okay in july im starting school at UTI and they have a some opportunitys to get into the racing world, I autoX every other week and have been for the past 2 years and have come to a dilema. I have 28,000 for a new car I have been set on a evo 9 for a while but if I buy an EVO, I will have no money for mods so im thinking of buying a third gen rx-7. anyways can someone please give me an unbiased opinion as to what would be a better choice and if not can you give me some pros and cons to help me in my decision. Thank you.



EDIT 08/19/2007

Sorry for bringing an old thread back to life but I took your guys advice and I bought a crx and have been going to track days religously. I find that it is taking me no where. If ANYONE has any advice for me that would be greatly appreiated. Someone mentioned Shifter Kart racing, would this be really worth it? If so please tell me why, thank you.

Funny thing you should mention that fusion, I just realized how much money I would be wasting going to UTI, so thanks for that heads up man, saved me alot of money. I still want to buy an EVO really bad but I realised that im young and I need to get my priorites straight, like someone mentioned. Thanks again for all the advice.

 

You should not buy either car because both will be much more expensive than the initial purchase especially if you autox...I would recommend buying a used honda, VW, Mazda Miata, or other car that is already setup for the SCCA autox class you intend to run. I got into racing with a VW in SCCA ITB and loved the car.

Your signature says you are in the bay area...If so, look up Hank Watts and ask his opinion on setups. Good luck

 

hmmmm well if I buy the rx-7 I will have money for a roll cage, coilovers, upgraded internals and much more, if I buy the evo I will have to get a part time job and save up for a roll cage and most likely wait a year or two before I can start modding it, UTI has track days and other ways of getting involved in racing so I want to take any and all opportunitys that come my way and dont get me wrong I want something that looks nice also because it will be a daily driver/track car.

 

OK get it, but don't come back to the forums crying when you get spanked by a car half the price or when you need new tires and can't afford them b/c you spent all your money on the car...To me it seems you have your priorities backwards. Oh well, boys will be boys...

 

so your saying If I buy one of the cars you mentioned above that I can dominate in autoX as oppsed to buying an EVO IX or an RX-7? and thats the thing if I buy an rx-7 I will have money for mods and tires and whatever I need, if I buy an evo I will have to get a job and buy the necesities (SP?) im sorry but im trying to decide between two cars and you throw a curveball at me so Im just trying to find reasoning in your comment before I take your word for it and I do appreciate your input.

 

Here is the issue -- Lack of $$...

With $$ a NEW RX7 or EVO could be a nice autox / dd car. That said, for a fraction of the investment, you could buy a used and nicely prepared autox car and have plenty of $$ left over for repairs / mods later...

Do some research on the various SCCA autox classes and see which cars are running really well in your budget. Generally Hondas are considered a great value (performance, relaibility, and price). If you really are serious about racing, get a cheap daily driver that can pull a small trailer with a 125cc shifter cart ...A good used shifter cart can be bought for less than $5K and are very cheap to run for an entire season. A shifter cart will require you to be extremely smooth and is extremely fast...

Good luck!

 

+1, if you priority is racing, then allow yourself more than enough funds for maintainance and preperation. this will win you more races than a non functional fast car.

 

+2.
Couldn't agree with this statement more.
Just remember that majority of F1 drivers started their career from shifter carts including Michael Schumacher.

 

As much as I love FD's and EVO's I'd have to agree with the rest. Plus, you don't want an FD as a daily driver, you'll end up spending more than the EVO on maintenance....

 

reconsider UTI....it's too expensive for what it offers, there are cheaper alternatives if you want to work for a dealership, which is pretty much all UTI prepares you for, unless you're studying something else there.

talk to people who graduated from UTI who are technicians at dealerships and find out how the majority of them are doing (not all are very happy i'll just put it that way)

a 3rd gen rx7....good luck keeping the engine running without issues.

 

Do what everybody else has said already and skip both of the cars you mentioned unless you have the cash on top to play with whenever you start racing.

What car have you been racing these last two years and why not upgrade it with the cash for the new car?

 

Sorry for bringing an old thread back to life but I took your guys advice and I bought a crx and have been going to track days religously. I find that it is taking me no where. If ANYONE has any advice for me that would be greatly appreiated. Someone mentioned Shifter Kart racing, would this be really worth it? If so please tell me why, thank you.

Funny thing you should mention that fusion, I just realized how much money I would be wasting going to UTI, so thanks for that heads up man, saved me alot of money. I still want to buy an EVO really bad but I realised that im young and I need to get my priorites straight, like someone mentioned. Thanks again for all the advice.

 

Its good that you didn't buy an rx7..
In order to keep an rx7 and race it, you would need at least a house with a garage, another daily driver, couple motors and loads of cash ready to go in.

I once debated buying one, and after hours and hours and research,
I bought an evo..

 

Its depends on what you plan on doing with the 7. I'm not going to lie, the 7 as a DD can be a pain in the ***. The Rx7 is my DD and I get around fine, but I haven't done crazy engine work to mine. My dad just bought an Evo IX and if I could I would be driving that thing around all the time.

 

Honda for cheap, reliable, modable, light weight track car...

Sounds like a better plan than trying to track **** an Evo or 7. Fd's are pretty but come at a price. If you have an innate knowledge of them it might not be so bad. But if you don't... its a car you'd have enough problems just casually modding let alone kicking the **** out of at a track as a beginner.

A stripped down DSM on a severe diet and moderate power mods might make fun track car. I'm not an auto X guy, but I'm sure there's something available in that category. And you could build a pretty mean one as cheap as they are getting.

I'm sure you'll do fine with the CRX. And likely save yourself a butt load of cash considering the other options you listed. Although... fwd sucks.