-up and tires, an FM should be cornering somewhere close to 2g's.
The confidence will come with time in that car.I am probably 6 or 7 seconds off a pace where I think I need to be to go racing in the FM. I think the problem is that I just have no idea how fast I can go in the corners in this car, and I have to work my way up to it gradually. I certainly came nowhere near the limit yestarday, never came close to breaking the tires loose. Maybe I just have to grow a bigger pair.
22 to 24's there will probably give you somebody to race with much more often than not.
At WSIR the only place you are really going to be standing on the brakes in a FM is T1 and T3. I'd guess you are leaving all the time on the table with the cornering through 2, 4 and 9....just a guess where the speeds attainable will be hugely different than what your EVO would do. Your EVO speeds would probably be similar just about every where else.
My coach told me to left foot brake at all times. The seller, who is a good friend, explained that you NEVER want to take your right foot off the gas with a 13B rotary. If you do, you get that "burp" and the revs drop too much. When you get back on the gas, the tires won't take a set right away. He told me that when braking with the left foot, keep the right foot at 1/2 throttle. Based on my very limited experience (3 open test days) in my FM, that makes a lot of sense, and I plan to continue to practice and try to perfect that method of driving.
like you, I am a novice. Have a couple years and about 12 races (still a learning adventure every race)under my belt.Was advised to left foot brake, and found it to be a faster way around the track at Brainerd International. Getting on the track withother racers under race conditions will tell you even more about where you are leaving the time. I find time can be improved by later braking, carrying more speed through the corner and avoiding scrubbing speed. It may also be that you are not keeping the revs in the upper power band and itmight require that you select a different gear stack to get a few mph.
Thanks for the advice. I'm pretty sure my car is geared right for Willow Springs (big track) because it's the only place the prior owner drove it, and he is pretty knowledgable about race cars. He owns a Stohr and a Formula Continental, and he hosts open track events.
Right foot braking
Not to dispute or open up a debate on braking techniques but I always right foot brake my FM. And I don't find it a problem to allow the throttle pedal to go to idle. The most important thing is to blip the throttle on down shifts to match the revs to the trans and to get the engine above 5K before turn in.I don't know about the 1/2 throttle deal. Sounds like you would be taking some braking force away from the car.
BTW, I left foot brake Shifter Karts, Sprint Cars and the Indy Light I am presently driving.
Richard,
As DW pointed out, there are a lot of theories out there concerning braking with the FM. However, if you look at Darryl's record for the past few years, his points of view should be taken as if they were handed down from the Mount, inscribed on a tablet.
They do run with VARA.....
It's all coming together for my first open wheel race weekend. I'm driving the Suburban to work early in the morning on Thursday. Then leaving at noon to drive to Simi Valley to pick up the new trailer with tire racks and etracks installed. Then driving to Willow Springs Int'l Raceway where the FM is stored, and load it up. Car all serviced and ready to race with all the race stickers and numbers (except SCCA stickers, which I will get on Friday). Then trailer to Buttonwillow Raceway Thursday night and stay at motel (3 nights). Friday is get annual SCCA tech for car and gear, and run open test day to practice since I haven't been to Buttonwillow in this car before. Config. is #14-CW, same as race weekend. Then practice, qualifying and race on Sat. and qualifying and race on Sun. I will have a mechanic with me for trackside support all 3 days, and I rented a garage for the 3-day weekend. Sun. race ends at 2:05 p.m. Drop the car/trailer at WSIR and drive home.
This is pretty exciting, after the 8 1/2 years of running open track in modified street cars that I drove back and forth to the track stuffed full of wheels, tires, and tools. I also raced a Miata with SCCA and NASA for 2 years, but I stored it at a shop at Buttonwillow Raceway and paid them for transportation to other tracks and trackside support. I avoided buying a truck and trailer that whole time. A new day.
1st time
Good Luck Man! Have a good time out there! Keep us up to date... Post on the FM Facebook, so we can all get instant updates... http://www.facebook.com/FormulaMazda
Anyone else remember their first time...on track...and want to share?
Moses
First time racing open wheel car, not first time on track in open wheel car or first race in any car.
Pics of my first open wheel car race day ever. Buttonwillow Raceway SoCal 5-19-12 with Cal Club/SCCA. Race Group #5 (open wheel cars). Qualified 2nd out of 2 cars in class, and 3rd of 19 cars in open wheel race group. Finished 2nd in class and 4th overall. Bought a CD of photos and a framed print from Vanhap, which I never do. Drove in qualifying and race on a brand new set of Goodyear Eagle stickers, after doing all my practicing over the last 4 months on scrubs. The grip was phenominal.
Well done sir. New tires are wonderful things. A very clean car.
Dale V.
Lake Effect Motorsports
FM
Spartan VP-2/Mazda
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