Newbie Looking to start in hillclimbing

[dougiefresh411]

I was looking into buying a car for hillclimbs and I was wondering what I should be looking for. Any advise would be appreciated. I have Snell certified helmets already from my motorcycle so I was wondering what is neccesary to get started in the sport and get ready for the first race. Thanks

[sachilles]

Are you looking to buy a dedicated hillclimber? or with this also be doing daily driver duty?

There is a VW in the for sale section that is caged and ready to rock. You'd have a tough time putting a cage into a car for less than the asking price of that one.

What sort of budget do you have in mind? Any car that is in good working order is a good one. Getting one that is competitive in class right off the bat is a little bit more of a challenge.

Any particular brand of car you are fond of?

[dougiefresh411]

It won't be a daily driver it'll just be a project me and my friend are looking into. Our budget is pretty limited since we are both in college. Is a roll cage, and fire suit necessary for any cars or just for cars that are above a certain speed. Do pretty much all cars fit into some sort of category? Thanks for the help

[sachilles]

All cars fit into a category.
You can climb without a cage, but you are subject to a breakout time. If you go faster than it, you are warned. You go faster than it a second time, you can't come back to the hill with that car. You can still go fast enough to destroy your car and be under the breakout time. If you have a cage, you need a firesuit.

All cars must have a fire extinguisher mounted properly. There is a rules section on the site, and has the minimum requirements for classification. You definitely need to read all of that section, so you understand what you are getting into. If you have questions on items in the rules, ask them here.
The short version is if you have a car that is basically stock from the factory, that is considered in the class Unprepared.
If the car is modified from stock but still street legal, it is likely in the class Street prepared. If you go beyond that, the car goes into prepared. Dedicated scratch build racers can end up in formula libra.
Unprepared, Street prepared and prepared are divided up into 4 or more sub classes base on engine displacement sized in relation to curb weight of the car. So basically, cars are classed so that like cars end up together.

Your budget should put you in a Uprepared or street prepared class. If your budget is under the $2k, that the VW would cost, your probably won't be able to be that choosey with what you end up with to drive. Just find something that will be RELIABLE, and will require as little work as possible to stay that way. You can have plenty of fun running up the hill in just about any car. Just concentrate on getting a good reliable and safe car.

[walterclark]

I have Snell certified helmets already from my motorcycle...

I am going to assume this is a Snell M2000 or M2005. We require an SA2000 or SA2005. SA2010 is not available yet and wont replace the SA2000 in out rules until at least next year. M helmets are not fire rated and undergo different impact testing (more suited to motorcycles) than the SA which are intended for automobile racing.

[Mopar 151]

I would second most of the advice here, and will pass along a little more. First, the VW advertised here is indeed a smokin' deal. VW's are pretty popular, and running a popular kind of car means more tech advice, as well as borrowable parts/tools, and more people to race. Our point system works on % of winning time, so a big field does'nt negatively affect your chances.
Second is the drive-to-event vs. tow question. Towing may cost a bit more gas, and a tow vehicle. Towbars are kind of dicey, tow dollies work out well for front-drives. Borrowing car trailers gets old pretty quick, but it might get you started. Enclosed trailers have the advantage of dry camping inside - towing with a motorhome works out the same way, but has it's own set of issues.
Driving to the event has it's own issues. if you run any sort of raceable/racing tires, you'll need a set of road tires/wheels. Throw in tools and camping gear, clothes and a cooler, and you're lookin' like the Beverly Hillbillies... And then there's what to do if you crash, or break the car. Getting the car flatbedded home can run several hundred $$$$, and you still may have to get yourself home.
Tire choice can very much affect your choice of car. Hillclimbs can eat up some autocross tires, depending on how soft they are. Performance tires for roadracing will last fairly well - if you can get "takeoffs" from a well-funded roadracer, that can be a pretty good deal. With full-on racing slicks (only in Prepared classes), you want to have your source of tires figured out before you commit to a particular car. We allow tire softeners on slicks, because they harden so much from repeated heat cycling that they get treacherous. If you get into this, ask around - it's a dark art.
Finally - if you run increased boost, homemade turbos, or high compression - don;t mess with low octane gas! If road gas is gonna sit in the car for any length of time, use a fuel stabilizer. The only reliable octane booster we have found is racing gasoline, mixed in premium, fresh road gas. Altitude is not as big an issue as you might think, at least in this series - the difference in temperature between the bottom and the top affects the air density opposite the effects of altitude - so the change is not that big. But we don't run above treeline.....
Hope this all helps!

[DaveEstey]

It should be noted I picked up my CRX for less than a grand (Yes that means my cage is worth more than the car), which was a smoking hot deal. You can indeed find deals like that if you look around but try to stick to known good rigs.

80's VWs are a known quantity as are 80's Hondas and have a pretty devoted following so plenty of people to get input from.

If this wasn't hillclimb I would go with the grassroots motorsport mantra of "The answer is Miata" but you'd need a roll bar.