Formula 1000 Car Questions - Newbie Here

[CamaroX84]

Hello,

I've been drag racing for several years and I am very interested in getting into wheel to wheel racing. A weekend at Road America sealed the deal for me! I am knowledgeable with cars and performance, but I know very little and Formula cars.

A friend of mine has a car that he is looking to sell. I have attached a photo. The only things I really know about it is that it has a 1000cc motorcycle engine and a sequential paddle shifter. It had a different engine in it at one point.

Can anyone tell me anything about this style of car? I'm assuming this is a Formula 1000 car because of the engine, but I could be wrong. I'm also guessing the "FC" on the car indicates the class it was in at one point?

What kinds of things should I be looking at prior to buying the car? I should be able to get a good feel for the motor based on my previous experience, but these types of racecars are totally foreign to me.

Thanks in advance!

[ghickman]

This isn't an SCCA car run as an F1000 from what I see.

I believe what we are looking at here is one of those "Mini Indy" cars that were being built about 5 years ago. As I recall there were a few threads here on Apexspeed about these.

It appears to be missing an underwing / diffuser and several other features that would make it very uncompetitive.

It may not even be legal but you'd need to take a tape measure and a current GCR and go over it with someone that knows what they are looking at.

This looks more to me like a parking lot racer- Slalom or Autox

[BLS]

I'm guessing the roll bar/roll cage is not SCCA legal...

[marshall9]

I wouldn't drive it at speed, roll hoop diameter looks too small and no brace from it to the front. No even auto-x for me. Pass on it, and buy a CF or something else safer than this car......especially the seat angle, judging from where the headrest is, this thing should come with a wheel chair or coffin as spares .

[PaulT]

It has a Midwestern Council sticker on it. So your friend should know if they accepted it and what class it ran in. I have a hard time believing it was ever a FC.

Paul

[mblanc]

Formula Indy.............................................. PAGE 138

http://www.mcscc.org/files/MC%202014...%203-15-14.pdf

Midwestern Council is a great group, in your area, with an excellent school, and they're in your area.

http://www.mcscc.org/



Agreed, if you want to learn road racing and 'proper' formula cars, buy a Club Formula Ford, and start with Midwestern Council.

Come up to road america again this weekend, see Midwestern Council races there this weekend, volunteer to work, and they'll feed and beer you also.......

stop by any of the formula car guys, and they'll share what they know.

http://www.myautoevents.com/pls/mae/...event_id=14609

[Jasonrmbell]

If you decide you want an FB I have one for sale just saying.

2012 Stohr Roller

[mblanc]

Agreed, if you want to learn road racing and 'proper' formula cars, buy a Club Formula Ford, and start with Midwestern Council.


4609[/url]

Guess I'll EDIT/QUOTE my own post

Agreed, if you want to learn road racing and 'proper' formula cars, buy a Club Formula Ford
or a REAL F1000/FB and start with Midwestern Council.

[mikey]

This may be the first time I've seen this community endorse a recommendation to jump into FB/F1000 to start.

I'd be very cautious about that approach, especially if drag racing is your background. An FB class car is not a beginner car, not even for somebody who has a lot of road course street car experience. Winged open wheel cars are something to progress through.

Would recommend taking a look at FM or FE if you have your heart set on open wheel and wings. They are at least pretty easy to drive and don't have enough power or aero to get yourself in serious trouble. They'll still drive circles around Corvettes and the like on road courses.

[Jasonrmbell]

I wouldn't say I was endorsing to jump right into FB.

[CamaroX84]

Thanks for all the replies guys. Sounds like I should look elsewhere.

Are there any good resources that list the differences between the different classes and the respective cars?

I'm not set on getting an open wheel car with a wing by any means. I just want something that I can handle as a rookie that has got some speed.

Thanks again!

[eospeed]

Thanks for all the replies guys. Sounds like I should look elsewhere.

Are there any good resources that list the differences between the different classes and the respective cars?

I'm not set on getting an open wheel car with a wing by any means. I just want something that I can handle as a rookie that has got some speed.

Thanks again!

http://scca.cdn.racersites.com/prod/...R%20August.pdf

[mikey]

if the 905 page GCR isn't where you had hoped to start, you can find a lot of similar threads with questions such as yours right here on apexspeed. play with the search features of this site. going to races is still the best way I think to learn about all the various classes and cars.

things to consider (not all inclusive): car cost to buy, car cost to run, local opportunities to race or get track time against others, skill level required for that car (both driving and maintaining), shop support (if you need it), etc.

really the very first question you need to answer is whether you want to go racing (against a good field of cars) or if you just want to go fast on a track and don't care about competing. racing on low budget is only possible in classes with lots of cars because at least some others in the field will be on similar budget. This is what makes non-winged classes so popular. don't discount SRF either - not open wheel but still open cockpit - I think an outstanding choice if RACING is your goal.
Heck I'd even go so far as to say SRF is the BEST choice for plain ol' wheel to wheel racing action on a relatively easy budget. Car counts are great and racing is close action - drafting, bump drafting, fender to fender, etc. Of course where there are more cars, there are more wrecks often..

look at SCCA registration data for your region to see who/what shows up when/where. If racing is your goal, that data just might be 70% of your decision factors.

[CamaroX84]

Formula Indy.............................................. PAGE 138

http://www.mcscc.org/files/MC%202014...%203-15-14.pdf

Midwestern Council is a great group, in your area, with an excellent school, and they're in your area.

http://www.mcscc.org/



Agreed, if you want to learn road racing and 'proper' formula cars, buy a Club Formula Ford, and start with Midwestern Council.

Come up to road america again this weekend, see Midwestern Council races there this weekend, volunteer to work, and they'll feed and beer you also.......

stop by any of the formula car guys, and they'll share what they know.

http://www.myautoevents.com/pls/mae/...event_id=14609

I'd love to go up to Road America this weekend but unfortunately I'll be out of town. Sounds like a great time though.

[CamaroX84]

if the 905 page GCR isn't where you had hoped to start, you can find a lot of similar threads with questions such as yours right here on apexspeed. play with the search features of this site. going to races is still the best way I think to learn about all the various classes and cars.

things to consider (not all inclusive): car cost to buy, car cost to run, local opportunities to race or get track time against others, skill level required for that car (both driving and maintaining), shop support (if you need it), etc.

really the very first question you need to answer is whether you want to go racing (against a good field of cars) or if you just want to go fast on a track and don't care about competing. racing on low budget is only possible in classes with lots of cars because at least some others in the field will be on similar budget. This is what makes non-winged classes so popular. don't discount SRF either - not open wheel but still open cockpit - I think an outstanding choice if RACING is your goal.
Heck I'd even go so far as to say SRF is the BEST choice for plain ol' wheel to wheel racing action on a relatively easy budget. Car counts are great and racing is close action - drafting, bump drafting, fender to fender, etc. Of course where there are more cars, there are more wrecks often..

look at SCCA registration data for your region to see who/what shows up when/where. If racing is your goal, that data just might be 70% of your decision factors.

Thanks.

If there is one thing I've learned thus far it's that there is a ton of research I still need to do just to get started. I'm definitely interested in racing, not just going fast on a track.

[racerdad2]

I've got a 90 CFC Reynard. Easy to drive. Fairly cheap to buy. A good place to start for around $10k. EZ to set up. Maintain. Get quick in an FC & then move up ? GLC Series has good car counts for open wheel these days. Of course, not like SRF or SM