A friend and I have decided to build a chump-car. We want to build rather than buy. We want something interesting. I tried my damndest to sell him on a Saturn but he wasn't having it. We met in the middle and decided on an S-Series pickup.
It's only a marginally terrible idea. I got a few opinions in my first thread (Jellybean Taurus in chumpcar) but here is your opportunity to tell me I'm dumb again!
Much better starting point than a jellybean...real full frame, rwd, lots of cheap LSD rear diffs, easily modified front suspension, plenty of room in engine bay for engine swaps/set back, manual transmissions available, good head room, tough vehicles.
Don't rule out jeep trucks.
Go for it
If the various model's had different sized gas tanks, seek the largest. Then go +2 gallons with a cell and another +.5 with a surge tank.
I've been racing one of these for 5 years in Lemons. I'll try to remember to get back here later when on my computer to post more. The short answer is that we picked the s10 for very specific and unique reasons and without those I wouldn't do it again. They are not all that fun to drive, not that easy to work on with the 4.3, and you will be totally uncompetitive in Chump with one. It is nice having every single parts available at any FLAPS and junkyard for cheap though.
Circle track front suspension with long ass top and bottom ball joints.
Corvette brakes.
3800 and t5 to lsd rear. The 7.5 held up fine in the Malibu.
Do a link rear end with coilsprings.
Jeep Cherokee intermediate steering shaft to improve steering feel. Ws6 fbody steering box.
Big ass front and rear sways.
Should be competitive....ish.
Wide small diameter tires and slam it to the ground.
Raced a Malibu and regularly finished top 10 with this combination... sorta. Had a 350 Chevy and stock rear end.
The steering shaft and box made the car fun to drive!
I approve of this message. Cool idea. I believe Chumpcar to be about having fun and not winning as the main goal.
Sonic wrote: I've been racing one of these for 5 years in Lemons. I'll try to remember to get back here later when on my computer to post more. The short answer is that we picked the s10 for very specific and unique reasons and without those I wouldn't do it again. They are not all that fun to drive, not that easy to work on with the 4.3, and you will be totally uncompetitive in Chump with one. It is nice having every single parts available at any FLAPS and junkyard for cheap though.
OP, do yourself a favor and listen to everything Sonic tells you about running the S10. Like I mentioned in the other thread, our race team has a wealth of experience running this chassis and he's the team captain. He knows the mechanical side of it, up and down. We've done at least 20 races with an S10.
From a driving perspective, like I mentioned in the other thread, it's a sledgehammer, a slam dancer, or other such descriptions. I won't lie and say I have as much "fun" driving it as I do in our now-boosted (oh hell yeah!!) Civic, because it's nowhere near as good of a race car. Not even close. But there is something fun about man handling this tall, clumsy beast around the track. I'd assume it'll be different in Chump, but in LeMons if it's class C and you can turn steady and consistent laps, you'll be at least competitive for the win in it. We won C once, with "the boat".
It's as aerodynamic as a brick, so on a long straight you won't get a ton of speed. Get one with functional ABS, so that the rears don't lock up...or the fronts if you have a heavy footed driver. It's very nose heavy, of course, and acts like it. So traction at the rear is always a challenge when trying to put power down out of a corner. It can also plow pretty good if you go into a corner too hot.
In our April race, we had rain the entire first day...as in green to checker...with spots of standing water. I ran that truck for 4 hours (two shifts/two hours each). Even though it was roughly my 20th race in LeMons, I had always lucked out and never had rain...until then. It was a ridiculous handful to drive. There were other complicating factors...we think someone oiled the track down, or perhaps all the rain water giving the undersides of 130 hoopties a bath just put oil on the track. Plus we later found a spring wasn't seated properly, screwing up our weight distribution. I couldn't put the power down to save my life and had a hard time keeping it under control in corners. I learned more about car control in those shifts than I ever had...and by the second hour of my first shift was starting to have fun. Once I was shown a better rain racing line, I found more traction for sure, but the truck still a wicked handful on a slippery race track.
TIGMOTORSPORTS wrote: I approve of this message. Cool idea. I believe Chumpcar to be about having fun and not winning as the main goal.
Not really. Lemons is more about having fun.
Chump is the more serious of the 2. However, there are plenty of teams that just wanna make laps.
There are chump cars doing 2:14 at Watkins glen... in a miata...
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