Crisis of conscious (or how I get bored quickly)

So with the '90 Miata track rat currently up on jack stands with no brakes/suspension (they are going out tomorrow J)......my mind keeps going back to a dual-duty car.

I know, know, know.......this is a terrible idea and I have professed it many times on this exact forum.

If I go further down the rabbit hole, it seems pretty inevitable that the '90 becomes a barely street legal track-only car, or a full blown track car and a truck/trailer become necessary (which would be nice anyway) so I can comfortably visit tracks not named Hallett.

This, however, necessitates a full size truck as a DD because we simply don't have room for a DD for me, a truck/trailer/race car and my wife's car. And I'm not a fan of offsite storage for any of the aforementioned.

So my mind keeps dragging me back to something like an EVO X, Coyote Mustang, or similar...........properly prepped to take track work and also get me back and forth to work with A/C and a stereo.

This puts me back to running only at my home track 99% of the time and I risk wadding up a pricey car.

Thoughts?

Right now, this is why I don't track race. I enjoy my Mustang a lot as a DD, and if I start tracking it the slide to track-only race prep is almost inevitable. Also, I'd be really pissed if it got totaled. If I'm going to track, I would much prefer a dedicated car. Which I can't afford right now. So I stay off the slippery slope and don't go near a road course. Which kinda sucks, but I've never driven on track so I can't say I miss it, exactly. One of my buddies keeps lobbying hard for me to go to Roebling with him, but I know if I do then I'll be hooked, and we all know road racing is more addictive than sex or cocaine. Well, cocaine at any rate.

Oh, but as for your problem... track-prep Miata is light. Even on a standard trailer. You don't really have to have a full size truck to tow it. I've got a 1997 V8 Explorer that will happily tow 6000 lbs and it makes a decent daily driver - not too big, comfy, and not obnoxiously thirsty. If that's not an option, read the tow dolly thread. that's even lighter. On the other hand, if mileage is an issue, the newer full size trucks knock down about the same mileage as my Mustang, so if your DD choice is truck or dual-purpose Mustang.........it's about the same.

I know we as a group tend to lean towards overkill for tow vehicles, but do you really need a full-sized truck to tow a Miata on an open trailer?

Otherwise... I'm with ultracycle... my track experience has been limited to some parade laps at Watkins Glen during the vintage festival. That combined with my previous all-out experience racing DH was enough to convince me I'm not getting anywhere near a track with a car I'm not willing to ball up and walk away from. Right now, even my hated E30 doesn't meet that criteria (and I would absolutely LOVE to see that car crushed into a ball of metal...). I'm not even keen on the idea of using my daily driver for autocross.

Ian F wrote: I know we as a group tend to lean towards overkill for tow vehicles, but do you really need a full-sized truck to tow a Miata on an open trailer?

I'm from the South, so maybe I'm biased, but if you own property you need a truck. Our truck is the nucleus of our family, transportation-wise.

Mid-sized and full-sized are priced similarly used. If you go mid-sized, mind the transmission as it is the weakest link. Change the fluid and filter every season, and/or add auxiliary transmission cooling.

I don't think you NEED a full-sized truck for open trailer duty. But if you're buying used, why not? OTOH, I bought an F-150 and I often miss my Frontier. You really feel that extra 2000# sometimes.

I miss my Frontier as well, I believe the new ones are rated at 6000lbs for towing. I figure car/trailer/gear would be in the 5000-5200 range and I figure I'd want a bit more headroom than that and also the longer wheelbase.

Call me a nancy, I also like how nice the modern full-size trucks are. My '11 Frontier was nice, but you can tell the interior leather and other bits are a step down from things like the 11+ F150.

I think mainly I just missing having a more powerful DD. The NC Miata is fun and all.......but it definitely misses the punch of Coyote Mustang........but also has significantly cheaper to run as well.

Ugh. First world problems I suppose.

z31maniac wrote: ...we simply don't have room for a DD for me, a truck/trailer/race car and my wife's car. Thoughts?

Fix this, if you want to have a DD, a truck, trailer, race car, and DD for the wife...make it happen.

Or otherwise look at what you think can't change...and reevaluate.

This above is all IF that's what you want. I just know that I often get caught up in reasons why I can't do something (reasons, excuses, etc.)...but when I "take a step back" (so to speak), it can become clear that my values or priorities may need to change if I really want/need something.

It would seem to me there's a lot of gray between a stripped out '90 track Miata, and a $30K Coyota Mustang that you're afraid to wreck on track due to it's value.

Could the answer be a happy medium? Maybe a very nice, well prepped E36 M3 with a 2nd set of track tires. Old enough to source parts and fix yourselves, and nice enough to not want to wreck it, but not financially ruining if it happens. I'm sure other cars in the ~$15K range can walk the dual purpose line.

Lastly... what about just a 2nd car and no truck/trailer. While not a pleasant commuter, if you're not doing full blown wheel to wheel racing, why not just keep the Miata street legal even if it's a hardcore racer and drive it to trackdays? Drag a tire trailer behind it and drive it to events. Park it in the garage at home and park your cushy DD in the driveway (or vice versa).

There's the diesel Caprice in the other thread. Good MPG driver and plenty of tow capacity.

My solution to this was to buy the truck, keep my street car as a DD, and store the trailer offsite. Yes, it's suboptimal, because parking the trailer is an ongoing cost and it takes time to go fetch it when I want to use it. OTOH, for me it sucks less than the alternatives of A) driving a truck to work every day or B) driving the Miata to the track.

xflowgolf wrote: It would seem to me there's a lot of gray between a stripped out '90 track Miata, and a $30K Coyota Mustang that you're afraid to wreck on track due to it's value. Could the answer be a happy medium? Maybe a very nice, well prepped E36 M3 with a 2nd set of track tires. Old enough to source parts and fix yourselves, and nice enough to not want to wreck it, but not financially ruining if it happens. I'm sure other cars in the ~$15K range can walk the dual purpose line. Lastly... what about just a 2nd car and no truck/trailer. While not a pleasant commuter, if you're not doing full blown wheel to wheel racing, why not just keep the Miata street legal even if it's a hardcore racer and drive it to trackdays? Drag a tire trailer behind it and drive it to events. Park it in the garage at home and park your cushy DD in the driveway (or vice versa).

I'd go with one of these options. I don't want to drive a truck everyday. Even driving an automatic for more than a week gets to be annoying, let alone something with a truck suspension.

There is another option: Get a smaller/lighter track-only vehicle.

F125's and other karts can be towed behind anything on a small open trailer. Hell they'll fit inside most SUV's and pick up beds, negating the need for a trailer.

Formula/Solo Vee's and Formula 500's are cheap and light too, any full-size car should be able to pull one.

Need fenders? How about a Legends car?

And, of course, there's always the two wheeled options... dirt bikes, sport bikes, etc.

All of these, save the legends car, could be easily and safely towed behind my Mustang if I really wanted them too. Have your racing cake and save some space too.

DD a bike and have a truck/trailer/race car/wifes DD........DD the truck on days when you can't ride.

Am I seriously the only one to put this together so far? All the key words have been repeated in post after post with no one making the connection: Race Miata...trailer...Coyote Mustang. Buy a nice Mustang, a light trailer, add hitch, tow the race car to the track faster than it will go under its own power. Done.

(someone) tows his e30 autocross car all over the place. With an e30 touring.

And an e30 weighs more than a Miata.

Spend your money on a very lightweight trailer, and then you can tow the Miata around with pretty much anything that has a 6cy....SUV or properly-setup car.

I'm with Irish44j - find a way to make your race car/trailer light enough so you can get a reasonable DD that can tow the whole combo without issue. If possible, throw a four post in the garage, the Miata on the bottom, and the aluminum trailer on the top. You could do all that for far less than the cost of a new Coyote Mustang.

Wait... that's turbojake? I thought that pic was Alex Schipkov.

Swank Force One wrote: Wait... that's turbojake? I thought that pic was Alex Schipkov.

I don't even remember now, lol. You are probably right. The photo was in a post by him, but perhaps he's just showing off what someone else did. I don't pay close enough attention to usernames and what they all drive, hah....

the touring and widebody both used to be Alex Schipkov's but he sold thewidebody sedan autocross car to a local guy up here and got a suburban or something to tow whatever huge tire'd creation he's running now. i dont know if he still has the wagon, but it has a 3.0L euro S50 swap to start so it's not your normal e30 either

The Legends car is an interesting suggestion, although I'm not sure I'm a fan of the chassis/cage in those, I'll have to look more closely next time I'm near one.

I think a lot of this is my car ADD and knowing I won't get back on track until next year. I pulled the suspension/brakes and skipped this year so I can put something like this on the car:

http://949racing.com/xida-club-sport-coilover-miata.aspx

And Wilwoods and 2-piece rotors at each corner..........better pad and rotor life will make up for the increased up front investment. And between the suspension and brakes the car will lose ~25-30 pounds out of the suspension vs the last setup.

Then I can start working on getting my NASA TT license and saving up for a properly built 1.8 engine for the car.