Optima Batteries Chumpcar World Series - New Season, New Car(s), New Fails

It just doesn't have the mustard to compete with faster cars on longer tracks... so you'd almost have to swap the engine. Im not a Honda guy but maybe there's a 'cheater' way to get performance out if it, swapping out just the shortblock or something. Probably not worth it.
 
There is currently a turbo B16 '93 Civic (at least I think that's what it is) with a DSM Talon Turbo/Intercooler campaigning in our region. It's run by one of the most successful teams, the Holy Rollers.

They've won a lot of races. I believe last year they ran an Integra with a CRX engine...it was about a second faster.

Yes, our car is currently over-valued (imo), which is why we're looking at other options. In previous years car value was a big black box where no one had a clear idea where anyone else sat, so we were pretty comfortable with ours. Now it's more cut and dry, and it's easy to see there are cars that are under-value with performance potential.

EX: Fox Body Mustang has a $200 starting value as a V8 with ~280 HP. An FB RX7 has a $200 value as well. There are many "out of the box" cars that are ~$500. The E36 BMW platform is hugely successful and requires almost no real upgrades to have a winnable car. The E30 platform is very popular/successful as well.

The charm to this racing series, however, is that you're on track with 50+ teams and maybe 30+ different types of cars. It's pretty special to go 3 wide into a corner with a mustang on your inside, a turbo civic in front of you, and a BMW trailing just behind you.

@Goshin - We did not do the steampunk theme, since we ran out of time. Since then we haven't run any Lemons races, so we don't really need a theme. We would fucking love to come to CoTA, and the entire series wants to run it for an event, but their track fees are fucking ridiculous. Especially since you have to pay for every square foot of ARMCO you manage to twat your car into (at a hefty premium, many thousands of dollars per foot, iirc). Believe me when I say that's completely unacceptable for this format of racing. Maybe once they pull the yard sticks out of their asses we can run an event there.
 
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The fox mustang needs aftermarket suspension and brakes though, those are probably pretty pricey. In the case of something like a Civic SI the stock suspension is probably half way decent, and brakes could potentially come from an Integra GSR or something.
 
son of a bitch
yes they have all sorts of fees and expenses cuz the track is brand new for rich european f1 bros to race on

is there a good circuit in/around texas to campaign in?
i might want to start doing this in a few years when i have a million dollars to throw in to destroying a car
 
Oh BTW Subarus are very much LEGO-cars.. you can swap shit cheaply between almost all of them. No additional costs for swap parts like mounts, transmissions, axles, etc. Worth considering a cheap Imprezza that you can tack on parts from higher end models.



Also, about 10 years ago I built a 91 Eagle Talon with a 2.4L shortblock from a Hyundai Sonata. Total cheater, nobody would ever know.
 
amRam said:
The fox mustang needs aftermarket suspension and brakes though, those are probably pretty pricey. In the case of something like a Civic SI the stock suspension is probably half way decent, and brakes could potentially come from an Integra GSR or something.
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A Fox Body just podiumed at MIS this Saturday. Stock engine (shortened driveshaft and shifted back maybe 2"), upgrade springs/shocks and that's it. They're < $500 value.

Goshin said:
son of a bitch
yes they have all sorts of fees and expenses cuz the track is brand new for rich european f1 bros to race on

is there a good circuit in/around texas to campaign in?
i might want to start doing this in a few years when i have a million dollars to throw in to destroying a car
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There are events at Texas World Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway. There should also be a few events within respectable towing distance.

Racing doesn't cost a million dollars, but it sure feels like it after you've blown a drivetrain or two...or three...or six. Consumables like gas, tires, oil, brakes, gas, tranny fluid, rotors, gas, towing diesel, and did I mention gas? are a big expense.

amRam said:
Oh BTW Subarus are very much LEGO-cars.. you can swap shit cheaply between almost all of them. No additional costs for swap parts like mounts, transmissions, axles, etc. Worth considering a cheap Imprezza that you can tack on parts from higher end models.



Also, about 10 years ago I built a 91 Eagle Talon with a 2.4L shortblock from a Hyundai Sonata. Total cheater, nobody would ever know.
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Our sister team on the east coast runs a very successful Talon. If they don't obliterate axles, they usually win. AFAIK, there are a few teams running Subaru's. They tend to have powertrain issues after hours of running. Everything from spun bearings/thrown rods to blown clutches. The Crank Yankers (Imprezza team, I think) are in direct competition with us for most time spent fixing bullshit in the paddock.
 
Guess the Subarus don't like being trashed around!

The DSM is decent, but like you mentioned, the axles are weak. Still, I haven't heard of it being a big problem road racing, mainly just higher power drag cars. Those tend to obliterate diffs as well.

If I were running in this series I'd be looking for the simplest car possible... probably FWD, too. Compact, cheap, low end model with higher end model parts for possible swaps. Fox body Mustang sounds good though. You get to have more fun and they're pretty bulletproof. 331/347ci cheater potential. I bet most guys running "302" cars are heavily bored/stroked anyway.
 
oh btw you guys doing any of the Canadian events? Calabogie Motorsports Park is superb.
 
We might consider it for next year, we've heard that Calabogie is a fun track. Our regional director and tech director are both Canadian.

There is minor cheating in every team, but people are mostly honest. The major system of checks/balances is that everyone at these events is a massive gearhead. We have a Mustang wizard on our team and he was able to identify the hidden front subframe modifications and shortened drive axle on the podium Mustang as soon as he crawled under it.

Of course you can do secretly cheaty stuff like ported heads and lightened flywheels, but a change in compression ratio can be identified by popping a spark plug and checking.
 
I suppose its easy enough to measure for additional stroke too, I would guess the tech guys do that especially for guys with Chev and Ford V8s, because its such a cheap thing to do and its well hidden.

Sounds like a great time... maybe one day when I have money to piss away on racing.
 
If you're interested, you can always go spectate or volunteer for an event. You get $100 Chump Bucks credit towards an event when you volunteer.

There is an event at Calabogie on September 20th. You can check in at the chumpcar.com forums and see what you have to do to volunteer. Otherwise you can likely just show up to the event and pay the $20 spectator fee.

Hell, if you'd like you can rent a seat with us sometime :sunny:
 
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Lots of drama from Road America this last weekend. More to come, but for now have a picture of our car parked behind the legendary Holy Rollers Turbo Honda.
 
Our main garage is in Cicero, IL.

For a while we moved around different garages belonging to family/friends in Stickney, Pilsen, and Bridgeport.
 
We've got shitloads of hours of footage to sift through to create entertainment. It's hard work.
 
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