New to E30 and racing in general

#1

Hi guys!

I’ve spent the last year in Jim Russell karting and I’m going back for 2009, but I also want to delve into other areas of motorsport. Eventually, I’d like to become a professional racing in ALMS or FIA GT but to do that I understand that I need far more money than I have. But that’s not what I want to talk about.

I figure I just have to race to my budget and the winds will take me wherever they take me.

So my potential budget is pretty much at the bottom end of the club racing level, financially. I’ve looked at Formula First, Spec Miata (turned out too expensive to have a winning car), all kinds of classes.

I was at a NASA event at Infineon raceway today and I stumbled into the pit area of Speed Trapp Racing, who prepare and rent spec E30s in the NorCal region. We got to talking and it turns out that I quite like the idea of spec E30.

But I still have a lot of unknowns about the series and I have a few questions that I’d like to get varied opinions on.

How tight are the specs in the class? Are there huge gaps in performance like in Spec Miata or the Touring classes? Or is it closer like Spec Racer Ford or Formula Enterprise?

How much does the series really cost, from economy to overblown? If I have a team, like Speed Trapp Racing, take care of and prep my car how much would a full season be barring crash damage? (I have no tools, no space and no skills to wrench very much. I think I could change an air filter and that’s pretty much it)

Assuming something breaks or I crash, are Spec E30s generally more pricey to fix or less expensive?

And finally, would it be better for me, with my lack of wrenching experience/knowledge, to build a car or buy one race-ready? Which would be more expensive?

Thanks for any replies. I genuinely feel an excitement about Spec E30 that I haven’t felt from looking at other classes. I really would like to be a part of it as it grows and it looks like a great community.

#2

It is a great series and great value.

Buy one race ready. There are a few good deals on legal cars out there right now.

Don

#3

Its definately not very spec compared to some other spec series, but a lot of the vague rules are in the process of being clarified. You get the great racing of spec miata/ff at a much lower cost.

Getting your work done for you takes a huge chunk out of your budget. You absolutely have to be able to change brakes/ fluids. For the other stuff just do what you feel like you can. I’m trying to do as much as possible on the car, but I end up needing professional help on a lot of it, too.

You dont have to rebuild your car if you touch wheels like in open wheel racing. The price can depend on availability of cars in your area. But of course I know nothing about this :whistle:.

Buy one race ready if you can.

If you come from karting be prepared to be disappointed when you get behind the wheel of a se30 :S. They handle like… cars. But you’ll get used to it.

Cali looks like a really fast growing region- good luck!

#4

Thanks guys.

Do you have any tips on what to look for when buying a race ready car? Anything I should watch out for?

#5

If you want to see just how close this series can be, watch some of the videos posted on YouTube or at MichaelSkeen.com. I think you’ll be very pleased with what you see.

Building a car costs at least as much as buying one ready to run. There really is no advantage to building it yourself from a financial point.

#6

Definitely buy prebuilt. I went this path earlier this year, and while there are some things about my car that annoy me, it was a fast path into the series. Recruit an experienced racer to check out a car with you, they can show you what to look for.

You didn’t mention arrive and drive or just simply renting up front, but if I were in your boots I’d probably talk to Speed Trapp and Valley Motorwerks to see what their prices on renting are. A weekend in the car should help tell you if it’s for you or not. I’d also find out how they’d structure arrive and drive for both “car you own” and “car they own” to see how that fits into your budget.

If your budget is really tight (like many of us), you may need to learn to turn a wrench. E30s are pretty plentiful in junkyards so parts are relatively cheap. Pick N Pull South San Jose usually has 10 of so cars, NSJC is around 6 or 8. Odds are there’s somebody local to you who can help you get started.

Before gas came down in price, and before I started sleeping in my ambulance at the track, I budgeted about $1k per race weekend based on a weekend at ThunderHill (fees, brakes, tires, gas, hotel, tow gas, etc). You can shave some money off that estimate by sleeping in your ambulance, packing a lunch, and gas prices have come down a bit so it’s likely lower. See the thread titled “how to make this work” for other cost saving ideas.

In the end, Spec E30 is “cheap” for racing, but it’s still racing so it’s still going to hurt your wallet.

#7

laz wrote:

[quote]
Before gas came down in price, and before I started sleeping in my ambulance at the track, I budgeted about $1k per race weekend based on a weekend at ThunderHill (fees, brakes, tires, gas, hotel, tow gas, etc). You can shave some money off that estimate by sleeping in your ambulance, packing a lunch, and gas prices have come down a bit so it’s likely lower. See the thread titled “how to make this work” for other cost saving ideas.

In the end, Spec E30 is “cheap” for racing, but it’s still racing so it’s still going to hurt your wallet.[/quote]

Don’t let the $1k figure scare you off. With some imagination there’s money to be saved. Avoid hotels and restaurants and you’ll save a bundle. I spend ~$650 total for an event. That covers gas (8hr tow), $300 event, tires and brake pad wear.

There’s a couple areas were you shouldn’t skimp tho. It’s important to buy good beer. And it’s important to…hmm… Just focus on the beer.

#8

1k a weekend doesn’t scare me that much. It would only start to get up there for about 2k, because for 12 races that’s 24k a year and that’s a lot for a kid like me.

Yes, it’s a lot of money but guys in Formula Mazda are spending 120k per season and 80k on a car, so this is dirt cheap by comparison.

Besides, racing is one of the very few things that I absolutely love so I’ll find ways to make it work. One thing I’ve learned in the past year in talking with people is that motorsport is directly proportional to your wallet so if you don’t have the money then you can forget about racing.

That and I don’t have to do the full season.

So, we figure about 10-15k for a car, plus about 15-20k for a full season barring crash damage and stuff exploding, right? Is that realistic? I can’t do all the wrenching myself (I could change tires and other surface stuff like that, brakes maybe) and I’d have to (HAVE TO) have someone take care of the car. I can’t stress enough that it’s just completely un-doable to tow and store the car myself. I don’t have the space or the facilities.

#9

MadCat3602 wrote:

If your budget is $15-20k for a season, you will spend $20-30. If it is $5k, you will spend $10k. If it is $50k, you will spend $100k.

I absolutely love SpecE30. Relatively cheap cars, great folks. I wrote a thread a little while back about SE30 vs spec miata. Short version is that fields are still bigger (and therefore closer) in SM. But the cost to be a stand-out (in time and $) is bigger there. But if you stand out, you can get on the Mazda ladder to an MX5 Cup ride, then World Challenge, etc.

The advice you will get on here reflects the typical folks in the class (and on this board): most of us have good careers in something or other providing the time and cash to blow off steam at the track on the weekends. With the exception of Mike Skeen, I don’t know of anyone on a motorsports career path here.

That being said, these cars are a blast. They cost roughly the same as a Miata (a wide range in both), but repair costs are probably higher in SE30. It is a more complicated machine than a Miata.

If your ultimate career destination is ‘race car driver,’ go karting. We’re old and our bodies can’t take it. :laugh: If you are fast in SE30, you will have our adoration. But I don’t know that much of anyone outside will notice (unless you are a damn good self-promoter, which is what you will need in any class).

Sorry if this is a bit of a downer, but I would hate to see you end the year $40,000 lighter and no closer to your desired career. The old guy in me says you should take that money, go get an MBA and you will have about a 10,000% better chance of that helping pay for your racing than winning a few E30 races.

Steve D.

#10

Steve D wrote:

Not a downer at all. I’ve been talking to a lot more cynical and pessimistic folks than that! :laugh:

Basically what I know is that money comes first. I don’t have the money to become a professional in the next couple of years. Maybe not even in the next decade. I’m not looking to be the next Lewis Hamilton or drive in something ludicrous like F1. I just want to make it, eventually, into some kind of upper-crust GT cars and I’ll be completely and utterly happy. I’m 19 later this month, so I’ve got plenty of time.

I figure since I don’t have 300 grand to spend on Star Mazda or the like, I might as well just race what I can get, right? I won’t give up, by a long shot, but right now I just don’t have the money to propel myself into those professional seats.

I have plenty of plans for earning a lot of money, and many of them have a very good likelyhood of succeeding, one of which is futures trading (don’t worry, I know what I’m doing). I think finding 20-50 grand for a season won’t be too much of a stretch for me in the future. Combined with my situation where I must have a team care for the car for me and lack of funds, I know I won’t be able to go for a full season in my first year. But I’ll give it a shot and race as much as I can.

So for now, all I can focus on is club racing.