Is a C-Mod FF right for me?

[captain_pants]

This is my first post here after reading for some time now. I'm looking up change out of my STR Honda S2000 (8-ish years of ownership) and considering a lot of different directions from something in Street class to CM cars, some questions:

1. Is there one FF model/year that is a clear choice for CM competition in SCCA Solo II? I've read that there are a number of cars out there that are competitive, and to get the one that fits you the best. But, is there one brand that's a favorite? For reliability, ability to be tuned, parts availability, etc?

Looking at the CM results from 2008-2015, I've attached the breakdown of placings by the various makes and years of cars. The horizontal axis is the finishing place, the vertical axis is the number of times that car has finished in that position from 2008-2015. Example: No Van Diemens took first, but 4 Swifts took first in that time. I fear there is some self-selection within that data set as the results had less variety than I was expecting. Maybe some chassis have proven to be quicker/easier to adjust?

2. How do the cars handle bumpy autocross tracks? Our lot is an old runway that was deemed too bumpy for small planes to land on. Here's a recent video of me in my STR-prepped S2000 on that lot: http://youtu.be/7hrRt6xJGPc

Can a FF handle bumps like this regularly? I don't want to buy a car only to find out that they bottom out over 1" bumps or can't take that much load. I suspect that FIA curbing on a road course is way worse than anything I can throw at it in autocross, but I haven't seen anything specifically addressing that.

[captain_pants]

About me: Closed-wheel driver up until now. Have autocrossed FWD, AWD, RWD, but prefer RWD feel. Have done 3 seasons of ice racing, a couple years of Solo 1/Time Trials. Done some testing with local university's FSAE car. Top place at SCCA Nationals was 8th in a 60+ car field in my AS S2000 in 2008. I instruct 3 or 4 local schools a year. I autocross as a hobby, but I'm very passionate about the sport. No delusions of grandeur here - winning another trophy at SCCA Nationals is a long-term desire, but mostly I race for the rush, the fun of piloting a car through a course with just the right amount of slip angle, and pushing myself through competition to beat (or not...) my buddies.

I've been trying to find my next car after my S2000, but am stalled. I like the idea of having a competitive/proven/reliable car, but in Street that requires regular upgrades to stay in the 'hot' car, which costs a lot of money. I'm not interested in the commitment to build an SP car. Then I thought about CM and the long-term competitiveness on a car made 30-ish years ago. That sounds pretty good! Plus removing all the inherent compromises of a street car sounds very nice.

A big concern is PAX-only racing as there are no other CM cars locally. I suspect that having any Mod car and a pulse will yield FTDs at local events, which I don't really care about - I'm striving for continuous driver improvement and either competing head-to-head or overall for PAX are the measures that interest me.

[Jim Garry]

CM is a great class. Go!

Reliability isn't a car issue, it's an owner issue. Take care of the car, do the proper maintenance, and it will be fine.

Most any CM car can be made competitive. There's a lot to be detailed here but that's another story.

Regarding pax issues, the advantage that street tire classes have is that their tires don't cycle out with the suddenness of slicks. So if you really want to do very well on pax, you'll need more tires per season than most of us are willing to pay for. Don't get me wrong, you can do well on pax, but if you want to contend for top pax, you'll need fairly newish tires.

My 0.02.

[Jim Garry]

That video showed a really harsh surface if the car had stock suspension. But softly sprung and with shocks valved correctly, a FF ought to be OK there as far as I can tell from the video. But it will be a bumpy ride. Make sure you do bolt checks between events.

[chrisw52]

Go for it.

I like the CM class because you are racing a spec race car. Once you get the car setup and catch up on the maintenance, then it can be a very cheap way to autocross.

I bought my Formula Ford after 7 years of ownership with a Lancer Evolution. I don't miss the costs of trying to stay competitive in Street Mod at all. My maintenance costs for last years racing was a total of about $1500, most of that was tires.

You might be the only CM competitor in your club for a while, but once people see the smile on your face after each run, you might get a few more people to join you.

[captain_pants]

I hear you on the tire issues. I chased fresh Hoosier A6s for multiple years. The new street tires (RE71R and Rival S) are pretty amazing to be as quick as they are without heat cycling out.

Most any CM car can be made competitive. There's a lot to be detailed here but that's another story.

This has me very interested! Is this a matter of development and testing various springs/alignments/etc.? Or relocating pickup points for geometry changes? I'm not very interested in modifying the chassis.

I have zero experience with carburetors and distributors, so that will add to the learning experience.

I like the CM class because you are racing a spec race car.

That's a big plus for me. Spec engine, achievable minimum weight, but you can still customize the little things that may annoy you.

I bought my Formula Ford after 7 years of ownership with a Lancer Evolution. I don't miss the costs of trying to stay competitive in Street Mod at all. My maintenance costs for last years racing was a total of about $1500, most of that was tires.

That's a step up from my S2000, where my net costs were closer to $500 Canadian last season. But, speed costs money, right? My car is well sorted, so the only consumables are gas, brakes, and tires.

You might be the only CM competitor in your club for a while, but once people see the smile on your face after each run, you might get a few more people to join you.

Haha, I can hope. A good co-driver is good for a kick in the pants to drive better!

Buy-in is large though. Need to buy a car, import it into Canada (plus taxes/duties), buy a truck, buy a trailer, etc. The used FFs (car only) I'm seeing on here are more expensive than a decent C5 Z06 Corvette for SS class. That's the part I'm struggling with but know that a C5 killer may arrive this year or next, negating any investment.

[Barry Ott]

I imagine everybody here will tell you CM is great, and I'm no different :-)

I was thinking of things that might make you think twice but, really, the best answer is to try one before you buy. If your travels bring you to Denver, CO, US, you're more then welcome to drive my car at a local event.

Is there a "right" car? I don't think so, Jim said it pretty well. Brandon ran the Dulon and won, then switched to Van Diemen and won. Ummm, he's pretty good, and he shows that it's not all the car :-) Also, back in 2012, the top two cars were the oldest and the newest in the field. If I had to recommend a car, you can't go wrong with a Swift DB1 because of their speed, abundance, and support.

As far as bumps..... It's hard to tell from the video just how "bad" your lot is but the bumps that I've experienced on concrete sites are usually at the seams of the big squares, and my car handles those pretty well. Better than the typical stiff street car. Like Jim said, a well tuned FF suspension will be fine. Depending on the dampers, you can easily soften the high speed bump damping to absorb the bumps. Also, ride height is usually pretty easy to adjust so it might be a matter of raising the car a little.

Best of Luck!
Barry Ott

[chrisw52]

here is an interesting car for ya...

http://www.apexspeed.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72673

[captain_pants]

Thanks to all for the replies so far!

Funny, I'd think the guys on the Corvette forums would suggest I should get a Corvette. I knew there'd be a bias, but feel this forum may be more impartial than the marque-specific ones.

That 88 VD did catch my eye, but so did the 84 VD, and the 85 yellow Citation with the proven autox results. I didn't realize the 88 VD was in Canada until now though. Interesting!

I should add that I'm 5'11", about 190 lbs, with shoulders that are about 19.5" wide from outside to outside. I don't know if that's considered wide or narrow or what in the formula world. 'Petite' is not a word that's ever been thrown at me.

Would I fit in an 84 or 88 Van Diemen?

Which cars had the single front spring/shock? I think I'd prefer 4 springs/shocks to keep my head from exploding while diagnosing handling changes.

[Jim Garry]

An 88 van dieman won in 1995 with Tommy Saunders driving. He was well over 6'. That model is better than the 84 version.

[Jim Garry]

There are Van Diemans scattered through the 90s that used monoshock. Most people find them difficult to set up. Some really hard working, smart road racers did go very fast in some of them. But for the constantly changing courses and site conditions of Solo combined with the inability to practice, it might be a good idea to stay away from them.

That yellow car was mine before Sho purchased it. That's a good car too. Although work on the suspensions of these cars is not necessary, I did do quite a bit to the rear and some to the front of the car. It helped it a good bit.

[pleavens]

Simple, it the Citation is in your budget range.. buy it. Sorted National level car... ready to race. If I hadn't just bought my 98 VanDiemen I'd have been all over that one.

Phil

[mwizard]

I have enjoyed my 90 Van Diemen for 4 yrs of autox. It has triple adj Penske shocks which I adjust the high speed comp accordingly for how rough the surface is. One or our sites has old and patched asphalt and it works well. One of my co drivers is over 6 ft tall and we just remove the rear pad that I use. People are quoting me that you will spend about $12K for a car, either all at once for a good one or over a short time to fix a cheap one. You will be ahead if you find one that has already been autoxed.
Mark

[captain_pants]

People are quoting me that you will spend about $12K for a car, either all at once for a good one or over a short time to fix a cheap one. You will be ahead if you find one that has already been autoxed.

Maybe it's the wrong time of year to be looking. There are no cars for $12k in any condition in the classifieds here!

I got spoiled with my Penske 8300s on the S2000 (once Ankeny revalved them); I think I'm going to want equivalent or better!

[Jim Garry]

That costs extra. You could buy a car now and drive it with the current shocks, then sell the shocks next winter and put the proceeds toward a new set.

[-pru-]

Maybe it's the wrong time of year to be looking. There are no cars for $12k in any condition in the classifieds here!

I got spoiled with my Penske 8300s on the S2000 (once Ankeny revalved them); I think I'm going to want equivalent or better!

Here you go : 1982 RF82 Vandieman for sale

This is a great deal which looks to need only gearing and alignment. That is, I would grab this car in a minute if I was just starting out. Learn the basics of CM with this car that can be sold back at roughly your initial investment while you seek out your "ideal" or "dream" car.

[TimH]

Here you go : 1982 RF82 Vandieman for sale

Yabbut. Hang onto the fire system and suchlike, because you just might want to take that one to the track.

[CM/FFdriver]

So CP,

Your first question, I didn't look very hard for the perfect car, first off it will drive you crazy looking for "THAT" car and until you get "your" set up in your car to the way you like to drive, it will be hard to go out and test drive a bunch of CM cars FMPOV. What I mean is I drove Marks 90 VD at Oakland very bumpy site and did very well, Drove Chris's 91 Swift a Crow's landing with very nice grippy concrete but with tires on the way out, had a lot of fun. Every car will be different, so find/see a car that you may really like the looks of and then work your way down the list .02

I don't think there's a right or wrong answer about what car you will buy, you will have fun driving it no matter what! right now I'm up to 6 sec faster then my old XR4ti on a 40 sec course, how fun is that.!

Ben

[JGB]

A big concern is PAX-only racing as there are no other CM cars locally. I suspect that having any Mod car and a pulse will yield FTDs at local events, which I don't really care about - I'm striving for continuous driver improvement and either competing head-to-head or overall for PAX are the measures that interest me.

PAXing well in any mod class car is very tough. I have a friend with a bmod Caterham who set FTD at one event by 1.5 secs to the nearest next time and pax'd 24th. I ran my vintage FF in one event for 10th FTD and 34th pax. The guy who got 33rd pax was 8 seconds slower on raw time. For mod class cars pax sucks. These are on fairly tight 60 second layouts.

Jim

[CM/FFdriver]

The one bit of advice that I didn't listen to was, You can buy a car at 6000 and then more then likely put another 6000 into it or you can buy 12,000 car and put very little into it. From Mark Mervich.

But I will say that I know a the in's and out's of my car now then believing that everything is/was done to the car I bought.

Ben

[mwizard]

PAXing well in any mod class car is very tough. I have a friend with a bmod Caterham who set FTD at one event by 1.5 secs to the nearest next time and pax'd 24th. I ran my vintage FF in one event for 10th FTD and 34th pax. The guy who got 33rd pax was 8 seconds slower on raw time. For mod class cars pax sucks. These are on fairly tight 60 second layouts.

Jim

Yes, PAX for FF's not so good. I play for TTOD
Mark

[captain_pants]

I'm doing a long and slow look right now. I have a codrive lined up for this race season in a CS Scion FRS, so I'm in no rush. Is there typically a bunch of cars for sale in September?

PAX FTD - To paraphrase/mangle a JFK quote: "I choose to race a F.Ford in CM, not because it is easy, but because it is hard." Yeah, I understand that PAX wins will be hard. CM does ok at Nationals, so it's possible. Locally, top PAX is a goal to work towards, though I'm around 0.5 seconds off with my STR car. I'm getting closer with some good coaching and lots of self-critique.

A pet peeve of mine is drivers that complain bitterly about how PAX sucks, and then you put a top driver in their car and they destroy the owner's previous time. Sorry, it might not be PAX that sucks in that case! This is not refering to anyone on ApexSpeed, of course! I've been led to believe that everyone here is awesome, good looking, and generally swell people.

You guys are giving me lots to think about! Thanks!

[JGB]

A pet peeve of mine is drivers that complain bitterly about how PAX sucks, and then you put a top driver in their car and they destroy the owner's previous time. Sorry, it might not be PAX that sucks in that case! This is not refering to anyone on ApexSpeed, of course! I've been led to believe that everyone here is awesome, good looking, and generally swell people.

You guys are giving me lots to think about! Thanks!

Ohh I definitely suck...been slow in several fast cars.
At my first autocross 5 years ago I show up in 911 /993 thinking I'm hot stuff. By the end of the day I going "please let me beat the 80s something little old lady in her '70s Etype..."

I checked some times for the club in Vancouver where they run on a 10 acre pad with what looks like nice fast layouts. A couple of the top guys are co-driving a Swift db-1 and fighting for TTOD and PAX wins so it can be done. Here in Victoria we run on a small oval and it's infield so things are very tight. Your STR S2000 hits the sweet spot PAX wise.

The '82 Van Diemen listed here is being sold by a fellow who has listed a '88 as well.
http://www.sccbc.net/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1456865635


I've no dealings with him but he is involved with a Porsche shop in Kelowna
http://900werks.ca/

[PDM075]

Hey Cory....long time no see/speak.


As for your thought process - I think you are on the right track. After dabbling in my SM turbo 240SX's for close to a decade, it was a constant never ending battle of tires, power, and mods to make the car faster, grip harder, and huge running expense PER run that got me pretty jaded. (we worked it out to over $50/run in my Battle Coupe.

I took a year off from real serious bizness auto-x to campaign a regionally competitive STS CRX here in town and in WA State and had a blast re-learning FWD and running within a spec-series Street Tire Classed car where setup, driver skill was more important than just building a bigger carbon wing and adding the lastest ball bearing turbo to make 50 more hp...

Finally got into C Mod last year (while not seriously) but finally made the brain fart to get into one of the only Spec Class Mod classes (other than FMod) which will really allow you to race in an early to mid 80's chassis and still not be at a huge disadvantage to the high dollar, aero Honda powered "newish" cars that are almost a necessity to road race with. Going back at US Nationals you don't need a new chassis and Honda power to do well with a good chassis, well prepped car and good driver. Learning the car, being able to diagnose and test and setup (something I have not had time to do yet) you will quickly realize it's just a good handling momentum sedan with more grip. Power is meh....not mind blowing. Braking is nice....again not mind blowing. It's just pure physics of the car being 1100ish pounds with driver on slicks with 110 hp that makes the nimble and quick.

Working on them is dead nuts simple...... - don't get much easier than a Ford as everything is easy to access compared to any sedan. Carb....smarbs....super easy to diagnose and figure out with a bit of book reading and pull apart to look at. Worst case....wears out, you just buy a new one from Pegasus. Shocks are standard and you know the valving/rebuild drill .... (remember you are not putting thousands of miles on them like a street car ... and the car weighs squat - so they don't wear out nearly as fast as your street set.) Tires....yes, likely the most expensive part of the car being that you need 2 sets per year if you are going to be serious..... - but it all depends on where you want to race. Want to run local, you can find 2nd hands for cheap and or run American Racers. You don't physically wear out Ford tires....you heat cycle them. So ultimately we find you can run a co driver and 2 females in a car at an event to split the operating costs and still get the same tire "competitive life". Gas is squat....and you can even run premium unleaded. (our local road race series uses 94 Chevron as a gentleman's agreement with American Racers that last 4, 90 minute weekends)

As for bumps..... as long as the Ford has decent shocks (Koni's , Penske's etc.) I guarantee you WON'T feel the bumps that you do in your S2000. Packwood National Tour you could see all the SSM Miatas, and SM 240's, and other production based cars with off the shelf, single or even double adjustable shocks hit the last right hander corner with a dip in it.... and see them struggling. Only the big dollar cars with double or triple adjustable custom valved shocks were able to soak up that bump and get through without issues. The Fords ?..... all flew through that corner without hiccups and complaints.

I barely feel the bumps and jumps in my Van Diemen compared to my STS CRX or worse my SM 240....which greatly affect how I hit certain corners especially under turn in or braking. The Ford ?..........WHAT BUMP ???? LOL



don

ps...You know our dollar sucks....but remember you will NOT lose money on a Formula Ford compared to any door slammer. They are only appreciating in value.

ps2. I have Gord's old Gulf Crossle now too....

[captain_pants]

Ohh I definitely suck...been slow in several fast cars.
At my first autocross 5 years ago I show up in 911 /993 thinking I'm hot stuff. By the end of the day I going "please let me beat the 80s something little old lady in her '70s Etype..."

Oh man, the first autocross... How ego-crushing that was. My first one, I was dead last. By my third, I finished 2nd last! So awesome! Haha!

Here in Victoria we run on a small oval and it's infield so things are very tight. Your STR S2000 hits the sweet spot PAX wise.

I'm assuming Victoria, BC? If so, say hi to Gord Z. in the BSP S2000 for me! We used to race lots when he lived in Winnipeg. He was my target; the one I hoped to someday keep up with. Seriously cool and nice guy! My S2000 was the wrong model year (2001) for ECU tuning, so I'm giving up somewhere between 20 and 40hp in the midrange to the 2006+ cars. That's depressing.

Finally got into C Mod last year (while not seriously) but finally made the brain fart to get into one of the only Spec Class Mod classes (other than FMod) which will really allow you to race in an early to mid 80's chassis and still not be at a huge disadvantage to the high dollar, aero Honda powered "newish" cars that are almost a necessity to road race with. Going back at US Nationals you don't need a new chassis and Honda power to do well with a good chassis, well prepped car and good driver. Learning the car, being able to diagnose and test and setup (something I have not had time to do yet) you will quickly realize it's just a good handling momentum sedan with more grip. Power is meh....not mind blowing. Braking is nice....again not mind blowing. It's just pure physics of the car being 1100ish pounds with driver on slicks with 110 hp that makes the nimble and quick.

Hey Don, we haven't crossed paths since Cdn Nationals in Red Deer, something like 10 years ago! Thanks for the insight and feedback. I've had lots of fun driving high-hp cars over the years, but realized that the costs go through the roof quickly. As much fun as a C7 Z06 is at autocross, it's out of reach for the foreseeable future. Plus I found that I lost the focus on hustling the car into and through the corners as I was thinking more about corner exit. Momentum cars are fun, especially when they have enough power to slither the rear tires around, and the videos I've found suggest this is the case.

As for bumps..... as long as the Ford has decent shocks (Koni's , Penske's etc.) I guarantee you WON'T feel the bumps that you do in your S2000. Packwood National Tour you could see all the SSM Miatas, and SM 240's, and other production based cars with off the shelf, single or even double adjustable shocks hit the last right hander corner with a dip in it.... and see them struggling. Only the big dollar cars with double or triple adjustable custom valved shocks were able to soak up that bump and get through without issues. The Fords ?..... all flew through that corner without hiccups and complaints.

That's reassuring! It makes sense - fewer compromises exist in a formula car's suspension geometry (you don't need trunk space and etc.) so the suspension just works better. If/when I get a car, it sounds like it might be a good idea to run without the nose cone while I'm figuring out a ride height to prevent cracking the nose.

I got away from Hoosiers a few years ago, spending $20/run on tires alone, and that was really stretching out the last few events. I admit I'm a little hesitant to return to the purple crack-pipe, but at least I won't be cording the outer shoulder in 40 runs in Stock class...

I can say that all the responses here are really encouraging me that CM is a direction that's reasonable, if not right, for me. I'm also thinking that looking for a car with high-end shocks off the start is a good idea, as some fancy double- or triple-adjustables are 1/4 to 1/3rd the purchase price of a car!

[captain_pants]

Next step: Get in one of these machines! Anyone going to Spring Nats that's open to a co-drive? http://www.apexspeed.com/forums/show...108#post503108

[chrisw52]

Next step: Get in one of these machines! Anyone going to Spring Nats that's open to a co-drive? http://www.apexspeed.com/forums/show...108#post503108

Here is an event for ya...

http://www.apexspeed.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72907

[na94]

Hi Cory! It's about time.

Like Don said, these cars can handle bumps well. I actually run mine very low in the front with packers to help with bottoming on rough lots. Seems to be working fine.

-Mike

[TedV]

The stiff chassis "tweener" cars seem to be the best bang for the buck.

I have a club ford chassis from the end of the fifth spring era. The chassis is the 5th spring. What that means is when you are on hard compound tires, or old R25 compound tires it handles, drifts, and is one of the most beautiful experiences of driving you will ever have. I love how balanced and predictable it is. But it's not fast to be really competitive on hard tires. On fresh, sticky R25's there is an unforgiving unpredictable razors edge that makes you think Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. I've heard other club ford era cars described this way. Sybil anyone??

The solution is to stiffen the chassis and re-engineer the suspension to work better. The rules only dictate you must have a build plate from the major FF chassis builders. You can modify a car to work better as long as it meets the FF road race rules. For example, the low speed push can be worked out of a DB1. Anyone ever notice there are 2 serial no. 001 Db1's floating around? The re-engineered chassis works better overall than the original.

Any FF will be fun to drive. Chassis with a MK9 trans have more options for 1st gear but the later model trans can be made to work. Later model chassis are more stiff and work the tires better.

If you want to be competitive, spend the cash for one winning nationals.

About bumps, place some jabroc skid plates under it at the contact points, dial out any bump steer and drive the heck out of it. The only thing with as much fun for less money is a shifter kart and you better be more physically fit with awesome safety gear. Bumps are WAY more noticeable on a kart.

[captain_pants]

How do you define the 'tweener' cars? I get the basics - a 1970 car is more flexible than a 1990 car, but don't know if there's a hard line somewhere in the years.

Thanks as always! I'm reading everything I can find and watching the classifieds daily.

[-pru-]

How do you define the 'tweener' cars? I get the basics - a 1970 car is more flexible than a 1990 car, but don't know if there's a hard line somewhere in the years.

Quote from the Nov/2010 SCCAForums "Moving to C Mod an Introduction" post authored by Peter Calhoun summarizing "orphan" or "tweener" FF...

The Solo Rulebook lists approved manufacturers for participation in CM. This list was compiled over 17 years ago with a reorganization of the mod classes, but could use some slight updating w/ a letter to the SEB & MAC starting the process. The list, however, will cover 95% of the cars you will see on the open market, which was its original intent. No single make or model has proven dominant at the National level. In general what we are looking for are the "orphan" cars. Those cars too new for club ford (w/ outboard suspension), not competitive in national road racing, or those cars which were deemed uncompetitive by the introduction of the Swift DB1 back in 1983. Formula Ford was huge in SCCA Club Racing throughout the 1970's & 80's and cars are in all corners of the country. The newer pushrod cars from the early 90s on w/ Hewland LD 200 gearboxes do not have the same selection of gears available w/out possibly spending big money on a ring & pinon (CWP) swap and also have longer wheelbases, often over 100+" compared to 96" common in the mid-80s.

Take care,

[-pru-]

Listing of "orphan" or "tweener" FF from same article

For the more popular FF here are some popular and competitive choices w/ 1983 being a good barometer, as this was the year front & rear in-board suspension cars really took the market by storm:

~ Crossle 55+ (used to build all the cars for Skip Barber prior to Mondiale, 30 series are popular Club Fords)

~ Lola 640-644 (Michael Andretti ran factory backed cars in US, Charlie Matthews has successfully autocrossed 644 in CenDiv)

~ Reynard FF82+ (These cars put Adrian Reynard on the map, great parts availability, large cockpits, driver friendly)

~ Van Dieman RF85+ (85 was a Swift copy, which evolved from there, can be tight fit for larger drivers)

~ Swift DB1 (most expensive on list, but also most plentiful, can be tight in shoulders for larger drivers)

~ Citation 85+ (beautiful cars built in IN w/ support still available from ICP. Peter Raymond/Josh Sirota/Jim Garry car has been very successful)

and many more choices available...

Take care,

[captain_pants]

Thanks for pointing that out Pru. I read that a while ago that I forgot the details. I need to pour over that again!

[captain_pants]

Well, that didn't take long. Looks like I'll be picking up my new (to me) Citation in about a month.

Who buys a car without even sitting in one, let alone driving one? Apparently me. Haha!

[Jim Garry]

You got a good car. Be good to it.

[-pru-]

Welcome to CM! The Sho Torii / Jim Garry / Josh Sirota / Peter Raymond 85 Citation is a great car...

[CM/FFdriver]

Well, that didn't take long. Looks like I'll be picking up my new (to me) Citation in about a month.

Who buys a car without even sitting in one, let alone driving one? Apparently me. Haha!

Ha,

I did the same thing, it was 3 weeks before I got it, the most Nerve-wracking 3 weeks I've ever had. It took me about 3 days to figure out how to get in and out and then my first events I drove the 84 VD I was so nervous that when I first hit the brakes at speed and the nose hit the ground, so with a big smile on my face I said "the Brakes work".

I've had my car for a year and can't wait for the next event!!!!

Ben

[chrisw52]

Well, that didn't take long. Looks like I'll be picking up my new (to me) Citation in about a month.

Who buys a car without even sitting in one, let alone driving one? Apparently me. Haha!

Ha! you are a little late to that party. I did the same with my swift.

Congratulations on the new car.

[captain_pants]

Thanks guys! I figured I could fumble around trying to improve a cheaper car, or just get something proven. Now, I need to buy a truck and build a bigger garage. The REAL expense of this deal!

I'm very excited about racing a 'spec' car that still allows tinkering/improvements.

Anyone looking for a Honda S2000 prepped for STR? I'll miss it - right up until I do a lap in the yellow beast.

[Barry Ott]

Corey, you made a great choice, congratulations!

Here's a little free advice, it's worth every penny :-)

First off, some folks get intimidated about driving a race car. Yeah, it's a blast, but it's just a car, you'll be fine, don't over think it. David and I have a saying, "It's just a car, shut up an drive".

Adjust it to fit you! All the controls have adjustments, steering wheel position, pedals, shifter. Make sure you're comfortable and can work all the controls easily.

Adjust it, part two. Make a seat! None of the above adjustments matter if you're moving around in the cockpit. Make a custom seat that holds you perfectly. There's a few choices, two-part foam, Bead seat, EIS Foam, All are fine. Make it removable, a co-driver won't fit in your seat.

Shifting. Again, don't over think it, you can shift like you've been doing in your s2k but there is a better way. Here's the Hewland advice:

http://www.hewland.com/svga/advice.html

Tires. Old tires can suck. They'll work, they'll never cord, but they can be tricky. I had an old set of tires on for a Test-and-tune. I let them warm in the sun, but I didn't get them consistently warm, the car was awful to drive. Snappy, unpredictable, ugly. Fresh tires for the next day's event made the car sooooo much more driveable. I'd strongly encourage you to put a new (or nearly new) set on when you drive it for the first time, so you get a good first impression.

Ask questions. We're all glad to help, use us!

Best of luck!
Barry