Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Exciting stuff Benji,

I'm following your exploits with interest. A friend of mine keeps asking me to go along to the Kop Hill Climb in Buckinghamshire to check it out. I always thought they were for pre-50's cars. I'm going to go along this year (September).

Apparently his brother tried to get his 1970's 'Bandit' TRANS AM entered into the event but they turned him down. Possibly not the right aesthetic!

I have limited experience with hillclimbing specifically but a lot with rallying and racing under MSA and FIA regs. I'd be very surprised if they turned down a car for any reason at all other than it failed scrutineering (2hich you wouldn't know until the day of the event).

Seeing as there is a class at every hillclimb for totally boggo road cars he'd always have a place at Harewood.

My mechanic is entering his Interceptor in September!

Kop is different AFAIK it is held on public roads & hence the "historic" link it is not a full blown competitive event as such. As for hillclimbs being for pre-1950's stuff have a look at the Doune link I posted earlier in this thread!

Hi Ben,

I've been thinking about hillclimbing or a track championship in my ratty 944. It's never going to win a concourse competition so I figure I might as well use it for what it was made for, driving hard. Having been told I can't continue playing rugby I now have a bit more time to fill.

Would £2-3k for a 9 round championship sound about right based on your experience?

Will

That's a very good question. I'm no expert on hillclimbing but do know my way around competition cars and competing in general.

The easiest way for you to budget would be to assume that your car is 'as is' and you won't be getting into an arms race with peer cars. Also you have the cost of safety kit if you don't have it already. Hillclimbing is different than racing/rallying in that they don't (yet) insist on nomex undergarments, boots or HANS. If you don't have any kit then to get you though to 2016 would cost about £700 if you go cheap (helmet, suit, gloves). Add another £300+ to that to meet 2016/7 regs when they come into force for hillclimbing (HANS, nomex boots)Working on that assumption the costs would be a derivative of this:

1) Licence (Non Race Nat B) - £45 per year from MSA
2) Membership of BARC and your local hillclimb centre - £50 per year from BARC
3) Entry fees - Harewood is £120 per entry if you're a member of BARC (2 above) - 9 rounds would be £1,080.
4) Travel to/from the venue, plus associated hotels etc if applicable - £X
5) Tyres - assuming you'd go in a non modified road going class 1 set of List 1A tyres will do 9 rounds - c.£500
6) General running of car over 9 rounds - how long is a piece of string? I'd probably budget £500 if nothing breaks.

So there you have it. If the car is good to roll and you have all the kit already I reckon a 9 round season would cost you about £2,200 + travel expenses.

Just trying to play catch up on this safety kit dating stuff. So am I right in thinking my 2010 Bell lid which has seen circa 6-8 track days, one sprint and one hill climb plus my 2013 Sparco suit and Alpine Stars gloves that have seen one sprint and one hill climb will all be out of date end of next year?? Nice! That's potentially about £700 down the pan then!! I don't intend to go racing/rallying due to costs so bought all this just for local 'clubman' level sprints and hill climbs. Anything else we should be wary of regarding kit both personal and in car. Will in date harnesses and seats be required too

No, your stuff is fine (obviously it's dated but isn't just being canned next year) - in your case you'd just have add a HANS and you're good to go.

Not sure when SNELL2010 helmets expire but it's not for a good long way yet.

Also dated seats and harnesses not required for hillclimbing.

Thanks, Snell 2005 helmet bought in 2010?

I have a cage, harnesses and Cobra seats but just removed them this Winter to be more family friendly. How does a HANS work in a non harnessed/race seat car?

As I understand it for road going classes HANS will not be required at all. And for speed events the suit & harnesses don't need to be in date for any class.
The MSA are slowly killing off clubsport by these stupid rules. Needing a rompersuit to go hillclimbing in your road going tin top is completely over the top.

Helmets work on a 12 yr cycle.

Snell 2000 expires 1/1/2012
Snell 2005 expires 1/1/2017
Snell 2010 expires 1/1/2022

Didn't realise HANS was only for modified classes. That saves people money.

Suit does need to be in date, Jim.

Suit, helmet and gloves all need to be in date for all MSA sanctioned speed events.

Love the write up, thanks. I have used both 888 and Yoko A048 on a variety of race cars inc my 924S and agree with your comments about the different construction, but in practice I haven't really found any difference in performance. Probably because I'm not good enough to notice!

Some of the front four racers in CSCC, inc EMC Motorsport, prefer the Dunlop Direzzas, partly because they are supposed to be better in the damp but no worse in the dry.

I may look at entering the Shenstone and District Ca r Club Sprint at Curborough in my 924S later in the year, when the PCGB Sprint Championship is there. Might be entertaining, why not join in, too?

That is a very valid point, and its relevance to you depends on your competitiveness. Most folk start off competing against themselves - i.e. focussing on improving their times from the last run or last visit to the hill. But then of course you notice that you're faster than other drivers and want to make sure you stay ahead of them. And then you want to find out why the faster guys are faster - and that's where the arms race starts !

Thanks for the info!

Very tempted by this... My 944 will never be "mint", so might start having a laugh in it....

First things first, need to sort out my electrical gremlins!

Will
get the 44 on the hills and enjoy it.
There is also track sprinting too - less things to hit but higher speed and harder on components.

Benjj ..... any photos of your antics........