Thinking of picking up a 1LE car for some roadracing. Anyone have any direct experience with both 3rd and 4th Gen cars? How do they compare? Which is the better car for a novice? Which is lighter, faster, easier to drive? I suppose a Player's Car will always keep its value for 3rd Gens, but the genuine 1LE 89-92 cars rarely come up for sale.

Thoughts?

Any particular class or just open track days?

4th gens have a more desirable drivetrain to start from but if you're gonna run CMC you'll be restricting it down to 3rd gen power levels. Rear suspension is the same, 4th gens have a better front suspension but you'll eventually be changing shocks / springs etc. regardless so it's kind of a wash. Both can be stripped down to about the same weight although I think most 3rd gens are marginally lighter stock vs. stock. 3rd gens are cheaper and easier to work on. Really just depends on what you want to do with it. Both are great cars. Having owned 2 3rd gens and one 4th gen, I'd have to say 4th gens are easier to drive and will typically need less work to prep for track duty. They still need a lot but 3rd gens are just so old now it's tough to find one that doesn't need a pretty thorough freshening to be safe & reliable on the track.

You have to decide where you want to end up racing and what the class rules allow. Something to think about is that a 3rd gen car is also vintage legal so you will be able to race in many vintage groups as well. Thats why I sold my 97 Z28 for the 3rd gen.

At least 4 Players cars sold up here in the last year. Pricing and preparation range quite a lot. Anywhere from $6k to $12k.

There is what appears to be a nice 3rd gen for sale I think in Ohio. Can't remember where I saw it posted. It came with a 24 ft enclosed trailer, lots of pit gear and a truck. Package was $16k.

http://www.race-cars.com./carsales/chevy/1...286211815ss.htm

I guess I'd better clarify. Next year will very likely be the last for our track here in Calgary, so I figured it's now or never to try what I loosely referred to as roadracing. Solosprint would be what I would be doing, I don't think I'd tackle wheel-to-wheel yet. After next year I'd probably trailer to a few events a year in BC and the northern US, Knox mountain, etc.

I didn't want to spend a lot on the car, or buy a pure race car, since it will be harder to sell locally without a track to race on. I have a choice of 2 1987-88 Player's cars nearby, and the occasional 4th gen 1LE seems to pop up occasionally. All seem to be in the $5-8000 range.

Our track here is in pretty rough shape, too, so a more compliant suspension might be a wise choice.

Look for a hardtop 4th gen. It does not matter if it is 1LE. They may want to much money for something you will improve anyway.

I know where there is a 4th gen race car in Ottawa that will likely sell for around $10k. It is a caged race car.

Can you PM me details on the two 3rd gen cars? Are they around you or in BC and Seattle?

One of the Players cars sold here went to Calgary. He is prepping for One Lap of America.

I think my LT4 Firehawk would be a great car for you, (Ebay link is in the for sale secion, bidding starts at $8999).
Seriously though, I would definitely go 4th gen over 3rd gen.

3rd gen baby

We have a thread for this already: http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/index.php?showtopic=10869

My bad

nah, its alright. It took me 5 minutes to find that thread and I knew it existed. With 3 letter search words '3rd' and '4th' they won't show up in search well. I had to think back to a specific word that one individual said, and show results by post.

Or just buy this one: 2002 camaro race car

theres no reason to buy a 1LE for anything other then collecting. youll be paying alot of money for things youre going to change anyway. theres nothing an 8K 1LE can do that a $1500 3rd gen with 1K in parts and work cant.

Third gen ftw

shorter, narrower, lower, lighter, better visibility, better looks, easier to work on. I'd be willing to bet that a 3rd has a lower cg than a 4th too. Can you tell I am biased? The immediate feeling I get driving a 4th is "big" and "heavy" though the drivetrains are superior

perfect combo? thirdgen on 315s/335s, springs, shocks, rod ends, lower phb, shortened lcas, with an aluminum ls1 and gforce t5.. some weight reduction should bring you down to 2800 lbs. I'm getting there. Just need the LS1 and the G force gearset for my T5

$8K for a 3rd gen 1LE? That's a bargain compared to $33,000! (Heck, $14.5K is a bargain in comparison, too.)

Best of both worlds: 3rd gen with an LS1.

Pat