Where do I start?
Discussion
Would love to start doing track days when I can but I really have no idea where to start. First off it will be impossible to do it in my own car, a 1.4 punto with a black box fitted. And I have read about experience days that people get for Christmas where you drive say a lambo a Ferrari and an R8 but these sound more about saying you've been in the car rather than actually learning how to drive properly ( I could be wrong?!)
In a year or two the plan would be to get a car that I can actually do trackdays in that won't be too bad on insurance, like a renaultsport twingo or a vw golf mk2 gti, peugeot 205 gti etc etc. But this isn't possible at the moment due to insurance and the fact I've only just bought my current car.
Where do I start?
Thanks Guys
In a year or two the plan would be to get a car that I can actually do trackdays in that won't be too bad on insurance, like a renaultsport twingo or a vw golf mk2 gti, peugeot 205 gti etc etc. But this isn't possible at the moment due to insurance and the fact I've only just bought my current car.
Where do I start?
Thanks Guys
andyiley said:
Pardon me for pointing out the obvious, but you seem to have just talked yourself out of it for the next 2 years, so why not wait 2 years and ask the question again, as any answers now will be completely different by then.
Yeah i kinda thought that when I re-read it. Basically what i'm saying is, are my only options take my own car ( which I obviously cant) or do one of these 'super car experiences', is there any tuition for complete novices so that when I do eventually get a car I can use for track days I wont be completely clueless. I'd like to not be completely awful when I eventually do get round to doing them for myself. Did that make any sense :S 
aww999 said:
It is possible to book a trackday, and hire a suitable car to use on the day. I think for a mid-spec Caterham it works out about £1k though, way outside my budget so I don't recall the details, sorry!
We run a fleet of R300 race cars for track day rental - can't really be described as "mid-spec" given it's the quickest Caterham race car in production but you're right in that they are about a grand a day all inc - except when we have a winter offer going when it's less to half that:- http://bookatrack.com/-p1blog?71Don't want this being pulled for advertising, so I'll be impartial also suggest Caterham Drive Experience (CDX) and also http://swracecarhire.com/
Jonny
BaT
If Jonny means ALL in, that's not so bad.
Average track day costs £100-£250.
Your fuel for the day - well, I spend £100-150 in my TVR.
Then there's tyres - £750 buys a set of track tyres that will do about 10-15 track days, so £50-£75 a day.
Then there's wear and tear on the car, depreciation etc.
So you can easily spend £350 to £500 doing a track day in your own car.
So Jonny's winter offers, in a top quality track car, are actually very good value.
Get saving.
That's a whole track day.....not five laps in a Lamborghini.
Average track day costs £100-£250.
Your fuel for the day - well, I spend £100-150 in my TVR.
Then there's tyres - £750 buys a set of track tyres that will do about 10-15 track days, so £50-£75 a day.
Then there's wear and tear on the car, depreciation etc.
So you can easily spend £350 to £500 doing a track day in your own car.
So Jonny's winter offers, in a top quality track car, are actually very good value.
Get saving.
That's a whole track day.....not five laps in a Lamborghini.
jonnyleroux said:
We run a fleet of R300 race cars for track day rental - can't really be described as "mid-spec" given it's the quickest Caterham race car in production but you're right in that they are about a grand a day all inc - except when we have a winter offer going when it's less to half that:- http://bookatrack.com/-p1blog?71
Don't want this being pulled for advertising, so I'll be impartial also suggest Caterham Drive Experience (CDX) and also http://swracecarhire.com/
Jonny
BaT
The winter offer does look very, very tempting especially with the option of splitting it with a mate!Don't want this being pulled for advertising, so I'll be impartial also suggest Caterham Drive Experience (CDX) and also http://swracecarhire.com/
Jonny
BaT
What sort of skill level would be required to do this though?
Thanks,
These guys are certainly worth talking to.... www.trackdaycarhire.co.uk
They are at Brands tomorrow aswell, could pop in and see the car/have a chat with them.
They are at Brands tomorrow aswell, could pop in and see the car/have a chat with them.
TheCarFather said:
The winter offer does look very, very tempting especially with the option of splitting it with a mate!
What sort of skill level would be required to do this though?
Thanks,
We cater for everyone from novices to racers. If you're a novice I would suggest avoiding the "high-risk" parkland circuits like Cadwell and Oulton and sticking to safer tracks like Donington or Anglesey (statistically our 2 safest venues by some margin).What sort of skill level would be required to do this though?
Thanks,
The hire of the car includes the first free session with one of our ARDS instructors and if you want/need additional tuition it's available at £30 per 20 minute sesion. Well worth getting a couple of sessions each if you're new to it.
Looking at the new year, there's a few track days where you could have an R300 with a mate for a full day (15-20 minutes each per hour x 6 hours) for £340 each including VAT, fuel, tyres, instruction and insurance (subject to £2500 excess). Even with another 2 sessions of tuition each that's only £400 for ~2 hours driving.
Jonny
BaT
What you ask is a classic question. A few observations:
1. First you need to know that doing track days is something you're willing to sacrifice a significant chunk of money for. To this end, I decided to hire a car and instructor for a day at the start and got a good feel for whether I would be willing to sacrifice the cash and whether I had any aptitude towards track driving ( honest appraisal of the instructor).
2. If you decide to get your own car, you have several considerations:
A. If it is your only car, track driving is likely to lead to more mechanical failure... Can you live without a car for periods of time?
B. if you are young and it is your only car, it may limit the power of car you can afford with respect to insurance and modifications, that you will inevitably want to make, might raise your premium further.
C. Perhaps be thinking very light and not to powerful (Elise territory) as opposed to the big and beefy (Bmw let's say)
One thing to consider is to run a road car that you can afford and offers the reliability you need and buy a cheap track car and trailer. This way there is less pressure should the track car break down or you stick it in a barrier and you can modify it to your hearts content. The fact that it need not be insured means it can be a high insurance category vehicle.
Go into it with your eyes open though. Each track day can be assumed to cost £400+ by the time you have paid for the day, the fuel (your car will do less than 50% of it's road MPG on the track), a percentage of a set of tyres (assume 5 to 6 days per set of tyres to leave them road legal to get home), maintenance, cost of modifications, vehicle depreciation etc. serious 'man-maths' required to justify it! Never let your missus look into it too much!
Best of luck.
1. First you need to know that doing track days is something you're willing to sacrifice a significant chunk of money for. To this end, I decided to hire a car and instructor for a day at the start and got a good feel for whether I would be willing to sacrifice the cash and whether I had any aptitude towards track driving ( honest appraisal of the instructor).
2. If you decide to get your own car, you have several considerations:
A. If it is your only car, track driving is likely to lead to more mechanical failure... Can you live without a car for periods of time?
B. if you are young and it is your only car, it may limit the power of car you can afford with respect to insurance and modifications, that you will inevitably want to make, might raise your premium further.
C. Perhaps be thinking very light and not to powerful (Elise territory) as opposed to the big and beefy (Bmw let's say)
One thing to consider is to run a road car that you can afford and offers the reliability you need and buy a cheap track car and trailer. This way there is less pressure should the track car break down or you stick it in a barrier and you can modify it to your hearts content. The fact that it need not be insured means it can be a high insurance category vehicle.
Go into it with your eyes open though. Each track day can be assumed to cost £400+ by the time you have paid for the day, the fuel (your car will do less than 50% of it's road MPG on the track), a percentage of a set of tyres (assume 5 to 6 days per set of tyres to leave them road legal to get home), maintenance, cost of modifications, vehicle depreciation etc. serious 'man-maths' required to justify it! Never let your missus look into it too much!
Best of luck.
TheCarFather said:
andyiley said:
Pardon me for pointing out the obvious, but you seem to have just talked yourself out of it for the next 2 years, so why not wait 2 years and ask the question again, as any answers now will be completely different by then.
Yeah i kinda thought that when I re-read it. Basically what i'm saying is, are my only options take my own car ( which I obviously cant) or do one of these 'super car experiences', is there any tuition for complete novices so that when I do eventually get a car I can use for track days I wont be completely clueless. I'd like to not be completely awful when I eventually do get round to doing them for myself. Did that make any sense :S You do see ALL SORTS on trackdays.
If you REALLY want to see if you like it & give it a go, take at least one full spare set of brake pads, a good selection of tools, tyre pressure gauge, jack, etc, do a FULL fluid service before going (using race type brake fluid) and see what you think.
No brainer for me.
If you have someone older willing to drive a car to the track for you, then simply pick up a cheap MX5 when you have the money and insure it in their name. It's what I did and have been doing track days since 17 - then again I'm pretty lucky in having a dad who's also a major petrolhead. Insurance for me on the MX5 is about £3k, for him £180! Just a thought.
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