I have a good 2003 s2k that I have as my daily driver, but I do not want to track it. what I am wondering is can i buy another s2000 and have it as just a track s2000. (no interior and such). Well I am wondering I could just do trackdays correct??

also to do any of the scca events do i need a racing liscense?

Im think about getting a totaled s2000 ( my buddy has access to the auto auctions and i can get one for cheap and fix it) do I need to do anything to it because of the salvage title??

The big one is i have never done a track day with my car. I did a bmw performance driving school, but thats it. I would do track days with nasa or scca first before doing any racing with others??

When racing in a series like one of the s2k challenge or one of the scca s2k series how much traveling is involved? like when i go to all the events??


thanks guys!!!

 

If you have lots and lots of money to spend, do it!

If not, Spec Miata.

If on the fence, track your current car and decide later.

 

I am in my car 12k total and I bought it non salvage title private party. Perfect platform and way more fun than spec miata IMO. You always have to pay for wear items (brakes, tires, fluids, etc) but you have to expect that.

 

Do a few track days with your current car to make sure you like it before going and dropping $10k or more on a dedicated track car.

 

If you have no racing experience at all, i.e. carting or even "on the limit" driving like autocross, I would not even begin to think about racing in a NASA or SCCA sanctioned series. It will literally take you years to get to the level where you would be remotely competitive and the amount of work, time and dedication it would take is like having a second job. Doable? Absolutely. But it's a big commitment. In your situation, I would start off with something like the S2K Challenge Series time trials that they post about on here in California at Willow and the other tracks. You can buy and setup your track-only S2K for this "on a budget" and really learn to find it's limits in a "safe" environment. From there you can move on up to wheel to wheel racing.

Just keeping it real, I would start off by doing a competitive indoor karting series in your local area to learn how to really drive the limit of racing slick tires and understand car control. Driving schools are great to give you a feel for what's going on and bring theory to reality, but to really get to where you are trying to go as a driver just takes a LOT of seat time. I see guys all the time that buy a car and dive right in to track with no experience. They do a few HPDE's, then they think they come in to AutoX or even carting and they are like 5 seconds off the pace. But it's not even about the speed per se'...it's that you will find track events much more rewarding by being able to drive your car to the limit with the skills you learn in carting and autoX.

Either way, best of luck to you.

Nick

 

if you just want to do track days there is no reason not to do it, it makes a great car and miles better than any spec miata for miles for not significantly more. And that price difference is worth every penny.

If you want to wheel-2-wheel race then a spec miata might make sense.

 

I echo those who have said that you really should have a lot of track days under your belt before you even think about things like racing.

For a track car, the most cost-effective (both near-term and longer-term) thing you could do probably would be just to buy another set of wheels for your S2000, and put some Toyo RA-1 or R888's on them, and just track the car you have.

If you have lots of money and lots of storage space, go ahead and get whatever old S2000 you care to get. But be aware that, if safety is important to you, you'll be spending a lot of money making it reasonably safe for real track duty, and a reasonable performer.

And, for the record, I simply disagree with those who poo-poo the fun of driving a Spec Miata on the track. Unless you spend a fortune improving (and lightening) an S2000, it's only a couple of seconds faster than an SM around a typical track, and all of that is just straight-line speed (well, more than "all of that" really, since it'll be slower in the turns than a SM unless you spend a lot of money improving it). You can get a race-ready SM for around $8000 these days. Having tracked a basically stock S2000 many, many times, and raced an SM, I can attest that an SM is the best fun-for-dollar car you can buy for the track. One of my best memories of the days when I tracked my S2000 was a two-day track thing at Thunderhill when I drove my S2000 the first day and a rented, unexceptional SM the second day. The SM was simply more fun for me. I bought one soon after.

 

Here is what I would do if I were you:

1) Go to a NASA-Southeast/SCCA track event as a spectator, if you like what you see-join.
2) Next find a weekend you can attend and sign up for HPDE1 with your S2000.
3) Before you go, read what you need to do prioir to an HPDE event. I think there is a post in the FAQ section of racing and competition.
4) If you enjoy it repeat several times until you become solo and think you are ready for competition school.
5) At this point you should have been at enough events to decide what class/car etc you want to race with.

 

Not here is SOCAL, in the last S2K Challenge at Buttowillow:

SM track record is a mid 2:04 (this is with the new NB hat rule, old record was 2:06s)
a bone stock S2000 on Federal 595rsr street tires did a mid 2:04. if he had ran the same R888/RA1 tires SM runs, plus some alignment, that's easily a 2:01 car.

mod class winner went ~7 seconds faster than SM record. I believe all or almost all the mod S2K competitors were driven to track with stereo intact.

note I said SM track record, not just a cheapo $8k SM, which is nowhere near the track record.

not saying SM is not fun. it is. just saying that S2000 is a significantly faster car. I have a Miata, see my avatar.

 

[QUOTE=bellwilliam,Feb 13 2010, 08:57 PM]
Not here is SOCAL, in the last S2K Challenge at Buttowillow:

SM track record is a mid 2:04 (this is with the new NB hat rule, old record was 2:06s)
a bone stock S2000 on Federal 595rsr street tires did a mid 2:04.