[s-cars] Track car or not track car

[Theodore Chen]

frederic,

i agree with what has been said so far.  i'm one of those people
who has a car (a non-audi) for the track.  my car is an '87 mustang GT
that's still street legal but not exactly street-friendly.  i can
feel every pebble in the road.  the car rattles like a tin can because
it has no sound insulation.  it's a beast to drive.  and i love driving
it on the street.

it is far cheaper to use a mustang, camaro, miata, or european equivalent,
than to use an audi, and they're more suited to track use from the
beginning than a 4000 lb. sedan.

by the way, i have a '94 miata, too, and it's going to become a spec miata
soon.  anybody go to ALMS at laguna seca this weekend?

-teddy


--- TM <t44tq at mindspring.com> wrote:
> 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
>
>
>
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