Looking for cheap motorsport to get into!

Depends whether you want wheel to wheel action or not.

Autocross or autograss probably has the cheapest options overall. Karting can be very cost effective, especially for the speeds involved. Tin tops and single seaters can be cheap, until you prang one either with another car, or stuff it in the barriers. Karting is more forgiving on the wallet in that regard. Most light and medium contact results in needing to rebend some plastics and clean off some rubber marks with acetone, with a car you can be looking at more than that.

Other pluses for karting over the others are that you can stick it in the boot of a car, or on the roof and it takes up less space in a garage. You can even stand the thing up if you need to.

I'd suggest you look at all of the options and think about what suits your budget and situation best. By that I mean, go to an autotest, autograss etc etc. Offer to volunteer\marshall at the event(s) and you'll have your answer soon enough.

I've been looking at getting into some form of racing for a year now with two other friends.

Karts seem to be the most straightforward to get into, unlike other race series you don't need a license, you can just buy your kart and start competing. Karts are rear wheel drive and can be adjusted to the track. The downside seems to be while you can get into it cheaply enough it can get very competitive, we got a bit scared off when we heard some people can be spending up to €30,000 on a race season.

The benefit of the likes of the fiestas is they're stock, you don't have to worry about finding the right setup and everyone is in an even car. But as far as I can see you have to do a mondello course.

I'm leaning back towards karts again, they seem like the best racing machine for the money. I don't like the idea of racing front wheel drives.

In the meantime I've invested in sim racing which I think in this day and age is a real alternative to real road racing, it teaches you the theory and allows you to practice racing with other people. It can still be pricey for proper gear, a good wheel/pedal/gear combination is between €200 - a few thousand.

Of course it's not as much fun and you're missing out on a whole load of feedback information like g-forces.

12 laps wrote: »

*Deleted post* Its not a good idea to go posting mobile numbers on a public forum. Also if you have info please post more info and not just shilling whatever car you have for sale.

no dont have a race car for sale :mad: but cheap racing future classics maybe for you,cars can be got from E500 in need of work or up to E3000,cannot lap under 1m.9 1/5,this will stop you spending money on the car.but there is no such thing (cheap motorsport) there is a cost of money and time

guyfo wrote: »

Lol. That made my day!

Autotesting is MUCH cheaper than circuit racing. The only thing cheap about the fiestas is the car. You still have big entry fees, testing, 700 quid to spend on tires and then its tin tops aka there's going to be contact!

Autotesting gets expensive if you want to go to the very top but even then its just the car thats expensive.

You can buy a €500 starlet and be perfectly capable of winning the novice class. After a few years something faster would be needed.

A €4k vauxhall nova would be capable of winning its class and an €9k mini special should be able to win events outright.


I compete in one of the top classes and do all of the rounds of the Irish national championship "The Hewison Trophy"

My costs are.
Entries - about €55 per event (There is a €10 discount for novices on every round)

Fuel - less than 20 quid will do an event

Tyres - I use about 10 front tyres (€60 each) and 4-6 rears (€40) over a season. A novice would only use about half that.

Forget drifting, you wont get a better sport in terms of car control.

Here is the new promo for next years series

Is drifting around farmyards really a sport though?

Might be some sort of test involved nowadays I think.
I did it back in.............. 96? There was a medical that had to be done too. Back then you raced with novice plates, had to have your license signed by the COC and so on before you could move to the next licence.

Not sure if that's still the case...

knifey_spoonie wrote: »

People always seem to forget the cost of safety gear, if its your first season your going to drop big money on all the gear. Ive spent as much on safety kit as i did buying my car.

I spent about €1700 on all my safety gear. The car cost me about €1600. Its also the running costs start to add up, Last weekend cost me the guts of $600 for a weekends racing, the running costs soon outweigh the purchase price.

you dont need safety gear for some forms of motorsport though.

Quazzie wrote: »

Is drifting around farmyards really a sport though?

Didn't even notice that post. Your a lovely person aren't you. I don't remember making little of your sport or anyone's on this threads.

Drifting around farmyards. Don't know what sport your talking bout but its not autotesting. Ive never done a championship round in a farmyard, our cars are much to close to the ground to ruin them ****ing about in a yard.

Its one of the oldest forms of motorsport and predates stage rallying. Its still the most technical motorsport in the world, with a set course along a complex route, forwards and reversing sections, penalties for hitting markers, incomplete maneuvers or going the wrong way.
What makes it not worthy of the status of a "sport"?

Also autotesting and drifting are in no way similar. Its like saying f1 and drifting are the same because the f1 lads happen to get the back of their cars out from time to time. In autotesting, just as circuit racing, sprints or rallying, its the fastest time that wins, not the most spectacular driver.

Quazzie wrote: »

In the video you posted at 1:09 it looks like a farmyard. At 1:39 it looks like there is a stack of tires in the background for a silage pit.

Thats wrights quarry at 1.09 and 1.39, the venue for the monaghan rounds, not a farmyard but it is a concrete surface event.

That's all well and fair but how does one win. I wasn't attacking your sport, I was just stating that from an outsiders perspective it is hard to see how one driver is better than the other.

Is it really easy to see who the fastest rally driver is when they pass you at one corner on a stage?

As i said before the fastest time wins. The fastest person overall after the 12 tests wins. As an outsider it must be pretty easy to get that.

From what I can and from my very limited knowledge of it, it looks like drifting and you are try to control the car around a course. Sounds like drifting to me.

Drifters drift to score points based on the speed and complexity of their drift

Autotesters, rally drivers and race drivers drift only when it is the fastest way to get from a-b

deadeye187 wrote: »

As the title says, i was wondering what is a cheap motorsport to get into?. I know karting is a cheap option but just wondering what others there are to do here. Any info would be great thanks.

It's all cheap until you get into it and want to compete for wins. Then it gets expensive. You will spend hundreds just for that little advantage.

Karting, Hot rod, auto grass & auto testing are probably the cheapest with low entry fees once cars are set up. However there will be hidden fees, safety gear, transport, nights away to consider also. I used race radio controlled cars and went hot rodding after because it was cheaper at the time. The car and gear all set up for €600-€700 as I had a transporter etc. After two years in class two I had a crack off class six. €10K the car cost to build for parts only.

Froststop wrote: »

It's all cheap until you get into it and want to compete for wins. Then it gets expensive. You will spend hundreds just for that little advantage.

That's if you want championships and glory but I think you can come at racing from a personal skill improvement side. It's like a martial art in some ways in that you can improve yourself for your own personal gratification. Even driving a car fast on your own is fun, adding others into the competition can just show you how much more speed is left there to find.

I'm not saying driving a car on your own just to set fast laps is as exciting as racing wheel to wheel but driving on your own is like a bonding experience with the car and the more you know about the car the better you'll be at wheel to wheel racing.

All I'm saying is you could get the car and spend a year getting to know it before you jump into competitive racing and still enjoy yourself without going all in at the deep end.

Hillclimbing is another cheap form of motorsport. Fuel costs are minimal and a set of avon slicks will last you two years.