i attended my first stock car meeting at three months old, watching my father in the f2's regularly getting fenced as a white top. twenty years later and the desire to get on track myself can no longer be ignored!

i have decided next season i will get on the other side of the fence, but which formula to choose?

the two i have strongly considered so far are modstox and rebels, as these are the two i may stand a chance of actually affording if i liked it enough and wanted to race full time. if anyone has any expereinces of hiring race cars id love to hear them, which are good formulas to try for the first time? the cheapest? the best value for money?

in a ideal world id love to race an f2, however a certain driver told me his engine alone came to £8,000 so ive ruled that out! although im sure i saw an f2 at northampton recently with "for hire" on the wing so maybe that could be a possibility.

anyway as i said, if anyone could share any stories of their own hire expereinces id greatly appreciate it, and if some idea of cost could be given that'd be great too. which formula to choose and who offers the best service? who actually offers a hire service?

obviously im very much on a budget so im ruling out giving matt newson a ring for one of his f1's for now...

Depends on budget. It cost me £ 400 to hire from Matt at buxton. Worth every penny only downside is the licence as you cannot get a day licence anymore so I paid £ 100 for the licence for 1 meeting so total £500.

I understand rebels don't hire for 1 off meetings anymore, but I could be wrong. Not sure about f2 cause I wouldike a go but not sure who hires out.

Firstly, your info regarding f2 cost is incorrect.
An all singing all dancing f2 engine is £3,500, gearbox £1,000, L/S diff £600.
You can buy a very reasonable complete car for well under £8,000.
At the other end of the scale Kyle Taylor has just sold an f2 less engine for £650.
Our shale car stands us at £3,000.

Hiring an f2 is possible, Andy Ford used to have one for hire. Also Daz Kitson hires cars.
If you have no racing experience maybe better to start smaller.

I have no experience of modstox, but they are cheap and someone will have more info than me.

I have owned a Rebel for 10 years or so, raced by me and my sons and still going strong.
Suggest you give Hans a ring at Rebel Racing, you may be able to get a test drive at Stockmarket for little money.

Check out the Rebels Racing site, lots of info on there.
They may not be f2 but they are reasonably cheap, fit in the garage, tow with a normal road car and you don't need to carry any spares.

Stoxkarts

Hiya all

Hiring a modstox is a possibility, and though its looking as though next season is the next time we might have something regular available, there may be other cars that can be borrowed from other drivers as a hire car too.

Price wise I'm not 100% on as we speak, but it should be very affordable, and it has been very succesful in the past as the last 2 hire cars got bought by the people hiring them!!

For more info, or asking to be added onto the list of potential hirers, email the club at modstox@live.co.uk

Thanks

as per trimal said, you cant go wrong with a rebel, ive had an F2 and found the cost to be a worrying feature for a budget racer. however since getting a rebel ive been much more competitive, and they keep their value, £4k for a car which will sell for the same again. no need to carry spares as they carry them all for you, and everyone is a level playing field! once you learn how to handle the little buggas they are a lot of fun! with a bit of ringing around im sure a hire car could be sorted if you were interested in buying a car. the stoxmarket is a good start, you can hire for about £20 a go

For fun, affordability, transportation & lots of cars on track it has to be Stoxkarts- most of the meetings where other budget formulas are on -the Stoxkarts easily out number them! If your interested there will be a test day for potential drivers at the Stockmarket @ NIR 20th November 2011- for more info look at the website www.stoxkarts.co.uk