Race Tracks - Australia

[Graham]

Ian

That seems to come back to what my friend in the US that races has said.

He basicaly told me that If I dont like working on cars (which I dont), then working on 'race' cars is going to be even worse and much more costly. All the prep time before it goes to race, all the tuning and maintaining and whatever, will be expensive especially if I cant do it (which I cant).

He said if Im only ever going to race like now and then, 2-5 times in a year at an actual track, then I am better of just buying the car I like to cruise in (Diablo, GT40), and use it as a daily cruising car. Neither the GT40 or Diablo will see its potential on the road, and the skill required to see its potential on a race track would be more than I will have due to 'limited track time'. To me track time would be more or less a 'lets have fun' thing, like an outing. Use the car I like the look of and feel of most (Diablo or GT40) to drive to the race track, hire a race car for the day, spend 1000-3000 dollars, whatever it will be for the day, enjoy the day, have a blast around the track and then leave the headache of owning a race car with the race team to look after, jump back in my cool Diablo/GT40 and drive home.

Thus I get to race, without risking my own vehicle or having to fork out huge $$$ to maintain my vehicle after such abuse.

In terms of the $$$ you mentioned. If the cost falls on me to repair something major, im going to be without a car. Im not rich, im not even 'well' off. In a sense people even question why on earth Id be driving any one of these cars (F355, Diablo, GT40, even mercedes/BMW etc) when Im not 'that' class of person.

To me its something I love the look of and would like to own (just like I own the 1968 Dodge Charger). I will be able to buy one, but thats as far as it goes for me. Sitting on 30-40,000 a year in near future financialy due to the work I have been called to do, if anything were to happen to the car that isnt insured, thats the end of it for me.

So thanks for the heads up. Maybe just get the car and enjoy as a street car and hire something at the track is the most sound advice ive got (which is similar to what you said from a different angle)

George,

As a total aside, the GT40 is not an everyday car in any sense of the word. If you think that you could run it as your only car, then in my opinion, you are wrong...

Have you ever tried to park one in your work's parking lot?

I'm not here to rain on your parade, but you need some perpective. Get a runabout and have the '40 as your special car, but I certainly wouldn't recommend that you think of it as a daily driver.

On another note. Ron is absolutely right, the MX5 is a superb car. If you think that your mates will laugh at you, then you have hoisted yourself on your own petard , as in one of your first posts you stated that you didn't give a stuff as to what other people thought of you.

Be consistent George, and whilst you're at it, have the good grace to not slag off a car that other people race regularly. I myself have a rice rocket (Honda S2000). Is it a hairdressers car - no. It is a widowmaker with snap oversteer, but it has really re-honed my skills after driving 4 wheel drive Porsches for over ten years, and -get this- it is JUST as much fun as my 911 Turbo S that has twice the horsepower.

Don't poo poo what you haven't tried. I would much rather go wheel to wheel with twenty other cars with only 200 HP than have a track day on my own with 450 HP.

 

[George]

I am being consistent. The problem isnt what others think about an mx5, it's what I think it looks like, thats the problem lol. What I mean in context of every day car, is like my 68 Charger, 2-3 times a week and thats it. The nature of the work Im going to be in means the places I park in are not of the nature you speak of, so in a sense I 'could' drive it 7 days a week without any trouble (other than shopping?). Between my wife and I we have 2 cars... the 'every' day car and the 68 Charger. Im just looking at replacing the 68 Charger with a GT40 (Sure I will lose the boot space here). My wife and I do work together, we are in a sense tied at the hip (not literaly speaking), wherever she goes, I go, we are constantly together, travel together, work together, so in a sense we only NEED one car. As I said, given the nature of work Im going to be in soon, I have to accept racing my car wont happen cause to me even 'how much fuel does this car use MPG/L per 100km' is important as I would like to drive it 'more often' like an every day car.

So either way I trully appreciate the help I got, for it helped me see things 'in perspective'.

 

[tom pritchett]

Wow, I take a little time off of the forum and it explodes. I think that people here are expressing their views from their perspective which is from totally different angles.

I run track events HPDE for the Porsche Club of America in the Pacific Northwest. I also run track events for a company that I own called Turn 2 Lapping inc. I charge about $225.00 for people to bring their car to the track and run for the day. I would suggest, George, to find a car club that puts on these kind of events and learn from an instructor how to drive well and go play.

I would suggest also that this could be done in a GT40, but I have learned by running these events, that stuff happens. I used to take my CAV GT40 to the track because it is just fun. I have learned that it will also kill me if I do something stupid. It just does not have the safety items in it like I want. I would suggest a roll cage, on board fire suppression, etc...It is a bit much for a daily driver to have all of this safety gear.

I now run a full prepared FR500S Mustang race car. It is heavy, low on horsepower, and runs on skiny race tires. It pulls faster lap times than my Z51 C6 Corvette that has 100 more hp, 600 less pounds and big R compound tires.

The big thing is safety for me. This last week, we had a BMW M3 race preped car that had a bad incident. It hit a chikane (sp) hard and launched the car in the air. It landed on its roof. The A pillars collapsed to the dash board. I am very glad that the roll bar held the car up and the 6 point harnesses protected the driver (instructor) and his student that was riding. Without it, it certainly would have been a different outcome.

There are hidden cost, but you say that it is part of what you are expecting. I have paid $400 per day to run at Laguna Seca, so prices for track days are all over the place.

Good luck with your search and I am happy to assist where I can. However, others here come from racing backgrounds and as they have said, it is very expensive. I just ran some track days with the Porsche Owners Club and they were running a race weekend. Some of the drivers were running "arrive and drive" cars. They were spending over $30,000 for the weekend. The Porsche Cup Cars run $5,000 per hour to run in just maintenance.

It appears that you don't want to race and that is fine. Go and find a car club and do track days.

 

[Dimi Terleckyj]

George

The inconsistencies come up when you post that you don't mind spending 100000 to 200000 on a car that you can't build and will cost money to get other people to maintain and then make a statement that fuel consumption is all important.

The issue of fuel consumption would be the last thing on the mind of anyone that owns a 40.

Also I don't know if you are aware there is NO , NON, NIL luggage room other than what is in the cabin between the passengers legs and a small space in the doors that is it.
No suitcases etc.

Dimi

 

[George]

Dimi, I figured there would be next to no room on it. Typical race/super car convinience. The F355 had a decent sized boot for a car as such. Suitcase and something would fit.

What im doing currently is going to produce the $ to pay to get a GT40. Once its gotten, the very thing Im doing I wont be doing anymore, then im just an average income earner. Thus its the 'after I get it' part I need to think about. I had an 87 Trans Am before, drove that 7 days a week. Didnt seem to find it a problem. The Charger, I would drive more IF it was something that didnt have so many annoying bugs and quirks that constantly pop up. So I wanted to use the GT40 the same way in a sense, when I feel like it, jump in and go and not worry about having a poor 10mpg which wont get me anywhere and, knowing everything is new in it, it will be a reliable vehicle.

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

George you can have my famous GT40 for a bargain price of $250,000.AUD.
Heck for that I'll even deliver anywhere in Australia.:shifty: Which state do you live in?

 

[George]

1: Im in NSW
2: Im not ready to buy one now
3: I want a replica because I can get it built how I want
4: For that bargain, you should keep it until someone offers more :laugh:

 

[Peter Delaney]

George, I would look favourably at an offer of $249,999 AUD for my slightly less famous 40 !

 

[Mike]

I happen to have exactly $249,999 in my pocket right now... in Monopoly money if that will suffice? I'm thinking that's the same currency Georgie has stashed under his mattress as well.

George, I'm curious what this venture is that you speak of undertaking soon that is going to enable you to spend $200k on this custom GT40? I might be in the wrong business after all? Share with us your secret for success.

 

[George]

Michael, like I said in the very first post when I signed up here "Im looking at getting one in the next 24 months", people didnt mind I learn as much as I can before getting it and said "welcome to the site". So to me thats soon even though its not around the corner as such. Given next year im going to Virginia for 3=4 years to study at a particular college, I can continue doing what I am doing 'here' there. By the time I get out of there to come back to Australia, I will have the GT40, and ofcourse, I wont need it before then sitting here in Australia given im not here but in the US.

Im trading/importing. This is something I can do even if I am not here. So this is whats going to fund the GT40 as its not me forking out money for it per-say. Once I have it and complete my studies, then I will be full time doing the work I trained for, and thus will stop importing/trading and thus the very thing that funded the car wont be there anymore. I started doing this because it was a way I could acquire a car I like without having to work/save/work/save and then all the hard earned money to blow on a car. This way all I have 'actually' spent is 35,000. That is now turning into a GT40 as its growing through the trading/importing. So to me, I spent 35,000 to drive a 150,000 dollar car. Im not earning big money. Between the wife and I we make enough to live on and thats about it. So given that, our every day car is worth $4000. That should give you the idea of what sort of income earners/people we are. Simple, not wealthy, but enough to live on and happy. This is also why when people said 3000+ for 1 day at a race track, i was like "what the hell? isnt there something for like 200-300 bucks for a day"

Why dream about a 150,000 dollar car then? Because all I did was save up the $35,000 over some time, and that 35,000 will turn into the GT40 over next few years. So Im not spending any of our 'long term saved money' (if ever) on the car other than the initial 35,000.

Thats why Im looking at it like the Trans-Am I had, something that works, something I can just put the key in and drive, even if it was 7 days a week. This is also why its definatelly not something disposable to me either.

 

[Keith]

Given next year im going to Virginia for 3=4 years to study at a particular college, I can continue doing what I am doing 'here' there.

Im trading/importing. This is something I can do even if I am not here.

Uh oh......:shifty:

 

[Lindsey]

Im trading/importing.

George is it Vanderlay Industries?

 

[George]

No its not fake.

Importing vehicles that I use/sell. Thats why I said the F355 I would have prior to the GT40 given the nature of what I am doing. Also im doing it along side a company run by 2 guys about my age that I know of that are helping me achieve my goal.

So our work is used for our every day needs, and this is something I drive/upgrade/drive/upgrade until I got the 40 with no extra $ spent to the first car I was driving.

This is why I said I only invested 35,000 in a sense as what I am driving is getting me the better car, not my $ or my work.

THats how somebody like myself could have a 40 and not be willing to fork out 5000 for 1 day, as to me, that is insane and also why I cant get 'an mx5' or something on the side, as that requires more $ which I dont have. The GT40 will require no more dollars given my car is getting me my car, not my work or my money.

 

[Lindsey]

Your mates have a RAWS?

 

[Mike]

Marine biology George?

Seinfeld Clip - George As The Marine Biologist - YouTube

 

[George]

What are RAWS?

There not my mates. I met these guys through some Ferrari dealers that gave me there detail. When I found where they are, not many people know of them.

Michael - I dont care for silly sarchasm. If you wanna make fun of what I do, then go for it. All it will do is prove how sick you are.

 

[Tim Willis]

RAWS = What you require for importing / complying.

 

[George]

Thanks

They import/compliance and everything. He has people that can do Compliance on the Ford GT (american cars) while he does all the work on European/Japan cars. He has a few Lamborghini Galardos in the building, Ferrari 360s, some GTR34 skylines etc.

 

[Dave]

On another note. Ron is absolutely right, the MX5 is a superb car

MX5's are shyte Mate.....Leave them for the Hair Dressers.

 

[Keith]

What are RAWS?

There not my mates. I met these guys through some Ferrari dealers that gave me there detail. When I found where they are, not many people know of them.

Michael - I dont care for silly sarchasm. If you wanna make fun of what I do, then go for it. All it will do is prove how sick you are.

George, that is amazing. Not your Ferrari pals, but the fact that you do not know what RAWS is. Even if you go a different route it's a whole bit of education about ADR's.

http://www.raws.com.au/ImportPurchase.asp

Google is your friend

No sarchasm (sic) intended mate...