tow track car??

[stef1808]

i think this is frowned upon? but im getting no joy in the bmw section and really like the Porsche community here so here goes:

i made this post

stef1808 said:

whats your opinion on this, could use some advice.

I've got a striped e46 m3 which is solely used as a track weapon. I've got 2 routes to take:

keep the fixed full buckets I've got now, do a full cage and further weight saving (doors, radio etc) - getting a trailer and license and towing it around
Or
Keep it as it is and fix some sliding semi buckets (club sport spec)

i love the road trip to 'ring/spa/uk tracks which for me is also part of the fun, but having an almost full on race car sounds great also.

Does anyone do any towing? Is it really boring ??

i love doing track days in my gt3, but the way values are going, binning it would be a disaster. as such I bought a e46 as above, so what would you do as the next step?

[thegoose]

Towing it means you can make it a less compromised car. With the right tow vehicle you will find long trips much more relaxing - partly because you'll be going slower (no motorway outside lane use) but because you're in a comfy vehicle. Any sensibly bought trailer will retain its value so if a £1500 one is more convenient to use (e.g. tilt bed) than a £1000 one then go with the better one, make sure you get it checked and serviced (you don't want crusty tyres going pop or brakes failing when you're loaded up at motorway speeds) and buy decent straps (£50 for 4 proper 3" ratchet ones, cheap as chips).

I found my Dodge Ram pickup (5.7 litre Hemi V8) and now my Cayenne S have both been great for towing, on a decent surface they can happily tow cruising at close to 3 figure speeds (never tried quicker!), although that's partly due to a decent trailer loaded correctly. Being higher up is more relaxing and most normal cars take more notice of you. I also used to use a 2003 (old shape) Mercedes Vito 112CDi which did the job very well but obviously less luxurious and less power when it came to acceleration (especially up steep hills).

The enjoyment of using a more hardcore car on track without having to drive it there and enjoying the journey in comfort would outweigh the compromise in costs and time/inconvenience IMO. You can also forget about MOT/insurance costs for the track car too.

[LaSource]

thegoose said:

Towing it means you can make it a less compromised car. With the right tow vehicle you will find long trips much more relaxing - partly because you'll be going slower (no motorway outside lane use) but because you're in a comfy vehicle. Any sensibly bought trailer will retain its value so if a £1500 one is more convenient to use (e.g. tilt bed) than a £1000 one then go with the better one, make sure you get it checked and serviced (you don't want crusty tyres going pop or brakes failing when you're loaded up at motorway speeds) and buy decent straps (£50 for 4 proper 3" ratchet ones, cheap as chips).

I found my Dodge Ram pickup (5.7 litre Hemi V8) and now my Cayenne S have both been great for towing, on a decent surface they can happily tow cruising at close to 3 figure speeds (never tried quicker!), although that's partly due to a decent trailer loaded correctly. Being higher up is more relaxing and most normal cars take more notice of you. I also used to use a 2003 (old shape) Mercedes Vito 112CDi which did the job very well but obviously less luxurious and less power when it came to acceleration (especially up steep hills).

The enjoyment of using a more hardcore car on track without having to drive it there and enjoying the journey in comfort would outweigh the compromise in costs and time/inconvenience IMO. You can also forget about MOT/insurance costs for the track car too.

+1 to all the above.

Plus you can take some spares with you e.g. wheels, jacks, tools, etc
...and if the car breaks down you can bring it back

[Dave Sums]

I found towing (with Landrover Discovery) made life much easier as can take slick tyres and few friends. My advice would be to buy the best trailer you can (I had a low rider 6 wheel Brian James for my GT3RS) and it would tow along nicely at 80-90mph (obviously on private road!). But to be fair even that wore thin and now I leave my GT2 and GT3RS with Jonny at BAT in Donington and they deliver my cars to whatever tracks I want, change oil and tyres for me, clean it and to be fair the cost really is not so bad (£1000.00 per year secure storage approx)and most UK tracks (Doningtom free!) is £150.00 per car return journey. Means I can fly in from Europe to whatever is closest airport to track we are playing on and then just chuck them the keys and head off again in knowledge that they are taking good care of my cars.

[spyderman8]

Don't forget you need towing on your license - anything issued remotely recently no longer includes it.

Chris.

[LaSource]

Dave Sums said:

I found towing (with Landrover Discovery) made life much easier as can take slick tyres and few friends. My advice would be to buy the best trailer you can (I had a low rider 6 wheel Brian James for my GT3RS) and it would tow along nicely at 80-90mph (obviously on private road!). But to be fair even that wore thin and now I leave my GT2 and GT3RS with Jonny at BAT in Donington and they deliver my cars to whatever tracks I want, change oil and tyres for me, clean it and to be fair the cost really is not so bad (£1000.00 per year secure storage approx)and most UK tracks (Doningtom free!) is £150.00 per car return journey. Means I can fly in from Europe to whatever is closest airport to track we are playing on and then just chuck them the keys and head off again in knowledge that they are taking good care of my cars.

That's actually pretty good value!

[Dave Sums]

Shhuuuushhhhhh - don't tell Johnny that! Spa return is £750.00 and Barcelona is £1350.00 I think. When you add up time, petrol, tunnel, no brainer.