Lets talk Open Wheelers/Lightweight NA track cars.

[No Crust Racing]

Lets talk Open Wheelers/Lightweight NA track cars.

Is anyone here playing with open wheelers for track day fun? 

I like the idea of something lighter, NA and hopefully less maintenance/tuning/cooling hassle/cheaper on tyres and brakes than my turbo S13 track car. 

Or are these things prohibitively expensive to buy/maintain? 

Failing that, what other small/lightweight track cars have potential to go quick? I see MX5s are popular but I also see people sink bulk coin into them before they're quick. 

 

[JGTC]

Would you consider go-kart/supercart?  Supercart's are tricky as they can only race in their own one-make events, but they are near on WTAC fast.

[No Crust Racing]

I don't think that would work for my local DECA facility where my car club runs sprint events. I have seen a lotus 7 style thing there, but nothing smaller. 

Same goes for fun days/test and tune days at Winton. 

[GTofuS-T]

There's a few guys on the forum with Radicals which are allowed at and decimate everyone at sprints

[No Crust Racing]

I should have clarified that having an S13 track car means I am talking budget options

I don't want to have to sell my GT-R to afford it lol

[GTofuS-T]

Fair call... other than mx-5 but in the same league (actually not really cause FWD) I'd consider a Hyundai Excel or a Nissan Pulsar, purely because they Excel cup and Pulsar Challenge there's plenty of support for making these cars trackable

At a recent sprint I attended a Hyundai Excel was 0.1 second slower than the fastest (being a Radical)

[No Crust Racing]

I've seen Excels punted really hard and on decent tyres they seem be far more capable than they should be 0_0

These looked very cool given the humble MX5 beginnings. 

http://www.racingclassifieds.com.au/index.php?page=item&id=54

 

 

[GTofuS-T]

That's cool! AND you can road register them!

[No Crust Racing]

Yeah I think a "good" one runs you quite a few dollars though, by good I mean the race version with full cage and potentially a boosted motor. 

If we say my Silvia at full weight with me in it is 1200-1300kg? It makes 200rwkw so 6-6.5kg/per kW and that thing weighs between 660-700 I think depending on donor parts used.

If we say 700-740 with me in it and we could maybe squeeze 100rwkw out of an NA MX5 motor (I'm guessing, I have no idea) then you end up with 7-7.4kg/per kW. If you could get a mild boosted platform (say low boost supercharged setup) and get it to 140rwkw or so then things look nicer. 

I realise there's more to lap time than power to weight and that thing would kick ass through the corners and most likely be faster even with a worse power to weight as it can maintain higher corner speeds once moving. 

I'd need to drive one  There doesn't appear to be much in the open wheeler space for reasonable $$ so I can  see why MX5s are so popular. 



 

[benm]

Stohr WF1 ($50k+)
Stohr F1000 ($50k+)
Radical SR3 ($40k+)
Minetti ($30k+)
Dallara 307 ($50k+)

Add another $15k in spares and tools to get you by.

[No Crust Racing]

I know you gotta pay to play, but I'm not dropping that sort of coin on a track car

 

[benm]

Thats the bottom end of the market. If you want a front running Stohr you will need $70k and for a Radical it will be $100k. Then add another $3k of running cost per event per day.

[No Crust Racing]

So no open wheelers lol

What about lightweight NA? MX5 is basically it for RWD isn't it? 

Starting to think my Silvia is actually pretty good bang for buck now... 

[benm]

Oh i also forgot a $20k enclosed trailer if you want to go interstate. Break a rear wing? $3k, break any of the 3 piece bodywork is another $3k each, undertray / diffuser on a Stohr? $5k, Radical spec engine rebuild? $12k, replacement engine? $20k, quality safety clothes helmet hans etc? $5k.

[No Crust Racing]

Jesus christ lol

[Hadouken]

Evo

[No Crust Racing]

Hah, find me an Evo for S13 swap... 

[GTofuS-T]

LS1 MX-5

[No Crust Racing]

"But it will ruin the weight balance!!!!"

Quoted from the forum. 

The problem would be finding one, I have little desire to build another track car. The Silvia has so many hours in it. 

[djr81]

Just buy a 7.  Cheap as you like or as expensive as you want it to be.  Plus they are very quick on the right hands.  Not Radical quick but it the track has corners they will more often than not beat a Skyline.  Their aero is a bit like a brick wall, however.