help me find a car

[962porsche]

to switch a car to dot 5 is not worth the work . just good cooling ducts and a dot 4 would be more than fine . the brakes are small but do work ok at most tracks . if your street driving also you do have to find a happy medium and brakes that will not come up to temp on the street are just as bad as brakes that over heat on the track . i never liked EBC pads on my cars . i did use them all the time when i was racing motor cycles and had them for a sponcer for 2 years when i was racing in the gncc . i will have to say i only tryed them on my 944 and gti . my gti i like ferodo full race pads and the 944 i like he hawk dtc-70's . but like i stated they will not stop the car on the street . your better off draging your foot out the door to stop if your using full race pads on the street .

[chaos4NH]

David, you know I have a great deal of respect for your knowledge and opinions, but............I beg to differ about running race pads on the street, at least as far CarboTechs are concerned. I ran XP12 fronts all winter on the Grogcery Getter with nary a problem. Just one man's experience, but I will probably do it again next winter (if I don't have to run Monticello again!).

[962porsche]

sam i know the way you drive you need full race pads on every vehicle you own ! i'm only commenting on the pads i use they only start to work when temp are around 800 to 1100 degrees . but most carbon full race pads don't work at temp under 600 to 700 degrees it takes twice the stopping distance . the pads you run may be a better option for the dual driver . when i had your car the brakes did work well on the street but becouse i did not race your car (that you know of ) i can't say how they are on the track but they are a very popular pads that people have high praise for . becouse all car models have deferent style brake designs not all the same pads work the same on all cars . that is why the ferodos work better on the vw and the hawks work better on the porsche .

[jlwhorf]

Geoff,

5.0 mustangs are a good option too. They are getting quite inexpensinve, offer good performace (quicker than most any honda), cheap parts, and easy to modify and fix. Just a thought.

[WillM]

The Honda/Miata dabate is a good one. As cheap and reliable Miatas are to own and maintain, the rollbar and arm restraint requirement will add to the cost. I believe that earlier Hondas ran similar wheel & tire sizes to Miatas, which means that you could still dip into the Spec Miata classified section to get wheels/tires/etc.

You can have fun with either car. I would personally (and have) favored a rear-wheel drive platform. The Miata on Craigslist is/was a fair price and great car. I recognize that car as belonging to Fred Sanford, a COM instructor who started tracking that Miata when Miatas weren't very popular as track cars. I remember the car being clean and well cared for. It would certainly have the rollbar and other goodies required for track use. Fred is an excellent driver & instructor. Very smooth. I'm sure the car was used, not abused.

[breakaway500]

^ That track Miata on Craigslist sold the first day.

[CalypsoBean]

rollbars are not inexpensive, but arm restraints are extremely inexpensive.

[geoffm]

the thing about miatas is that yea they are good handeling its just that i dont trust convertables and the mustang 5.0 sugustion is a good one if i can put a chevy 6.0 in it hahahaha but im just trying out road racing with cars ive done some shifter kart racing and champ kart oval racing so i just want to get into it and not too deacated to it right away the 6.0 comment is beacuse me and my buddy are putting a 6.0 out of a newer silverado and adding a turbo to it into a 99 mustang gt should have some where around 500hp at the wheels

[geoffm]

but im not trying to go dumb fast im just trying to beable to learn how to drive a slow car fast and only then can u drive a fast car fast

[962porsche]

that is very good thinking about learning high perforamce drive ! that is the way you should look at it . once you learn how to become smooth in a slow car you then can do the transition to up grading the car for more speed and performance or start moving up to faster cars . you first have to learn what a car does on its 3 axis . pitch, roll and yaw . then know the racing line along with your braking points , apexs and when to get on the gas . the good thing with comscc is we have (i think ) the best instructors out there .

[geoffm]

yea when i tried 100cc shifter karts i got put to school beacuse i dident work my way up to that leval i had the same lap times as every one but i couldent hit a mark if it was 10 feet wide hahaha it was just the power that coverd up the mistakes

[geoffm]

and at least im raod racing not circle track racing and have to worry about stager

[chaos4NH]

and at least im raod racing not circle track racing and have to worry about stager

So, have you joined the club and signed up for your ride-around orientation? When you do, I recommend you take a few laps with Joe Lu to see the methods of driving a road course.

[geoffm]

next time u guys are at nhis i should be their

[geoffm]

for a ride around i would need a helmit and long sleeve shirt and jeans ? i do have arm restrants if needed