3 ms·

I'm a member of the team that races The Homer [1]. In fact, I'm looking at a matchbox car of it right now! We took a few years off during the pandemic, but the

by rconti 3y ago

I'm a member of the team that races The Homer [1]. In fact, I'm looking at a matchbox car of it right now! We took a few years off during the pandemic, but the team has been going with the same car (with several different themes) since 2008. Also underrated is the nightlife at the track once the racing is done for the day. It's so much fun to stay after hours, walk the pits, see all the other garages, drink their alcohol, etc. 1. http://thehomercar.com http://thehomercar.com

bgirard 3y ago
Just curious, is the $500 a hard budget limit? Looks like you put quite a bit more into The Homer. Really cool to see that someone built it BTW!
- rconti 3y ago
  No. First of all, you can get credit back for parts you sell off the car. In our case, the car (a full running car) was $400 if I remember correctly, and the team captain was able to sell substantial parts of the interior to make money back. Most importantly, safety equipment is not part of the budget, so you can spend as much as you want on seat, racing harnesses, roll cage, fire suppression system, tires, brakes, and so on. Plus driver gear (suits, helmets, HANS restraint devices, cool suits, etc. Some teams even run racing fuel cells as that counts as safety equipment as well. So really, the $500 budget is to acquire the car (minus stuff you sell from it), plus whatever you spend on mechanical (reliability, go-fast bits, repairs, etc). Also, the penalty for going over is generally that you have penalty laps applied to your car, which is not that big a deal, because very few teams will ever win or even compete for a win, and the prizes aren't that large anyway (and often get donated to a charity). Our car happens to conform to the budget and is very well-documented, but many are sketchier, and it doesn't make the racing less fun.
culopatin 3y ago
This is hilarious. I wish I had enough funds to turn an e30 into… that. I’ve been looking for an e30 to daily drive and I just can’t justify paying 15k for a 318 just because it’s not ready to be junked. And then there is the homer, that obviously was cheap enough that it didn’t hurt to build it for lemons. The two things seem to be in different realities.
- rconti 3y ago
  Used cars have gotten substantially more expensive; E30s in particular. Ours was a family-member-of-a-friend's car but was an honest $400 (or maybe less- I forget!) 325es in ~2008. OTOH, I just saw someone pick up a 98 Lexus GS300 for under budget. Deals can be had.

by rconti 3y ago

bgirard 3y ago

Just curious, is the $500 a hard budget limit? Looks like you put quite a bit more into The Homer. Really cool to see that someone built it BTW!

rconti 3y ago
No. First of all, you can get credit back for parts you sell off the car. In our case, the car (a full running car) was $400 if I remember correctly, and the team captain was able to sell substantial parts of the interior to make money back. Most importantly, safety equipment is not part of the budget, so you can spend as much as you want on seat, racing harnesses, roll cage, fire suppression system, tires, brakes, and so on. Plus driver gear (suits, helmets, HANS restraint devices, cool suits, etc. Some teams even run racing fuel cells as that counts as safety equipment as well. So really, the $500 budget is to acquire the car (minus stuff you sell from it), plus whatever you spend on mechanical (reliability, go-fast bits, repairs, etc). Also, the penalty for going over is generally that you have penalty laps applied to your car, which is not that big a deal, because very few teams will ever win or even compete for a win, and the prizes aren't that large anyway (and often get donated to a charity). Our car happens to conform to the budget and is very well-documented, but many are sketchier, and it doesn't make the racing less fun.

culopatin 3y ago

This is hilarious. I wish I had enough funds to turn an e30 into… that. I’ve been looking for an e30 to daily drive and I just can’t justify paying 15k for a 318 just because it’s not ready to be junked. And then there is the homer, that obviously was cheap enough that it didn’t hurt to build it for lemons. The two things seem to be in different realities.

rconti 3y ago
Used cars have gotten substantially more expensive; E30s in particular. Ours was a family-member-of-a-friend's car but was an honest $400 (or maybe less- I forget!) 325es in ~2008. OTOH, I just saw someone pick up a 98 Lexus GS300 for under budget. Deals can be had.