Private land - private 'track'
Discussion
Every petrol heads dream of course...
Just thinking about how one might go about this, how much space would be required and of course legalitys... Just wondered if anyone had done similar...
The aim would be to have a private track for personal use, only ever a car or 2 on track at any one time (so not the constant rumble of a full time circuit)... Only used on the odd weekend etc. With enough safety features to make it usable but not nececerely conforming to any particular standards...
Just my random thinkings...
1. location - would of course have to be a good distance for any dense residential area - but there's many rural houses with a good amount of (perhaps farm) land attached that would be ideal.
2. Space - I think at least 1.5mles of track would be needed to make it really worthwhile - the amount fo space this would require would of course depend on the circuit design... Any guesses / suggestions on the acreage required?
3. Construction - ok, it's a fair amount of ground work - but a few weeks / months with the right plant (which could be bought for the job and sold afterwards perhaps)... I'm sure this could be done at pretty low cost with a little elbow grease and the will to learn.
Surfacing the whole thing would of course be a large cost - but again, I'm thinking if you really tried this could be done on a budget, I'm not aiming for the surface you might find at pro circuit - just good enough to use. Wonder how much this would cost, how much is Tarmac by the mile?
4. Legality - say this 'track' just happened to form the driveway to your house - as long as the use was only occasional & never public... What could stop you driving on your own land down your own 'drive' at any speed you liked? Almost (but not quite) the same as the hill climbs on many country estates.
Just a bit of dreaming - but at the same time it would be interesting to know just how much this might set you back if done on a shoestring.
Just thinking about how one might go about this, how much space would be required and of course legalitys... Just wondered if anyone had done similar...
The aim would be to have a private track for personal use, only ever a car or 2 on track at any one time (so not the constant rumble of a full time circuit)... Only used on the odd weekend etc. With enough safety features to make it usable but not nececerely conforming to any particular standards...
Just my random thinkings...
1. location - would of course have to be a good distance for any dense residential area - but there's many rural houses with a good amount of (perhaps farm) land attached that would be ideal.
2. Space - I think at least 1.5mles of track would be needed to make it really worthwhile - the amount fo space this would require would of course depend on the circuit design... Any guesses / suggestions on the acreage required?
3. Construction - ok, it's a fair amount of ground work - but a few weeks / months with the right plant (which could be bought for the job and sold afterwards perhaps)... I'm sure this could be done at pretty low cost with a little elbow grease and the will to learn.
Surfacing the whole thing would of course be a large cost - but again, I'm thinking if you really tried this could be done on a budget, I'm not aiming for the surface you might find at pro circuit - just good enough to use. Wonder how much this would cost, how much is Tarmac by the mile?
4. Legality - say this 'track' just happened to form the driveway to your house - as long as the use was only occasional & never public... What could stop you driving on your own land down your own 'drive' at any speed you liked? Almost (but not quite) the same as the hill climbs on many country estates.
Just a bit of dreaming - but at the same time it would be interesting to know just how much this might set you back if done on a shoestring.
One for sale in Arizona here - http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3358579.htm
V8Wagon said:
I had some guys knock on my door a few weeks ago offering to tarmac my drive. Well after a bit of discussion, and nearly £3000 changing hands if I look out of my bedroom window this is the view....
Do you want their number?
I was wondering where that had got to, vanished from my back garden a few weeks ago after some chap called Patrick cleared the leaves out of my guttering.Do you want their number?
Made an awful mess of the hydrangeas getting it out they did.
Thought about this very thing many years ago... Thought about the type of meetings and events that could be hosted by such a place too. Hotrod nights, classic nights, time trials, speed trials, a skid pan, tyre burnouts, rev em highs. Some decent catering vans, a rostum tower with a MC to co-ordinate stuff and get a crowd in the mood.
Basically, a loud full on tyre smoke and screach venue. Get the cruises off the streets and on to a properly controled environment where everyone can have a good time, and maybe spend a bit of money to give you a living and pay the mortgage.
If only.
Basically, a loud full on tyre smoke and screach venue. Get the cruises off the streets and on to a properly controled environment where everyone can have a good time, and maybe spend a bit of money to give you a living and pay the mortgage.
If only.
The main issue would be planning consent.
"Change Of Use"
Not such an issue for an off road course where no tarmac is required hence why a few of these have sprung up over the years.
The only new circuits I can think of in recent years are either ex Aerodromes, Rockingham and the 5th gear one in Wales.
"Change Of Use"
Not such an issue for an off road course where no tarmac is required hence why a few of these have sprung up over the years.
The only new circuits I can think of in recent years are either ex Aerodromes, Rockingham and the 5th gear one in Wales.
I reckon you'd need a minimum 25 hectares for a good 1.5 mile track. That's 250,000msq so could be 1000m x 250m to get long-ish straight, or 500m x 500m in a square block.
With regards to surfacing, the easiest way is to get a machine for racing on the surface you've already got! E.g. rage buggy, bolwer wildcat etc. Then spend £14,000 on a used 18ton excavator and after a few days you could have a decent course.
Total cost? £18k/ha for some rubbish farmland, £100k for toys (obviously you need more than 1 for when we all come round!) and £14k for the digger is £564,000.
Depending on the underlying soil type, surfacing a 2000m x 8m wide track on a budget would require around 15,000 tons of hardcore (laid about 30cm thick) and 2000 cubic metres of tarmac. And then a dumptruck or tractor and trailer, a good compacting roll and I'd be leaving the actual tarmac to the experts.
No idea what the costs associated with that are, but I imagine you be looking at well over £500,000, probably the best part of £1 million.
With regards to surfacing, the easiest way is to get a machine for racing on the surface you've already got! E.g. rage buggy, bolwer wildcat etc. Then spend £14,000 on a used 18ton excavator and after a few days you could have a decent course.
Total cost? £18k/ha for some rubbish farmland, £100k for toys (obviously you need more than 1 for when we all come round!) and £14k for the digger is £564,000.
Depending on the underlying soil type, surfacing a 2000m x 8m wide track on a budget would require around 15,000 tons of hardcore (laid about 30cm thick) and 2000 cubic metres of tarmac. And then a dumptruck or tractor and trailer, a good compacting roll and I'd be leaving the actual tarmac to the experts.
No idea what the costs associated with that are, but I imagine you be looking at well over £500,000, probably the best part of £1 million.
Edited by busta on Saturday 19th November 13:19
George H said:
One for sale in Arizona here - http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3358579.htm
That looks a bit too flat for me.I'd like one with some elevation changes.
thinfourth2 said:
Yeah but 29 of those millions is having meetings
OK, more realistic: there were plans (until a couple of years ago) for a circuit near us which was to be about 4.5km, 10m wide, and budgeted at (IIRC) €17m. Not sure how much space it would have taken, but the estate it was to be built on is 71ha
sl0wlane said:
Every petrol heads dream of course...
Just thinking about how one might go about this, how much space would be required and of course legalitys... Just wondered if anyone had done similar...
Not so much a track but we used to have a field, and like many people with fields we used to buy old cars and thrash them round the field!Just thinking about how one might go about this, how much space would be required and of course legalitys... Just wondered if anyone had done similar...
On the legal side, we had the police round once as some walkers who were on the footpath on the next field called and said there were some yoofs joyriding in someones field, police arrived and said it was all fine.
We were miles from anyone else though, I'm not sure about the noise pollution front, and obviously you have to get rid of the cars in a more legal fashion that we did (they sometimes set on fire when they had literally fallen apart)
for actually building a tarmac/concrete track you might need planning permission too!
Just buy a field and crack on:
[quote=Petrolhead_Rich]
actually the field is a great idea! Buy some land in a remote area(a few acres), then tarmac over a track (just copy this from an existing short track so that all 'angles' etc are right), and hey presto a cheap track, you can then add things as you go along e.g. stacks of tyres, safety features etc.
I reckon 100k should cover it...
actually the field is a great idea! Buy some land in a remote area(a few acres), then tarmac over a track (just copy this from an existing short track so that all 'angles' etc are right), and hey presto a cheap track, you can then add things as you go along e.g. stacks of tyres, safety features etc.
I reckon 100k should cover it...
http://www.boomrock.co.nz/track/
Stuck in the middle of a paddock on the top of a hill. Had a drive on it once...
Stuck in the middle of a paddock on the top of a hill. Had a drive on it once...
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