Looking to start racing in 2017
Hi everyone looking to get into SCCA racing this year and purchasing a used car to race in the Illinois and Wisconsin area this yea. I am thinking about starting with a formula f500 due to initial cost and maintenance schedule seem the best bang for the buck but any feedback would be appreciate. I don't come from a karting background and I would like to get the SCCA novice license. Any feedback and advice would be greatly appreciated.
do yourself a favor........buy a real race car instead of a snowmobile on four wheels
Hopefully your thread won't turn into an argument based on the above unhelpful reply. Generally the advice is to attend as many local SCCA races as you can to get an idea of class sizes. My bias would be towards a Club Formula Ford which would allow you to run vintage events with other organizations as well. Formula Vee is also a well proven first step on the ladder.
I love the Club Ford idea. And in Chicago, the Midwestern Council is a GREAT place to start.
Feel free to email or call to discuss.
And while you are at it, buy this car. Seriously.
http://www.apexspeed.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75358
JoeTovo@Gmail.com
630-890-8113
This is the best advice. Also, talk to the racers you meet, ask to sit in their cars.Originally Posted by SEComposites
Look for similar sized drivers
Agree with that. If you're determined to go F500 you should BE SURE to learn all you can about how to tune the F500 clutch that's the whole name of the game in that class.
CREW for Jeff 89 Reynard or Flag & Comm.
X2 on that advise! MC has a ton to offer locally with very/much more friendly people to help you into the sport. Hang out at the track (free with MC) and learn about CFF (low cost and extremely competitive class in MC), or better yet work 1/2 days at the track and spend the other half helping/learning with open wheel crews. That way you learn a ton every weekend. Most of our events are at Blackhawk.
Obtaining a license is rather cheap and you can rent a local car for the driving part (coming up soon so sign up now) so no huge up front cost. Heck spend some time at my trailer and help me into the world of open wheel. This will be my first season as well. But my 14th year with MC.
Good luck. I love to help anyone drive left and right!!!
Is there a FUTURE?
You may have your heart set on this class. Please be sure that particular class will be around in the future. It may not be ! Which is one reason they're so cheap.
Think very carefully about the 2 stroke VS the four stroke in F5.
The 2 stroke is more difficult to keep running and more important the real tuning is with the clutch and that is a science or more like a black art.
On the other hand the motorcycle based F5 has a long engine life, and the fuel injection is very dependable.
What you want for a first race car is affordability and reliability so you can spend your time driving and less wrenching.
I'm not in favor of the Club Ford because the engine cost will be higher than the F5, on the other hand (there is always an “other hand") the suspension is more transferable to other race cars and you will learn about set up and adjustment. Club Ford may also have a spec tire which saves a lot of $'s.
Some consideration should be given to resale unless you plan on spending your career in that class. Race cars are not a good investment and you always need to be prepared to walk away from a 110% loss, the extra 10% being what you have to pay to get rid of the wreck.
Are you primarily interested in formula cars?
David
I run a motorcycle powered F500 with midwestern council so feel free to stop by any race and Ill talk your head off about the car and racing in general. There is also a 2 stroke F500 who runs with us who is a nice guy and could tell you all about it.
But, most importantly, come out to any races and see whats to offer and what you like. Even though this is an open wheel blog and people dont like to hear it i would say its still worth looking at closed wheel cars too for a complete beginner. Bring out the pitchforks.
Spend a few long evenings reading all the old threads in the getting started section of Apexspeed.
A wealth of information for free.
Be sure to check the F500.us forum for F500 related information. A modern rotax 2 stroke is pretty easy to keep running. Clutching is not magic and there is plenty of support for setting them up.
The biggest expense will end up being the week end, getting into first a car will be the easy part, maintaining it if you wrench yourself and funding the weekend will be significant investment depending on how much you want to run. Make sure you find out from others what their weekend cost are. I can run a local weekend with SCCA in my F500 for about 700.00, with no hotel. Goes up to about 1000.00 with any travel and tow. A F500 is easy to tow.
Thank you everyone for your advice. I wasn't aware that Formula f500 was a dying class. Is it moving more towards the 600cc MC engines? I wasn't aware of Midwest Council but, looking at this group it might be a better fit as they are more active. Those of you driving F500 how many cars are typically racing with you? How big of a project is it to convert a f500 to a f600? Do you just chop the back end on create a new bracket and weld it on? Thanks again for candid feedback. I would be interested in FF but their maintenance and initial cost seem significantly higher. Any advice is appreciated. I will try to go and visit a Midwest Council event. I have not yet walked around a FV, F500, FF or CF. Pretty new to this world but, I am familiar with engines as I was a mechanic for a few years and I do have a sports bike.
There is a lot of mis-information out there about F500. The class is definitely not dying. Although all open-wheel classes were way down at the Runoffs last year, F500 and FF were tied for 2nd in number of entries (only FV had more). The motorcycle drivetrains were originally promoted as a more reliable option, but they haven't proven to be any more reliable than the 2-stroke/CVT, so that is a matter of personal preference. SCCA club racers in general are great helpful people, but in my 20+ years racing F500, I've gotten to know people from all over the USA that I would put up against any other class. My opinion is deservedly biased, so I am not dissing any other classes.
The best news is that you are in the most popular area of the country for F500. We anticipate 15-20 cars this year at the June Sprints. Definitely make that race part of your research this year.
Those of us that run F500 just laugh along with the "lawnmower" and "not real race car" comments, as we run fast FF/slow FC/slow P2 times for 1/4 to 1/8 the cost.
As others have mentioned, f500.us is a great resource for 2-stroke F500 info.
Cory
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