RSbeast wrote:Well, to play the devils advocate, most of us spend $ to be faster than the next guy. Sometimes the next guy has us way outgunned, sometimes he doesnt. I know eactly how much fun I had when a 14 sec car flew to me. I had a fuckton. Some of my most enjoyable years of driving were the high 13 - low 14 sec range.
Ok, so there ARE a handful of mid 120ish-130 around, but it's pretty few and far between and how many times do you see them on the street? A 12 sec car ususally cleans house pretty well 6 days out of the week.
Want to go to the track? Prepare to feel dumb by the people that build cars for ONE purpose. Yeah theres tons of older guys going 7-10s as the 'norm'. Should that make you want to do the same? I could give a shit about going that fast. I do not want a car I have to trailer everywhere and that can go for SERIOUS roadracing shit too. When it all comes down to it, autox is fucking weak in itself. I mean it's fun, its fun to do, but it ain't open track.
And what's the fucking deal with this 'real men turn' bullshit. You aren't on fucking Road Atlanta. You are in A PARKING LOT. You don't have all kinds of crazy elevations, you don't have 100mph sweepers. You navigate cones in a semi techincal course at 40mph. Go get out on a real fucking track and see how bad your shit sucks ass. I know mine sure fucking did.
Cost of a track day? Not including the prep of the car/cost of the car/mods/saftey equipment? Around $150-300 for an event. NOT including the tires that you WILL be going through if you are remotely competitive, the brakes you will CASH by the time you are done, the fluids that will all need swapped out and flushed because you've cooked the fuck out of it. It's like a $500-1000 trip for a real event easy. Yeah its seattime but at what cost.
Compare that to the 'blue collar' sport of drag racing. Guess why its more popular?
I for one dont have a zo6 or a porsche etc. that has a cooler for every fluid, that is well dialed from the factory etc. and if I did, I would be second guessing having it wadded up into the tires by myself or another. I like my paint un-peppered. Maybe I'm a wuss but I'd rather have a car that I just enjoy and not tear the fuck out of. If I did, I would just keep the DSM as a half ratty mess and track whore the shit out of it, like so many others.
Does tracking your shit to the point of looking abused make you cooler? Hell if I know. It makes your car look like ass. But you've enjoyed it and that's what counts. I love seeing stuff get used, but I hate seeing cool shit beat to death. If I see a vette with paint rubbed down the door, I don't assume it got it on the track unless the car is filthy dirty and wearing a set of Avons.
Idk...just do your thing. None of us can even keep a car fucking running around here so idk wtf the issue is. Bill's mustang WILL go 120s EASY on the bottle as it's not terribly far off anyhow from his best MPH. He's enjoying it how he sees fit. Drives it on the steet and has fun. If you're doing the best you can in a 15sec car then that's all the better. I get the most use out of my daily driven DSM that hauls ass anywhere be it snow and rain etc and it does it day in and day out.
To me thats what most of these kids are doing as not everyone has the luxury of having a few cars. That's cooler to me then my worthless red POS in my sig that comes out when I feel like it and it's nice out.....what fun is that.
You should be happy that whatever you put together yourself does what it does because YOU did it. That and drive what you really want and enjoy. If that starting point costs $500 or $20,000. As long as you're cool with investing 10-20k into a fucking POS car that's worth 1/4 of it and you're cool with it, don't knock others that put the $ into things that actually count in life. Fuck cars anymore. Wish I wouldve never touched em and invested the $...least its a hobby
+1
I think the most fun ive ever had in my car was when it was mostly stock and i was running 13.9s and 14.0s and I would dial a 13.9 in bracket racing. I would either run dead on or break out and run a 13.9 and be happy anyway.
The reality is that auto 'vert ls1 is probably going to trap around 100ish. ive seen some ls1's trap at 98 and some trap at 103. my car consistently traps at 112+ and my best is 114+. If you really really want to see what that looks like on the street, catch me out somewhere sometime and I can show you. I run mickey thompson ET street radials (275/50's) on the street, so that whole "not fair you have slicks at the track" thing doesnt even make sense anyway.
As for all this auto cross bullshit, nobody fucking asked you. If you dont like drag racing, and we are talking about drag racing, go make your own fucking post about auto cross and I will stay out of it. To me thats just as stupid as trying to tell someone a 4cyl is dumb to try and go fast with because its easier to make hp with a v8. maybe some people just dont like mustangs and camaros and other v8 cars, and maybe some people think driving in cirlces in a parking lot is fucking stupid.
I still think its funny when people say a 12 sec car isnt fast....