TRACK DAY RUNNING COSTS FOR SR3 / SR4
Discussion
I am trying to get a feel for the annual operating costs of running a SR3 / SR4 just at track days, let's say 2 times per month from April to October). I know that for those that are racing there are frequent rebuilds through the season. I have read some comments on the web where some people are questioning the reliability / strength of the motor.
Having seen what can go wrong with them and the potential bills I'd have thought that you would be better to hire one for that level of use. track-club (0870 24 25 402 or info@track-club.com) would do you an SR3 bulk hire deal or you might even find that membership would work for you.
Fast Club also get excellent reviews from their hire days in the SR4 (www.fastclub.com, I think)
Fast Club also get excellent reviews from their hire days in the SR4 (www.fastclub.com, I think)
I used mine for trackdays all year round, and did yearly refreshes. There was nothing wrong with the engine, and no particular loss of compression. A few bits were replaced in the gearbox however, not that it affected it at the time. 5k should cover it fine, but surely depreciation and the cost to get a new car up to scratch will be the dominating cost? A set of slicks should last fine if you're happy going down to the canvas.
PS When racing you might rebuild if you've lost 10bhp and you want to win - and also to make sure it won't break, i.e. make sure it's as competitive as possible. On a track day, you'll blow almost everything away with over 30bhp lost. You can get Radical to check compression and/or put on the rollers while there for service/repairs if you really care.
Having owned one rather than "seen what can go wrong" Tim, I'm with Danny. Damn sight cheaper for track days than any of my tvrs were, and far far quicker and more fun too 
So what would be a realistic annual budget for a track dayed 1500 SR3, say about 10 track days a year? As ever, this depends on how you drive it.
Tyres will be a factor. When we're racing you put a new set on for each race but at 900 a pop that is excessive for track days. I found you could make a set last say 8 track days but then they'd be getting a bit ropey. So, budget for say 1.5 sets, that 1350 for tyres.
Then, as Danny said, for track days if you have a 1500 SR3 then figure on an engine refresh every 30 or so hours which looks like once a year given your projected use. Cost of refresh depends what you need doing to it, and every 2 years you should change the pistons too. Say 2000 for the refresh, give or take.
Besides the engine refresh, you'll want to get the Quaife gear drive/lsd refreshed every year to 18 months too. That's about 500 excluding taking it out and reinstalling it (about a half hour job). Say an annual provision of 400 to cover this then.
Other than that, oil and filter changes every 3 track days or so, so about 250 a year for oil and filters and brake/gear top up fluids.
And assuming you do a thorough spanner check every track day yourself, so the cost of that is zero.
The car is light so you're not changing the brakes every 5 minutes, though the pads are abrasive so I'd budget a set of pads and discs once a year under track day conditions. Not sure how much that would be, say 400.
So, that is about 4.5k a year excluding fuel and things like damage or insurance which kind of depend on you. This is probably a conservative estimate, but you can see the big costs are tyres and engine refresh. They're fairly straightforward cars in my experience and I haven't yet come across a hidden ticking bomb.
The problem with them is that they are so much fun that you'll soon want to race it, and then you'll find one race weekend could pay for a year of track days!
So what would be a realistic annual budget for a track dayed 1500 SR3, say about 10 track days a year? As ever, this depends on how you drive it.
Tyres will be a factor. When we're racing you put a new set on for each race but at 900 a pop that is excessive for track days. I found you could make a set last say 8 track days but then they'd be getting a bit ropey. So, budget for say 1.5 sets, that 1350 for tyres.
Then, as Danny said, for track days if you have a 1500 SR3 then figure on an engine refresh every 30 or so hours which looks like once a year given your projected use. Cost of refresh depends what you need doing to it, and every 2 years you should change the pistons too. Say 2000 for the refresh, give or take.
Besides the engine refresh, you'll want to get the Quaife gear drive/lsd refreshed every year to 18 months too. That's about 500 excluding taking it out and reinstalling it (about a half hour job). Say an annual provision of 400 to cover this then.
Other than that, oil and filter changes every 3 track days or so, so about 250 a year for oil and filters and brake/gear top up fluids.
And assuming you do a thorough spanner check every track day yourself, so the cost of that is zero.
The car is light so you're not changing the brakes every 5 minutes, though the pads are abrasive so I'd budget a set of pads and discs once a year under track day conditions. Not sure how much that would be, say 400.
So, that is about 4.5k a year excluding fuel and things like damage or insurance which kind of depend on you. This is probably a conservative estimate, but you can see the big costs are tyres and engine refresh. They're fairly straightforward cars in my experience and I haven't yet come across a hidden ticking bomb.
The problem with them is that they are so much fun that you'll soon want to race it, and then you'll find one race weekend could pay for a year of track days!
Thanks for the mention, we'd be happy to help if you want to see what a Radical is all about before taking the plunge.....
www.fastclubuk.com
E: nigel@fastclubuk.com
T: 01709 862401
www.fastclubuk.com
E: nigel@fastclubuk.com
T: 01709 862401
I'd have to agree with Danny on the aspect of performance, at track-club we thought very hard about whether to go for the easy to manage Westfield XTR4 (Audi lump) or the standard Suzuki engined XTR2 but the basic facts were that the Westfield is not in the same league from a performance point of view.
It would have made our life easier but ultimately would not have been as attractive to our members.
If you want an SR3 experience then try the track-club (info@track-club.com) Supersport car and we'll talk you through the car and the issues of running one. If you want an excellent SR4 experience then take FastClub up on their days which are superbly managed.
Stephen
www.track-club.com
It would have made our life easier but ultimately would not have been as attractive to our members.
If you want an SR3 experience then try the track-club (info@track-club.com) Supersport car and we'll talk you through the car and the issues of running one. If you want an excellent SR4 experience then take FastClub up on their days which are superbly managed.
Stephen
www.track-club.com
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