Help with a few questions!!!

[MattMachiko]

Hey Everyone. My dad and I currently race a West DSR but as you all know the cost keeps climbing right out of our budget. We are strongly considering FE. I was wondering a few things:

1) How often do you need engine rebuilds?
2) Are the engines sealed and by who? Cost?
3) What are the gear options? Open or only a select few gear choices?
4) What are the shock/spring choices like?
5) What all can you change/adjust for setup?
6) Have you seen this class become like the old FM where guys are choosing to take an unfair advantage of the rules?
7) I saw that in 2008 there was a 5 race series just for FE... Did that happen this past season or not? If not, why was that?

If you have any other information that may help me make my decision, please feel free to let me know.

Thanks!

[mazda17]

1. I have run 10 races and the engine is still strong, I would say 30-60 races
2. engines are done by enterprises and cost 7k
3. only 5 specific gears, 0 options
4. all spec, 0 options
5. ride height, rebound, castor, camber, front bar, pre-load
6. I don't think there is any cheating going on
7. not positive, but I think it was a regional race within a race deal
I would say the car is fairly economical to run and easy to set up. The car has a mechanical push no matter what you do, but a softer cockpit front bar is coming out for 2010 which should fix that.

[iamuwere]

Don't forget tires are a pretty good deal in this class as well.

[MattMachiko]

How many weekend out of a set of tires to still be up front?

[mazda17]

It depends on how good the competition is at that race. I would say the tires are good for 3-6 sessions, but it depends on how hard you drive. The tires are spec and you must start the race on a marked set of qualifying tires. One could use a set of tires for 1 qualifying session and a race and still have a decent set of tires for another qualifying session and a race. For the second qualifying sessions you could run old tires.

[Jeff Read]

I think that you can get more than 3-6 heat cycles out of tires. Out west we run them for 8 heat cycles before they see significant drop off. But of course your set up can significantly decrease your tires usefull life span.

Also the cars are very sensitive to rake.

The shocks are single adjustable Penske. So there is very minimal shock adjustment.

The motors are basically stock so you are not getting a rebuilt motor rather a new one that they put your pan on. They are good for 3-5 seasons. Ant the cost is less than 6k. Unless you need a new intake manifold and oil pump. Then the price is over 7k.

[MattMachiko]

Thanks for all of you help and input everyone. I'll let you know how my FE search goes.

[iamuwere]

Matt, I am in Cleveland if you want to come look/try on a car.

jim

[MattMachiko]

Jim,

Thanks so much for the generous offer. I will definitely keep that in mind as the winter moves closer to race season.

Matt

[JAY Motorsports]

Matt,

The FE series you are referring to is the Formula Car Magazine Series. That magazine is no longer in print, so that is why there wasn't a series this year.

I am in Charleston, WV, and you are also more than welcome to stop by our shop and check out the FE cars.

If you have any other questions feel free to give me a call.

Jay Green
JAY Motorsports
SCCA Enterprises Authorized Customer Service Rep.
2008 Great Lakes FE Champions
2008 Great Lakes/CENDiv Formula Car Magazine Series Champions
2009 FE National Champions
www.jaymotorsports.com
304-610-5663

[Darryl Wills]

I don't mean to hijack this thread but what do you mean by unfair advantage of the rules in the FM class? We finished 3rd at the Runoffs and posted 2nd quick time with a car that is 100% legal. I did not see or hear of ANYONE that was running illegal and not one car was declared illegal after an extensive tear down in tech. For the money, FMs(@20K with spares) are the best buy in motorsports today. Your area has a great series with very competitive and fun drivers to race with. Lap times are on par with cars costing 2 to 6 times of our car and are almost untouchable in the rain.

[smcqueen]

Darryl,

- you do mean to hi-jack the thread
- no one is accusing you of taking "unfair advantage of the rules"
- it's highly unlikely anyone would bring an illegal setup to the runoffs
- FM's definitely cost less
- We don't run the same rain tires you do

luv ya man,

hope to see you in a couple of weeks.

(you know i can't help responding any more than you could)

scott

[MattMachiko]

Thanks to JAY motorsports for the curteous offer. If I make it down that way, I will definitely give you a call. Congratulations on a quite successful season. I keep pretty close watch on your team as I see a very professional operation from you.

Thanks again.

[MattMachiko]

I don't mean to hijack this thread but what do you mean by unfair advantage of the rules in the FM class? We finished 3rd at the Runoffs and posted 2nd quick time with a car that is 100% legal. I did not see or hear of ANYONE that was running illegal and not one car was declared illegal after an extensive tear down in tech. For the money, FMs(@20K with spares) are the best buy in motorsports today. Your area has a great series with very competitive and fun drivers to race with. Lap times are on par with cars costing 2 to 6 times of our car and are almost untouchable in the rain.

I am only going to say one comment because this is an FE thread not FM. We ran Formula Mazda for about 5 years, 3 at the runoffs. I personally never drove at that point because I was too young. My dad did however. I'm not sure when you started FM but it is much different now I'm sure since it's no longer a pro class. The top 6-10 guys would change engines the night before the race...huh wonder why? Lightened rotors!!! Then if you had been at tech during the runoffs, you would know multiple people had been DQ'd for everything from taking out or using illegal carb chokes to having a locking differential so both wheels propelled the car. AND, why on raceday would the top ten guys be exactly a second slower than in qualy every year? Engine change the night before maybe? Didn't mean to speak down on FM, we really like the car and class until the cheating began to get out of control. Sorry, but its just fact that FM guys were cheating; maybe its different now.