F20C4ME

From what I've read and heard, it more worth your money and time to take part in autoX and track days and racing school, than it is to drop $4500 on suspension mods. So now that I'm ready to start learning how to drive, where do I start? I'm thinking autoX, but were can I find more info about local AutoX events? Then, I would love to go to the track as well, for track days, also hoping to be local. And racing schools as well, what do you recommend? Skip? I would like find out as much as I can. I am a full time college student and I'm kinda tight on cash, so I would like to gather as much info as I can, b4 I start to put down "big" money on AutoX gear and racing school.

Thanks to all you who have helped,


F20

payneinthe

Where are you located?

http://www.scca.org/ is the primary autocross sanctioner nationwide. For track days, it'll depend more on your location.

mikegarrison

To be honest, when I was a full time college student I could not have afforded to drop the kind of money I am now doing on track days. It probably costs $400-$500 per day, when you figure the cost of the track, the gas, the wear on the brakes and tires, and other incidentals. That being said, spending $2500 on driving days is a much better investment than spending the same $2500 on some suspension mods that may or may not be better tuned for the car than the perfectly good bone stock suspension already on the S2000. And spending the day on the track is a lot more fun than spending the day in the garage.

Personally, I think anyone who wants to drive an S2000 on the track needs to put all of their initial "mod" budget into "stop fast parts", rather than "go fast parts". The brakes are the weak link of the stock S2000. Fortunately, most of the deficit can be made up just by installing track brake pads and flushing the brake system with a high temp DOT4 fluid.

Most car enthusiast clubs (many are associated with particular marques like BMW or Porsche but will allow other participants) have "novice" or "basic car control" skills days. These often cost less than $100 and the more stock the car is, the better. These are great introductions to both high performance driving and the local driving community. The skills are usually more focused on street driving than track driving, but they work as a good introduction.

AutoX is not the same as high speed track driving, and not all of the skills transfer each way. But it is (at least on the local level) much cheaper, and probably carries a lot less risk, too. Again, local car clubs are probably most tuned into the local autox scene.

F20C4ME

I'm located in Davis, CA, About 20mi from Sacramento. I would love to be able to do track days, but don't think I could spend $400 plus each time. I was thinking like $150 for all day, but maybe I'm not thinking realistically. I would like to do autoX, but I would much rather do a full time, high-speed track race, instead. I still don't know if going to a racing school is worth it. I DO make enough money to do a $400 track day once a month, but that is not enough for me. I would love to race on a track at least once a week. But I don't think it is a very good idea for me to race a RWD car like the s2k on a track with my litte racing experience and NO RWD experience. That is why I would want to go to driving school. I just want to get the most out of my s2000, when I get it that is, and I think it is really stupid and irresponcable to go around speeding and weaving through traffic, as if I were on a race track. Plus I can't afford the speeding tickets, I have a perfect record, believe it or not

Thanks for the feedback,

F20


Also, could you please reccommend a good DOT4 brake fluid and racing pads?

mikegarrison

There are many, many threads on this subject. For reference, I am using Motul600 fluid and Carbotech Panther+ pads.

In the beginning, you will be probably be spending about $150-200 to get on the track, maybe another $150-200 for instruction, and only a limited amount of money on tires, brakes, oil, etc. Over time the instruction budget will go down and the expendibles budget will go up.

Those prices assume a more or less open track situation. The more "run groups" there are sharing the track time, the less track time you will get but the less it should cost as well. For instance, a car club may be able to offer you a track day with instructors for $150, but you will probably be in one of four run groups, and get four half-hour sessions per day. The track day I just ran yesterday cost $175, plus $75 for a an hour or two of instructor time, but I had an open track for almost seven hours. I ran two tanks of gas dry and had over 200 track miles.

In the beginning, I think a half hour on track and 1.5 hours to process what you learned and get ready to do it again is actually a reasonably good schedule for learning.

payneinthe

F20, you've got a great perspective and you'll get good responses here. In CA, a very large percentage of us attend the SpeedVentures trackdays (http://www.speedventures.net/). They cost anywhere from $100 to $400 per day, depending on the track, time of year, weekday vs weekend, etc. But on top of the entry fee are your consumables (tires, gas, brakes, helmet lining in Drew's case, etc...) and travel expenses (hotel, food, more gas, gambling money, strippers, hookers, etc...). It definitely all adds up.

PedalFaster

You should clarify what you mean by "race". Actual racing, as in wheel-to-wheel competition on a track, is rather more expensive than even track days. I don't think I know anyone who races on a weekly basis.

mikegarrison

For that matter, I don't know anyone who does lapping days on a weekly basis. But yeah, actual racing is way more expensive. To simulate it, I suggest wearing a heavy Nomex suit in the middle of summer and then riding a rollercoaster while burning a wad of $50 bills.

Ludedude

Where can I get that for burning a wad of $50s? I usually just bring a wheelbarrow fll of $100s to the amusement park

Orthonormal

Here are some autocross clubs that run events in the greater bay area:

San Francisco Region SCCA: Holds events at Oakland Coliseum, Candlestick "Monster" Park in South San Francisco, Golden Gate Fields in Albany, and Marina Airport in Marina. Events require SCCA national membership, which is about $75/year. 3 runs, sometimes 4.

Sacramento Chapter SCCA: Holds events at the San Joachim Fairgrounds in Stockton. Non-members allowed.

American Autocross Series: Holds events at Castle Airport in Atwater. The courses are big and fast, and can be intimidating to the newcomer. Non-members allowed. 5 runs. You can buy a 2nd card and run 5 more. Each weekend has events on Saturday and Sunday.

Fresno Chapter SCCA: Holds events at Castle Airport. Less organized and efficient than AAS. Non-members allowed. 4 or 5 runs.

The San Francisco Region hosts a novice school every spring. You have to be a member to enroll. Preference is likely to be given to those who have run at least one SFR autocross before.