It's time to move on to the next chapter of my BG Protege's life. It was retired early this spring from National Autocross competition where it managed Match Tour wins, National tour wins, multiple National Championship trophies, two National Championship podium finishes and one Ladies class National Championship. With recent rules changes I've moved all the autoX equipment over to a 323 Hatch that managed a 5th and 6th place trophy at the Championships this year.
What to do with the old Protege? I don't have a title for it so it will remain a track only car. The next step is to take it club racing. SCCA Improved Touring racing to be specific. The Protege falls into the ITA class which puts it up against some real heavy hitters. Namely the CRX and Miata. Each car has a minimum weight it has to achieve which helps balance out all the cars. The Protege has to weigh no less than 2325lbs. Crunching some numbers tells me that I'll need to make around 150hp to be competitive with the lighter cars. I find it highly unlikely that I can squeeze that much power out of it, but people said the Protege wasn't going to be competitive in AutoX too.
The first step is to get rid of the interior so the cage can be installed. That will be the main project for the winter. Here she is in the garage getting ready for the easy part....dismantling.
What to do with the old Protege? I don't have a title for it so it will remain a track only car. The next step is to take it club racing. SCCA Improved Touring racing to be specific. The Protege falls into the ITA class which puts it up against some real heavy hitters. Namely the CRX and Miata. Each car has a minimum weight it has to achieve which helps balance out all the cars. The Protege has to weigh no less than 2325lbs. Crunching some numbers tells me that I'll need to make around 150hp to be competitive with the lighter cars. I find it highly unlikely that I can squeeze that much power out of it, but people said the Protege wasn't going to be competitive in AutoX too.
The first step is to get rid of the interior so the cage can be installed. That will be the main project for the winter. Here she is in the garage getting ready for the easy part....dismantling.
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