Photograph Courtesy Toyota
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This issue’s column started with a simple prompt from Editor David S. Wallens: What do you think we’ll be racing in 20 years?
Cool idea, right? It was one of those concepts on the column idea list we all keep around for moments when actual inspiration isn’t hitting us and the deadline clock is ticking. Or maybe he just wanted to hear my answer or thought my take on it might be fun.
So yeah, I dig the thought exercise, right? So, as I do with all my columns, I waited until the absolutely last atomic second, then started pondering the concept. Just what would we be racing two decades hence?
And yeah, it’s not nearly that simple.
In fact, it’s almost not even the right question.
The real question in this case is, “Have we passed the point of no return where building a competition car from a new vehicle is no longer feasible for anyone but the factory?”
And all we have to do to explore this question further is to look at the most “stock” of all the professional motorsports series out there. In general, the pro sanctioning bodies want to showcase the newest hardware.
Current model years–or at least current generations–do battle in “sorta close to stock” rungs in both IMSA’s Michelin Pilot Challenge and SRO’s TC America, but increasingly these fields are made up of series-produced, homologated competition vehicles manufactured under license from the OEMs, either by in-house competition divisions or through contracted independents that turn bodies-in-white into identical racing machines.
The days of buying a car off the showroom floor, bolting or welding in a roll cage, poring over the rule book for prep limits, and wrenching together your own race car for Firehawk, Motorola Cup, World Challenge or Grand-Am Cup are basically over in the pro ranks. A similar evolution is occurring in the club ranks, where SCCA Touring categories are populated by either decade-old cars or just barely outdated homologation machinery from the pro ranks that’s been adopted into various club classes.
And really, it kind of makes sense, as even the most basic cars on showroom floors are becoming irreducibly complex these days. Engine control computers talk to body control computers, which talk to brake control computers, which talk to stability control computers. And, in many cases, if any of those links are severed, the performance of the car is dialed back to avert what the electronics perceive as impending disaster.
Even installing basic track safety gear in modern cars is becoming tricky, as fitting proper race seats can mean disabling passive safety equipment, like seat-mounted air bags. And disabling safety equipment can play hell with other integrated systems.
While the loss of the DIY race car is lamentable, there’s plenty of silver linings. Buying a homologated race car from a major manufacturer means you never have to worry about whether you built it to a high enough standard, or whether it will pass tech, or whether it will be competitive, or if you’ll even have a place to run.
Yes, the cost of entry will be higher, but only compared to a drawn-out, piece-by-piece project build. For example, Honda will sell you a TCA-spec Civic Si–ready to race in SRO’s TCA class, SCCA Club Racing’s T3 class or NASA’s ST5 class–for under $55,000.
[More turnkey Civic Si race cars on the way]
Just start adding the cost of the individual pieces it takes to build a car like that to the price of a Civic Si and see where you end up. And that’s before you, an everyday person who has no access to the ECU on a code level, can even get the thing to run right.
On the other hand, man, I really enjoyed the days when teams slapped a cage in a cheated-up Firebird and did battle with other shop-built or even driver-built cars in true DIY production-based series.
So what will we be racing in 20 years? Well, pretty much the same stuff we are now, since we’re truly living in–or may have even already passed–the final generation of showroom-new cars that can be built into race machines by the end user. Our 2005-’15-ish models will represent the last of an era before homologation becomes the norm.
Is it a bad norm? I mean, you can certainly make the argument that it’s a net positive for motorsports, since it democratizes the process and gives everyone access to the same level of machinery. But you can also argue that we’ve lost something truly unique: the ability of independent shops–like OPM or RealTime or Joe Varde or BimmerWorld–to take delivery of a dealer-new stock car, dig in, build a race machine and make a name for themselves.
At some point, we may look back at the TCR cars available from several manufacturers in disbelief that you could write a check and walk out with something so cabable.
Civics, Hyundais, GTIs, Miata, BRZ/86s, retired police cruisers.
In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :
"Return my treasures to me, and I myself will carry you through the gates of Valhalla. You shall ride eternal. Shiny, and chrome!"
In reply to pinchvalve (Forum Supporter) :
Easy to forget how many great options are out there.
the answer is always miata
My friggin Datsun............I've been driving it for 38 years and racing it for 33 years; not sure that is going to change.
In reply to SV reX :
I will be 80 then but we have several guys on track in their early 80s.............hoping to be one of them.
miata
I have been thinking there will be a rise in purpose-built cars because of this. A clean slate is becoming a more feasible point than re-engineering a passenger car.
Think about it this way, almost every serious circle track class/car for dirt or asphault is far from production based and they are still kicking. What percentage of professional circle track racing is remotely production based?
We have roadracing cars/classes that use similar parts - trans-am and classes where old stock cars go play.
We have classes that fit the mold, SCCA Spec Racer Ford is a good example. Drivetrains can evolve around purpose built chassis and keep classes like that going, how many revisions is the SRF on now over the last several decades? I see it becoming a more attractive and cost effective option vs modifying a showroom stock car.
We also have sports-racer and Formula classes that contain a spectrum of spec vs innovation. If you read a rulebook, many of these classes still alow a lot of innovation for builders and engineers if that is wanted. There are even classes where scratch building your own car wouldnt be unfathomable (F600).
This also ignores how much traction vintage racing is getting. The rise in expense and complexity is driving people to old iron. Vintage will be taking up a standard, but many SCCA classes are almost becoming vintage in their own right. FV, FF, and a number of classes where 20+ year old production cars can still run strong.
In reply to Apexcarver :
Good point on vintage; the fields in vintage Formula Ford are really strong in comparison to SCCA at the local level.
I'm hoping that I'm still racing in 20 years and if I'm really lucky I'll still be racing my Formula Ford in vintage. If not I might be racing my vintage Miata.
At my age I love vintage racing. I love all FF's prior to the Swift generation. Prefer a good FF race to F1. As an ex SCCA guy I always loved the diversity of amateur racing over pro racing. To Tom1200 I love your Datsun.
Apexcarver said:I have been thinking there will be a rise in purpose-built cars because of this. A clean slate is becoming a more feasible point than re-engineering a passenger car.
Think about it this way, almost every serious circle track class/car for dirt or asphault is far from production based and they are still kicking. What percentage of professional circle track racing is remotely production based?
We have roadracing cars/classes that use similar parts - trans-am and classes where old stock cars go play.
We have classes that fit the mold, SCCA Spec Racer Ford is a good example. Drivetrains can evolve around purpose built chassis and keep classes like that going, how many revisions is the SRF on now over the last several decades? I see it becoming a more attractive and cost effective option vs modifying a showroom stock car.
We also have sports-racer and Formula classes that contain a spectrum of spec vs innovation. If you read a rulebook, many of these classes still alow a lot of innovation for builders and engineers if that is wanted. There are even classes where scratch building your own car wouldnt be unfathomable (F600).
This also ignores how much traction vintage racing is getting. The rise in expense and complexity is driving people to old iron. Vintage will be taking up a standard, but many SCCA classes are almost becoming vintage in their own right. FV, FF, and a number of classes where 20+ year old production cars can still run strong.
At the short track level just entry level 4 cylinder classes,and your typical v8 hobby or street stock classes. There are some tracks running v6 fwd classes but otherwise most classes uses purpose built chassis. Plus especially in dirt racing mist high end classes are using methonal for fuel instead of gas.
For 99.9% of us, we'll be racing cars on a computer screen. The other .1% will do what they want.
In reply to Apexcarver :
Related to your statement about clean-slate race cars, at the recent HSR event here at Daytona, we saw more than a few GT3 and GT4 cars from just a few years ago. We even saw a TCR car out there.
In reply to Apexcarver :
And some related material over at Classic Motorsports:
Are today's GT3 competition machines tomorrow's vintage racers?
In reply to JimS :
Thanks; never thought I'd be driving it nearly 4 decades. They are great little cars and so fun to drive.
racerfink said:For 99.9% of us, we'll be racing cars on a computer screen. The other .1% will do what they want.
Beat me to it. I was gonna say, "General answer, simulators. My personal answer, there's always the SCCA Mod classes..."
Another possibility in 20 years is racing electrics. Assuming that the components become standardized and generally available (no reason they wouldn't) then I could see a lot of electric Miata conversions and things like that.
Making an electric daily driver is complex, taking a roller, throwing a cage in it, pulling out the ICE and turning it into an electric track / race only vehicle could eventually be quite a bit simpler. I understand the charging infrastructure doesn't exist yet but it might by then or standard sized swappable battery packs might be cheap enough (think RC car racing) that you charge at home and bring 3 or 4 with you.
Since I've been racing Vintage for 50 years I suspect I'll continue until dirt nap time.
QuikMcshifterson said:
I understand the charging infrastructure doesn't exist yet
It does, check your house for one of these:
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In reply to GameboyRMH :
Huh... I haven't run across many of these at my local track.
GameboyRMH said:QuikMcshifterson said:
I understand the charging infrastructure doesn't exist yetIt does, check your house for one of these:
He was referring to large scale charging at a track. I suspect most track pits are not set up to have a large number of EVs all charging at the same time - 2 or 3, perhaps, but not a few grids worth of EVs.
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