No. First of all, you can get credit back for parts you sell off the car. In our case, the car (a full running car) was $400 if I remember correctly, and the team captain was able to sell substantial parts of the interior to make money back.
Most importantly, safety equipment is not part of the budget, so you can spend as much as you want on seat, racing harnesses, roll cage, fire suppression system, tires, brakes, and so on. Plus driver gear (suits, helmets, HANS restraint devices, cool suits, etc. Some teams even run racing fuel cells as that counts as safety equipment as well.
So really, the $500 budget is to acquire the car (minus stuff you sell from it), plus whatever you spend on mechanical (reliability, go-fast bits, repairs, etc).
Also, the penalty for going over is generally that you have penalty laps applied to your car, which is not that big a deal, because very few teams will ever win or even compete for a win, and the prizes aren't that large anyway (and often get donated to a charity).
Our car happens to conform to the budget and is very well-documented, but many are sketchier, and it doesn't make the racing less fun.
Most importantly, safety equipment is not part of the budget, so you can spend as much as you want on seat, racing harnesses, roll cage, fire suppression system, tires, brakes, and so on. Plus driver gear (suits, helmets, HANS restraint devices, cool suits, etc. Some teams even run racing fuel cells as that counts as safety equipment as well.
So really, the $500 budget is to acquire the car (minus stuff you sell from it), plus whatever you spend on mechanical (reliability, go-fast bits, repairs, etc).
Also, the penalty for going over is generally that you have penalty laps applied to your car, which is not that big a deal, because very few teams will ever win or even compete for a win, and the prizes aren't that large anyway (and often get donated to a charity).
Our car happens to conform to the budget and is very well-documented, but many are sketchier, and it doesn't make the racing less fun.