Opinions

[gravyboy450]

Thinkin about getting into the sport.I"ve always been interested but have never done it. What would be a good basic set up to start out with?motor suspension frame ect.

[Racer111]

Go with a Pierce car these come with good setup sheets and a seminar each year engine depending where you live just dont go with big cubic inch no bigger then a 406.Dont fall for the old its a good starter car.You need to start with up to date suspension.If you start with out of date stuff you will have to learn all over again when you get up to date.

[cavemod]

Go with a Pierce car these come with good setup sheets and a seminar each year engine depending where you live just dont go with big cubic inch no bigger then a 406.Dont fall for the old its a good starter car.You need to start with up to date suspension.If you start with out of date stuff you will have to learn all over again when you get up to date.

I agree with everything here but the pierce car.Not that pierce builds a bad car or poor setup help but IMO you should go with what chassis run at the tracks you plan on racing at.The reason being is you'll have someone else at the track that has the same brand and will have some one that can help you with tuning.If there is no pierce cars at the track who can u go to for help??

[ask0329]

This was my first year in IMCA. I only ran one track and did 10 out of 17 races. We only planned on doing a half season anyways. I had raced 3 years in a 4cyl so racing in general was not new to me. Driving an IMCA modified was. Once we got the set up right after 8 races, I adapted rather quickly. My car is a 3 link home built chassis. The top 6-8 cars or so are all newer 4 link chassis. BMS, Dirt Works, Shaw and a handful of others. I only ended up with my car as a guy wanted to trade it for a 4cyl so I got lucky. I dropped a 602 crate engine in and had the most fun I've ever had racing. Up here in the North East our IMCA's are'nt fully on par with the mid-west just yet as the class isnt all that old out here yet. I'm underpowered in comparrison to the top guys and my chassis is about 15 years old. But, I dont care. I race, clean, competitive and are having fun. I was told with my car and set up, with the right amount of seat time at my track I could crack the top 5 and possibly snag a 3rd on a good night. I'm fine with that. A 602 vs 383's 406's and even 358's is a pistol to a gun fight but our track gets slick so its not all that bad. I went with reliability. Cant get seat time if you dont have a reliable engine. Out west a 602 will be really underpowered against the big boys on tacky tracks. My number 1 tip is for you to have fun. number 2 tip, race within your budget. and number 3, have fun. Its not like anyone is going NASCAR so wrecking while battling for one more spot to win an extra $5 and 1 point just isnt worth it.

[rubbinsracin]

if you have never raced before, and want to keep the budget down, you might want to look into getting into a sport mod or bmod. at our track a guy can go racing on a pretty tight budget with one. the sport mods around here almost all use the 602 or a spec 9-1 motor. most of the sport mod guys around here run them as the hobby stocks and street stocks are falling out of favor. we even have had several A-mod guys come down to a sport mod/b-mod because their budget wasnt big enough to justify trying to go a-mod.

[dirttrackrocker]

I agree. Seat time and good advice is the key. Buy the newest car you can afford and go with reliability over HP in the engine. I would also suggest that if you've never even driven a race car before to get something very simple as far as rear suspension. I would recommend a leaf spring car until you get used to the speed. 3 links and 4 links rely on acceleration to help the car turn, until you get some seat time, you won't have the nerve to drive a 3 link or 4 link well enough to make it turn.

[dualdj1]

As far as engine (and again this depends some on where you want to run), you're generally a little better off with less HP and more torque to start off with. Less HP means less $$. shoot for around a 3500-7k power band and you'll be in pretty good shape starting off. 406 is the way to go if you can find one cheap, if not just a well cammed 355, or like a 383 stroker. key though is nice smooth power band, not peaky.