ChumpCar

[rsrguy]

So, I'm completely sold on the ChumpCar concept. What are the best cars you can think of to use as a base?
If you haven't read the rules, check them out. I think the best way to go would be to find a car with no value, kinda like the example the rules use only not as ugly. Next would be to use the value figure on the suspension and power train.
The next big issue is to know if it's advisable to plan on some tech penalties for some targeted advantages.
What are your thoughts?

[krystar]

e30.

[Skytrooper]

I have to confess...I am a chumpcar racer.

Take a good hard look at the rules. They have a listing that shows you where your particular car will land you as far as a value. That will help you decide on a car and approximately how much you willhave to play around with. The A.I.V is like the bible. Do a lot of research to get your average of 10 below $500.

My team "Baghdad Taxi" has a 1990 CRX that we have run in LeMons, Used Car Racing, and Chumpcar. The CRX is one of those cars that is close to the limit, so we had to really work to get A.I.V below $500. At our last race "The longer, Longest day" we had 0 penalty laps. Do not let the penalty laps worry you too much as they are endurance races and it is all about the number of laps you finish with. We finished 7th in one of our races after starting with 19 penalty laps.

Start looking for a reasonable car and the safety equipment. Spend the off season getting it ready and go enjoy running it at your nearest race. You will have a ton of fun. The people are great !

[rsrguy]

I have read the rules. My concern is finding the values I need for the cars we have. Between us we have a crx w /a b16, a couple of 914 's, a928, a Saab sonett, and a 2k2. So far it looks like finding values for any driving
runner is a bear, let alone a crx or a 914. My hope is for some wiggle room on the cars that are too far gone to restore and not competitive in spec racing, which is way, way to pricy. I guess I'll have plenty of time to find themduring my deployment. What have you Eden with regard to technology and valueless crap cans?

[txhokie4life]

I run a 924s
Plenty of CL adds for dysfunctional 944's out there

4 races so far 0 laps.

Car is fun to
Drive, but not the best bang for the buck.

Miatas are big

5.0l mustangs,
Taurus sho
Mitsi mirage
BMW e30s
240sx
300sx
Civics

While I love our 924s and 944

I would find something japanese/American that has cheap parts
Keep it light, 16v 4 cyl
Do your home work on keeping the car alive

Go fast parts are secondary

Mike

[Skytrooper]

We went with the CRX basically because my chief mechanic was very familiar with them. Be very aware of the year and model of the car you choose. You will need to make sure the engine and drivetrain are what came on the car originally (not matching numbers, just same type/hp) , otherwise you will be looking at a penalty.

+1 on Mike's advise

I would find something japanese/American that has cheap parts
Keep it light, 16v 4 cyl
Do your home work on keeping the car alive

Go fast parts are secondary

Choose something that you can easily get parts for. Do not try and win the race on the first lap....it is endurance racing, it's about total laps. Use the car you are most comfortable in, you're going to spend a lot of time in the seat.

"Searchtempest" is your friend for doing AIV homework/research. If you need any help just let me know.

Matt

[Skytrooper]

Our car after the Nelson Ledges "Longer, Longest Day" Oct 8-9, 2011

[rsrguy]

I'll check into search tempest, and will definately follow your advice. As far as penalties.... I'm kinda planninig on it, unless (between now and then)there are any special dispensations for some of the unrestorable cars I have.

[Skytrooper]

Also, smaller cars get better fuel mileage....helps cut expenses

This car has done 5 races so far, 2-LeMons, 1-UCR, and 2 Chump. It has been a lot of fun, but there is a bit of a learning curve between the different series. I personally like Chumpcar, but I try to get in as many races as affordable each year.

[jhynesrockmtn]

I was part of the winning team at the first chump race in Portland 2 years ago. We just did the Portland event again this weekend. 84 cars started on the grid. The level of cars and drivers is up significantly in 2 years. Significantly! We run a Miata that was wadded up several years ago in a spec race, stripped and put back together with junkyard parts. It's not the fastest car but they are very durable and fun to drive. They are right at the $500 AIV limit and their big weakness is fuel capacity. We were leading for a while early. I didn't have the best session and we ended up down a few spots. The lead cars were not only fast but could do full two hour stints. That hurt us as it got dry, track got faster and we were limted to 1:40 or so before fueling. The rules have changed over the years so read them carefully. Lots of Hondas, a few MR2's, some fast Volvos in the PNW, RX7's, VW's, a Puegot diesel :-) The winner was a an old Datsun Fairlady. Not sure how that's a $500 car any day of the week. That's ok though. Cool car and a great group of guys driving it.

[romad]

I would select a car you can get most of the parts at a local auto parts chain.

[asphaltgambler]

e30/ IS with 4:10 posi diff - only choice - MO

[ErVikingo]

Our's is not the fastest but arguably the coolest! (and its aircooled!)

[andrew15]

Come on Juan - you can do better than that

[rsrguy]

No way is that a chump!

[andrew15]

Yup - we got assessed some penalty laps here in Calgary, but I've worked on the AIV since then.

On the surface the assumption is that there can't possibly be a $500 911, but lets take a look - fire burned chassis with transaxle was basically scrap value and a really crappy 2.7 CIS was about $350... Unfortunately a $500 911 is just that. A $500 piece of crap that was not as reliable as hoped - the engine leaked, the distributor advance broke and the electrics were non-existant.

Now I know that it's not what you paid for it, it's what it's valued at - I don't want to get into a ton of details, but we've been able to collect a number of AIV examples. The two most recent aiv figures I have are a 68 912 with 5-spd transaxle $250 and a 1970 911T stripped for paint with some rust, but complete and running for $750 - So there is no 'I got it for free 'BS'. They are out there, it just takes a while to find and document them

AM

[andrew15]

One piece of advice I would give regarding car selection is take a look at brakes, pads and wheels that are compatible with your car and would fit within the 2x allowance.

With the 911, the high cost of OEM parts would allow us to fit bigger brakes and full race pads and still come within the 2x allowance if we wanted to. Some cars may have very cheap brakes and pads that would preclude you from these "free" performance upgrades

Regards,
AM

[jsmithcds]

We run a 86 mustang v8. Heavy and suck gas like crazy. We took our penalty laps on the chin as we knew we had a car worth more than $500. Plenty of cars out there that do not come even close to being worth $500. It is common people to cheat on the Av's. Basically people make a fake craiglist add and run it for a day print it and then do several more just like it in different states. At the end of the day they are the ones that look like a douche nozzle. But they are having fun.

In particular is the BMW e30? that we raced against at road america last year. It was funny becasue they started with zero penalty laps and won several races.

Road america is running two races this year and we are going to be at both. Hopefully we can find a different car to build this winter as I don't like the penalty laps.

also big thing to consider as we got stung by it when we fixed up the mustang. Even if it has been in a wreck and you spent $100 for the car that is not what matters. This is what we thought when we bought ours. It not what its worth wrecked so much as what the average one on the street is worth.

Justin

[andrew15]

Justin - I would agree with the AIV needs to be fine tuned a bit. Like you, we read the rules as find a junkyard car, make it safe and race it - that's what we did, but got assessed a few penalty laps and admittedly didn't have our AIV stuff in order.

Since then, I've printed a number of ads from here, the samba, and kijiji, and if the ad was local, taken photos of the cars in question and even have a number of receipts (I bought 3 running projects locally in the past 6 mos - a 911 chump car race team?). If someone wants to fake a craigslist ad to try to win a race....well that's just plain sad.
It would be nice to have the Chump staff be able to do more verification, but it's pretty grassroots with not a lot of staff I think.

Regards,
AM

[ErVikingo]

Andrew, I must say that YOU WIN ! Awesome.

Whilst I found various 911's in the price range, I figured that the local Chump in charge would not find that they were sub $500.