my Project X track car update (long read)

Nice video. Car looks pretty quick.

I am surprised that you are wearing a fire suit, full face helmet but no gloves. Are they not required?

I typically wear gloves when driving on track regardless of the requirements. Just my personal preference.
 
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Dr.Jeff said:
Why don't we have cool events like that in the US? 🥺
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We do, you just need to live in different parts of the US. We have some great hillclimbs in Vermont: Burke, Philo and Ascutney.

There is a cool event outside of Chicago which is someone’s personal road course (actually I believe it is his extended driveway).

Lost Wages is not just a den of iniquity, it is a desert of decent driving opportunities. Much like the majority of the mid west.

:)
 
We all dream of living on 40 acres of land and making our own hill climb or special stage section of our driveway. But then there is that lawyer thing when your buddy rolls his 131 Abarth replica, breaks his arm and suddenly decides it was somehow your fault and his attorney will be contacting you. We don't live in the 1870s anymore.

Dirt biking was much easier back in the 1970s and anyone with a few acres could set up a motocross course on their property. Heck, my brother and I would do hot laps on our motocross bikes around my parents' swimming pool deck...till we realized we were ripping up the grass in a nice oval...the parents were not happy!
 
carl said:
We all dream of living on 40 acres of land and making our own hill climb or special stage section of our driveway. But then there is that lawyer thing when your buddy rolls his 131 Abarth replica, breaks his arm and suddenly decides it was somehow your fault and his attorney will be contacting you. We don't live in the 1870s anymore.

Dirt biking was much easier back in the 1970s and anyone with a few acres could set up a motocross course on their property. Heck, my brother and I would do hot laps on our motocross bikes around my parents' swimming pool deck...till we realized we were ripping up the grass in a nice oval...the parents were not happy!
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I've always thought a go-kart track would be a lot of fun to have on my property.
 
carl said:
...for go karts or your cars?
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Some of my cars are about the size of go-karts, but I was thinking for actual karts. Apparently some old kart tracks have been revived for racing with cars, such as drifting. However it would be even better if there was room to build a real race track for real cars. I guess my dream is a regular closed course circuit where I could do laps rather than a 'hill climb'. :)
 
When I was a kid we lived in a neighborhood with unusually large yards. The people that lived diagonally behind us had a go kart oval track in their back yard. It took up about half the space and was great fun. They had a few 3.5hp briggs powered karts and we ran them regularly. Imagine having the neighborhood kids over to ride go karts after school, unsupervised.

While in high school we had a horse farm and I used our tractor to build a simple motocross track on an unused hillside. Several of my friends would come ride with me there. Lots of fun but un-thinkable today.
 
Steve Hoelscher said:
When I was a kid we lived in a neighborhood with unusually large yards. The people that lived diagonally behind us had a go kart oval track in their back yard. It took up about half the space and was great fun. They had a few 3.5hp briggs powered karts and we ran them regularly. Imagine having the neighborhood kids over to ride go karts after school, unsupervised.

While in high school we had a horse farm and I used our tractor to build a simple motocross track on an unused hillside. Several of my friends would come ride with me there. Lots of fun but un-thinkable today.
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We also had very large yards growing up. I made a track in our backyard for my minibike when I was about 7 or 8. I kept making it longer and more challenging. So at one point it squeezed in between the corner of the house and a tree, along a very narrow path until cut across the front yard by the street, over the driveway (chewed it up a bit), and returned to the back yard before rejoining the track there. Naturally I did not own any type of helmet, wore sandals a tee shirt and shorts, no goggles, etc. And the minibike only had a 'friction paddle' for a rear brake (rubbed against the tire to slow it down) with no front brake. As you say, that would not happen today.
 
Dr.Jeff said:
We also had very large yards growing up. I made a track in our backyard for my minibike when I was about 7 or 8. I kept making it longer and more challenging. So at one point it squeezed in between the corner of the house and a tree, along a very narrow path until cut across the front yard by the street, over the driveway (chewed it up a bit), and returned to the back yard before rejoining the track there. Naturally I did not own any type of helmet, wore sandals a tee shirt and shorts, no goggles, etc. And the minibike only had a 'friction paddle' for a rear brake (rubbed against the tire to slow it down) with no front brake. As you say, that would not happen today.
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My first Mini Bike was when I was 11. It was a 50cc 2-stroke and relatively fast for the time. I had a real motorcycle helmet and was told I had to use it to ride. I got used to it quickly. Most of my friends also had bikes and we all wore helmets. I never really ever rode without one. I had trail bikes up until I got married 10 years ago. I sold my Honda XR250R then because it was seldom used and we were moving and combining households.
 
Steve Hoelscher said:
My first Mini Bike was when I was 11. It was a 50cc 2-stroke and relatively fast for the time. I had a real motorcycle helmet and was told I had to use it to ride. I got used to it quickly. Most of my friends also had bikes and we all wore helmets. I never really ever rode without one. I had trail bikes up until I got married 10 years ago. I sold my Honda XR250R then because it was seldom used and we were moving and combining households.
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When I had mine a minibike was a rigid frame with a lawnmower engine, not much for a brake, small wheels and tires, no safety equipment, and handled horrible. But still fast enough to kill you. I'm shocked my mom allowed me to have it. And she would not let me get a motorcycle when I got older. In fact I really didn't get into motorcycles until I was in my 40s.
 
DaveR said:
Carl.

Your thesis will go off subject before you finish it.
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Too Funny! 🤣

On topic, there are more hill climbs in the US that you probably think. Primarily because, other than Pikes Peak and Mt. Washington, they are poorly promoted outside of the small group of faithfuls. Probably the best known and established is the Pennsylvania Hill Climb Association. They have run a series for many years. The events are well organized and well attended.

The problem these days is finding a venue and getting cooperation from local government. Closing a public road for a weekend is difficult enough when the locals might have zero interest or benefit from the event.

I know the effort that went into the Crowe Mountain Hill Climb in North Alabama. It took quite a bit of effort and only lasted a few years.
 
Back in the 80s I was part of the Killington Sports Car Club of Vermont, they ran Ascutney and Burke mountains. This was before cell phones and reliable low cost radio systems so we ran two sets of wires up the mountain, one for the timer system and one for the intercom system to verify each car getting from checkpoint to checkpoint or to call for assistance.

It was a ton of work to set up and we would run the two days. Half day of set up and takedown on either side. Fun times. Burke’s road is one of the steeper access roads.

For more info for New England events: http://www.hillclimb.org/events.html
 
Maybe there is a mountain for sale somewhere in the US. Buy it, make your own dirt road up to the top and thumb your nose at Pikes Peak which went sissy and got paved. Is there a Mountain Bargain Hunt series on HGTV?
 
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