Thinking of getting into track days...

[petrolhead76]

Trying to find an outlet for my need for speed(!) so was thinking of buying a car like an elise and taking it out on tracks. Now I've never done this before, so could someone please tell me what it would cost to actual make use of the track for say a day?

Also any other advice on costs would be appreciated - e.g. on a elise how many track days could I do with the tyres etc based on general track driving (understand there's not a precise answer just need to get a feel for cost).

Thanks.

[philevo6]

Ive done only about 10 trackdays but my costs seem to be...

Trackday...£120-220
Fuel...£120 (evo 6 doing 7mpg around track!!)
Food and extras £20 ish.

You are looking at around £300 for the day.

As for tyres,you could get 2-6 days out of a set of road tyres.

I used slicks and got 8 days out of them (bf goodrich)

Hope this helps.

[petrolhead76]

Thank you.

[mrmr96]

philevo6 said:

Ive done only about 10 trackdays but my costs seem to be...

Trackday...£120-220
Fuel...£120 (evo 6 doing 7mpg around track!!)
Food and extras £20 ish.

You are looking at around £300 for the day.

As for tyres,you could get 2-6 days out of a set of road tyres.

I used slicks and got 8 days out of them (bf goodrich)

Hope this helps.

Don't forget trackday insurance, which is circa £80-£130 depending on car/value/track/experience.

Also, you'll clearly get thru brake discs/pads fairly rapidly. Brakes take an ABSOLUTE KICKING on trackdays.

[sdd]

Start out by hiring a car and getting a feel for the level of mechanical abuse a car takes on a track day. It'll also help you to talk to al lot of the other people at the event.

Try www.track-club.com or www.bookatrack.com

Stephen

[m4tt]

Is that figure for track day insurance for each track day or annually?

[Stevorocket]

My insurer charges 80 quid a day - with a 6000 quid excess - needless to say I am changing insurer - there are insurers which include track days in the annual premium.

Edited by Stevorocket on Monday 12th November 11:45

[Zumbruk]

Mannings and Sunninghill include track day cover, but watch out for conditions - sometimes they insist organisers are members of the ATDO, and MSV aren't. Hagerty do track days for 10% of the annual premium + VAT, per track day, for "bona fide" organisers, and if all else fails Competition Car Insurance do track days, although I can't recall the premiums off-hand, I've only ever used them for that once (not because of anything they did - I use them all the time for competition cover for sprinting.)

[mrh3113]

AON insurance include trackday cover assuming you can prove some prior experience of drving on a circuit (driving experience days etc).

[supertouring]

Track prices vary greatly.

Managed to get Oulton in Jan for 79 quid, but saw it in the summer for 220! Summer = less likely to have weather problems.

Choose track days wisely, you can save money. Easytrack are cheaper the earlier you book (that Jan date is now 120) and Circuit Days do free extra drivers/passengers, so take some mates and spread the cost.

My old scoob used to do over a 60 litre tankfull per day, but my Clio only does just over half that. Wear and tear/fluid changes/tyres are all part of the cost, so factor that in.

However, the worst aspect is it's adictiveness - once you start.........

[Sean Edwards]

sdd said:

Start out by hiring a car and getting a feel for the level of mechanical abuse a car takes on a track day. It'll also help you to talk to al lot of the other people at the event.

Try www.track-club.com or www.bookatrack.com

Stephen

Agree with Stephen, you should think about some instruction as well http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[Elderly]

mrh3113 said:

AON insurance include trackday cover assuming you can prove some prior experience of drving on a circuit (driving experience days etc).

But for some very strange reason they tell me that they will NOT cover Open Pit Lane days !!!!

[jleroux]

Elderly said:

But for some very strange reason they tell me that they will NOT cover Open Pit Lane days !!!!

I suspect that OPL is statistically more dangerous/risky that sessioned events - for a number of reasons.

Jonny
BaT

Edited by jleroux on Monday 12th November 19:03

[mrh3113]

jleroux said:

Elderly said:

But for some very strange reason they tell me that they will NOT cover Open Pit Lane days !!!!

I suspect that OPL is statistically more dangerous/risky that sessioned events - for a number of reasons.

Jonny
BaT

Edited by jleroux on Monday 12th November 19:03

Bit werd; I got confirmation only last week that I was covered. Perhaps I better check the small print but I'm sure there was no mention of there being an exclusion on OPL. Maybe it varies from policy to policy; they are only brokers for other insures at the end of the day.

[Elderly]

jleroux said:

Elderly said:

But for some very strange reason they tell me that they will NOT cover Open Pit Lane days !!!!

I suspect that OPL is statistically more dangerous/risky that sessioned events - for a number of reasons.

Jonny
BaT

Edited by jleroux on Monday 12th November 19:03

They wouldn't cover me for your nice quiet civilized Monday Donington OPL day in early September but did cover
me for a Sunday Deathzone sessioned day the following month - makes no sense to me!!

[gtikurt]

Im booked onto the 1st of December track day at Oulton Park....Been to Santa pod and shakespeare loads of times..but never done a track day...Should be fun.

[PetrolTed]

Elderly said:

mrh3113 said:

AON insurance include trackday cover assuming you can prove some prior experience of drving on a circuit (driving experience days etc).

But for some very strange reason they tell me that they will NOT cover Open Pit Lane days !!!!

They tried that on with me a while ago. I told them that they'd covered me for previous OPL days and they said ("ah.. but did you tell us it was OPL? No, I didn't because you never asked or told me that I needed to &quot. They then consulted amongst themselves for a few minutes and decided that I was covered after all.

I got a bit fed up with this and some other bits so I terminated the policy early and went elsewhere.

[shawn 968cs]

[quote=Zumbruk]Mannings and Sunninghill include track day cover, but watch out for conditions - sometimes they insist organisers are members of the ATDO, and MSV aren't. Hagerty do track days for 10% of the annual premium + VAT, per track day, for "bona fide" organisers, and if all else fails Competition Car Insurance do track days, although I can't recall the premiums off-hand, I've only ever used them for that once (not because of anything they did - I use them all the time for competition cover for sprinting.)

Think you will find MSV are covered with Mannings, thats what they told me.
They are not keen on modifying your car though!
Rgds
Shawn

[bjc388]

petrolhead76 said:

Trying to find an outlet for my need for speed(!) so was thinking of buying a car like an elise and taking it out on tracks. Now I've never done this before, so could someone please tell me what it would cost to actual make use of the track for say a day?

Also any other advice on costs would be appreciated - e.g. on a elise how many track days could I do with the tyres etc based on general track driving (understand there's not a precise answer just need to get a feel for cost).

Thanks.

Others have posted on trackday admission costs and also mentioned insurance etc.

Sean has commented upon instruction which I think is a wise investment whichever car or track you use since you say you're a newcomer to this sort of activity (and of course assuming you'd classify yourself as an - averagely skilled driver - )

As for costs on an Elise - suggest you post up in the Lotus Elise/Exige sub-forum and I'm sure you'll get feedback from the PH'ers there. Like many things, the answer depends upon the current state and condition of your car, how well maintained and tuned it is, how hard you drive and so on. What I can say is that they are great fun cars to enjoy on a trackday.

Anyway ... good luck and enjoy your foray into trackdays ... it is a lot of fun

[chrissimp]

We have had huge fun with an Exige S in the past (now got a Radical SR3). If you have a Lotus, consider Lotus-on-Track for track days. They are non profit making and not only well run but very good value for money as well - especially if you book early. Also everyone is generally well behaved and friendly.