I am thinking of getting a legends car. The issue is where I am at they have a few nice ovals but not many road courses (east TN.)
So I am posting 2 questions,
With out a trip to the dealer to try one on will I fit. 6'4"
Does anyone think these are good autocross cars?
I like them. I think I'd prefer to drive the Thunder Roadster more though. The legends are more amusing to watch though.
I believe those vehicles were originally designed for ovals. It just happens they work well at a roadcourse as well.
There seem to be big guys in those cars. If you're concerned, why not look at a Thunder Roadster instead? Those look like they've got even more room.
I'm sure their confident at Auto-X. I do hear of people running them. That's not what their primary purpose is, so they won't be as good as other things, but I'm sure it won't let you down.
Watching videos of sportscar racing does not fully convey the experience. It's more like playing a three-way game of Speed-Chess while strapped to a chair... inside a giant beehive.
In reply to Salanis:
I like the thunder roadsters, but where I am no one seems to be racing them. They seem to have little following in comparison.
I have seen alot of "well feed" people driving them but no one as tall as me.
Can you give me (us...those not in the know) a general description of the legends cars?
What engines do they use (bike 4 cylinders?) What is the chassis like? What type of suspension?
From the mental image I have in my head, it seems like these could be a very good way to go racing for not much money. Nobody races any around where I am, so I haven't looked into them (and don't know much about them...thus the reason for my post).
I'm also looking at getting into roundy-round racing for lack of other alternatives in the area.
Thanks, Clem
Yeah, well...sometimes even when it IS broken I don't fix it.
I think a Legends car is next on my list. They are probably a reasonable autocross car, but I'd bet they are classed way up there, like mod, so the odds of you paxing ftd are pretty slim.
One of the things that makes any car good is the amount of competition you have in your class. If you have a good local group running oval track, go for it. Its gotta be easy to reset one for road or autocross, too.
If you are looking to run ovals in your area it is best to see what sort of cars they are running. Don't just buy a car and expect to run it anywhere.
Every time I see a Legends car at an autocross they seem to DNF. They're fun to watch because they're so small and have so much grip, but the guys seem to be working on them constantly. They either won't start / idle, they stall them and can't get restarted or they break something in the drivetrain. Maybe it's just endemic of the handful of cars that I see, but they strike me as cars that need to be run wide open on a loose surface.
Unleash the relentless power of her 1400cc Quadrozontal engine...
Every time I see a Legends car at an autocross they seem to DNF. They're fun to watch because they're so small and have so much grip, but the guys seem to be working on them constantly. They either won't start / idle, they stall them and can't get restarted or they break something in the drivetrain. Maybe it's just endemic of the handful of cars that I see, but they strike me as cars that need to be run wide open on a loose surface.
They don't take up much space in the garage, though.
Unleash the relentless power of her 1400cc Quadrozontal engine...
For a budget, what about a shifter kart? The make long chassis's for them. You can sprint race (if there is a track near you), road race and autocross them.
It won't feed an oval need, however.
-Rob
"I berkleyed up the kink!" My 8 year old after losing a race by .025 seconds.
I'll sell you my ITB Rabbit cheap. You can road race or autocross this baby and drag it around on a tow dolly. Most circle tracks around me require that the glass is removed from the car. Not sure how it is in your area.
All cars are now running. Time to go shopping for something that is broken.
I've never sat in one but I've seen some pretty tall guys driving them. In my experience they appear to be pretty tough and reliable, and they can really tear around a road course.
We had a legend car at our last track event. I don't think he changed the gearing and it seemed to run out of transmission about 500 yards out and just screamed down the straight away at Pocono North. Ran all day, though.
Can you drive and count to five? I can (sometimes)
Well Legends are nice but a huge expence. Remeamber there an all "spec" class. This means your motor (air cooled outdated Yamaha FJ1200) must come from one of a few Lic dealers and it is sealed. (you can't rebuild it yourself) The chasis has a vin number and is only legal for a finite amount of time. Every 5 years expect to spend alot of $$ on what ever part was up for re-aglinment. This past year i belive it was rims. They must be Basset brand for 2010. A few years back it was shocks.
Legends grow out of dwarf cars once Humpey Wheeler and Elliot F Robinson saw them they formed "600 Racing" Hey we can make $$ at this!!! 
If they run Dwarfs or Mod-Lites near you you'll find it cheaper.
44Dwarf
ClemSparks wrote: Can you give me (us...those not in the know) a general description of the legends cars? What engines do they use (bike 4 cylinders?) What is the chassis like? What type of suspension? From the mental image I have in my head, it seems like these could be a very good way to go racing for not much money. Nobody races any around where I am, so I haven't looked into them (and don't know much about them...thus the reason for my post). I'm also looking at getting into roundy-round racing for lack of other alternatives in the area. Thanks, Clem
http://www.uslegendcars.com/getting_started/
44Dwarf
Yeah they don't run Dwarf cars near me that I know of (East Tennessee-Morristown) The rebuilds are $2500 (legends website) to get you to the new rules (1250 displacement) I know they are making money but you can get a ~5 year serviceable legends car for around $5000. Not bad. A crap-can road race car will run you close to that after entry fees and safety equipment.
My licensed dealer demos at my local track (20 miles from my house) and his shop is 25 miles from my house.
For me, and definitely not everyone, the legends cars make sense.
rob_lewis wrote: For a budget, what about a shifter kart? The make long chassis's for them. You can sprint race (if there is a track near you), road race and autocross them. It won't feed an oval need, however. -Rob
Not alot of road courses near me (Nashville, Road Atlanta, VIR,) all 3 plus hours away.
Testosterone speaking here but I like seeing who I am racing against.
I think I will make a trip to the dealer on Saturday, I know he will be preping for the night race and see if I fit and go from there.
If they were smart they would convert to the 1200 Bandit engine, still in production and similar power and cheaper parts.
If he's that close go for it.
Bandit is a much better engine! it the old 1127 GSXR.
But they got the deal with yamaha... Wonder when that is due to change?
Make sure you get a title with the chasis. Many buyers have been duped in to buying chsis thinking there legal only to show up at 1st race and not have the right paperwork and the vin was moved to another chasis.
We had a guy running with us in the dwarfs with an outdated chasis.
In reply to 44Dwarf:
You can't kill that old air/oil cooled Suzuki. I would put it down as one of the best bike engines ever. Not the most powerful but defiantly one of the best for durability and power where you need it.
The dealer has a Legends car for sale at $6900. I need to find more information about the "out-dating of chassis's" thing everyone is mentioning.
Do you know where I can get information?
it's a race car- why would you need to worry about serial numbers and paperwork?.
if someone was smart, they'd start a racing class that uses the "outdated" chassis and parts that can't be run at the official Legends races.
It's a spec series, so I imagine they need the S/N and paperwork to make sure your car has an approved chassis and that any mandated updates have been performed.
I've killed a few FJ 1200 engines in my day. They were too pricey to replace but then again Hank Scott was doing the builds. I think they were $5k for "stock" motors lol.
All cars are now running. Time to go shopping for something that is broken.
Every time I see a Legends car at an autocross they seem to DNF. They're fun to watch.
Agreed. I'm guessing they'd be a blast to drive too, albeit not "fast" on an auto-x course. Still sounds WAAAAAY more expensive than LeMons though (I joke, I keeed.)
Build a man a fire, and he'll stay warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll stay warm for the rest of his life.
I havent ever seen a legends car race, but everytime i have watched dwarf cars at least 1 per race had a catastrophic engine failure. Why i dont know, but I would expect in a normal racing series that engines wont necessarily survive a season.
FWIW, I've seen Swarf cars run quite a bit, and never once seen one lose a motor.
If only I cared
You need the paper work to race. they will check it and check the database to see if it legal and if it's been in a wreck all repairs must be made by a lic dealer on the track wrecks are loged so if you wreck and so up the next week fixed a lic repair dealer better have sent in the repair to the databace otherwise you don't race.
I've been dwarf racing since 98 and I've only lost three motors. 1st was my 88 gsxr 1052 after 9 season and 5 trips in to the wall (last 3 were with a freind driving) it finaly let go...all stock except 38mm lectrons 2nd was a 90 1127 GSXR was "fresh rebuild" that a freind had on the self he sold his car so $350 it was mine....it lasted 4 races..lost #2 con rod undamaged con rod nutts found in the oil pan..errrrrr. 3rd was a 94 gsxr 1100 water coold thet was out to 1248. it was built by a pro with allsorts of goodies but has 5 season on it when i got it ran one season on it and was allowed to run it this year due to rule change we whent down to 1000cc stock motors but i got an exception to keep my old motor for this year...lost a carillo rod 3rd race this year.
Now I run a 02 gsrx 1000. but i miss the oil cooled...
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