Track Car Rental - Laguna Seca

[Armagreggon]

I'm travelling to California in October with work and one of my favourite circuits which I'd love to drive is Laguna Seca. I've found a track day which I could squeeze in while I'm over there, but I'm struggling to figure out a reasonable option for track hire.

I've found a few options offering NB Spec Miatas but, A) they're asking between $1200 - $1600 for rental and it's only 5 x 20min sessions. And B) they specify the top of your helmet must be below the top of the screen/roll bar. At 6'1" and 16.5 stone, I've driven an NB MX5 before and struggled to fit in it. So I suspect the Miata is a no go

Another company is offering a Cayman for ~$2500 but that's more than I really want to spend

Does anyone have any experience renting track cars in the US? Any recommendations for rental companies? TIA

[GravelBen]

Armagreggon said:

I've found a few options offering NB Spec Miatas but, A) they're asking between $1200 - $1600 for rental and it's only 5 x 20min sessions. And B) they specify the top of your helmet must be below the top of the screen/roll bar. At 6'1" and 16.5 stone, I've driven an NB MX5 before and struggled to fit in it. So I suspect the Miata is a no go

If they have bucket seats in the Miatas as part of their upgrades for track work (which I expect they would) you might be surprised, I had a bucket seat in an NA MX5 and you sat a lot lower than factory seats.

Edited by GravelBen on Wednesday 11th September 01:10

[Panamax]

Armagreggon said:

Does anyone have any experience renting track cars in the US? Any recommendations for rental companies? TIA

I've visited Laguna Seca (and Sonoma) in CA but not driven them. I've driven Watkins Glen, NY in my own car but not a rental. To be honest I'm not sure you'll get much out of Laguna Seca in a Mazda. The infamous "corkscrew" dips out of sight and must surely be extremely challenging in a race car so will need a dose of common sense in any car if you don't want to bend it. The rest of the circuit may not amount to much with only modest power. However, the Laguna Seca circuit is well worth a visit. They make a small charge for admission but it's credited back if you buy a T-shirt or whatever at the shop. I've been wearing mine this week....

[Dave.]

$2500 is cheap compared to what this guy is gonna be paying...

https://www.reddit.com/r/BMW/comments/1fbqjaj/bad_...