I'm going to try some road racing next year. What do I need? Should buy some light 16" wheels with some Kumho tires? Should I buy a few sets of brake pads? This is my daily driver, so I need to able to drive to work after the weekend.

 

"I'm going to try some road racing next year. What do I need? Should buy some light 16" wheels with some Kumho tires? Should I buy a few sets of brake pads? This is my daily driver, so I need to able to drive to work after the weekend."
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Well, you've asked some questions that will require a bit of research on your part and I can't answer completley. I'm a SCCA member and I used to club race in SCCA in the showroom stock classes several years ago and I'm guessing that is what your refering to and not SoloII or SoloI competition which is quit different.

First off I recommend you hook up with your local region of the SCCA which you can find by calling the SCCA's national office at 1-303-694-7222 and asking them. Also you can check the clubs web site at http://www.scca.org/ which contains region contact info.

As far as prepping your car goes, the Kumho is hot in SoloII right now but by next year, who knows and I'm not sure it's the tire to use in Showroom stock classes if that's what you have in mind. You need to get ahold of a rule book for what ever class you intend to compete in and see what you need. For showroom stock, you will need to use the original equipement tire size and wheel size. Brake pad info is also specified in the rule book, and yes you will need a few sets.

The path to SCCA Club Road racing will require you attend two approved drivers schools first, and then two Regional races to aquire a Regional License. After that you can try for a Natioal License after four more sccessfull Regional races and getting the proper signatures by officials in you log book which you get from your local region.

If you don't already know this stuff, I suggest you get started early by finding out exactly what you need to go to your first drivers school. The Competition Chairman of your local region is the person to help you through this proceedure. Remmember, you'll need a doctors physical and drivers race suit and other clothing plus alot of other equipement for you Maxima like roll cage, fire extinquiser, competition seat belts etc. the list goes on for your first school. Some people rent or barrow a prepped race car for the first school to make sure it's what they want to do before spending big bucks. Also, some of the pro schools like Skip Barber are approved by SCCA and can count as one of the two required schools.

For my first school, I started out months ahead of time gather info and parts. I borrowed a driver suit and some other stuff that I didn't what to invest in until I was sure I was cut out for racing. I also used my daily driver which was a 1975 Opel 1900 sedan and drove it to my second school and to every race for the first two years. Later, I used two other daily drivers and drove them to the races too. For my first school, I barrowed a friends trailer and tow car and used he and his wife as crew members. You will need a crew of at least one person for your schools too.

Get hooked up with your local region. Also, volunteer to crew for some people who race if you can, in order to learn the ropes so to speak. Most racers are always looking for crew and are glad to have you help them at the races.

May have given more info then you were looking for. :-)

Good luck,
Mark Paar

 

Is roadrace usually timed event?
cuz insurance don't pay for timed competition.

 

Ahh..but as long as you can get the car off the track...be it under it's own power, towing or 17 strong midgets pushing it you can tell the insurance company whatever you want.

 

i doubt it, if it's that easy people would have done it, more than few people had wrecked their m roadster/coupe on road course, it's outta own pocket.
cuz usually when you wreck like that, they need a police report, you can't just tow the car near a tree and say you hit the tree or the tree jumped into your way

 

Keep me posted as you get more info on this, I spoke to a guy earlier in the summer who goes to Summit Pt. with the BMW club and races around with them. Skipping the driving lessons may not be the best idea but this may be a way around some of the rules to compete in an "offical" SCCA race, I'm sure it would be just as fun. I'll talk to him about it next time I see him and get a better idea of what needs to be done. I know his car doesn't have a roll cage as I'm sure you're not prepared to install one in your Max.

 

1. Not sure where you're racing but around here they don't line the course with trees, the most you have to worry about is other cars thanks to generous runout areas. (which incidently can easily be explained as hit and run)

2. what's your point? Just want to warn us that "more than a few" M drivers don't exactly know what their doing behind the wheel or that their not smart enough to figure out that if your insurance company didn't see you do it...you didn't?
Either way...thanks for the public service announcement.

As a final note, my buddy that races with the local BMW club drives a 91 MR2 and beats up on them (old and new) all over the track...LOL!!

 

I paid for damage out of my pocket. Only small stuff due to leaning on other cars in corners and bumper tag. I've heard some people say they took the bolt in roll cage and other equipement out of their showroom stock race cars and turned it in to insurance but I figured that's fraud for one and risky. My last car was a VW Rabbit that I managed to roll and total. I claimed it as a casualty loss on my tax returns and never got questioned by the IRS. It was a sudden and unexpected loss and claimable as long as insurance wasn't paid out according to the IRS. Some even raced cars they still owed money on. Me included. I wasn't too smart back then.

 

my point is i would like to know if insurance covers it. i would love to go roadracing but i am not the best driver and i don't pretend to be one, so it's better to know i am covered or not, so i asked.
on the other hand, you didn't help me with any answer, you just said if something happens just get the car off the course and lie about it.

???

 

btw, what exactly do you mean by "if the insurance company didn't see you do it, you didn't."???

usually when you wreck a car, insurance will send their inspector to look, they will ask you questions, and ask to see the police report, cuz usually accident happend people call cops, you don't just tow the car home yourself. and you shall provied the location where it happened, how it happened, they will go to the scene to see the remaining marks and etc... what exactly are you gonna say??

plese educate me on this, since i don't have any experience with insurance fraud, but i like to learn it, in case i do wreck on course.

 

from companies specializiing in it if you don't mind the high premiums. Your regular policy most likely won't cover damage occuring during organized speed events or some wording to that effect.

 

Hey calm down there woody, you've got yourself all worked up over nothing. I've got to head over to a meeting now, we can continue this later if you like.

 

was never excited.
i just likes to learn all the tricks, that's why i am interested.

 

Okay, I think you know what I'm saying but I'll explain it anyway...first of all, if you wreck your car (roll over, head on collision at 100mph...etc) and you're lucky to be alive obviously scamming the ins. co. ain't gonna happen. But a situation like that is pretty rare considering, as a novice driver putting youself in a situation where that can happen is uncommon. You can argue that lack of experience would make it more likely but I think many people don't have the sack to push their daily driver like that. So in ruling out any type of catastrophic accident you're left with mostly just the chance of some fender benders that wouldn't even stop you from finishing the race let alone explaining to an insurance adjuster that "it was just like that when I came out of Safeway???"

I think our dissagreement on the issue has more to do with the type of accident we're talking about, you're looking more towards the major end of the spectrum and I'm talking about the minor but more common damage that can occur.

 

Depends on what your car is classed. I'm not familiar with the road racing part, just auto-x. A set of Kumho's, a 5-point harness and some Porterfield R4S's seem to be the favorite setup around here. Also, overlowering your car is bad... especially on road courses.

 

You can also go to one of the big schools and get a national license in one 3- or 4-day weekend. The Derek Daly Academy is the best one.

 

The schools you speak of will fulfill the SCHOOL requirement, but to get a regional license he'll still need to run two regional races as a novice with a big "X" on the rear of his car, and be observed as being competent to get his log book signed. Then he can go on to run four more regional races with the regional license and get his drivers log book signed after each race like before and then apply for a national license. Also, four regonal and/ or national races must be run in a year to keep the national license active after that. He can go on to a Professional SCCA licence after the national one.
Nowhere can you get a SCCA National License as fast as you descibe. Even a Regional License requires two regional races to get. Been there, done it. :-)

 

Oh, OK. It's been a while since I went through that stuff, so I didn't remember how it worked.

 

Speaketh:

This is assuming that what you're referring to is Solo I type stuff or high-speed driving schools or "track days" held on "real" race tracks where speeds may be pretty ludicrous.
If you're referring to Solo II (Autocross) you'll be fine with your existing setup or just the wheels/tires. It isn't nearly as hard on brakes.

-I'd do the Kuhmo Victoracers or if you really want to go nuts Hoosier roadrace tires over the "new" BFG G-Force R1's>which are mediocre in comparison with the old-school R1's.
-I'd do 245/45 or something WIDE and nasty on a set of 16x8 wheels... hmmn, I don't know if that size tire is even available. Anyway, think wide and think light. Buy the widest wheel you can fit on the car without rubbing.
-You'll want to do a set of full-diggity carbon/kevlar (or similar) pads.. you'll smoke pads and warp the crap out of your front rotors, but that's part of the fun. I'd suggest running stock rotors because most of the OEM-replacement cross drills are really not designed for performance driving and crack around the drilled holes when they get good and hot. Stillen/"brembo" replacement rotors are notorious for this.
-I'd upgrade to a more trackworthy brake fluid. I always used ATE SuperBlue myself but this was a couple years ago so I'm sure brake fluid technology has progressed since then. I actually melted the fluid resevoir on my old Civic before this stuff was boiling to the point where it was ineffective.
-You may even want to rig up some ducts to the front brakes. I'm not very impressed with the stock brakes on Maximas, they tend to fade pretty bad after a hot run down a country road, much less on a track where you're abusing them lap after lap. You can order the good brake ducting from a performance shop (not an import performance shop; they'll probably look at you like they're crazy 'cause they haven't seen it in any magazines yet) or you can go buy 4" dryer duct from the hardware store and a few zip ties. Basically you just want to remove the dust shield off the back side of the front rotors, route this ducting from under the front of the car or behind the air dam to the brake rotors so it blows air on 'em. It sounds stupid but it REALLY works.

As far as insurance... I'd suggest buying track insurance if you feel like you're going to ball the thing up. If not you'll have to do a little creative thinking...
I've got a buddy who's a cop and he's gotten us out of motorcycle track day flub-ubs before. My buddy threw his brand new Yamaha R1 down the back fence at 120mph during the last open track event... destroyed the thing. He loaded it in his truck, took it out to a country road and dumped it out of the back of the truck and called the cops. They showed up, he told them a bunny rabbit ran out in front of him (I'm not ******** you). They wrote up a report of single-vehicle incident while he sat there in his scrubbed-up leathers and then he had a champion accident report to give the insurance company. Now he's riding an Aprilia Mille R. That's the best bet.

 

And people wonder why insurance premiums are so high....

 

Are there X-cross events (SCCA or other) that don't require a rollcage? Besides SoloII.

Mine is a daily driver and I'm not sure how my customers will feel about hitting their head on the cage.

 

What you really need is a new car. Road racing a max is a waste of time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

 

Really need a 4-door for work. Guess I could get that new RX-8 in 3 years (just confirmed it is being built)

 

ahhh. so you want to go HotLapping, eh? heheh

awesome.

well, this is what i got for the track,

a set of used 17x7.5 rims with R compound tires (Toyo slicks! zero tread life.. hehe. only good for like 5 track days, something like $200 a tire)

if you want serious braking power, then a set of Porterfield R4 brake pads (race compound, not the S for street. these are like still $118 thru the "maxima club" discount)

i got me an AutoPro 5 point harness thru http://www.racerwholesale.com for only $80. this really gives you the "feel" for the course so you're strapped into the seat. you don't need racing seats to use it, but it's recommended.

then i have the Corbeau race seats (A4s) and that actually saves weight. Stock seats weigh like 30 pounds or something (with the brackets) and my A4s only weigh 18 pounds with brackets.. so. ))

if you're gonna do it alot, i'd recommend a roll cage, just to be safe. but that'll make your car almost un sittable for 5 people ....

the Maxima is already really powerful on the track, almost too much power i think to drive around a 2.5 mile track, so an SC is really really pushing it (just to let you kno) i was holding off on throttle on some of the striaghts because i knew my brakes wouldn't stop me at 110 -> 40 in only like 20 feet or something...

also r u gonna race with ur auto? i'm pretty sure you'll need that shift thing to help you downshift into 2 because u'll need it..



hope that helps

oh yeah a Snell M95 Rating helmet! $200 for a simpson open face




[Edited by Chebosto on 12-04-2000 at 09:37 PM]

 

BMW club events are primarily schools - no timing allowed. They do have a race series but that comes later. Your insurance is good for that type of school, and no special equipment is required other than a helmet.
I have seen people drag their cars away from mishaps at competitive events where insurance doesn't pay (you don't even want to let your insurance company know you race!!!) and try the fraud routine - it rarely works.
One of many wise sayings in racing is "If you can't afford to lose it, you can't afford to race it".

Dave

 

Hey Guys,

Thought I'd add some insight here, seeing as I went through this situation back in September. While racing my previous car, I had a catastrophic brake failure. Its hard to say what broke first, but the end result was that the left front caliper bracket broke allowing the caliper to rotate around the wheel and sever the brake hose. This, of course, caused nearly total loss of braking. End result was an impact - head on - with a set of jersey barriers at about 50-55 MPH. Lucky for me the barriers weren't tethered or anchored and they moved, dissipating some of the energy of the crash. I was really lucky. Some pics of the car are here:

http://kilrbz.tripod.com/Cobra/wreck.html

I was fine, and so were all the nearby spectators, and that's all that really matters. However, as soon as the impact, several spectators called 911 on their cell phones and paramedics, fire apparatus and police were on site rather quickly. Now, I don't know how many midgets it would have taken to push the car away from the scene, but I can tell you that once there is a police report, any hope of insurance claim - legitmate or otherwise - is out the window. My insuarnce co. came and appraised the damage at $15k, but paid me nothing. I had to sell the car for what I could get and absorbed the loss out of my pocket. I'll be able to deduct it as a casualty, but only to the extent that it exceeds 10% of my AGI. In other words, for every 10k I make, I lose 1k of my loss claim.

My point is, if you're racing, unexpected things can happen to you. If you race long enough, you will crash and you will pay. Just consider everything before going out to the track with your daily driver. I know several people who have wrecked their cars running time trials or at driving schools and have had to eat them - never mind road racing where someone else can take you out. Heck, I totalled my car at an autocross, so never say never.

 

that's one of the events that will be in the works for 2001..

 

Do you really mean road racing? Cuz autox (SoloII) is a lot better suited to daily drivers... You'd be a lot more competative and there'd be less risk of doing nasty things to your car...

 

If you are in the Northeast EMRA has time trials at several tracks which do not require special safety equipment other than helmets. See emraracing.org. PDA has quite a few high speed track days - not sure how to get in touch with them, COM runs a time trial series even farther north (NH).

Dave

 

friend of mine has convinced me to go for one next year...its performance driving school organized by BMW...eventhough I drive a max...I've seen neons, integras...etc go there...!

would such a performance driving school aid in getting a SCCA license?