Need a little help figuring something out

[BanditDarble]

Hey guys,

Considering that Ron's fee is way less than I would be spending for a set of tires for a weekend, less than a pair of 275/40/17 615k's let alone 8, I agree that not tapping his expertise would be foolish. I had actually already visited his site and checked out his prices before posting here.

I asked if Lance's setup Stage 1 setup would be a good baseline for a long course, fairly high speed, setup as it would be easier to replicate with the factory parts that I would have to work with. DSE and ridetech parts are not going to fly in the series I am looking at running, while I am free to change pivot points, springs and such. I can fab up a swaybar out of 1.5" 4130 tube but can't buy a Monster bar for instance. Think along the lines of what Donohue had to work with on his First Gen Trans Am cars. He couldn't open a catalog and get parts. He had to modify the factory parts, make offset bushings, change suspension pivots, cut and weld control arms, etc. That's what I have to do while running on 180tw (615k's are 200tw but the only brand with the size I want.) tires against lightweight E30/E36 BMW's and V6 swapped MR2's with a 3000 pound G body with maybe 250whp.

I should have worded my initial post a bit better, but I'm really curious if one could make this chassis competitive with the parts restrictions. I believe one can but am curious what area one would change on Lance's setup if one was to set it up with no concerns about street drivability and focused only on road course versus autocross. (I have zero interest in autox) And if that change is feasible for a guy with a welder. I'm not looking for specifics.

Can I cut, relocate, weld and drill factory parts and tubing to out corner a 2100 pound BMW E30 in the Carrousel at Road America? The last race there the fast lap was 2:49.

If not I'll build something else. a 2nd Gen would probably be smarter, bigger gas tank and lower CG, but i don't care for the look...

One other thing that hopefully Ron can answer; Are BBSS setups generally easy on tires? These are endurance races, so being easy on tires is important so the tire bill doesn't end up being 3 or 4 grand for a weekend just racing for a trophy.



Lance-Have you ever had a G meter in your car? Obviously it corners hard. I'm just curious if you have measured it.

I've really enoyed this thread, and have picked up from my reading that Ron doesn't like hypotheticals. One has to start somewhere however and figuring out if a car can be made competitive is the logical starting place. I know the chassis can be with loads of parts.

I don't have access to those parts however due to the class rules.

edit-Lance-Road America would be the focus of the car, however I would likely run it at a few other tracks. Brainerd and possibly Autobahn Auto Club would be likely as would Daytona if I can get a 5.3 in the car while staying under the point limit. A guy HAS to race at Daytona if he gets the chance. btw-While a number of Chump cars look like rolling wrecks, more and more do not and this one definitely would not. Whatever I build will definitely look like a racecar and will perform like one. Just lacking the big horsepower and name brand aftermarket parts.

Even at that, at the last Chump race at Road America a 79 Camaro had the top speed in the speed trap at 127mph, so a good Chump is not terribly slow. I've seen claims of 140+ at Daytona with GPS verifying.

Thanks,
Joe