Why I Race An Underpowered Car

We are familiar with the constant debate of slow car fast versus fast car slow or why a momentum car is better than a high horsepower car and the responses  pretty much take the same stances.

There is the usual I passed a Corvette or a 911 with a bone stock Miata or conversely all cars are momentum cars if you are driving them at a top level.

First let’s tackle the elephant in the room; the driver. As the performance level of a car increases, the pool of drivers who can get the most out of it shrinks.

I’m keenly aware that when I’m passing a driver of a much faster car it’s because they are less experienced or more conservative and while I have driven and raced some fast cars with good results, I’m not going to be chucking a Can-Am car sideways at 130 mph ala Mark Donahue. So at some point a car is going to be more car than I am driver.

My Datsun 1200 barely hits 100 mph at most tracks  but I love driving it because you have to drive every inch of every lap like a complete fiend to get the most out of it. Once I turn into the corner I’m pretty much a passenger all the way to the exit curb. So somewhere between the Datsun and a Can-Am car my talent is such that I won’t be getting 100% out of the car anymore and I’m happiest when I’m getting 100% out of a car.

 Cost is 90% of the reason I race a slower car. I’m exceedingly cheap; my accountant says I’m so cheap I squeak.  

Slower cars go through consumables like fuel and tires and a much slower rate and they tend to be lighter and smaller which means you can tow a with a small SUV and a single axle trailer.

I race on cheeseburger money (well it’s cheeseburger money if you eat 10 a week) and pocket change. Racing is supposed to be fun; spending a large portion of my disposable income on racing sucks the fun out of it for me.

There is also the risk factor. Faster cars aren’t inherently more dangerous but as one’s talent decreases in relation to the car, the likelihood of making a mistake goes up exponentially. Given the speed of some of these cars the consequences of that mistake is going to be very high. For me the choice is either drive the car well within my limit or take a bigger risk and I don’t really like either option.

The short answer for why I race a low powered car could have been summarized in a nutshell; when I switched from road racing motorcycles to cars 33 years ago I was looking for something safer as well as more low key but it still had to be cheap. All these years later I remain a fan of small bore cars all for the reasons I’ve listed.

Should I win the lottery or an unknown uncle bestows me with th large inheritance, I would find a 1983 - 1985 1/2 Fox Bodied  SVO ,

Leave the Turbo 4 at  Turbo Bird HP level and put a zillion dollars into the suspension, cage, seats, 15" rotors, 6 Piston calipers,  6 speed IRS Rear suspension, 20" Hoosiers and etc

Then I would drive the literal wheels off it at 240 RWPH

All the fun, not much of the cost.

Enjoy

I think you pretty much have it covered for why people drive these kinds of cars at the track. Cheaper to buy, cheaper to maintain, less risk of crashing/running out of talent, and in terms of racing, usually larger fields (Faster fields usually have less people). Track days are a bit different because people just run whatever they own and go at it (it doesn't always make sense to have two cars to go the track with)

RacingComputers said:

Should I win the lottery or an unknown uncle bestows me with th large inheritance....................

I have these conversations with my son and wife.  I told my wife I don't belong in some 90s Indy car or F1 car..........it's asking for trouble.

I told my son we would get 4-5 cool vintage cars that are within our skill set. Something like a couple of 2.0 911s or maybe an air cooled Formula Super Vee.

All my cars have been momentum cars, I have yet to own the car that will leave black marks from the exit of a corner to the entrance of the next.

Peter Egan covered this topic - it's freaking hilarious. 
 

In reply to Datsun240ZGuy :

I wish I had the next page.

Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Datsun240ZGuy :

I wish I had the next page.

as a corvette owner so do i...  

This version is a bit hard to read but it is complete.  The Corvette racers are convinced that every one else is turning green with envy wanting to be manly men and have a 'real' car.

One of my funniest car memories was watching several Corvettes, a pair of AMXs and several 911s get beaten badly in a slalom by a great driver in  dead stock 1000 cc NSU sedan.  I guess when you think that you are at the top of the feeding hierarchy its is doubly hard to find that you aren't!  (I was running an MGA and also beat both my friends with their AMXs - they wore way more rubber off their tires trying, though.

I had forgotten that bit of Egan  "Magic"

In reply to wspohn :

I admit I do enjoy catching people in what should be faster cars but as I said originally it's down to the driver of these cars usually not getting the most out of it. 

I encounter some of this with the F500 at autocross; people who aren't familiar with them see what looks like a Malibu Gran Prix Car and then are shocked to learn just how fast they are. 

At the end of the day I like the vibe of the small bore cars; this goes back to my racing a 125 GP bike. I like the unique challenges it brings.

I am one of those Sprite racers too......tho now that they're getting close to 165 hp out of a 1275 they're getting pretty damn fast! 

I also have always preferred a light, nimble fun to drive car over a monster motored racer - still I admire those guys that can drive them well.

I raced an ITB VW Golf for about 8 seasons and was thinking of changing to a faster class. I was thinking something with a V8, so I talked to a buddy who was racing a Corvette at the time , and he told me what his costs were for consumables each weekend. I built a SpecMiata instead.

bentwrench said:

All my cars have been momentum cars, I have yet to own the car that will leave black marks from the exit of a corner to the entrance of the next.

That needs only about 250-300hp if you have a two wheel drive car on dirt or gravel 

Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Datsun240ZGuy :

I wish I had the next page.

I feel funny screenshotting as I feel like I'm crossing some copyright law.

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

bentwrench said:

All my cars have been momentum cars, I have yet to own the car that will leave black marks from the exit of a corner to the entrance of the next.

That needs only about 250-300hp if you have a two wheel drive car on dirt or gravel 

Hence why I love dirt racing!

I was weaned in a rear engined car on dirt.

Datsun240ZGuy said:

Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Datsun240ZGuy :

I wish I had the next page.

I feel funny screenshotting as I feel like I'm crossing some copyright law.

You're right, IP theft isn't cool and it's rampant.

How appropriate is this! On-board footage from a SSC(Showroom Stock C) 1999 Honda Civic Si and a T-1(Touring 1) C5 Corvette during an open practice session. The "slowest" class in SCCA against the "fastest" stock tire class or 150hp vs 425hp?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn2wN2omQE8&t=38s

I did it because of the cost. I continue because of the people I run with. There's something about a pack of 100hp 2500lb cars screaming at their limit nose to tail that is so damn fun. 

That and my lack of skill at driving fast cars. I'll just stay slow. 

Tom1200 said:

In reply to wspohn :

I admit I do enjoy catching people in what should be faster cars but as I said originally it's down to the driver of these cars usually not getting the most out of it.

At the end of the day I like the vibe of the small bore cars; this goes back to my racing a 125 GP bike. I like the unique challenges it brings.

You and I are the same in that respect. I still race a 125, or rather a 144 now. There's just something about running a small bore bike in a gate full of 350 and 450 4 strokes, and beating most of them.

As someone who's journey includes autocrossing ESP Mustang, STS Miata, CAMC Mustang, and Fmod with brief guest appearances in Historic Classic Street, and Xprepared...

Very different thrills

• Slow/underpowered - you consistently extract MUCH more, which leads to consistent lap times. You work at whittling away time from your run or lap. I would imagine for wheel to wheel this leads to closer more consistent battles where you are more focused on playing chess with your opponent to get ahead.
• Faster/more powerful - "faster faster until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death". You are challenged to extract everything from the car, it takes MUCH more effort to be consistent. The challenge becomes more personal to extract what can be from the car. I would imagine this translates to more variability between cars and lap to lap for wheel to wheel. 

I might be too far down conjecture on this. but its where my mind has been.

When I was running the STS Miata, I could show up and then be chasing a tenth of a second after run 2-3. Going to Fmod, I am still chasing that and more after run 5-6.  

I autocross a slow car, my E Street Miata, and a slower car, my H Street daily driver civic. The Miata is a 99 sport with koni sport shocks and a front sway bar swap, so it's competitive in the class. 
 

The civic, not so much. It's prepped the same as the Miata with the Koni sport shocks and a fat rear bar, but where it falls short is being the 140 hp single cam engine. That puts me about 40 to 60 hp behind most of the cars in the class.
 

To do well, I've got to drive it at the absolute limit and carry speed everywhere that I can. I have been 10th in PAX at an event, but that's not where it usually ends up.

Since the Miata has no roll protection, I use the civic for track sprints and track days. Same story, got to drive it to the limits.

In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :

Thats the thing, if you are going max effort in both, its much easier to consistently extract the limits in the lower power car. 

Apexcarver said:

In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :

Thats the thing, if you are going max effort in both, its much easier to consistently extract the limits in the lower power car. 

I don't find that to be the case. Granted if the car is well outside your skill set then mistakes are likely.

Small cars can be fun - I belong to a combined MG/Jaguar club that has a summer event every year that includes a slalom in a big parking lot.

I showed up in an MGA coupe with less than 100 bhp and that I hadn't got around to fitting a front sway bar to.  There were some hot XKEs, and a prepped solo XJS convertible on a trailer, as well as a couple of hotted up MGBs prepared by local businesses as solo event cars.

All were pissed off when I took FTD, and it was the last time that they set a tight course for their annual event.

Similarly, I won a bet from a Porsche owner who gave me a 10 minute start on an hours drive from a local ski mountain. I beat him and won the bet (a rather nice bottle of wine)  using the same car, albeit with a front bar on it and some good tires.

It ca be a lot of fun watching a David an Goliath match - a local driver with an SCCA level Sprite used to drive the guys with Mustangs  and faster British sports cars fits by posting faster lap times.