EJR2

Just getting back into DE after about 20 years away. My newb question is what percentage of people trailer their cars to DE versus driving to the track? For those that drive what do you do if you have mechanical or other issues to get the car home?

996AE

New car street tires and alignment drive. Its a DE not a race.

You wont be changing brake pads, adjusting alignment, adding fluids, heck likely wont adjust tire pressure.

That said older car, testing, aggressive alignment, race tires.... trailer

Slippery slope.
Tow vehicle
Trailer
Storage
Insurance
Maintenance

I love my trailer and the utility it provides. But I have a 25 year old street legal race car. I can drive to the track but....

Welcome back to the club

ExMB

I trailer. Buddy does not. Same event I haul his spare tires. Anything simple he drives mine home and we load his. More than that I give him a ride home.

mhm993

You live in Boston. Is the car comfortable enough to drive 6 hours to the glen? Drive

Is it very uncomfortable or do people on street corners stare at you because your brakes squeal? Trailer

docwyte

I drive to events. All the tracks in the state are well within my tow range if something goes wrong. I tow a small tire trailer behind me and swap over wheels/tires at the track. I swap over brake pads in my home garage before I leave.

Robert Nixon

Me: a couple DE events a year, drive the car as is, not on Slicks of course!
Son: Total motorhead Miata guy, has a truck and trailer in South Carolina where it's HOT so he sleeps in the air conditioned trailer with his buddies

jscott82

I've always trailered
1) I carry too much crap with me.
2) worried about braking something

We used to have a gentleman in our area that would show up with a lawn chair and a newspaper. He was blazing fast, and never seemed to have mechanical issues. I always envied him.

TXE36

This is Rennlist - you NEED a 32ft enclosed fifth wheel trailer including generator and AC with a F350 diesel tow vehicle.

In all seriousness though, there is no denying trailers are nice. I drove my car to the track for about 5 years. Then bought a car, open trailer and tow vehicle - there is no going back. Tow vehicle is a gasser, wasn't all that expensive used, is very comfortable and has been very useful for other things. Open aluminum trailers can be had for less than $5K. Show up ready, back the car off the trailer and go right to the grid Saturday morning. Biggest trailer challenge may be finding a place to park it. While not the lowest cost alternative, the bang for the buck for open trailers cannot be denied.

Also, in all seriousness, go back to the first line of this post...

BFT3.2

I drive my street "legal" track car to the track and have a AAA Premier membership. It offers 4 tows a year up to 100 miles and it's one-time 200 mile tow I keep in my back pocket if something happens at the Glen, it'll get me within 20 miles of my house and is $5 a mile after.

Having two trunks and no passenger seat I already bring a comical amount of junk with me, could prob stuff a full size spare tire/wheel in there if I had to. A open trailer is on my radar though but not as the sole means, more as an option.

Quadcammer

I've driven the car by itself, driven it with a small tire trailer, and now tow an open trailer with my cayenne. I go back and forth on what is best, but i think the tire trailer is the worst, because if your car breaks, you not only have to figure out how to get IT home, but also how to get the trailer home. That said, coming home from the glen in heavy thunderstorms in my 986 on worn NT01s was a true white knuckle 25mph flashers on experience. Sometimes the full sized trailer is a pain in that it needs some maintenance/tires, storage, etc, but if you have the space for it, its a lot more pleasant to not have to swap tires or worry about your only way home breaking.

So I'd say:

1. trailer
2. drive by itself
3. small trailer

This all depends on what car and tires you have, how hard you push the car, how far you drive to tracks, and your pain threshold when it comes to noise, uncomfortable seats, rough ride, etc.

amurph182

I just got a trailer this year. Such a huge difference in my overall experience. No worry about getting a flat on the way to the track, can run r-comps and bring the street tires as spares, bigger cooler for those disgustingly hot days in the paddock, leave the car at the track each night instead of driving around town with numbers of tow hooks on the car screaming "look at me", don't worry about it parked over night at the hotel, etc. Also far more comfortable driving to a far away track in the Cayenne than in my cayman with crap stacked up all around me. Don't get me wrong, I never really had an issue with driving to the track and actually kind of liked the experience but now that I'm towing it's just all so much easier for me.

jlanka

Hasn't the Porsche mantra for years been "Drive to the track, race the car, then drive home"?

That said, I have 2 Porsche race cars (not street legal) so trailer only for me.

argonaut95

I've been doing DEs for about 13 years, here's my saga

• 2008 - 2009: just drove street car to track on street tires
• 2010-2012 - street car pulling a tire trailer with slicks
• 2013 - 2017 - open trailer
• 2018- now - enclosed trailer
• Future: back to driving street car on street tires

Definitely pros and cons to a trailer but the older I get the less I like dealing with all the prep of packing up the trailer and then pulling it and having to plan ahead on where to stop and so forth (pulling a big trailer is a real hassle in town, thru some gas stations, etc).

mdsarch

I drive to the track, roughly 4 weekends a year. I use 200 wear tires, such as AO52’s. My brakes squeal on the street, but oh well. It’s a DE so never drive 10/10th’s. If there is an issue, I have AAA. Used them twice in 15 years.

dgrobs

New F-350, New Enclosed (high profile) Trailex, New Race Car, separate/secret bank account from the wife, and you're all set.

Just go for it and take the plunge. You're gonna end up there anyway, so why prolong the inevitable?

Get your setup together and go for it.

You're welcome.