Renting a car is nice if you are in the right situation. Assuming everything goes well and you rent from the right people, it works out great. My biggest concern renting a car is what if...maybe you lose it in a turn and damage the car. You need to be able to come up with the funds to replace / repair the car.
My opinion - take your car to a few high performance driving events. Even if you decide you want to do w2w racing, the experience you gain here will be very valuable. I personally did about 1 1/2 years of it before doing SCCA racing. If my first driving event was an SCCA school, I probably wouldn't be racing now. A HPDE lets you learn and obtain instruction on the right line. The SCCA school isn't about that.
The best part is you can take your Accord out on the track this summer! Put some high temp brake fluid in, check your brakes, oil, ect. and you're good to go. Where are you from? I'm sure someone can give you some names of good HPDEs in your area.
After doing a year of that, see how things stand. If you have the money, buying a pre-built car is definately a good route to go. I can't even tell you how much time I've put into my car and there is still work to be done.
I also recommend that you go to some SCCA events in your area and learn as much as possible. Most people are more then willing to talk to you about their cars. Soak up as much as possible.
You could also volunteer and become a worker. Another great way to learn more!
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Dave Gran
NER #13 ITA
'87 Honda Prelude