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[iwantspeed]

i just ordered myne last night. cant wait to get it!! im excited to learn about autocross! will it teach me what to do around certain corners?

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[granracing]

Hi,
While the book discusses many things you'll find valueable related to autocrossing (and other types of racing), it does not get into "how to drive the car". My goal when writing this book was to provide people a guide into the sport of racing.

One book geared towards autocrossing which discusses the driving line ect. is Secrets of Solo Racing by Henry Watts.

Best of luck

[iwantspeed]

o well.. im sure ill learn sumthing out of it.. thanks

[Flux]

Just got my copy in the mail and I cannot put it down. Thanks.

[iwantspeed]

yea this book is really good. thanks for the sig on the inside.

[peter_bigblock]

Dave, is it okay if I post a link to your site on a couple other forums? I'm going to order the book myself, I can imagine other car junkies might be interested as well.

Pete

[granracing]

Pete,
Absolutely! I'd really appreciate that. Thank you

[DC4Dan]

just ordered.

[granracing]

I received the December issue of Grassroots Motorsports magazine and was pretty psyched to see their review of the book!

We often receive e-mails asking for advice on how to build a car and get into racing (big shocker, eh?). William Cisneros recently asked our advice on the subject: "I recently bought a 240Z which was raced up in Washington state. The car is in good shape and appears to be an IT-type car, though the only markings say ISCC. Do you know of any books on preparing a car that can be understood by a newbie such as myself?"

As it just so happens, this was not only a typical question, it was also a timely one, since we were in the middle of reading David Gran's "Go Ahead - Take the Wheel." This is a 192-page guide to getting on the track easily, cheaply and safely. In short, it's the perfect book for a newbie who's interested in starting a road racing career.

The author covers the basics (racers should drink lots of water at the track) as well as the not-so-basics (how to replace a glass sunroof with sheet metal). It's a litle short on pictures and diagrams, but the text is well written and easy to follow. It also details a good, low-buck paint job.

Grans book is published by Dragon Publishing of Newington, Conn. They can be reached online at http://www.goaheadtakethewheel.com or by calling (860) 666-5505.

[George Knighton]

Congratulations. I'm glad you're getting some well earned publicity for a good idea.

[trigun7469]

any chance these book will be sold at Half priced books? thanks

[granracing]

Probably not any time soon. Doing the whole self-publishing thing has been a very interesting experience to say the least. To get into a larger bookstore, I'd need to go through a wholesaler who wants ~ a 40% cut, then the book store wants a 40% cut. Then I need supply them with an inventory - if it doesn't sell, they rip the cover off and send that back to me for a full refund. For a major publisher, that works fine since they don't want to store the books anyways and their cost per book is much, much less than mine.

Oh, some very cool news! Both NASA and SCCA are now providing support for the book and some of their regions will begin selling it soon. Wahoo!

[redsuns3838]

anyone have any skip barber books? how does this one compare?

[granracing]

I have Skip Barber's Going Faster, and a few of the Speed Secrets books. They are well worth the investment and I continue to refer back to them.

How does my book compare? The above mentioned books tell you how to drive the proper lines, and other race driving techniques. My book tells you how to begin racing - autocrossing, HPDEs, acquiring a racecar (building and buying), about the clubs' racing schools and what to expect, technical inspections, repairs & maintenance, transporting the racecar, what it takes to become a front runner, sponsorships, and the costs of racing (and methods to reduce these costs). The book was written to get people to a point where they could then use all of those books about driving technique. What good is learning driving technique when one isn't on the track racing yet?

(There more info. about my book on it's website - see my sig. for a link)

[spkrman]

in the book, whats the low end $ wise of a street/track car? how much does it normally cost through a season in entry fees etc?

Wondering if I should even bother, or if it can be done on a tight budget (as tight as feasable).

I think it could be alot of fun - but I just don't want to dive into a big fat money pit.

[granracing]

There are many costs which you control. Do you need to drive a super cool car? I started (and now race) an '87 Honda Prelude si which has 110 HP stock. When I first started HPDEs, it had over 170,000 miles on it and was bone stock except for a short air intake (cause that made it cool). You don't need an expensive or super fast car.

Autocrossing / Solo events are very, very inexpensive. On average, $20 - $25 per day.

HPDE / PDX events, varies depending up the club and track. Typical event fees range from $200 - $275 for the day which often includes classroom instruction and having an instructor ride shotgun with you.

You'll need a helmet: maybe you can borrow someone you know who has a motorcycle helmet or if you know someone who races, their helmet? If not, for one that you can use if you want to wheel-to-wheel club race later on (motorcycle SNELL rated helmets can be bought a bit cheaper), plan on ~ $230. Tires: depends on how hard you are on them, the track, the car, and the tires being used. For a novice, if you buy tires for longevity (Toyo Proxes for example) they will last a long time. In the book I said 10 HPDEs, but they do last many people longer than that. A couple of my friends attend racing events where tire vendors will be at the track and take other peoples' used tires. You might be surprised at what some people consider to be junk tire tires. The tire vendor is all to happy to give them to you for free. This way they don't have to lug them back to the shop and pay to dispose of them. Quality brake fluid (a must!): $12 - 15.

There are ways in which you can ease your way into racing, and many methods of cost savings. For example, do a limited number of HPDEs, do some autocross events, and volunteer at club races (you'll learn a lot from this). Or at least attend races as a spectator and learn as much as you can. For cutting costs, learn to work on your car yourself (if you don't already know how to), even little things like changing brake fluid, pads and rotors yourself. After you gain experience, become an instructor at HPDEs (free track time). One could write a book on these subjects.

[spkrman]

so all of this (plus alot more i'm sure) is covered in the book?

I've read over the NASA format/hpde setup and really like it. solo looks pretty fun too, and more on my budget.

As far as vehicle, if I could buy something for $100 than was short on rust and ran decent, I'd be happy... really looking for more of a new hobby/project. Doesn't need any "style" of sorts, just has to have a good aftermarket and lots of potential.

I don't really know motors inside out, but basic stuff like changing pads/rotors etc is no problem, and I would without a doubt be doing everything myself... the 'net makes it a hell of alot easier.

[granracing]

Yup, all covered in the book.

A $100 car would very tough to find; if you did, I would imagine repairs would be necessary quite quickly. Those repairs can add up. You'd probably be better off looking for a car that is half-way decent shape. Then again, the car I started HPDEs with was only worth ~ $500. There still will be repairs though. If you buy a new (used) car for this, don't forget about car insurance (a big bummer) and all of the other fun things that go along with it. If you have a car already, try solo to begin with. If you feel comfortable, take that to HPDEs.

Just a forewarning, racing can quickly turn from a hobby to a habbit, as my wife calls it.

[spkrman]

insurance shouldn't be too big of a deal, I suppose it depends on the car, though.

$100 was a bit of an exxageration, lol... I doubt I'd get anything that ran 5 years ago. Just from poking around, $1500 sounds like a very reasonable goal for a decent car that won't blow up after each race.

I have an 85 s10 blazer, and a 07 toyota yaris... although the yaris would make a pretty good hdpe car, there is no way I can afford to risk it. The blazer, it wouldn't bother me one bit to completely strip it down/cage it etc...The blazer, were I to even bother with it, I'd obviously have to do alot of suspension work... Q here is, would it even be a feasable vehicle to use? I like it because of cost, insurance isnothing, along with repair (a door is $100, for example)... not to mention I already have it... but I mean, worth the effort? No matter what I'd still be dragging a big heavy brick around a racetrack, not sure what I could get out of it.

[granracing]

The blazer... no. (Most clubs won't allow SUVs on the track or autocross.) But that would make a good future tow vehicle. The other option is to sell the Blazer and put that money towards a car that can be used on the track. While many people use very expensive cars at HPDEs, I think you are going the right way with buying an fairly inexpensive car to use. At first I used a car I really, really cared about and it's not nearly as much fun. I kept thinking about how I didn't want to hurt my baby. You'll learn more much quicker by using a car you're not as concerned about. (Just sent you an instant message)

[spkrman]

yea, selling the blazer may be the way to go.

Sry, didn't catch your IM, try again whenever, I'm normally always on... but last night had some connection + computer issues.

I was looking into NASA's spec neon, I think it might be the way to go... I haven't gotten into SCCA's neon setup, but I think they have something similar, just from reading on the NASA site.

I know I can get a tolerable neon for under 1000, they are everywhere... then build it up over the course of 07, shouldn't be overly expensive.

[peter_bigblock]

Dave, read your book cover-to-cover and it did what I expected it to do: got me psyched to learn to race. I'm planning to do a few autox and hpde's next spring/summer, in my street car until I can get my hands on my aunt's '90 Prelude Si. I imagine what you said is right -- I'll be more reserved running in my Acura TSX daily driver, but I've just gotta get out on a track and get started. I've always had the itch, and your book demystified the process.

If anyone needs to get it in their head what it looks like get into racing, or just get on a track for fun, buy this book. It's money very well spent, and would make a terrific Christmas present. Excellent, excellent book, Dave!

[mcolangelo2006]

Hey Dave! I'm reading your book right now. Good job!

My only constructive criticism is that I wish you had discussed the pros and cons of choosing a FWD vs RWD vs AWD car. I'm debating wether I should go RWD or FWD and would appreciate any advice that you have on the topic.

As a side note, I too grew up in central Connecticut (Berlin) and spent many a weekend night in my teen years cruising the Berlin Turnpike with my gearhead buddies. I'm on the left coast now and keep it on the track.

[granracing]

Discussing the pros and cons of FWD, RWD & AWD...

How strongly do you care if it's FWD or RWD? If you're open to either, then I think the discussion should be changed. Once you've determined which which club(s) you want to race with, the next step is which class. Now that you've chosen the class, what are your goals? If you've choosen NASA's Honda Challenge, the choice is simple.

I mentioned that for a rookie, great deals can be found on "tweener" cars. (Ones that will never consistantly run up-front, nor will they be backmarkers - at least according to performance potential of the car) Let's just say you want a car that will either have the potential now or with further development to run up front. Again, assuming I don't have a strong preference towards FWD or RWD, look at the racecar's potential to be a front winning car. Wheither it's FWD or RWD, that's just one component to this. When vehicles are classed (I'll admit that I'm more familiar with how SCCA's Improved Touring cars as classed) they look at many things. Weight distribution, aero, torque, HP, suspension design, how the engine will react to a build, how the ECU will respond to tuning, FWD vs. RWD, gear ratios, ect. Then they put it in a class and adjust the min. weight. Unfortunately the answer is quite as simple. My advice is to keep your options open and do not limit it to either just FWD or RWD. Hopefully I didn't confuse you more. But that's why I included this forum in the appendix. I'm sure you'll have more questions - as you do, post them and you'll get plenty of help from people with a wealth of knowledge. Good luck!!!


Ah, the Berlin Turnpike. Before having a trailer for my racecar, before one of my races I need to have some repairs done on the car over at Pep Boys. Without even thinking about it, I drove the car down the Berlin Tpke. Now that was an interesting trip! Every freakn' car wanted to race me. Guess I should have expected that with SCCA decals, a cage, louder exhaust and racing numbers on the car. LOL

<on edit> I didn't mention AWD because most club level categories do not allow AWD cars.


Modified by granracing at 6:49 PM 12/15/2006

[granracing]

A good idea from a soon to be fellow ITB driver and friend Jon, was to provide a sample chapter of the book. With any luck, it'll spread.

If you've been curious to get an idea what the book is like, learn what to expect at a day at the races, or how much it costs clubs to host events, here it is:

Sample Chapter