Suggestions for Inexpensive Ford Racing?

T

thinman337

New member
I am looking to get back into SCCA after a 10 years off. I am looking for a inexpensive and fun car to drive. I am currently considering a Festiva, Escort, or if I can find one cheap enough, a Contour.

I am looking for past experience and suggestions with each of these, or even one not listed. I am also considering possibly looking in to Mazdas.

I will probably start out racing Solo I or II, but want to be able to move on to IT, without moving to another car, or re-working everything.

Thanks in advance!

[This message has been edited by thinman337 (edited July 23, 2003).]
 
Nothing is really "cheap" in motorsports.

With the Escort, you can select three styles and three classes in FWD. They all require a fair amount of work to acquire suitable racing bits--they are not "popular"--but are each nice cars.

I still don't know if they corrected the spec line in the ITCS for the 1991 EGT in ITA. It needs to be expanded to years later than only 1991.

The Festiva has its fans, but is even less popular than the Escort. I would select a Fiesta over a Festiva, but that car is quite old and parts location is a real adventure.

The Contour is not very popular, but it could be worth a shot. Since it is a "world car"--a Mondeo--there may be some race bits for it overseas.

Good luck.
 
Some basics:

Small cars use less:
Fuel
Brakes
Tires
Effort to push in the paddock
Trailer
You name it, they use less.

(Of course, things like entry fee and gear cost the same, but buying 5 gallons of unleaded cheap gas is a heck of lot easier than 25 gallons of race gas (AS car)).

"The smaller the car, the bigger the track."

That said, I race a Festiva, at Waterford. Mostly for the above reasons.

On Festivas:
Yup, they're oddballs in SCCA land. But they do have a small following. Not many racers or hardcore IT parts, but it can be done.
www.festivamotorsport.com (yup, it's for real)
www.fordfestiva.com
groups.yahoo.com/group/festiva
 
As you could probably tell from my user ID, I vwould vote for the beloved Fiesta. There are several places that offer mods for the car, and it is obscenely lightweight. With driver the GCR spec weight is ~1780.

I am a bit biased, but, in my opinion, a Fiesta is a good choice for IT, and you will have a very competitive car in ITC.



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JJ
#62 ITC
 
I have been driving an ITB Mustang for 2 years now. Finally starting to get up to speed. I love it. In general it is inexpensive. Tends to be hard on brakes, but not much else. Lots of go fast stuff for them also and parts-o-plenty in salvage yards. I have a friend that bought one last year for $2500 ready to go racing, can't beat that. Compared to other cars in the class it has HP, Ok handling and fair brakes.

Chris Childs
WHRRI ITB 07
 
I would also suggest a 74 and above Pinto, lots of parts competitive (finished 2nd in the points ITB in my 74 pinto)
 
The Fiesta was very cheap for me. You can find almost any part on ebay. I am selling mine for 2k. This includes a complete running parts car and lots of spare parts. It is current and race ready. My vote would be the Fiesta over the Festiva. An Escort over the Contour. I love Mustangs though. That was my dream car to race. I just picked one up last week!
 
Thanks for all the feedback! I am in the process of convincing the wife that this can be a family sport, and scraping together the money to get started.

From what I have read here, Escort's and Festiva's definatly seem like the way to go, so it will probably boil down to which ever one comes my way the easiest and cheapest.

Thanks Again!
 
Don't spend too much time worrying about whether the wife is on board or not.
The truth is that racing, or anything else for that matter, is not a family sport unless everyone in the family really thinks it is.
My wife doesn't care anything about it and neither do my kids.
If you really want to do something, you need to do it. You don't want to be pissing and moaning in 20 years about how you wished you had done this or that.
Some people play golf and some fish and some hunt and they don't involve their families. Racing is no different except it is relatively more expensive in terms of time and money. Its a weekend instead of a half day or a day.
Sometimes the best you can hope for is that the wife supports your desire even though she stays home.
 
Oh and when you do get the car, don't ever get rid of it. I had the "kid issue" hit me and I got rid of the car. Took me 7 years to get one back. Now my kids are my biggest supporters as I get back into it this year. I even think my wife is excited about it, in her own little way!

I have had two Fiesta's and had a great time with them. Wouldn't mind finding another one, but can't have two. I would reccomend one. May not be as fast as the Honda's, but they are great cars!

My biggest regret is selling my Fiesta, after I finally got it going good, when the kids came and the time wasn't there to race.
 
There is one more alternative that I'm working on right now.

Its a Ford Probe. The probe comes with a 2.2l perky motor. The motor is near bullet proof. I have 261,000 miles on it, and I race this car. The parts can be found in wrecking yards quite easily. Any other parts not made for racing I'm creating from scratch so people who want to follow in my foot steps can have what they need.

The average cost is about 1500 or less. I picked up mine for about $900. There are lots of suspension parts etc available. Porterfield has the brakes and rotors. And AutoZone carries the stock rotors for $30ea.

Im in the process of getting it cleared through SCCA. I have to fill out a lot of paper work on it. The sister car the MX-6 of the same year is already listed in the SCCA IT section so it should be a problem. The only big difference is that the probe has much sleeker body lines than the Mx-6. My website www.probetalk.com is perfect for anyone wishing to know every little bit and piece qurk etc about these cars..

Heres to the future..!
smile.gif


Toodles,
Racy-Stacey - Prototyping the Ford Probe for IT.
staceydecals_10.jpg


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Toodles,
Stacey_B AOL IM: SCCAStaceyIB 1990PGL SCCA STSL "Girls Do It Better" Cal Club T&S, BWRP,WS,Lag,Hallett www.scpoc.com : www.probetalk.com Racing is my life. Winner One Lap of America 2003- SSGT2 class 1996 Ford Probe GT.

[This message has been edited by Racy-Stacey (edited September 04, 2003).]

[This message has been edited by Racy-Stacey (edited September 04, 2003).]
 
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