Newbie Questions

[AKA Ryan]

I searched around so if this has been asked before please to shoot me. :hammer:

Anyway, it's always been a dream of mine to get into course racing of some sort, but I have no clue where to begin, what to read, or where to go. 1) I have a '95 240, and I'd like to start the building with racing in mind. So in that regard I'm looking for info on what classes require what setups. 2) I also live about 45 minutes away from Houston so I'm sure there's tracks or somewhere I can go. And where should I even begin? 3) Also does anyone know of any good books to read?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[OptionZero]

Play gt3, learn all the concepts they teach (apex, braking, exits, blah blah)

Don't do anything to your car other than maintenance; learn to drive your car stock.

Watch how others drive, talk to them, adjust accordingly.

After you can control the stock car, see what areas you need to improve your car (what you can afford to do $$$ wise), while also staying in the class you want to stay in.

Do not perform extensive mods until you can handle the shit you got already...unless you have stuff falling apart (broken tc rods, exhaust falling off, blah blah blah)

[The ROMAN]

What he said, plus when you do start modding your car, go for suspension first.

[AKA Ryan]

Play gt3, learn all the concepts they teach (apex, braking, exits, blah blah)

Don't do anything to your car other than maintenance; learn to drive your car stock.

Watch how others drive, talk to them, adjust accordingly.

After you can control the stock car, see what areas you need to improve your car (what you can afford to do $$$ wise), while also staying in the class you want to stay in.

Do not perform extensive mods until you can handle the shit you got already...unless you have stuff falling apart (broken tc rods, exhaust falling off, blah blah blah)

Cool, thanks. I guess I'm going to Barnes&Noble to see if I can find a rule book. It's an SCCA rule book right?

My car is in pretty good condition, but if I try to compete in the GS class I should look at some of the engine. I haven't neglected anything, but things like ignition and shocks have been put aside since I was going to be getting new suspension soon and an SR next year.

I actually was thinking about the GT3 and all the lessons, and that's funny you said that. But I guess it's true.

Keep the suggestions coming! :D

[nocomedown]

im in the same boat man, my first auto-x is tomorrow and im so excited.
a book i picked up a while back at B&N that i thought was pretty good is Secrets of Solo Racing by Henry A. Watts. It provided some entertainment during my statistics and government classes in high school. also, here are some useful links:
http://www.moutons.org/sccasolo/
http://www.sfrscca.com/solo2/faq/
http://www.tirerack.com/features/solo2/handbook.htm
http://autocross.com/autoc/cworkers.htm
http://www.autospeak.com/terms99.htm
have fun

[mutkung]

I never really race on a track before but going to try next month. I think this should be a good thread for me to follow since I'm pretty much just maintaining my car and had no experiences other than that..

[AKA Ryan]

im in the same boat man, my first auto-x is tomorrow and im so excited.
a book i picked up a while back at B&N that i thought was pretty good is Secrets of Solo Racing by Henry A. Watts. It provided some entertainment during my statistics and government classes in high school. also, here are some useful links:
http://www.moutons.org/sccasolo/
http://www.sfrscca.com/solo2/faq/
http://www.tirerack.com/features/solo2/handbook.htm
http://autocross.com/autoc/cworkers.htm
http://www.autospeak.com/terms99.htm
have fun

Thanks for those sites! Lots of good info. The only thing is that I don't know if I'll be able to compete in the GS since I have such a huge modification itch! :rolleyes: I'll have to money to have a lot of suspension work done, and I don't think I'll have the will power to leave it sitting in my garage while I play the GS class. And on top of that, from what I've seen about the rules, I can't use my new steering wheel since my stock is an airbag steering wheel. Sucks!

Also, is anyone a SCCA member? Is it worth it or does everyone just pay the extra money when they race?

[nocomedown]

hey its cool, today was my first even and i was put in STS and all ive got are 6.5" wide wheels and strut bars. i was incredibly underpowered and probably had some of the slowest times of the day (several of the people in my class are former national champs), but i had a hell of a time. for me, its not how i do against the other drivers, its how i do against my previous runs.

[mr_synister]

Ya, my first time will be at the end of the month. I'm excited too. It sux cause I have an SR but stock wheels so I'll probably be sliding all over the place, not that I mind sliding ;) . I'm not sure wether I'll be in SP or SM and I don't really understand the whole class A, B, C stuff either. Ah well, just going out there to have fun anyways. I'll worry about class when the next season starts.