prg

I think I might argue with this. The guys I know who've bought FSSCA car have had lots of problems with broken gearboxes and half-shafts.

Circuit Motorsports

Ron Cohn Can I come play with the cars in your signature. <drooling>

Circuit Motorsports

You could argue with it but the gearboxees aren't engines and neither are the halfshafts.

However those parts are in the process of being updated with the help of Taylor Engineering.

I was talking to someone last week who paddocks with someone who replaced his engine at 65 races and his car is on it's second engine after 4 heavy years of use.

prg

I think I might argue with this. The guys I know who've bought FSSCA car have had lots of problems with broken gearboxes and half-shafts. Hard to beat a mazda rotary in this application. Light, reliable, and cheap. Lousy fuel economy, but it runs well on 91 octane pump gas not 110 octane race gas.

Circuit Motorsports

FSCCA car runs on pump gas as well.

prg

Obviously your point is correct. If you're parked because your gear box is fragged or your broken halfshaft has torn up your corner, you're still parked.

BrandonH

Well, only if you are not counting a kent-motor FormulaFord. Hard to beat a 40 yr old 115HP iron block, pushrod engine for sheer durability.

For context: Fast Lap at the first SCCA race on Lightning at NJMP for FFs was ~1:08 which I suspect might have been close to overall winner at last weekends' PCA race...

Circuit Motorsports

A heavily used kent motors should have it's head redone midseason and rebuilt every year to maintain that 115hp though. Of the 10 kent motored cars in the shop that I ran with last year 5 had a total rebuild (2 of which had a midseason head freshening) and 2 more had the head redone. The built kent motors get tired much more quickly than the bone stock 2.3 Mazda motor in the FSCCA.

I know of a number of guys who go to the runoffs with multiple motors/heads because they don't want to run the same motor for 500+ miles. The Kent motor doesn't even get in the top 3 of reliable open wheel motors.

Matt Romanowski

Don't forget that FC cars routinely put down faster laps than SCCA cars and are about half as much. Running regionals, you can get 2 years out of the Pinto motors.

I have a friend who sold an SCCA car to buy a boat - thought it would be cheaper than 3 transmissions, a couple of half shafts, etc.

Circuit Motorsports

Very true. My car cost me well less than half the cost of a FSCCA car. Admittedly I tore it down and built it back up with a new engine but still bang for the buck it can't be beat.

I bought an older car that was more stoutly built than the newer cars to 'cut my teeth' for the first couple years.

The next car will most likely be FSCCA although I know of a couple of FF cars that will be coming on the marekt about the time I'll be looking to buy that will be extremely well setup and a good price..

Matt Romanowski

I wouldn't suggest an FSCCA car, but rather a newer Zetec. Much faster for the same or less money. Any real race car is high maintence. The Zetecs are very fast and you can run teh F2000 series, which is first class.

lowside67

Ahem... another shameless plug for F1000. For the same money as a Zetec, you can get a virtually new Stohr F1000 which will run circles around a Zetec FC with added advantages of sounding WAY better and coming with a bone stock, ultra reliable 6spd sequential gearbox.

924RACR

Forgot to update this thread... I took a Vee for a spin Friday at practice... this one a Vintage-era Vee... very interesting... fun, was surprised how easy it was to transition to (from my 924). Very narrow band of "happy" but apparently that was due to the two blown shocks and corded tires. LOL

Still, though it was interesting and fun (especially trying to share the track with an Atlantic!), it didn't sell me on Vees... just not enough different to bother with switching! I was expecting less grip, and OK, was on corded tires, but it wasn't there... and same power/weight ratio... I guess I just don't get THAT excited about seeing my front wheels while I'm driving... I care more about what the car itself is doing, if they're wagging, I've already screwed up!

Was rather amusing, afterwards, the open-wheel guys excited that I might be thinking of buying one and coming to play... LOL

Ron Cohn

Circuit Motorsports: Unfortunately, the cars in my signature are all "past-tense" (years raced noted) except for the C2S. I have pretty much relegated myself to closed cars now and rent a car when I want to race.

The F1000's and Spec Mazda's do sound interesting, though.

datax

Great thread. I'm planning to try out my friend's FC (Pinto motor. Not Zetec) end of this month at SCCA Competition School weekend. Do you guys think it's a good start for open wheeler cars? Or, shall I start from FF? Which is the next best step after 100-125cc kartings? Been doing DEs for almost 5 years now and wants to see what's out there. Looking for reliability, safety and performance / $$$ factors. Thanks.