I think it makes sense for me to start with kart racing. Although cars appeal more to me, the financial aspects really make karts incredibly appealing. Not to mention, the few times I've raced karts (just a few times when I was younger) I've absolutely loved it!

Smart move. When I first started doing DE, I went to karts to improve my driving, then went into auto racing. It was a tremendous help getting me up to speed. Karting helps you learn car control and the limit much faster than you otherwise would in car.

______
Jason

If you want to be a "real" racer you need to start in Karts.Important that you start with less powerfull class( I am not in the US so unsure of class set ups-- but a 100cc Kart is plenty fast enough-- it will still accelerate faster than your turbo!). Even if your aim is cars-- adapting to car is easy compared to all the other issues that have to be learnt.
You need to find somebody close whose advice you can trust about Karts that can patiently teach you about everything from maitainence to set up( This changes all the time during the day)-to driving plus racing skills.
All of these thing translate to cars and you can learn much quicker and cheaper in Karts. If you say where do I want to be in 12/24/36 months -- you will be far closer to end goal for the time in Karts.It will also get you into what I call a motor racing "culture" ie all the things you HAVE to know.

My take.. 944 spec car. Very little hp, but this will force you to drive with momentum. Buy complete or nearly complete car. Run it in DE for bit then go club racing for less than a Rotax cart. You can race a 944-spec in PCA or NASA with zero changes. This year we had 34 cars competing for National championship and the winner was in fact Charlie B. ;) How is that for good omens.

Do a few years of DE and then consider Spec Miata, 944 Cup/GTS1. get a car that forces you drive efficiently. horsepower does cover too many sins. i had to undo some bad habits when i switched to racing my 944 from the 964 cup.

You're saying all the right things in terms of wanting a car that will force you to learn to drive correctly. But the "prefer a Porsche" part really narrows your choices. That might not be a popular statement here, but its true. I prefer Porsche products too, except when I want to race on a budget.

I was in a similar situation as you, and I chose to rent a Spec Miata for the SCCA 3 day school and then to race. So far so good (you might enjoy my thread about my first race, search for it). I wanted to race for the same reasons you mentioned, plus one other - competition. Spec Miata offers the most competition of any choice you have.

Back up here.........you ARE 19? If so, then hell yes get a good footing in karts and then into formula cars. Wish I had the bucks 25+ years ago to not mess around with production cars and doing everything myself. Met a lot of great guys along the way who were more than happy to clue me in, but that was NO substitute for proper coaching in a good formula car feeder series.

Everything else from then on, depending on budget, will be simple to pick up.

Hah, yes, I'm a young'un. I'm pretty much set on karting for several reasons, just need to figure out how I want to pursue it.

B U Y A D O N E C AR do not build your own,get coaching

Thanks. :thumbsup:

yet another opinion

karts are great, but very dangerous in comparison to having a full cage around you and a Hans device. Take that for what it is worth. My opinion if you want to get really good really quick would be run a spec miata. The cars are cheap enough that you can race one all year with a relatively small budget (in racing terms) and go anywhere in the country to race and have 40-50 "identical" cars on the track at once.

Afraid of contact, yet another reason to learn to drive well as there is little to no carnage at the front of the pack, mainly in the back of the pack. Best way to avoid the back of the pack is to do alot of DE in the car get a trackmate and hire a coach for a few events that knows momentum/the tracks/ and how to use the traqmate all that will still be cheaper than a skippy school and you will learn more with a good coach.

Brian
(a totally biased driving coach that does Spec Miata)

+ Juan






Professional Racing and Driving Coach

I would truly enjoy driving SM, but the logistics of the next few years make owning/storing a car + car trailer far more difficult than a kart + kart trailer. I don't think either will give me bad experience.

No matter what you guys say about SM, when I go from mine to the sports racer...........well, being bored doesn't even come close to describing the (lack of) thrill. No matter what the competition. A purpose built race car takes you somewhere no production car can even sniff. (Just throwing it out there. I know I'm weird, but I've been into this stuff driving/prepping/building/hanging around for 30 years now.)

1+ on Karts... best place to learn quickly. and cheaply, BUT, you pay with your body... not too unlike motocross.

from there go to SRF, way less cheating than SM, and its a national class where you can be seen.

Win a national (runoff) and you can turn pro.

GL!