[s-cars] Track car or not track car

[TM]

Rich-
Depending on where you live, it _can_ be done. ;-)

Auto-x will help you work out some of the handling and
other issues.

For a real race car, there are test-and-tune sessions and
practice sessions for those actually racing and those who
have a competition license.

I'll still take a Miata over an Audi for the track.

Taka

-----Original Message-----
From: Rich Assarabowski [mailto:konecc at snet.net]
Sent: Monday, September 08, 2003 7:30 PM
To: 'TM'; 'Frederic L'Huillier'; s-car-list at audifans.com
Subject: RE: [s-cars] Track car or not track car


One more point (may sound kind of dumb) -- how do you tune/test a track
car without driving it?  How do you discover that high-speed shimmy or
misfire when you (technically) can't even drive it down the street?
Guess that explains all the guys that are crawling under their cars
during track day...  A street car gives you plenty of opportunity to
sort out problems before you get to the track.

-- Rich A.


-----Original Message-----
From: s-car-list-admin at audifans.com
[mailto:s-car-list-admin at audifans.com] On Behalf Of TM
Sent: Monday, September 08, 2003 10:46 AM
To: 'Frederic L'Huillier'; s-car-list at audifans.com
Subject: RE: [s-cars] Track car or not track car


Easy answer- the major benefits that I can list off the top of my head:

1. You don't have to worry about crashing/breaking your daily driver 2.
You don't need to have the track car registered/insured as a street
car-
thus no inspection/emissions/etc. worries as well
3. You can have a car that is much better suited to the track than your
typical street car and the setup of the car doesn't have to be
compromised for street use considerations 4. Depending on your
priorities, the track car doesn't have to be
pretty- I
don't like driving a crappy-looking street car, but I don't mind driving
a crappy-looking but mechanically pristine track car

The downsides:

1. You need a trailer and a tow vehicle, esp. if the car is not
street-legal 2. Costs more to have an additional car- repair, track
prep, etc. 3. Need extra storage space- lots of communities will not
allow you to park your trailer and track car on the street or sometimes
not even in your driveway.

If I could afford it, I'd definitely have a track car, no ifs ands or
buts- our
Audis are big pigs (except for maybe the UrQ) and there are many cars
I'd rather drive on the track (BMW E30, Porsche 951, 968, Mazda Miata,
Acura Integra Type-R, FD3 Mazda RX-7 to name a few).

In Europe, you have even more choices: Lotus Elise (mk1 and mk2), Exige,
R400, Vauxhall VX220, Nissan Silvia, Skyline GT-R, Mitsu Evo (many
generations), Subaru WRX (STi and the like- Prodrive models as well),
Caterham, Westfield, various TVRs, etc. Also, the greater available
numbers of even the cars we have here make it much easier on the used
market- 951s produced from 1985 to 1992, etc. With a large track car
budget, even more choices- 968CS, 964RS/R, 993RS/R, E36 M3 Evo, E30 M3
Evo II/III, etc.

Something like a Lotus R400 would be a blast- saw one locally once,
completely surprised that someone had one here w/ plates and apparently
street-legal.

Taka