Guys I know this has little to do with bike racing but with the various backgrounds of folks here I thought this would be a good place to ask this question. I am going to keep racing bikes but I think iI want to get into some four wheeled racing. I don't have the money to race fast cars. I think most of us that ride bikes would find 150 HP sports cars boring so I am looking at a way to go kinda fast on four wheels. I have narrowed it down to two things. Either build a kinda fast track day car like a 500 hp lightened mustang (this is way cheaper than a real class legal car) or go the lay down enduro Kart route. The enduro karts run real race courses like Mid Ohio and Daytona and the faster stuff like B stock class (twin engine) hits 160 on the straights. So what do you guys think.
Find a 24 hours of Lemons team that needs a driver so that you understand the dynamics and costs. Its about $3,000 to run a Lemons weekend (that's all team members food, passes, tires, gear rental if needed, etc) on a budget. That doesn't include the "$500 car" that costs about $5,000 to build after you safety it out. But you don't need a formal race license just a state driver's license. Or go to an autocross event and check out what's running there. You can probably get a ride-along just to see what the fuss is all about.
I had a 944 spec racer, that thing was boring as shit. I’ve made no secret of my abilities here- I’m a mid packer on bikes, and I’ll tell you that at my second track day, I matched the instructors winning time from the 944 spec race. Sold the car that week. that being said, this was before lemons and champ car made the entry / licensing process WAY easier. The PCA and SCCA stuff is a ball buster. My friend is building a spec E30 BMW for champ car, they basically run enduros so lots of seat time. I’d recommend renting a seat for a race and see how you like the environment and competition. That’s my plan, too. Champ car has some pretty good forums, lots of info on there. I’m actually building an iracing setup too, but that’s mostly to work on my vision / eye movement for bike racing, on the same tracks.
Shifter karts (CR-125) are a lot of fun for anyone with reasonable mechanical skills. Set up can make you scratch your head, but it is a learning type of fun. Most regions have Track days/Race Orgs that you can run the long tracks, and/or race. Just like most things you can go have fun with friends and spend a little, or work at running at the front, and spend a lot. I know a guy that put a CR-250 in a used sprint chassis ... Any Kart is a lot of fun, for not a lot of money. Check out RapidRacing in Indy.
I drove sprint unlimited dirt oval karts a long time ago. Had a shifter cart also. It was fun. Cars? drag cars, autocross stuff. I don't expect to tear up the world in cars but racing bikes I think gives us an in.
You're probably right . I figure anyone who has went down the long straight at Road Atlanta on a bike with the elevation changes and a turn right after the bridge where you come off the ground can probably handle a car. Doing it on a two stroke just adds to the experience. And I know I'm slower than most here. But it is fun sliding around on four wheels.
I consider myself very lucky to have experienced Gravity Cavity before it was taken out. It was scary enough on a small displacement vintage bike (RZ350).
Gotcha you seemed to be skipping shifter karts etc so I was curious if you had experience in them Honestly with experience and those options if got with the mustang, way more options for trackdays and racing vs the Enduro kart
Find a local short track and give that a go. Things happen a lot faster and it is a blast, slow cars on big tracks are boring to me.
I've never been to a car track day and probably will not soon considering current conditions. Does much fast stuff show up for the street car groups?
If they race Min Sprints in your area they are a lot of fun, at some tracks they go as fast as the full outlaw sprint cars. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mini_sprint They are a rush for sure, but be prepared to be humbled they are not that easy to drive. Also they can be raced on a budget which is similar to a motorcycle.
Oh yes... Some really impressive stuff was at the one I did at Gingerman. I've done the back stretch at Road Atlanta, Mid Ohio, and others. I've been in kart sprint leagues, kart enduros, you name it. Same with XC stuff and dirt bikes. Its all what you make of it, and what your expectations are. 4 wheels can be a lot of fun in the right setting. I say go for it
There was a Dodge there, but it was a purpose built track car, and was by far the fastest thing there that weekend. And plenty of exotics across all 3 classes.
Really! Thanks for the info. Sounds like I need to go look at a track day when they start back up. If I built a car, I would hate to get run down on the staights all the time.