Originally Posted by
cjsmith
Just a thought on getting into road racing at your budget. I’m going with the assumption you don’t have much experience in the class or with the cars yet ( I mean no disrespect) . It would help your learning curve to spend some time with someone who already has a car to learn how to service the cars and what needs to be maintained at what intervals. In looking for a car there are a few things to inspect or know the status of the following. How old is the fuel cell, if it is older that 7-8 years there is a chance it will need to be replaced, $800 -$1500. Does it have a transponder, if not you are looking at $300 to $600. fire extinguishing system,(it may have one but is the bottle charged) $350 -$500 belts, $150-$500. Spare rims and rain tires, $1000, (New rims and new tire set). With the 2 stroke cars, the clutches do wear out, you can have them services or replaced,( best guess is $500 to $1200). I’m sure others can refine my estimates if I’m off. If the ones on the car are worn out it will impact your track performance. You may have more into those components on a cheap car that what you spent on it. You may have a better racing experience getting 1 car first that comes with a good package and sharing it until a deal for a second car comes up. If you are new to the cars and servicing 2 cars at the track at once can be a challenging job until you get to know your car.
There are a few different car manufactures that have different seating positions, some have seats or back rest’s that keep the driver more up right, some are more of a reclined position. If possible try to sit in some of the different cars to see if you like the seating position. For you, the next race where there would be a number of cars to see is probably be the Majors at Atlanta, or the race at VIR in April.