In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :
I'm 99% certain the Datsun wagon is not a car I want to sell to my niece at the end and have her be able to put 25k miles on it as she finishes high school. 
In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :
I'm 99% certain the Datsun wagon is not a car I want to sell to my niece at the end and have her be able to put 25k miles on it as she finishes high school.
In reply to SVreX :
But the salvage G35 that the running gear came off would have made an excellent Gastropod car. A bit heavier than the Datsun, but pretty much the same. I should go check copart.....
Sounds interesting.
bobzilla said:ok.... there are a crap ton of cars local to me under $1500. There's a tC with a popped engine for under a grand.
There is also a very nice X1/9 that fits this class and would be Challenge priced for you. I'd take it myself, but I am not planning on still owning it next fall.
This might be the reason to finally give a civic hatchback a try. I’ve been trying to find an excuse for years.
If I didn’t just smush the front of my 1987 Mercedes (w124) 260E it would have been perfect for this. Haven’t decided if it makes sense to straighten the bodywork.
Closest tire to 300 I've found so far is the Yokohama S-drive.
LanEvo said:If I didn’t just smush the front of my 1987 Mercedes (w124) 260E it would have been perfect for this. Haven’t decided if it makes sense to straighten the bodywork.
Run it as is, assuming mostly driveable.
The Datsun was running the Riken Raptor ZR. 300tw and plenty of sizes are less than $100 on TR right now.
Contisport Extreme Contact Sport are 340 and compare favorably against almost anything >200tw last I checked. Also, as of a few years ago, they were the top choice for rain tires.
Luckily, I already have a set on my car. Whats FMV on an auto 1998 Saturn SL2 with 185k on it? (I paid $3k approx 7 years and 85k miles ago) If there is enough room for me to manual swap it, I may be coming next year.
In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :
I don't see anything smaller than 16's
This 'rule set' encompasses all my challenge attempts so far anyway and is the way that I personally prefer to interpret the challenge, whatever the official ruleset may be.
Having said that, I'm in!
mazdeuce - Seth said:In reply to SVreX :
But the salvage G35 that the running gear came off would have made an excellent Gastropod car. A bit heavier than the Datsun, but pretty much the same. I should go check copart.....
and toyman seems to think that a 265/305 setup is easily fitted... at least on a coupe
I had the thought last night that copart or IAAI would be a fitting sponsor of the class?
re: Tires
I've run the Dunlop DZ102's in a full day of Intermediate HPDE with a '94 miata, stripped/Koni'd/HardDogTopped with HPS pads. They were not that far off the star specs... although, after two/three laps of pushing they would overtemp and fall off. But that shouldn't be an issue for autocross.
I wonder how good the Khumo PS31's are?
Thinking about it, there might be an advantage to having a bunch of miatas in Gastropods... especially if people are willing to try new tires.
mazdeuce - Seth said:
In reply to Ovid_and_Flem :
I agree with two exceptions.
1. Money found in the car can be deducted from your budget. You find $2.56 in change, you can spend $2.56 more.
2. You can sell any super weird stuff you find in your car when you buy it, but only to other class members. Chess set? Sell it. Power tools? Sell them. Vintage nudie mags? Call Ovid_and_Flem.
I think we should add a third exception, referencing "maintenance items" that are "like for like" replacements:
Coolant, Oil, Oil Filter, Brake: Pads, Fluid, Lines maybe even the master cylinder? Potentially also coolant hoses... as someone in the "what's the class" thread mentioned, spilled coolant ruins everones' day
In reply to sleepyhead :
Brake components and fluids are already exempt per the main event rules. Coolant hoses etc are not.
I kind of like the “like for like” on basic maintenance items. It will enable more street drivers, and in my case (working with HS students) give me opportunities to teach basic maintenance skills.
But if we go that route, I would definitely have an “exempt list”. Hoses, belts, filters, timing belt, wipers, plugs etc, but NOT anything internal.
I will go either way on that. Write the rule, and I will follow it.
SVreX said:In reply to sleepyhead :
Brake components and fluids are already exempt per the main event rules. Coolant hoses etc are not.
I kind of like the “like for like” on basic maintenance items. It will enable more street drivers, and in my case (working with HS students) give me opportunities to teach basic maintenance skills.
I agree it's already in the main rules, but Ovid's original post was "no budget recoup, no exemption"... I guess I'm saying we should limit that to: "no budget recoup, no tire exemption, regular maintenance encouraged using like for like". (Which was some wording JohnW brought in on the "Maintenace exemption rules tweak" thread)
I also agree that these kinds of maintenance items are important "basic skills" that:
a) not everyone knows
b) are empowering to ownership / personal-development
c) important bridge to cross before getting into more difficult builds/concepts
hence why I think it should be explicitly allowed/encouraged
In reply to sleepyhead :
I voted “No” in that other thread, because it was just scope creep.
I would vote “Yes” in this class, with a very specific list. Partly because recoup is gone.
Let’s talk about tires for a minute...
I like the idea of including them in the budget for simplicity reasons. I also understand that it will lead to bad things.
$400 is a big budget hit for $2000 cars with no recoup. Most of us don’t have 300tw tires laying around.
This is gonna lead novice teams to run on crappy tires, possibly on the street.
How can we strike a good balance?
Ummmm.... I found a 2.3 manual mazda 3 local for $750, needs an engine. How do I not buy this?
I like this. If my bonus comes out extra fat this year, I might be able to do this. I did see a MT mazda MX3 on CL for $750 recently...
SVreX - I get what you're saying but...I've driven slow cars on crap tires on the street most of my life without incident. Do you think any of these cars will really be that much more dangerous than the average broke-ass car street car that drives past you on a daily basis? I mean, I know people here can build some stupid fast cars for $2k, but with no recoup, and especially including the tire cost, is that speed-limiting enough to decrease the concern?
Double Ninja EDIT: Nevermind. I forgot an MX3 and a Mazda 3 are NOT the same thing.
In reply to ultraclyde :
I don’t think the standard we should be promoting is the average broke-ass street car.
We are encouraging people to try to run 100 mph.
In reply to SVreX :
yeah, I guess that makes sense. Tire exemption IS sort in the realm of safety equipment exemption.
I also think it is a potential liability issue for GRM.
If a car full of High School kids had a blowout on the way home from the event at highway speed, it could get ugly.
I suggest 300tw tires exempt from budget. The only exemption. They would be subject to the same tech safety inspection as all other cars.
At least that way there is no excuse for running crappy tires.
Note that this would mean the Gastropods would be playing with a potential budget of $2400 or so, while the main event players are playing with more like $4500.
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