[quote=ucodegen] @flu I mentioned the Pontiac GTO because it is an older vehicle, has full independent suspension, has options for manual transmission (the G8 is mostly automatic), uses a Chevy LSx based engine (when means you can be street legal and if you have spare cash, go nuts with an LS9, or sort of nuts with an LSA). Just get the engine from a vehicle of the same year or newer and you are emissions legal – and have horsepower of nearly 600hp for LSA and near 700hp for LS9. There are also a lot of aftermarket parts for the vehicle, and if you don’t find them in the US, you can find them from Australia (It is a Holden chassis). It is heavier than 3000lbs, but that helps if you get hit. A ‘tap’ by someone pushing cars around on the track is less likely to kick you off your line.
What type of vehicles are your beaters? You didn’t mention whether you are doing class racing, and have restrictions on the mods you can do.[/quote]
Don’t plan on doing any sort of competitive class racing. I guess I just want to get on the track and just…drive…. Right now, the only thing I have is a stripped 2250 lb miata that with an Eaton MP-62 supercharger on the cold side. Supposedly, it’s suppose to be about 200hp at the wheel, which is more than enough for my current skill level. Also, I have some adjustable shocks/springs/sway bars, and a less restrictive and lighter weight exhaust (it does have a cat, so it’s street legal and passes CARB, but one dropped one pre-silencer. And I’m running slightly larger tires 225/50/15 or 245/45/15 on 8″ rims (yeah, I know stock miatas are 14″) only because tire selection on 15″ are much better than 14″. Running slightly aggressive streetable pads: Hawk HP+ on stock calipers and rotors, which is fine for auto-x, and I don’t mind switching if it’s needed (I haven’t found a need to yet). No ABS. It’s also stripped: no carpet, no insulation, lightweight 2 lb motorcycle battery, no center console. I can probably reduce the weight by 100 more lbs by dropping the A/C, pulling out what is left of the front console, and replacing the seats with lighter weight seats (which on a full track I probably should do along with a 5 point harness). But then, I would also need to add a full cage, and a hardtop too, and still it wouldn’t be as safe as a car with an actual hardtop, I think. And all that won’t be exactly cheap. So I think I’ll probably keep it as is and use it only for utocross car and something just to throw around for fun. Hence, dedicated track car ideally that can be street legal enough to drive occasionally.
The other beater is an Audi A4 that use to be modded with a larger turbo, but I blew the turbo and the ECU died, so I went back to a stock tune. Not to mention, when that thing breaks, it’s a PITA to fix.
I don’t need a ridiculous high horsepower car, as I’d probably get myself killed at this point with one. As far as “twitchy cars”, that’s one of the reasons why I like the miata.
