Mod-Lite Racing - Mod-Lites

If you are racing in an entry level class, at some point you have to consider the next step in your racing career, unless you are content to stick with what you're running. If, indeed, you are looking to make a career of racing you need to race in a multitude of different types of cars, or you should determine a logical path to what you may consider the top of the racing food chain.

Mod-Lite classes are evolutionary, insomuch as they have evolved or developed into a more technical or advanced type of car. They have their roots in Dwarf Cars, which utilize motorcycle engines, coilover suspensions and rearends that have their genesis in early Toyota passenger cars. Dwarf Cars are relatively quick but they are not known to be the best handling cars on the track. Legend Cars and Dwarfs are very similar from a visual perspective in that the body styles are reminiscent of passenger cars from the 1930s and '40s, just much smaller.

The Mod-Lites also utilize a motorcycle engine and employ coilover suspension on all four corners. They have a modern quick-change rearend that makes gear changes much easier and less costly than using the Toyota rearend, and you can collect all eight of the available ratios so you can change gears to match the track. The cost of the quick-change gears is about 20 percent the cost of the Toyota gears, not to mention having to build and transport the third members for the rearend. The cars have onboard fire suppression systems and are equipped with fuel cells. They are real racecars right down to the last nut and bolt, just a bit smaller.

The Mod-Lite engine is impressive. If you don't follow the motorcycle world, the engine in a late model "Rice Rocket" is a highly developed powerplant. They have dual overhead cams, four valves per cylinder, dry sump oil systems and for the most part they have some very advanced fuel injection systems. They also have a high specific power output given the displacement of the engine. It is not uncommon for a 1,000cc engine to make in excess of 150 to 160 horsepower in stock trim on pump gasoline. That works out to an engine of about 61 cubic inches making in excess of 150 horsepower. So, the horsepower power per cubic inch is approaching 2.5 per. Consider that a Nextel Cup engine is 358 ci and is making in excess of 750 horsepower, giving an output of 2.09 hp per ci. Short story, these four-cylinder motorcycle engines are pretty stout.

The durability of the engines is a bonus. It is not uncommon to go an entire season or two without even opening the engine. In fact, there are racers out there who have over two years of run time-in one case 162 nights of racing and practice-without even working on the engine, just doing the normal fluid changes and valve adjustments. But we need to remember these engines were intended to endure the 19- to 30-year-old motorcycle racer wannabes beating them up on the street and tracks all over the world. In other words, if the engine was designed for 70,000 to 100,000 hard street and track miles, they should do just fine on a dirt track.

The engine option is just that-an option. The brand of motorcycle engine is up to the racer when building the car. The majority of the cars I've seen had either a Honda or a Suzuki engine, with the fastest cars being powered by the Suzuki GSXR 1000 engine. The only rule is that the engine be stock, as no engine modifications are allowed, and no more than 1,000cc's.

Sooner or later, with racers being racers, powerplants are going to become an issue. Racers will always look for ways to improve the power. But the Mod-Lite rule makers are trying to hold the line and the only modifications allowed involve adding a header or removing the fuel injection and installing carburetors. Removing the fuel injection system seems like asking for trouble as the stock FI system works great. When you are watching the cars race, power-or the lack of it-is not the issue. Like with circle track racers everywhere, the real issue is not about power but getting the car to handle and getting the power you do have hooked up and getting the car off the corner.

Two brands of tires are allowed on the cars, either a Goodyear or a Hoosier. Both are specced for this car and both offer a good balance between durability and performance.

The cars are racy and seem to be equal on the track, with speed and close competition. I have watched the cars on several different tracks of varying size and shape. The one thing that stands out is that there is racing going on. There are lots of passing and re-passing and the field seems to stay fairly tight. Cars are not getting lapped seven laps into a heat or feature.