M758

Yep I did that a few years ago. Not so much for money, but for time. I had only so many weekends I could go to the track. Time was time spend at an autocross, DE or race. So my best value is to use that time to race.



Yep.
I don't know any driver in 944 spec that has paid track support. Some guys might get a friend to help out, but paying for track support. Never.

If you want to race it is simple race a cheaper car. I bet it costs me less to race than it costs most of you to DE.

Bryan Watts

If you're wanting to race, my encouragement is to do it and never look back. You don't need track support, crew, and all of the other stuff. Your weekend costs for racing can be exactly what they are for DE's. If racing is your goal, get out there and do it. Too many folks stay in DE's wondering if they are ready.

As for tires, run what you can afford. If you want to race, you'll have a much better time racing on slower tires than you would driving at a DE on the same slower tires. My comments about tires is merely speaking to my own specific situation...we run new tires at races because we want to run up front. Running old tires is really the only thing that would make a DE weekend cheaper for us.


This is where I'm not so sure I can encourage you to "go for it". I know people who have driven their race cars to the track. I'm not a huge fan. Things can and do go wrong at races and DE's. If you drive your car to a race, you need to take into account that driving 5% harder probably increases the chances of things going wrong by 20%, so tempering your driving may be necessary to increased your likelihood of not breaking your car.

Ultimately, my encouragement would be to exchange your current car for a cheaper race car and use the difference to rent/buy a tow vehicle and trailer. I like to have the freedom to drive hard knowing that I can still get my broken car home on Sunday if something does go wrong.

Larry Herman

That's the Phillie Phanatic; voted best mascot in US sports several times. And no, it's not me, but come to think of it, we never have been seen in the exact same place at the exact same time.

NJ-GT

Club Racing is affordable if you choose the right car (i.e. 1999 Spec Boxster). DE is very expensive if you choose the wrong car (i.e. Ferrari F355 F1).

I'm training to get into Club Racing, but I want to do it in a Spec class (would love to see a 996 Spec). Racing in an open class, is a money game, rather than a skills game.

Club Racing > Time Trials > AutoX > DE

roberga

VR: How about a different angle...:-)

By the way attitude is everything. At our DEs anyone driving like they are racing will be sent home. At races anyone driving like they are at a DE will get run over.

NJ-GT

VR, if you click your avatar it shows your profile. It should show a bigger picture.

Bull

In that specific case...moving from racing to DEs with the same car...it likely makes no difference, at least until it comes time to refurb certain items where one would do so more frequently to remain podium competitive, but not for DE fun. But if being competitive in class is not important, then you don't need much in the way of a car anyway.

Personally, if I were moving from racing to DE I wouldn't keep the same car, or at least not maintain the last 5-10% of performance potential the car had (tires being one item).

Regarding what others think about DEs vs racing, I couldn't care less. At times is fun to poke those racers who do display a sense of superiority though (not you).

RedlineMan

Pffff....

How rich. There are always enough wanna-bees and/or ego-driven ********* to go around. No shortage of them in ANY venue, it would seem. It's not uncommon to over-hear them, and read their words here, on a fairly regular basis. If you get one away from his circle of blowbags and and pin his ears back a bit, a lot of them will back off and get real. The ones that don't will continue their compensation behavior in any case. They are the true fools, and every game has them.

M758

Or a 944 spec car.

There is a car for sale in Arizona. Competitive car with spare gearbox, motor other spares and an enclosed trailer. Price 13k. And this is one of the most expensive ones around.

$1200 in tires will last you 12-16 races which comes to a full season.


Really I can't DE my 944 Turbo for less than it costs to RACE my 944 spec car.

hacker-pschorr

I'm proud to be a DE warrior, I live my racing fantasies vicariously through Jean-Louis Picouet.

I find it far more frustrating trying to explain to non-track people that what I'm doing is not racing.

Bryan Watts

Only if you make it so. Explain to me why it has to be. Racing can be done at all different levels just like DE's can. Neither has to be more expensive than the other.

No contradiction. I'm saying that I'd rather be out there competing in an uncompetitive car than not competing at a DE. Both can be done on the same budget...or if you step down to a less expensive car, you can probably even race competitively on the same budget as running a nicer car at a DE.

Sure, if I need to in order to save the funds. What's the difference in rolling in on Friday morning for a race or rolling in on Friday morning for a DE? If you miss the first session, you miss the first session, whether it's a DE or a race.

Lately we've had some help, but it's certainly not a requirement. I've raced for 8+ years now, and only in the last 2 have we had "track support" of any kind for a club race weekend. And we've only done that because the group we work with would eventually like to progress into Pro racing. The vast majority of club racers in BMW CCA, SCCA, NASA, etc don't use track support. PCA racing may be clouding your view a bit if you assume that most use track support.

007DT

I have a trailer & Tow Vehicle, just wanting to have a car for more than the track every now and again. I'm getting there, as you said.. JUMP OFF and Don't look back.

Bryan Watts

That's what I'm thinking. When my budget changed a few years ago, I stopped racing Formula Mazda and started racing a Spec Miata.

multi21

You can never, ever convince me that racing and DE are at the same price point except for tires.

Some of the points that Dell already made are valid, but your looking at it from a "weekend" point of view. What happens between races are where alot of the other expenses are incurred. Wear and tear, parts, alignments, extra 2-3 sets of rims, better this and that. A DEer is not necessarily concerned with having everything perfect and an alignment after each race or oil changed or a fresh LSD or whatever.

Maybe it's me and my competitive nature, but if your racing and "not going to be competitive" then what's the point? I don't see running at the back of the pack an option and there is where the money pit point of view comes from.

Bryan Watts

In that case, go racing. It often takes time to get rid of some habits you've picked up in a controlled passing environment...I remember following a car around for an entire lap in my first race before it finally clicked that I should be looking for the pass. If racing is your goal, go race.

On the other hand, racing isn't everyone's goal, which is why we need DE's and Time Trials, and auto-x.