jlisseter34
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| posted on 20/4/11 at 08:24 PM |
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Locost Racing .. A few questions for you
Hi All,
I'm very interested in getting into locost racing and a have a few questions that I need answering if I may.
I've read a lot about getting a race ready car being the best way to go but how easy is it to adapt a road legal car to race spec, including
roll cage, fuel cell etc?
Is it just better to buy a race car that has pedigree and put some dosh aside for engine, carb and exhaust upgrades?
Being a competitive kart racer with some car experience I’d like to buy good equipment so is there a good race team that someone would recommend I
speak to?
Thanks for your time and I promise it won't be wasted.
Cheers
Jon
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big_wasa
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| posted on 20/4/11 at 08:30 PM |
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http://www.procomp.co.uk/
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loggyboy
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| posted on 20/4/11 at 08:43 PM |
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Without a doubt cheaper and easier to buy a race ready car. They usually come up £4-5k. I wouldnt worry about pedigree unless you are an experience
racer, as you will want to get used to the race series first and its bound to get damaged if you are midfield!
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jlisseter34
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| posted on 20/4/11 at 09:17 PM |
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Thanks chaps
i'll give these guys a call.
I went to brands at the weekend and the racing looked very clean an close.
perhaps an arrive and drive deal might be best to start off with.
J
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TMC
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| posted on 20/4/11 at 09:22 PM |
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The problem I can forsee with a road legal car is that it will always be a bit of a compromise, and may entail more work than you realise. Unless you
already have a car with a race-legal 1300 X-flow engine, you're going to need one, and I can't imagine too many people built road cars
with that spec of engine in already. This means spending circa £1500 on an engine on top of the cost of the car. Potentially likewise, but to a lesser
cost with the gearbox.
Having never built a kit for the road I'm not best positioned to comment, but I would imagine there are many items on a road car that are
superfluous for racing, and many expensive errant items (extinguisher, correct harness, cage etc) that are going to significantly add to your
costs.
It really does make sense to buy a car that is already prepared Such as this one and
spending that extra cash on loads of testing, track days and driver tuition.
Seat time is about the only way to progress to the front in Locost!
There are plenty of people on here who have come from your situation and progressed through buying a car and onto the grid, so use the collective
knowledge as much as you can! If there are any specific questions, a few of us have been around the championship pretty much since it began so we can
do our best to answer any queries you may have.
One thing I can guarantee is that if you get yourself onto the grid, you wont regret it at all!
Cheers,
Matt
http://www.tmcmotorsport.co.uk
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NOTE:This user is registered as a LocostBuilders trader and may offer commercial services to other users
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Steve Hignett
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| posted on 20/4/11 at 10:22 PM |
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Also would suggest speaking to Procomp...
(Matt and Ivan)
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MK9R
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| posted on 21/4/11 at 06:30 AM |
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Don't discount the RGB series, great value for money, running standard bike engines keeping cost right down, plus one of the fastest series in
the 750 club. Not that I'm biased at all ;-)
Cheers Austen
RGB car number 9
www.austengreenway.co.uk
www.automatedtechnologygroup.co.uk
www.trackace.co.uk
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jlisseter34
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| posted on 21/4/11 at 08:06 AM |
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Thanks for the help chaps.
I'll have to start looking at the figures now and get my ARDS sorted.
just one more question:
If i bought a car, is there a team that would be able to store it and bring to the tracks?
I do have a garage available but no space for a trailer.
Are any teams based in the south east?
Jon
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TimC
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| posted on 21/4/11 at 08:09 AM |
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There is no doubt in my mind that buying a ready-to-rock car with some good results under its belt is the way to go in terms of bang-for-buck.
I bought a car a couple of years back with a history of Top-6 places for the unbelievable price of £3200. However, it was a bit tired and, had I kept
it another season, it would have needed an engine refresh, new dampers all round and potentially a straighter axle casing if I were looking to move
up the grid (Duh!) Hence, in my view, anything sub-£4.5k for a fresh-feeling car is a bargain.
There's still a not insignificant bit of me that would love a box-fresh pimpy new Locost though - in this case you have three main options. The
Procomp package is essentially one of the most accurate chassis in the space-frame kit car world imho. Yes, it is a touch more expensive but it
comes, I believe, with guarantees. If you found that something were out of alignment for example, I'd expect Matt to be genuinely ashamed of
himself.
The other two options available are the Aries Chassis, which doesn't have much wrong with it and, based on this weekend's results, the new
improved LRC/Allied Chassis that won first time out by the looks of things.
The final option is DIY. I believe that one of the best cars on the grid (Matt from TMC will support me on this) is Dave Boucher's
scratch-build. I was surprised to see Dave lower down the pack than I was expecting last weekend. I know he was trying something slightly different
(within the regs) for the engine this season, so maybe that didn't work. Alternatively he may have been hitting the pies..... [Hi DB!  ]
Oh, and RGB is a great formula too - you'd have a hoot in either.
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TimC
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| posted on 23/4/11 at 09:11 AM |
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Helpfully someone has posted a video walk-around of my old car on YouTube.
All of the new GRP came with the car when I bought it - fitting it took a lot more effort than expected however. The bonnet and rear cover were made
for me by a local sheet metal fabricator.
The new owner has polished everything and I think the car looks great. Note the pool ball gear knob - felt great to use!
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