Can we talk LeMons?

[Grover]

I've been telling myself for the last couple of years "I've gotta do a LeMons race." Well, the opportunity hasn't fallen in my lap, so I guess I need to get off my behind and actually go do something to make it happen.

For those who have done a LeMons race or two, curious to hear your insights:

1. Good starting cars?

2. Best to build your own, or buy someone elses discarded LeMons piece of junk?

3. We all know it doesn't actually cost $500, so what does it REALLY cost?

4. Any other useful tidbits....

[SteveJ]

Tom, don't listen to everybody else... Your 2002 is VERY nice. It is no where near a LeMons car.

Mine, on the other hand...

[Grover]

Are you volunteering your car Steve? If so, come on by and I'll give you $500 for it.

[williamggruff]

Our LeMons tii cost a wee bit more than $500. And by 'wee' I mean an order of magnitude more than $500, and then some. Of course, the extra expenditures were all in the spirit of safety ;-) Our team put in over 1000 person hours of effort prior to our first race, and our efforts were not without reward. We walked away with the coveted "We Got Screwed" trophy. We were the first team in LeMons history to have a running car on the Friday before the race, get the car on the track twice during the race, not break down, and still manage to log exactly ZERO official laps. But that's another story.

2002's and Volvo 240's seem to do pretty well. e30's show up in droves, but they're in a class with some serious cheatahs--cammed out, coil-overed, ultra-lightened death machines that really haul a$$. A stock e30 can't crank 8k all day, and an e30 that can sure as hell isn't a $500 car. But they're out there on the track at LeMons. A 950 lb. CRX with a race-tuned suspension and built motor isn't fair competition for anything that's going to be available from your local Craigslist or Pick-A-Part for $500. But you'll be up against those types of cars at LeMons. So prepare to cheat early, cheat often, and cheat well.

Reliability, safety, and fun are where it's at in LeMons. We threw the first 2 out the window, and ended up having quite a bit of the third anyway. For our second race, we're focusing more on the first, figuring that it'll give us more of the second and third. We'll see how that goes.

Grice

[jmon0261]

I think the Stella Car - Davin and crew are looking for another driver

[roadhog0]

An old Jeep Cherokee (Not shitting you) works really well. I saw someone run one at a Chump Car and it MOBBED! Get a 2wd version of one of those and gut it and they are peppy rigs I hear.

[steve k.]

we run a a 320i, and this time it actually finished the race.

as for cost. $500 on the car, all all safety, cage, fire, brakes. Plus individual safety stuff.

Entry fee for each race is about $1000 per car.

steve k.