I'm sorry if this seems to be a typical noob post, however I have used the search feature for several days now, on this site and several other Evolution based sites to gather as much information as possible.
However I still have some questions, I apologize ahead of time if these have been addressed before.

A group of associates, friends and my self are planning on building up a previous generation Evolution, most likely a II, possibly a IV. Importation will not be an issue because we plan to purchase our car from another rally team or one of several organizations. Basically we will be buying a rather stock Evolution, that has some body damage and potentially some heavy wear and tear. The total cost for the car alone we estimate will be around 5-7k, leaving us plenty of money to upgrade and repair.


Here is the problem. Although this car will be for racing only, I have no ability or desire to buy, own or maintain a truck and trailer to tow the car from event to event. Our track is only 6 miles a way, and a friend's family owns a large track of land about an hour away (huge semi-flat grass fields included ). I read somewhere that a "Race/Off-road" vehicle can be driven up to 2,400 miles a year on public roads, is this true? How would I get a permit for that? Also, if not, would any of the fallowing situations be plausible?

A. Kit/Home-made car registration, basically the car will be bought as "bill of sale" and will also most likely be listed as "Salvage". So basically the car would be rebuilt from a wreck, would that be considered "home-made"? How would one insure this car?

B. Swapping out pieces with a Mirage. I understand that DOT requires a large list of parts to meet regs, would an Evo with a good deal of Mirage parts possibly be considered a Modified Mirage? After all people purchase front clips, decals, body panels and RHD conversion kits to turn their RSX's into Type-Rs and 240sx's into JDM Silvias, how is that any more legal then doing a rather similar thing to a Evolution/Mirage?


Lastly, would anyone be kind enough to offer up some no bs specs on stock Evos, along with some pricing values. Would any particular Evo be a better purchase over another? What about parts and reliability, Rallycross and Rallyclub I would imagine eat parts up like mad dogs.

Thanks for you time,
J. Garand

 

Hi Garand, I'm a noobie here too, but I've been lurking the forums since they started up. For your question on whether an off-road only car can be driven for 2,400 miles a year on public roads, I point you the NHTSA's informative pages:

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/...ng/Racing.html

A car registered for race/off-road CANNOT be drive on public-roads at all, and as such you'd need a transport vehicle for it to be safe. Although seeing as how you're only 6 miles away from the track, you could probably take the risk

On the other hand, if you import the car for "show or display" purposes, you are allowed to drive the car for 2,500 miles in any given 12 month period, so you might want to look at that as well.

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/...osd072003.html

 

Thanks, that is where I heard the "2,500" miles from. However I doubt registaring the car as a "show car" will pass.

Other wise, Bump.

 

Sounds like a very cool endevour Garand, where do you live, I'd like to take a look at the finished product.

 

Most states grant a 3 day trip pass for like $15 for people that have a car that they dont drive enough to pay for registration. Bonus to that is that the car does not have to go through inspections in most states. California might be different.