A Horse With No Name

Something like this would be PERFECT! Cage is one of the largest expenses. We can borrow a safety harness and a race seat. Fuel Cell would be really nice, and it would be easy to re-use it on another car. Also an easy Ebay or Craigslist Item. But cage is a major sticking point. Chris

Exactly...and remember this thing has to last 24 hours under ungodly stress. Chris

Whatever we do, if we do it...it would be good to have one running complete parts car in the paddock to pull from. Which is why I was thinking J body...keeping a spare Cavalier around would be cheaper than a spare 924. Also, a J body might be more like 8 years old rather than 25 or 30...something to think about. Chris

Since this is a GM forum, your going to do an Aurora in Intrepid clothing??? Chris

An S-10 is light in the rear, and they are easy to roll over in road racing. The SCCA had a class called ITT or Improved Touring Truck that was for small pick-em-ups like that. A few people still race them in the south, and the championship racing for the SCCA improved touring cars is at Road Atlanta in Georgia. A few show up their every year...mostly Nissan Hardbody trucks but a few S-10's have run in that class as well. They are a handful to drive at speed, and we will have a bunch of guys who have never driven on track before. As for the "getting old after 3 or 4 hours" thing...hmmm...thinking shorter driving shifts might be in order. Add to the problem of newbies racing will be racing at night...which freaks out even some guys who have raced for quite awhile. Biggest problem with an autotrajic is that with a manual you can use the compression of the motor to slow the car down by downshifting. Thus the heat energy is dissipated out the exhaust and out through the radiator. Autotrajics get hot towing, much less racing for 24 hours. As the old saying goes, to finish first, first you must finish. Chris

We need to figure out how to organize the team. I can do logistical stuff and I have contacts in the racing world...but I lack the leadership ability to run a team or the ability to get an injured car back on track at four in the ayem. Glad your interested. Chris

This might be a good way for us to do this. I am dying to get on track also... Chris

I have NO problem whatsoever with the car being GM. In terms of what will still be running at two in the ayem in the rain after we've beaten on it for ten hours, I'd honestly trust GM before I'd trust VW or BMW or Mazda. Simple crude and overbuilt can finish this race. However...remember that this is a 24 hour race. The Michigan TDI VW guys run a VW only garage in Ann Arbor and pull people in from all over to get their vee dubs fixed. They raced a Sirroco in an event...it ran 4 hours and spun a main bearing. They put a spare motor in it and not that long later it ate the ECU and some wiring and put them out of the race. So they ended up with about 6 hours of track time out of 24, but they had a great time. So the #1 thing is a car that will run 24 hours under severe, severe conditions. a 305 V8 Camaro or Firebird would be a great choice. But remember, a heavier car like that will eat tires and be hard on brakes. So we need to take that into account. Also...remember that this is not like driving on the freeway at 55 miles per hour. A V8 car in an SCCA endurance race will get 4-6 miles to the gallon, a V6 car will do about 6-9 miles per gallon, and a 4 cyl will be 10-11, 12 if you are lucky. If you run the full 24 hours at an average speed of say 70 miles per hour, your going to go 1700 miles. I used to crew for an SCCA endurance racing team, and we averaged about 11-12 MPG with a 4 Cyl. It took every bit of 100 gallons plus for fuel for practice, qualifying, and racing to run a twelve hour race. Multiply that by two for a twenty four hour race and then figure half the fuel economy. If gas goes back up, be prepared to spend maybe a grand on fuel alone. But I digress. Everyone that has done this says that I've talked to says that it is a ton of fun. Let's keep talking about this. Chris

So...more thoughts please. I am getting together with the VW TDI club, the MINI Club, the Buckeye Miata Club, and the SCCA guys this weekend. Am going to see if anyone else is interested. What kind of car would you guys really like to run, and who is really interested??? PLEASE, let's keep the discussion going! Chris

If you guys are up for it, I think Z06 and I may also be. Glad to see a response. Whiteknight, What do you want for the Bird? Thinking a manual tranny car would be better but... hmmm. Chris

Happy Birthday, guys!

Who here would like to get a GM car together for a run at LeMons? It's the race for $500 beaters that was in the link with the MR2 racing the Buick. Talking with people here that would like to possibly start a C and G team, let us know. Maybe we can actually get Oldsmoboi out from behind his computer and behind the wheel... This thread is for any comments or ideas, no matter how crazy or unrealistic. We are just in the talking stages/dreaming stages now, BUT...we can make this a reality if we want to. Thinking of perhaps running a J body Cavalier...but would be open to other choices. Although we may lose dave87rs as a forum member if the Cavalier is chosen for the People's Curse and destroyed! (just kidding Dave, know your love for Cavi's...) Chris

On the upside, they are eleventy billion times better looking than a CRV! Chris

Buick Grand National national is one of my fav. GM cars. Chris

Happy birthday, guys! Chris

Thanks for the links, gm4life!

...translation...I just spent 30K I didn't have and lost my job, so I need someone to bail me out of a car I've ruined. Ughhh.

I would agree with you. The Corvette is a halo car, not an everyman type of car. It has never been an everyman type of car. People like to hump on the corvette, people like to hump on the MINI. Both will earn your respect real quick on track. The Corvette is a hell of a car. That being said...I'd rather have a GTI, MINI S, or Cobalt SS. I just prefer smaller cars. But I still love the vette.

CARBIZ_ Damn, just think...if that cannon went off...you would be emasculated enough to drive a Prius. Better keep the manly parts intact! Chris

Ted, your not going to believe this but...God is my witness...I was actually thinking of you tonight. The Columbus Blue Jackets were playing the Calgary Flames and I was wiating in line at the parking garage. Looked over and waiting in line to the left of me was a blue Z24 Cavi Sedan just like this one! Better yet...looked to my right and...a nice Z06 (C6) in the same color blue to the right of me! Chris

Glad to see it improving for you as well, Camino. Seriously, if I can't talk balthazar into a Challenger, maybe I can talk you into one. Someone here needs to buy a new Camaro/Challenger before we're all driving Prius wannabees. Chris

...and one last thought, sorry to post slut in your thread. I really, really , really would talk to owners about actual fuel economy before you pull the lever and write a check. ...perhaps it's just my experience, but I've known several people with these that get in the low teens from a fuel economy standpoint, and a few others that get 15-16, maybe 17. For those kind of figures, you may be happier with a slightly larger vehicle. Harder to drive, but you may not be done having kids... Chris

That being said, you have a small son and you will want to do things with him. A Liberty would do fairly well towing a small pop up camper or a light boat. Chris

If you can find one, you might also think about an older non Grand Cherokee Jeep. Those came with the inline six and were pretty reliable and make pretty good offroad/winter vehicles. Sadly, what CFC didn't kill of these vehicles age and milage ususally have. +1 on the rollover and narrowness issue. You all know my passion for salvage yards, I've seen wayyy to many of these (Liberty) rolled over. Personally, with peak oil and the weak dollar, I would hesitate to buy anything thats less than about 30+ MPG. But that's just ME...and I'm probably the only guy on C and G that feels that way. Chris

Sunfire FTW guy! I'll take three pedals to two any day. And as someone said, it's issues aren't that hard to fix. Brakes, Radio, etc...yhou should be able to do yourself. Chris