bjgolf Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 What does everyone think about taking their daily driver for HPDE? I drive a 04 GTO, 5.7L/Manual. In no means do I "beat" on the car, however just wondering if its worth taking it out to the track as I never have before. Is it better to just buy a "beater" and use that? If I eventually want to work my way to TT one day, what path should I take? Buy a cheap car now, take it through HPDE, build it up then race it....or use my DD then once I am through HPDE think about a car to use for racing only. Thanks for everyones help, the members here are so helpful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcolangelo2005 Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 It's always better to track a "beater" (assuming it's in good repair and is safe) than to risk a nice, fairly new car like your Goat. Accidents, while infrequent, do happen. Plus, cars tend to accumulate paint chips during track driving and if you're really worried about the Goat's paint job you may be upset when you hear the sound of small rocks and dirt bouncing off your hood as you drive over a dirty section of the track. Having said that, my philosphy is that cars are meant to be driven and enjoyed so if you want to track the Goat, go for it! Either way, just have fun and enjoy the experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VKZ24 Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 There are different schools of thought on this. I've often heard the quote "If you can't afford to push your car off a cliff and walk away (finacially) then don't take it to a race track". Having said that, I've tracked my DD for 5 years now, but I do have another car to get to work in case something breaks or something else happens. I don't think of my car as "disposable", but I can afford to lose it if it came down to it. My feeling would be hurt, but I have a "back-up plan" so to speak. HPDE events are generally pretty safe and incidents are rare...BUT...sh!t does happen and that's a risk assesment you'll have to make for yourself. Sure someone else can tell you it's totally safe, but will they pay for your car if something happens? I'm not trying to discourage you BTW. I have a friend that tracks his GTO regularly and enjoys it very much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beerkat Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 IMO driving your DD for a HPDE is what you should do. These events are about learning what the limits of your car are as well as teaching you how to handled it. After you become addicted, and you most likely will, then start to think of what you might want to track. This sport is intended to be affordable. So driving what you have is the cheapest way to go. Yes you could break your car but most likely it will not be from a crash. Do your homework and make should that your car has fresh fluids in it with new brake pads and carry a backup set of front pads. If you listen to your instructor and do not push your car pass it's mechanical limits you should be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon dawes Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 i've been asking myself the same questions. i decided to drop about 3 grand on an older mustang gt. i owe too much on the new mustang to risk a wreck. but if you're not in my position [subtext = upside down on loan] you can get HPDE insurance from snellings walters or prosure [new company started by former snellings rep] for roughly 3% of the cars book value and about a 2 grand deductible should the absolute worst happen to your goat! and who knows, maybe a few years down the road you will be more willing to track the goat! i'm hoping to pay down the 07 mustang enough to put it on the track because i feel like that's where it belongs, not on the commuter roads to and from DC [blech!]. just trying to help. [btw: in the interest of full disclosure i have not done any HPDEs yet; just one hyperdrive and several autocrosses. no actual mustangs were injured in the posting of this message] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
924sowner Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 yeah taking a newer car thats in great condition onto a race track usually isnt the best idea. in my experience the new GTO does do pretty well on track. not the best round the corners but it holds its own. its really up to you. ive seen it dont and ive done it twice myself with my daily driver Ford Focus SVT. might do it again.... then again my car has been beat to hell most of its life so im not terribly worried.... mostly its tires and brakes you have to worry about as far as mechanical. though its said for every one track mile its equal wear and tear wise to between 10 and 25 street miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10Hondas Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 I Just got insurance for my DD for VIR this weekend. I am covered if anything happens, although it will be a real pain if anything bad happens. My plan is to do a couple of HPDE events and if I like it, buy a track car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjgolf Posted July 24, 2007 Author Share Posted July 24, 2007 Wow everyone thanks so much for your opinons and help. It looks like its either going to be an old 944, or an old mustang gt. I really appreciate everyone's opinons. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodeoFlyer Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 I have a different opinion on this. I bought my 06' Mustang with the intention of it becoming a race car. It was cheaper to buy a complete GT than to buy a shell and build it from scratch. Whether I wreck it now or 2 years from now when it's paid off - i'm still out a $30k car. HPDE is really set up for the guys that bring their daily drivers. IMO a dedicated track car is a RACECAR and is better suited in a race group. Honestly someone with the mentality that their car is a disposable beater next to me in HPDE doesn't make me very warm and fuzzy. My front clip and windshield are covered in rock chips because some jackass let their buddy run in HPDE with their racecar. For those of you that are familiar with Big Willow he apparently forgot turn 6 was a right hander and went straight. Myself and a Corvette behind him took a beating from all the crap he threw on the track when he went off. Now I understand that shit happens and accept it BUT it shouldn't have happened. HPDE isn't racing. It's driving school. Granted we all want to go out there and go fast but HPDE is about learning to drive and learning to understand the limits of your car. Generally/hopefully the guy next to me in a new GTO is going to be much more conservative than a guy in an old Miata (nothing against you Miata sissies *cough cough* Mike )with nothing to lose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon dawes Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 i don't completely disagree with Rodeo. the only thing is when i bought my 07, i bought it, well, just because!!! little did i know that i'd get bitten by the bug. . . so like we all do in life i weighed the pros and the cons and the in-betweens until people said "just freakin drive SOMETHING and enough with all the damn questions JEESH!!!!". well, they were nicer about it but that was the subtext. my point: i guess somebody who is an idiot will be an idiot in a "beater" or an idiot in an evo/m3/ffr cobra/viper and all i can do is try not to be a moron and watch out for people that are. maybe i'll change my mind after a few laps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjgolf Posted July 24, 2007 Author Share Posted July 24, 2007 I understand what your saying, however me being just 17, my insurance is already through the roof! If I was able to get a second car, that was decent it would be titled under my parents name for restricted driving, and since it would be cheap, worrying about paint chips and what not wouldn't be on my mind. Anyone here have a 944 and is in HPDE? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runningmole Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 I take my DD, it's all I have! I guess it's a bit of a risk, but it's worth it. Plus I have a cheap fox body Mustang, if anything happens, I can pick up another cheap, and swap over what's still in good condition....or just spring for an E36 M3...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonz Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 I did HPDE with my street car ( 02 WRX) for the first couple of years. I think for HPDE 1, you should definitely use your street car. However, in the 20 or so track days ( 11 weekends) that I've done, I've now seen a half dozen HPDE cars come in on flat beds, totalled. This does not give me a good feeling. In fact two of the cars were WRXs, similar to mine. The one thing they had in common is they were both in the advanced group. Based no my limited experience it seems the advanced group has more incidents than beginner and intermediate combined. Speeds go up, confidence levels go up, and rate of incidents seems to go up. My goal is to get a cheap track car ( likely e30 BMW or Mustang) before I get to group 3. I did buy a Miata last summer, but it just wasn't for me. So I'm back in the WRX for now. One advantage of having a second, cheap car, is that you can do something like put in a roll bar, harness and seat, which you may not want to do in your daily driver. Also it's nice to have a ride to work the next day, when you burn up an axle or wheel bearing at the track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aben8057 Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 I came across this path earlier this year and had the following thoughts. A) Would I be upset if I wrecked my 996? Yes which led me to B) Can I afford a beater/daily driver? Yes C) What budget can get me safely on the track. D) What car within that budget? This led me to the purchase of a stock Porsche 951 which if I do wreck it I will not be upset. However, this does not mean that I will go out and abuse it my main intention for HPDE is to learn driving in a safe and fun environment. So if you can, I would recommend going the beater route in case that an accident does occur. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodeoFlyer Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 I drive my brand new GT at full pucker with the a/c on and the radio blastin (warm up lap only - don't start hating on me LOL) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcolangelo2005 Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 I drive my brand new GT at full pucker with the a/c on and the radio blastin (warm up lap only - don't start hating on me LOL) I hear ya'! I'm trying to weld up a cup holder in my Bimmer race car. I'd hate to spill my cafe mocha on turn 9 at Willow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodeoFlyer Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 I just had the visual of The French dude in Talladega nights drinking his Machiato on the track lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan_Wolfe Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Wow - all you guys with nice performance machinery that will never see a track. What a shame. If you can't stand to wreck it you shouldn't of bought it. Its a waste of metal (and plastic and carbon fibre) to buy a high performance car only to polish it. It drives up the price for the rest of us. Flame away, Alan 2003 MINI Cooper S Finished break in on the way to its first autocross. At least 50 track days, including Watkins Glen, Lime Rock, and Summit Point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodeoFlyer Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Aww those mini Coopers are cute though. When I was a little guy i'd pull them back on the kitchen floor and watch em GO! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon dawes Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 hey i don't disagree with you . . . much. when i bought the car i had no idea what i was in for. then i started driving to and from work and said "MAN IS THIS RETARDED." i had this 300 hp car and all i did was bump along the crappy roads for 2 miles at 10 miles an hour in traffic. but again, not all of us are savvy with the finances and we may not want to risk a 15k loss when we're not exactly right side up on the loan. other commitments have to be taken into consideration. the human element and all that. anybody got a time machine??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcolangelo2005 Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Wow - all you guys with nice performance machinery that will never see a track. What a shame. If you can't stand to wreck it you shouldn't of bought it. Its a waste of metal (and plastic and carbon fibre) to buy a high performance car only to polish it. It drives up the price for the rest of us. Flame away OK. Just because someone owns a Ferrari or even a GTO doesn't mean they have to drive it hard on a race track to enjoy it. And for the record, I've never used Zaino and don't even own car wax! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac11 Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Wow - all you guys with nice performance machinery that will never see a track. What a shame. If you can't stand to wreck it you shouldn't of bought it. Its a waste of metal (and plastic and carbon fibre) to buy a high performance car only to polish it. It drives up the price for the rest of us. Flame away, it actually drives the price down in most cases. Economies of scale and all. thats why the 93+ RX7 was ~35-40K in the early 90's and the 2004+ RX8 is 28K now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STRINGER Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 here is a prime example of why you might not want to drive your daily driver to and from the track Buddy of mine ran with me at VIR this weekend. Car ran great all weekend. Had to replace an alternator bolt that broke for whatever reason saturday. No big deal. On the way home...we all drove as a team and stayed together. About 2 hours into the trip he dumped all his oil and went to 0 pressure. He got it pulled over and we inspected the car for simple causes...none to be found. Thought maybe an oil line broke. Filled the engine with oil and was able to make it a mile to get to a safer place. I pulled my car off the trailer and got it street legal enough to drive and got his loaded up. He drove my car to the team garage and we unloaded his car there and loaded mine back up for me to carry home. I am so glad that I put my tags and street tires in the truck, cause I was going to leave them at home. Moral of this story...if you have people in your area going to the track...try your best to run together. Second...if you drive your daily driver in and HPDE weekend or any other session in that respect...be prepared to catch a ride to work if something goes wrong. After an inspection on the car...it was found that a fitting was loose for the oil cooler. I am just glad we stuck together going home and didnt have to leave anything behind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon dawes Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 well no doy! that's exactly why i keep an extra particle transporter in the back of my mustang! i just figured everybody did that. . . .noobies. [and just in case the flux capacitor fails on that, i have a magic carpet that i got a deal on at costco] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryanrome Posted August 4, 2007 Share Posted August 4, 2007 My front clip and windshield are covered in rock chips because some jackass let their buddy run in HPDE with their racecar. For those of you that are familiar with Big Willow he apparently forgot turn 6 was a right hander and went straight. Myself and a Corvette behind him took a beating from all the crap he threw on the track when he went off. Now I understand that shoo-shiddily-diddily happens and accept it BUT it shouldn't have happened. Was the Corvette a black C5? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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