Track Days...on a budget??!!
Discussion
Good morning/afternoon! I'm moving to Scotland in a few months. I've been away from driving in motorsports events for several years now but am looking very much forward to getting back into the swing of things. It will take a while, I'm sure, but I'm looking for opinions on how to get back into track days and perhaps racing should that become an option.
My philosophy is that you ask ten people their opinion, and you get ten answers that may vary wildly. That's fine with me. It's still good information.
I'm trying to come up with, what let's call, a 'budget'. I'm thinking the cost of track days, petrol (diesel?!), tires, brakes, car, entry fees, insurance, MOT, etc. etc. etc.
Is 5,000 pounds/year a good place to start? I've found seemingly good/capable little street legal track cars here on PH for less than two grand.
I hope this is acceptable as a first post! Great to meet all of you and perhaps we'll see each other on track.
My philosophy is that you ask ten people their opinion, and you get ten answers that may vary wildly. That's fine with me. It's still good information.
I'm trying to come up with, what let's call, a 'budget'. I'm thinking the cost of track days, petrol (diesel?!), tires, brakes, car, entry fees, insurance, MOT, etc. etc. etc.
Is 5,000 pounds/year a good place to start? I've found seemingly good/capable little street legal track cars here on PH for less than two grand.
I hope this is acceptable as a first post! Great to meet all of you and perhaps we'll see each other on track.
Consider renting.
Jonny at Bookatrack rents Caterhams for use on his track days. Brilliant idea. The Caterham is a superb track car but is somewhat limited in most other ways. By renting you don't have the bother of maintenance and storage and trailering and so on - instead you arrive and drive!
I've done it a few times and it makes miles more sense rather than brutalising my expensive-to-maintain Porsche. £5K p.a. would buy a lot of days in Jonny's Caterham.
Jonny at Bookatrack rents Caterhams for use on his track days. Brilliant idea. The Caterham is a superb track car but is somewhat limited in most other ways. By renting you don't have the bother of maintenance and storage and trailering and so on - instead you arrive and drive!
I've done it a few times and it makes miles more sense rather than brutalising my expensive-to-maintain Porsche. £5K p.a. would buy a lot of days in Jonny's Caterham.
keirbrooks said:
That Bookatrack looks quite the outfit! I am definitely interested and thank you for the info.
I am assuming that a British driving license is required for most of these types of events.
Technically it isn't required but most Track Day companies will insist on seeing one. I think it may be a requirement of their insurance.I am assuming that a British driving license is required for most of these types of events.
Notes: US Expat in Scotland. Track day instructor/racer in the US with TrackDays and NASA. Looking to get back into track days and racing.
Coooooooool.
I'm guessing you don't need something vanilla then. Caterham/ Bookatrack might be a good place to test the UK scene - think the advice might have been spot on first time.
Not many tracks in Scotland, but I'm guessing you're used to travelling what we would consider long distances.
Coooooooool.
I'm guessing you don't need something vanilla then. Caterham/ Bookatrack might be a good place to test the UK scene - think the advice might have been spot on first time.
Not many tracks in Scotland, but I'm guessing you're used to travelling what we would consider long distances.
welcome!
any driving licence, not just UK, is ok, but most (all?) TDOs insist you have one for normal track days.
BaT caterhams are great, but it's £1000 a day all in.
My experience suggests that's good value for the performance. Better value would be had with your own prepped Miata or similar.
If you're an instructor you'd have fun with less power and catching faster cars?? Otherwise you could have traffic all day.
Obviously more powerful cars burn fuel and consumables (and the car itself!) making BaT a better option.
Many TDOs have car hire, eg OpenTrack (i've enjoyed the Tiger - very caterham-esq) and Javelin (MX5s)
any driving licence, not just UK, is ok, but most (all?) TDOs insist you have one for normal track days.
BaT caterhams are great, but it's £1000 a day all in.
My experience suggests that's good value for the performance. Better value would be had with your own prepped Miata or similar.
If you're an instructor you'd have fun with less power and catching faster cars?? Otherwise you could have traffic all day.
Obviously more powerful cars burn fuel and consumables (and the car itself!) making BaT a better option.
Many TDOs have car hire, eg OpenTrack (i've enjoyed the Tiger - very caterham-esq) and Javelin (MX5s)
Pro's of renting are:
no need to worry about maintenance/repairs/residuals/upgrades, trailering or tow vehicles, getting yourself and/or the car home if you have any issues. easy to split the cost with a friend without getting into a spreadsheet scenario (arguments about missed gears, over-revving etc etc). known/fixed cost which makes budgetting for X number of track days per year very easy. full insurance (zero excess) is available at extra cost so you really can have a known all-inc absolute maximum cost.
Con's of renting are:-
you don't have anything physical to polish or run around in at the weekend, "renting is dead money" etc
for £5k a year you could easily get 4-5 x track days in the Caterham R300's, or if you've got a mate you can share it with you could probably get 8-9 days per year. we do offer decent discounts for people who block-book (pay up front) for a number of days, too. regular hirers are much lower maintenance and lower risk for us so it's worth us trying to incentivise getting multiple bookings from the same person.
any specific questions about renting (or BookaTrack in general) don't hesitate to get in touch.
Jonny
BaT
no need to worry about maintenance/repairs/residuals/upgrades, trailering or tow vehicles, getting yourself and/or the car home if you have any issues. easy to split the cost with a friend without getting into a spreadsheet scenario (arguments about missed gears, over-revving etc etc). known/fixed cost which makes budgetting for X number of track days per year very easy. full insurance (zero excess) is available at extra cost so you really can have a known all-inc absolute maximum cost.
Con's of renting are:-
you don't have anything physical to polish or run around in at the weekend, "renting is dead money" etc
for £5k a year you could easily get 4-5 x track days in the Caterham R300's, or if you've got a mate you can share it with you could probably get 8-9 days per year. we do offer decent discounts for people who block-book (pay up front) for a number of days, too. regular hirers are much lower maintenance and lower risk for us so it's worth us trying to incentivise getting multiple bookings from the same person.
any specific questions about renting (or BookaTrack in general) don't hesitate to get in touch.
Jonny
BaT
Robert Elise said:
welcome!
any driving licence, not just UK, is ok, but most (all?) TDOs insist you have one for normal track days.
BaT caterhams are great, but it's £1000 a day all in.
My experience suggests that's good value for the performance. Better value would be had with your own prepped Miata or similar.
If you're an instructor you'd have fun with less power and catching faster cars?? Otherwise you could have traffic all day.
Obviously more powerful cars burn fuel and consumables (and the car itself!) making BaT a better option.
Many TDOs have car hire, eg OpenTrack (i've enjoyed the Tiger - very caterham-esq) and Javelin (MX5s)
David's Tiger is very tidy, but if you fancy something a bit more focused, Simon & Phil at http://www.trackdaycarhire.co.uk hire out a fully race prep'd Tiger. any driving licence, not just UK, is ok, but most (all?) TDOs insist you have one for normal track days.
BaT caterhams are great, but it's £1000 a day all in.
My experience suggests that's good value for the performance. Better value would be had with your own prepped Miata or similar.
If you're an instructor you'd have fun with less power and catching faster cars?? Otherwise you could have traffic all day.
Obviously more powerful cars burn fuel and consumables (and the car itself!) making BaT a better option.
Many TDOs have car hire, eg OpenTrack (i've enjoyed the Tiger - very caterham-esq) and Javelin (MX5s)
TDO = Track Day [organisation?] [outfit?] [outatheirmind?].
This info is great. One reason I truly love and appreciate forums.
The closest track to the house would be Knockhill at 38 minutes away. Seems a decent track from what I've seen on the youtubes.
And yes, most track seem within a reasonable distance. VIR (Virginia International Raceway) was my second home-track and it was quite a drive at 4-5 hours away. Summit Point Motorsports Park was my 'home' track and was 1.5 hours away which was decent.
I drove various V8 powered Mustangs and the big heavy V8 rear wheel drive that don't handle so good seems to be my favorite (TVR in my future?). That said, at this point I'm more interested in getting track time than in what kind of car.
This info is great. One reason I truly love and appreciate forums.
The closest track to the house would be Knockhill at 38 minutes away. Seems a decent track from what I've seen on the youtubes.
And yes, most track seem within a reasonable distance. VIR (Virginia International Raceway) was my second home-track and it was quite a drive at 4-5 hours away. Summit Point Motorsports Park was my 'home' track and was 1.5 hours away which was decent.
I drove various V8 powered Mustangs and the big heavy V8 rear wheel drive that don't handle so good seems to be my favorite (TVR in my future?). That said, at this point I'm more interested in getting track time than in what kind of car.
TDO, Track Day Organiser.
The problem you'll have at Knockhill is that there's not many open pit lane trackdays up there and not a wide a choice of cars available or you may pay more for getting them transported up there.
Closest after that is probably Croft, keep going south to Oulton and Cadwell then hit the midlands for Mallory, Donington, Rockingham, Silverstone etc.
The problem you'll have at Knockhill is that there's not many open pit lane trackdays up there and not a wide a choice of cars available or you may pay more for getting them transported up there.
Closest after that is probably Croft, keep going south to Oulton and Cadwell then hit the midlands for Mallory, Donington, Rockingham, Silverstone etc.
Renting seems quite expensive to me, although it may be better value compared to owning something with similar performance to what you can rent.
I've been doing trackdays for years, including when I was a skint student and the best ratio of cost:fun I've found by far (barring motorbikes) is to just buy a mk1 MX5 for about a grand. They are very cheap to run as they have no power and little weight so they don't eat tyres and drink fuel as much as most trackcars. They are also a LOT of fun, even compared to much more focused cars and at twisty tracks like cadwell you won't be a lot slower than many people either if you're a decent driver.
Even as standard they work well on track, just change the brake fluid and stick some decent tyres on it basically...that's it. They're also very reliable as they're pretty understressed as it is.
I've been doing trackdays for years, including when I was a skint student and the best ratio of cost:fun I've found by far (barring motorbikes) is to just buy a mk1 MX5 for about a grand. They are very cheap to run as they have no power and little weight so they don't eat tyres and drink fuel as much as most trackcars. They are also a LOT of fun, even compared to much more focused cars and at twisty tracks like cadwell you won't be a lot slower than many people either if you're a decent driver.
Even as standard they work well on track, just change the brake fluid and stick some decent tyres on it basically...that's it. They're also very reliable as they're pretty understressed as it is.
T0MMY said:
Renting seems quite expensive to me, although it may be better value compared to owning something with similar performance to what you can rent.
I've been doing trackdays for years, including when I was a skint student and the best ratio of cost:fun I've found by far (barring motorbikes) is to just buy a mk1 MX5 for about a grand. They are very cheap to run as they have no power and little weight so they don't eat tyres and drink fuel as much as most trackcars. They are also a LOT of fun, even compared to much more focused cars and at twisty tracks like cadwell you won't be a lot slower than many people either if you're a decent driver.
Even as standard they work well on track, just change the brake fluid and stick some decent tyres on it basically...that's it. They're also very reliable as they're pretty understressed as it is.
I also like that the Miata has a huge range of aftermarket support. If one wants to supercharge/turbocharge/V8-ify the car, it's possible relatively easily. roll bars, suspension, upgrades, yada yada yada all available. I've been doing trackdays for years, including when I was a skint student and the best ratio of cost:fun I've found by far (barring motorbikes) is to just buy a mk1 MX5 for about a grand. They are very cheap to run as they have no power and little weight so they don't eat tyres and drink fuel as much as most trackcars. They are also a LOT of fun, even compared to much more focused cars and at twisty tracks like cadwell you won't be a lot slower than many people either if you're a decent driver.
Even as standard they work well on track, just change the brake fluid and stick some decent tyres on it basically...that's it. They're also very reliable as they're pretty understressed as it is.
And the wife-to-be would probably approve, too! Now if I can just get her 'hooked' as well.
T0MMY said:
Renting seems quite expensive to me, although it may be better value compared to owning something with similar performance to what you can rent.
I've been doing trackdays for years, including when I was a skint student and the best ratio of cost:fun I've found by far (barring motorbikes) is to just buy a mk1 MX5 for about a grand. They are very cheap to run as they have no power and little weight so they don't eat tyres and drink fuel as much as most trackcars. They are also a LOT of fun, even compared to much more focused cars and at twisty tracks like cadwell you won't be a lot slower than many people either if you're a decent driver.
Even as standard they work well on track, just change the brake fluid and stick some decent tyres on it basically...that's it. They're also very reliable as they're pretty understressed as it is.
I also like that the Miata has a huge range of aftermarket support. If one wants to supercharge/turbocharge/V8-ify the car, it's possible relatively easily. roll bars, suspension, upgrades, yada yada yada all available. I've been doing trackdays for years, including when I was a skint student and the best ratio of cost:fun I've found by far (barring motorbikes) is to just buy a mk1 MX5 for about a grand. They are very cheap to run as they have no power and little weight so they don't eat tyres and drink fuel as much as most trackcars. They are also a LOT of fun, even compared to much more focused cars and at twisty tracks like cadwell you won't be a lot slower than many people either if you're a decent driver.
Even as standard they work well on track, just change the brake fluid and stick some decent tyres on it basically...that's it. They're also very reliable as they're pretty understressed as it is.
And the wife-to-be would probably approve, too! Now if I can just get her 'hooked' as well.
T0MMY said:
Although the MX5 suggestion may seem a bit dull and ubiquitous, to be honest, if you want a cheap to buy and run RWD trackcar it's a bit of a no brainer for me and I've tried many of the common alternatives.
That ubiquity has been earned by being a fantastic little car. I drove one at Llandow recently. It was an absolute hoot.[url]
|http://thumbsnap.com/lK1jynYW[/
I used to run an XJR V8 as a daily and done numerous track days in it including the Nurburgring, great car to get there in but so much hard work on a track. Wind up the supercharger then slam on the brakes............repeat to next corner...........repeat to.......... You see where this is going. Rear tyres after every event, £360, brake pads, £60, then 9mpg.
A year or so ago I bought the Eunos, or as you know it the Miata. Stock engine, coil overs , some bracing all included in the £1000 purchase price. I've done about 12 trackdays in the past year and Hoon it round the south coast whenever I can and it still wants for more. On track it is fluid if you want it to be or, where conditions allow, it can be slung out sideways for some good giggles. Best of all every thing is pocket money to replace, tyres £45 per corner, discs and pads all round for £200 and although not efficient on track I can do a full OPL on less than 2 tanks of fuel, and believe me, I don't stop. I've 4 jags in my stable and the Eunos and if I could only keep one ...............guess which?
With all the great roads you have up there you wouldn't need trackdays, weekend away with the missus and the Miata around Scotland's finest, what else
D
|http://thumbsnap.com/lK1jynYW[/I used to run an XJR V8 as a daily and done numerous track days in it including the Nurburgring, great car to get there in but so much hard work on a track. Wind up the supercharger then slam on the brakes............repeat to next corner...........repeat to.......... You see where this is going. Rear tyres after every event, £360, brake pads, £60, then 9mpg.
A year or so ago I bought the Eunos, or as you know it the Miata. Stock engine, coil overs , some bracing all included in the £1000 purchase price. I've done about 12 trackdays in the past year and Hoon it round the south coast whenever I can and it still wants for more. On track it is fluid if you want it to be or, where conditions allow, it can be slung out sideways for some good giggles. Best of all every thing is pocket money to replace, tyres £45 per corner, discs and pads all round for £200 and although not efficient on track I can do a full OPL on less than 2 tanks of fuel, and believe me, I don't stop. I've 4 jags in my stable and the Eunos and if I could only keep one ...............guess which?
With all the great roads you have up there you wouldn't need trackdays, weekend away with the missus and the Miata around Scotland's finest, what else
D
T0MMY said:
Renting seems quite expensive to me, although it may be better value compared to owning something with similar performance to what you can rent.
That's the key thing to remember, that with BaT Caterhams you're renting a 300hp/ton car (fuel included) that can lap ALL day. In comparison to the Javelin MX5s, for example (20 mins/hour limit, 1 tank of fuel and obviously far less performance), the BaT Caterhams are better value.
But 130hp/ton can be fantastic fun. Renting BaT cars is not the cheapest way to do track days, but they're arguably the cheapest way to do them in someting with 300hp/ton.
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