A coworker and I were having a discussion today that I thought would be interesting to throw to the hive.
Lets say you were going to build a single car to compete in lots of motorsports activities with street driving not a priority at all. We are talking about a car that you can use for low-buck endurance racing, stage rally, hill climbs, drift events, bracket racing and all sorts of other wackiness.
Of course there isn't a car that would be perfect for all events. We were discussing what car would at least be somewhat competitive in everything, but likely wouldn't dominate anything.
My thoughts were you would want a rally spec cage, which should pass the requirements of other organizations. Then you could build the car in a way that would require minimum changes between types of events. Swap lights, add/remove protection, add/remove passenger seat, have a couple different coil over set ups to swap.
What would you build a Swiss Army car out of?
He said Mustang.
My vote was for E36
We both agreed the place we were eating lunch wasn't very good.
Yeah, hard to argue with a Fox-body Mustang for a "do everything" motorsports car. Especially given the basically unlimited aftermarket.
Porsche 911. They pretty much get raced in all those venues as it is.
thatsnowinnebago wrote:
Porsche 911. They pretty much get raced in all those venues as it is.
He did mention "low buck endurance racing". Nothing "low buck" about a 911, especially these days. 
ProDarwin wrote:
Umm. Miata.
That was discussed but convertibles can't run stage rally.
Tom_Spangler wrote:
thatsnowinnebago wrote:
Porsche 911. They pretty much get raced in all those venues as it is.
He did mention "low buck endurance racing". Nothing "low buck" about a 911, especially these days.
True.
It would be a cool choice but would come with a bunch of Chump/Lemons laps.
600hp, AWD, small, light, good cage. Would esily do rally, rallycross, autocross, tack days, drag strip, time trials, hill climbs and gymkhana videos.
Alfa Milano 3.0 or Fiat X1/9
I say E36 with 5.0 engine.. or Cobra if it can fit
I'm always surprised with the power potential of the LSx motors that the late model GTO isn't in more racing. Surely stripped down in race trim that chassis should have potential?
LSx in the E36 would be a monster too
Low buck, do everything? Including hillclimb, stage rally?
Almost want to say, "Impreza".
But for E36 M3s and giggles: Suzuki Sidekick + J24 4 cyl still running 4wd.
Why? With sufficiently modified supension, you should be able to get it low enough that SCCA would be satisfied that it isn't likely to roll over. Allowing you access to autocross, lapping days, etc.
Rally cross, stage rally, etc? Should be able to handle it well enough.
Also however, allows you to add Desert racing to your list of events, including the Zuki Challenge, wich some suspension reverting.
185hp from the J24, should enable you to do some drifting as well.
Thus, general shenanigans vehicle, that can expand, further, your methods of mayhem, while still being "affordable" to build and run. Won't ever be a top contender, but should be fun and entertaining.
E36 is the answer at the lowest price point. If we're going V8 swap then it becomes volvo 240 courtesy of offering mountains of suspension travel and about 20 different rear end options.
NickD
HalfDork
1/15/16 5:36 a.m.
oldopelguy wrote:
I'm always surprised with the power potential of the LSx motors that the late model GTO isn't in more racing. Surely stripped down in race trim that chassis should have potential?
There is something janky about the IRS, I can't remember what though, and I know the rear diffs are made off glass. Plus they are fairly rare due to slow sales. But Rhys Millen competed in Formula D with one and one a championship (In fact, Rhys' Pontiac rides were far more successful than his Hyundais ever were) and there is another guy who competes in lower level drifting with one. And there is at least one running time attack that looks really mean
If I were to go road-racing, I'd probably take a chance on one of these.
84FSP
HalfDork
1/15/16 6:30 a.m.
Given that we are saying "race car" not drive to the event weekend warrior why not Ex-Nascar? They offer a real race car with cheap parts, awesome chassis, unlimited options, and are widely available like this roller at $6900 OBO from my first google.
NAZZCAR
I was having this exact conversation with Spoolpigeon the other day.
Weird.
E36 M3. And that E36 Chumpcar is so damn nice. A lot of the E36 Chump guys whine about their high MPV, too.
I'm going to go crawl back under our crapcan Civic with three weeks to go.
Datsun 510 with an SR20DET engine swap.
BoostedBrandon wrote:
I was having this exact conversation with Spoolpigeon the other day.
Weird.
Were you at a restaurant somewhere on the south side of Trenton, NJ that had bad food? If so, thats way too creepy and you need to get out of my head!
Tyler H wrote:
E36 M3. And that E36 Chumpcar is so damn nice. A lot of the E36 Chump guys whine about their high MPV, too.
I'm going to go crawl back under our crapcan Civic with three weeks to go.
Those were all images from a quick google search.
You are right, there is a lot of e36 drama in Chump. We currently race an Integra LS.
