Strip it and prep or buy something else to race

[mractive]

After much debate I will be racing next year!!!! hopefully

So what shall i do?

Strip my m roadster and prepare it, can get very cheap very high quality suspension so that saving a few grnd straight off the bat

Buy an m3 evo either prepared or strip and prepare, can keep my m roadster and is easy to get its for

Sell the roadster buy an m3 e46 strip and prepare, will be more future proof, easier to sell in longrun wil however be a gradual build up to a good car

ma5da - cheap and wont brake the bank

been thinking about this for too long, too many options keep coming up. I NEED TO DECIDED!!!!!!!!!!

Answers on a post card please

[Some Gump]

Mr. A:

For experience as the spanner man to a racer...

Strip and build your own:
+ You know the car, so it'll be sound
- It'll take a full season to get it handling. You;ll also spend almost dowble whatever you're guessing you will do. You will not recoup the cost.

Buy an existing competitive (midfield +) car, what is known
+ Already sorted (hopefully)
+ Cost effective option
+ if it's known, people in the paddock will let slip if it's been properly bent or not.
- Why is it being flogged? Potential bills on the way (you can check this out if you're "in" with the series already).

Buy a car you haven't seen racing / isn't known:
+ Probably cheap
- You'll spend all season fixing it. Then, you potentially have the problems from the first option!

If I was doing it, I'd go for option B, as long as somone is selling something you want to race.

[mractive]

thanks mate, food for thought

[wildman0609]

now is the right time to buy a used race car, everyone wants to sell at the end of the season, so should have lots of choice

[RobbieL]

I'd go with Option B as above as someone who's done it for the past 2 years

BUT REMEMBER......

whatever your budget is, add half again as you WILL need it!!

[Graham]

As a general rule its ALWAYS cheaper to buy a car already racing than it is to build one from scratch.

and it always takes at least twice what you expect to build a car in terms of both time and money.

almost every time i've seen someone build a car they've missed the first season they intended to race.

[mractive]

Ok so if im not using my own car she lives another day, what would be a good series to race in seen as i am no longer restricted?

I am being drawn towards ma5da but would ideally want to race in bmw kumho but looking at the difference in starting cost dont think i can stretch to the BMW Kumho series without selling my other car and downscaling. I am not interested in FWD racing or entering into a series where there are lots of different classes and i can only afford the slowest.

[Graham]

isnt there another cheaper bmw series that slots under kumho one.

[mractive]

production bmw?

[mractive]

http://www.max5racing.com/index.html

anyone know much about this series? seems like its realtivly cheap for a decent enough car mx5 mk3 10k? whats the racing like? grids?

[RobbieL]

Can't recommend Sports 2000 highly enough. I joined 2 seasons ago and have enjoyed absolutely every minute.

Low running costs, great racers, cracking grids plus European races, plus, you will embarass much more expensive machinery out there.

Well worth a look at Race Car Live at Brands this month.

[mractive]

a decent car 25k plus right?

[dunc_sx]

This link should help,

http://www.sports2000-srcc.com/show_categories.cfm...

[RobbieL]

mractive said:

a decent car 25k plus right?

Nope - very very competitive cars can be had for c.15k. The big plus for me was that the running costs were so little once you've had the initial outlay of a car. A full season can be done for around 3k - inc. all entry fees! I paid under 15k for my car and finished 2nd after a bit of fiddling with the set-up and you won't believe how quick these things are.

Drop me a line if you fancy learning a bit more.

Edited by RobbieL on Thursday 4th November 18:35

[Birdthom]

mractive said:

production bmw?

Ding.

www.pbmwc.co.uk

[mractive]

you know any of the cars for sale?

[BJD]

mractive said:

you know any of the cars for sale?

I know this one quite well as it's in my garage :-)

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2172090.htm


The car can be seen racing at Brands this Sunday. If you want to keep your choice of RWD open, also check out www.racingsaloons.com

[mractive]

certainly would prove its race ready. Does the price go up or down depending on your performance?

not sure if i can make it though as im buying another car after the gf wrote the run around off.

[BJD]

Hope not as I'm planning to finish towards the back, three races tomorrow and the idea is to bimble around keeping out of harms way rather than pushing on just in case anybody does get a bit boisterous. Should also move it from an option C above into an option B minus :-) #23 in garage 20 if you make it.

Edited by BJD on Saturday 6th November 13:02

[7 Sevens]

I would say the M Roadster would restrict the possible series to enter. What were you considering to run it in?

Personally I would always buy a finished race car in a series that interests you. How about a Caterham or Elise? BMW and Mazda are also good series.