Racer to road car?
Discussion
Thinking of buying an ex academy car to use as a road car.
What's involved with converting? I notice some are already road registered? Are all of them? What spec would people recommend. When did they start coming with lower floors as standard?
Basically fill me in with any info or experience you may have.
The car would be totally a weekend toy and quite possibly get abused a bit!! Long term even hillclimbed.
Fill me in guys.
What's involved with converting? I notice some are already road registered? Are all of them? What spec would people recommend. When did they start coming with lower floors as standard?
Basically fill me in with any info or experience you may have.
The car would be totally a weekend toy and quite possibly get abused a bit!! Long term even hillclimbed.
Fill me in guys.
All academy cars have to be road registered. They started putting lowered floors on them as standard in 2004, when they moved to Caged cages instead of Safety Devices ones, but there may have been some years since then when it has been an option.
An academy car will fit in perfectly to Class 1 of the Lotus 7 Club's sprint and hillclimb championship, which is apparently the biggest one make championship in the country. I've done it for the last 5 years and it's great fun.
An academy car will fit in perfectly to Class 1 of the Lotus 7 Club's sprint and hillclimb championship, which is apparently the biggest one make championship in the country. I've done it for the last 5 years and it's great fun.
I strongly recommend you wait for a few months until the race season starts. Then pop along to watch a Caterham race. That will soon deprogram the thought of buying an ex-racer. I went to Silverstone to see Grads, Super and Mega Grads. It's like watching the Wacky Racers. At the end of the day most cars are held together with gaffer tape and zip ties. Very few cars were intact. I looked at one Academy car towards mid race season a few years ago. It was hanging. From the odd gravel trap excursion, the floor pan looked like it had been shot at with a 12 bore. If you find a decent Academy racer it's because the bloke was rubbish and sat at the back.
Chewie, I think whether or not an ex-racer suits you depends on your priorities and what you are going to use the car for. As somebody who has always bought Caterhams on a budget, to be used mainly on track, ex racers make a huge amount of sense. Most (not all, I agree) race cars are well maintained mechanically, they need to be in order to be on the pace. They are likely to look a bit rough around the edges though, especially mid season. Cable ties and gaffa tape are very useful for holding wings together and you don't want to be buying expensive new ones after every bit of contact.
If you want a pretty car for lazy Sunday afternoon trips to National Trust sites (I'm not suggesting you are, Chewie) then a race car will not be for you. If you want a car to rag around a track and go hillclimbing, such as the OP then a well looked after race car is going to be a much better bet than a road car that has hardly been used and never properly set up for track work. There are, of course, some cracking road cars and very very bad racers, so you always need to buy on condition.
I'm looking forward to my first season of racing with the wacky racers (Grads). Hopefully I'll be a calming influence on them so that my brand new wings stay looking that way for more than one race weekend!
If you want a pretty car for lazy Sunday afternoon trips to National Trust sites (I'm not suggesting you are, Chewie) then a race car will not be for you. If you want a car to rag around a track and go hillclimbing, such as the OP then a well looked after race car is going to be a much better bet than a road car that has hardly been used and never properly set up for track work. There are, of course, some cracking road cars and very very bad racers, so you always need to buy on condition.
I'm looking forward to my first season of racing with the wacky racers (Grads). Hopefully I'll be a calming influence on them so that my brand new wings stay looking that way for more than one race weekend!
Edited by Matt W on Sunday 5th February 22:00
I had a Sigma ex-academy car that was used for sprinting and then road use. It was a great car and definitely a cracking one for A-road blatting with enough power to keep things interesting but not too much to get out of hand! There are cars out there that have been built for the Academy series and had very little or no racing use at all after the owners have had a change of plans.
The K series 1600 is a bit more characterful than the Sigma but despite originally looking for a K series car, the Sigma was offered to me and I really enjoyed driving it and would happily have another, I reckon its one of my favourite sevens to drive.
Metric or imperial? As Matt says, just buy on condition and price. Having the cage on stiffens the chassis up noticeably and whilst tradition dictates the imperial Arch chassis, the metric one is pretty good too. Definitely look for one with the lowered floors otherwise at your height, it will be a tight fit with the cage for you.
T
The K series 1600 is a bit more characterful than the Sigma but despite originally looking for a K series car, the Sigma was offered to me and I really enjoyed driving it and would happily have another, I reckon its one of my favourite sevens to drive.
Metric or imperial? As Matt says, just buy on condition and price. Having the cage on stiffens the chassis up noticeably and whilst tradition dictates the imperial Arch chassis, the metric one is pretty good too. Definitely look for one with the lowered floors otherwise at your height, it will be a tight fit with the cage for you.
T
Mine is an ex-academy (2009). I love it.
The chap who raced it, by his own admission, found that racing was frightening, difficult and very not popular with his ever-loving.
The only thing I might change is the full cage as I don't intend doing many track days and it makes getting in and out more that just stepping over the 'door'.
The chap who raced it, by his own admission, found that racing was frightening, difficult and very not popular with his ever-loving.
The only thing I might change is the full cage as I don't intend doing many track days and it makes getting in and out more that just stepping over the 'door'.
There are plenty of ex-race cars that have not seen any accidents, just as there are plenty of ex-race cars that have just come back from Arch and have as-new chassis sections and/or panelling.
The comments above really say it all - if you know what you are doing and what to look for, ex-race cars are generally good, undervalued buys. If you don't, then it can be a risk. Having said that, it is really easy to find out the history on most race cars without even going to look at them.
The comments above really say it all - if you know what you are doing and what to look for, ex-race cars are generally good, undervalued buys. If you don't, then it can be a risk. Having said that, it is really easy to find out the history on most race cars without even going to look at them.
just finished the 2011 academy, and its safe to say there are some bargains to be had from ex-racers!
yes some have gaffa tape holding the wings on, or tie wraps holding the nose on for the weekend but they cost naff all to replace.
most damage i see apart from plastics is the rear basket, so have a quick look under the arse and make sure that is still perfect.
i just got mine replaced its not as expensive as you might think!
lowered floors is still an option, but most people get it.
best bet is to wait till the end of the season, in the winter (aka now!) as around 50% of our academy year are not carrying on.
so you have a mix of cars on the market, the guys who didnt have enough time to race, maybe did 1 event and just sold their car. 1 of them is on caterhams website now and i know for a fact he did 1 race, and he spent the rest of the time cleaning the car making sure it was mint.
i would look around, do some digging on the previous owner, look at their race results, race reviews and work out if the 0 points scored was a DNF or a Did not turn up!
yes some have gaffa tape holding the wings on, or tie wraps holding the nose on for the weekend but they cost naff all to replace.
most damage i see apart from plastics is the rear basket, so have a quick look under the arse and make sure that is still perfect.
i just got mine replaced its not as expensive as you might think!
lowered floors is still an option, but most people get it.
best bet is to wait till the end of the season, in the winter (aka now!) as around 50% of our academy year are not carrying on.
so you have a mix of cars on the market, the guys who didnt have enough time to race, maybe did 1 event and just sold their car. 1 of them is on caterhams website now and i know for a fact he did 1 race, and he spent the rest of the time cleaning the car making sure it was mint.
i would look around, do some digging on the previous owner, look at their race results, race reviews and work out if the 0 points scored was a DNF or a Did not turn up!
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