Lets talk Open Wheelers/Lightweight NA track cars.

[LSX-438]

here is some onboard from a ~56s around WP in a Stohr, it's pretty intense.. at these speeds it becomes a real mind game, the car can do things your brain thinks is just not possible...  the hardest thing i have ever done is T1 at 250km/hr at PI, it was a real brain fark...

 

[NISR32.5]

I have been looking at radicals ect for a while now. Seems to me that it just makes sense for a track day car. Taking my 32 GTR out for track days is great but the constant worry of killing the motor is just stressful.
Video above looks great, the speeds are insane. What happened at the end of the video? Did you back off or no power?

[JimmyRickard]

On 2/8/2017 at 7:07 AM, LSX-438 said:

We've run a Stohr WF1 for a few years-- by far the fastest car per dollar you can drive.  54's - 56's at Wakefield, 1:25's to 1:27's at EC.  Some of the numbers earlier in thread ($3k per day?) are seriously off the money.  The car has a GSXR1000 engine which you can buy for about $3k complete.  Race prep is relatively cheap, the thing is somewhat simple really, most of the tech is in the aero.

What's the maintenance regime like on this car? My understanding is that every bolt gets the shit vibrated out of it every time you take it out so you need to be a lot more vigilant than just a standard spanner check. 

Is the engine just a standard GSXR, or does it need to built like a Radical engine? Gearbox? What's an upright worth, and how often are you replacing it?

Also, and this may be obvious, but is it fun to drive? Compared to the GTR for example?

 

On 2/8/2017 at 9:11 PM, benm said:

Sports Racer Series (per event)

$1,900 = New Tyres

$500 = Mechanic / Pit crew

$100 = fuel

$1,895 = Event entry fee

Total = $4,395

 

Is this for a National series race? Are there no state rounds? Entry fees would be significantly cheaper.  EDIT: Just checked there's the NSW Supersports category. I'd be surprised if entry fees were any more than $400-500  

Also, I thought these cars were pretty good on tyres, would you really need a new set every round?

[benm]

The Event entry fee's I quoted were for the National Championships, state CAM's rounds are much cheaper.

The cars are extremely good on tyres (I buy mine second hand and usually add an additional 400-600 laps onto them without too much of an issue) however if you are travelling interstate, bringing a crew with you and competing in a National Championship you are using a new set of tyres for the weekend (some Radical guys will use a new set each day or session depending on how close they are in points). The last set of tyres I purchased were $100 for the set and instantly dropped 2sec off my WP pb, I've never driven on green rubber.

My engine is not "radical spec" and I actually suspect that I'm down on horsepower by a tiny bit (~10-20hp) however if you are not competing in the Radical State/National championships the engine doesn't need to be to spec. I did 18 events in 2016 between about 4 clubs which doesn't include any CAM's state series etc

I've replaced probably 150 bolts, I'd say half were rivets replaced with bolts and the other half were just old/original looking bolts.

The biggest reasons I went with the Radical over the Stohr / West were that I can order parts online from the UK and have them delivered 4 days later, I can go in person to the shop at Eastern Creek and buy the common parts off the shelf and it's a 2 seater so awesome for taking friends and instructors out. I couldn't do any of that with the Stohr / West and as a newbie to this particular genre of car and having zero mechanical knowledge it scared me that if something broke it could literally take months to get fixed.

[JimmyRickard]

16 minutes ago, benm said:

I've replaced probably 150 bolts, I'd say half were rivets replaced with bolts and the other half were just old/original looking bolts.

The biggest reasons I went with the Radical over the Stohr / West were that I can order parts online from the UK and have them delivered 4 days later, I can go in person to the shop at Eastern Creek and buy the common parts off the shelf and it's a 2 seater so awesome for taking friends and instructors out. I couldn't do any of that with the Stohr / West and as a newbie to this particular genre of car and having zero mechanical knowledge it scared me that if something broke it could literally take months to get fixed.

Thanks for the reply Ben. What year Radical SR3 are you running? Did you buy local or overseas? 

Have you had to change uprights yet? My understanding is that uprights are the costly thing to look out for considering they are lifed and are $3k a corner.

Also binning it wouldn't be fun. Replacing any of the aero would be costly, which would make me hesitant to go door to door.

 

What parts do you find you are commonly buying from OS? Cheers

 

[benm]

2008 SR3 (SR3 RS come after that, then the new SR3 RSX) and I bought from Vic

Front uprights are $1,250ea delivered, rears are $1,050ea delivered.

I'm not running any parts to the hours, all purely on physical condition.

You can see the parts prices here https://www.radicalonline.co.uk/ just add them to your shopping cart and select the country then convert to AUD.

Door to door is where damage occurs whether it be in the Radical series or the Supersports series. The West / Stohr drivers don't like the Radical drivers and vice versa but that's likely due to the different cars having strengths in different areas and nobody wanting to give an inch. I'm quite happy just do do trackdays + supersprints, I don't have the cashola to start rubbing panels for a few points on a website.

Here is my best "whole session"

 

[JimmyRickard]

Cool thanks for that. How is the aero and coachwork looking? If I was to buy one it would be a similar vintage. Checked out some of the older models at Radical Australia's shed at SMSP and they were starting to look a bit sad. But yours is looking very clean judging from that video at least.

Had any issues with the paddleshifter? 

[benm]

Mine is in decent condition, a lot of money was spent on the bodywork and engine by the previous owner however it easily could have had more spent on it.

Only issues with the paddleshifter have been from worn out electrical parts that control the blipper. Cost me about $100 to buy replacements from an electronics distributor.

The older generation (same as mine) are 10 or so years old so they will look tired, the worst on any of them will be the wiring looms.

[LSX-438]

9 hours ago, JimmyRickard said:

What's the maintenance regime like on this car? My understanding is that every bolt gets the shit vibrated out of it every time you take it out so you need to be a lot more vigilant than just a standard spanner check. 

Is the engine just a standard GSXR, or does it need to built like a Radical engine? Gearbox? What's an upright worth, and how often are you replacing it?

Also, and this may be obvious, but is it fun to drive? Compared to the GTR for example?

 

Is this for a National series race? Are there no state rounds? Entry fees would be significantly cheaper.  EDIT: Just checked there's the NSW Supersports category. I'd be surprised if entry fees were any more than $400-500  

Also, I thought these cars were pretty good on tyres, would you really need a new set every round?

Simple spanner check suffices.  We've run standard and turbo GSXR's-- the turbo setup took quite a bit of development.   We have a friends running radicals, they have their pros and cons relative to Stohrs/Wests.  You should come down to Rd1 of the NSW supersprint championship in March--- have a chat with us all, some things are better discussed in person.  

[JimmyRickard]

Thanks for the offer I plan on entering that round also so I will come and have a chat.

 

Cheers

[evil_weevil]

Cannot believe I have missed this thread...!

 

As uncle Dunc said a few pages back, I went from an R33 with 255rwkw to an MX5 with 94rwkw.

only managed a 1.13.01 around wakie in the R33 (I think also as I had no idea how to drive back then) to a 1.11.8 in the Mx5. best at EC is a 1.56 on the old layout and 1.05.5 around the south cct.

its fun, there is the MX5 cup, super TT and FoSC which the car can race in. plenty of opportunities.

uses less fuel, learn more 'race craft' in it, cheaper on parts (sometimes!) and fairly reliable.

I could turbo it for $5k? make an easy 130rwkw and cut sick laps and do perms faster.