I've been going over this predicament for months and keep coming back to the same conclusion.
If I buy a (reliable non-project) tow rig and a (reliable non-project) trailer, I lose the room used to store the "toys" I'd be hauling. That also means two more pieces of equipment that require some level of maintenance, insurance, and taxes.
I think at the end of this year the "dedicated" race car could potentially get sold off. Possibly even the e30. The money I would spend on a trailer and tow rig would buy a nice Mustang or twinsy 86 with a set of 200tw tires to run in a stock class. I can drive one of those comfortably to any autox event in the states or track day and do fairly decent. I hate having a fleet of vehicles to keep up with, as it's hard for me to spread funds to all of them.
Have any of you guys sold off your projects to just have one reliable vehicle that can do it all? Any regerts?
Are we talking about autox here? No way would I bother with a tow rig for autocross, 100% do the one car thing. If you want speed then maybe an F125 kart and a small pickup.
Mostly autox with an occasional HPDE peppered in there.
I only have a few requirements to fit my needs, and I think the 86 or Mustang ticks them all in some form or fashion.
Must haves are: RWD, fits my two kiddos, manual trans, and two doors. I would possibly consider 4 door, but that's almost unthinkable to me no matter how dumb that seems.
The 86 has proven to be fairly competitive in D Street and top ten in my region. Pretty sure with the Mustang I would have to get an s197 due to budget. What I really want though is a car that is fun to drive. My e30 makes me smile and enjoy driving it. I have yet to drive a car that makes me want to get rid of it. Modern BMW's are so numb and the maintenance cost just plain suck.
An S197 with Coyote is where I would look, or G37.
The goal for my Mustang has always been dual purpose, the pursuit of speed and handling keeps nudging it closer to the track side of the dual purpose.
Yeah, that's why I bought a Focus RS (replace with whatever similar vehicle fits this mold). I can take it to the track for a Track Day or the AutoX, unload the car seats and have some fun. Put the car seats back in and take the wife and kids for a nice drive up to Mt Saint Helens or out the Columbia Gorge.
I figure once the kids get older and if they show interest in Karting or Moto, etc. then we'll have the minivan for hauling some of that around and I suspect the FoRS will likely be replaced with something a bit more utilitarian so that Dad can have a play car, etc.
If we never had kids, then I'd probably have gone with the truck/trailer route with a pure race car of some sort, but that would come into conflict with the desire to travel, retirement, etc. so the compromise likely would have led to a lot older, maintenance prone products that would have meant less actual track time and more frustration for me and the spouse.
Is there enough space to fit a 5-6 year old in the back seat of an 86 or s197?
For auto x/HPDE use, one car for sure.
As for the 86, I love my FRS and think one would make a great dual duty car, BUT...if you're planning on putting kids in the back seat, I can tell you right now that ain't gonna work if they have legs.
I know it breaks your 2-door rule, but Chevy SS? Otherwise, I think you need to skip the RWD and get whichever hot hatch floats your boat. RWD 2-doors that can fit actual humans in the back are pretty thin on the ground.
I ran E-Mod with the Abomination for a lot of years. Tow rig, trailer, tons of stuff to every event. It was a blast. I still have all of that stuff but haven't driven the car in over a year.
All of that got replaced with a G35. I drive to the event, do my thing, drive home. A lot less hassle.
I miss the Abomination at times. Nothing starts more conversation than a race car on a trailer or something different. It's a great way to meet people. But then I'm sitting in grid with the A/C on and listening to some tunes, instead of burning myself on the center consol and melting in the heat and realize the G35 is so much nicer.
I do think the Abomination will be coming back. More V8, more tire. It's a stupid fun car to drive.
I'm open to suggestions. I've driven the Focus ST and it just didn't do it for me. The torque steer was just annoying and the car feels like a huge bubble. I've considered testing out the Fiesta ST as I think that would be more suited size wise to my needs, but again FWD is kind of a bummer for me.
I don't know enough about Subarus to really decide what model would work well, but maybe some form of AWD instead of rear? What are some good AWD options in the $15-20k range?
I've had the same discussion internally on a number of occasions, and a nice used Cayman would be my perfect do-all car (I'm single w/o kids). However, the thought of having to buy track insurance every weekend or wrecking my DD and having no way to get home and no way to get to work is a pretty big deterrent. So, I stick with my turbo miata track toy, and DD the F150. It's not the worst.
If it doesn't have a full cage I'm going to street drive it to events, daily it, whatever, but no trailer.
As an add, I would not track my only car. That is a risk I would not take. I've seen too many people total a car they were still making payments on. One of them a month after purchase. The look on their faces when they realize they just wrecked their only mode of transportation is memorable and not pleasant.
Toyman01 said:
As an add, I would not track my only car. That is a risk I would not take. I've seen too many people total a car they were still making payments on. One of them a month after purchase. The look on their faces when they realize they just wrecked their only mode of transportation is memorable and not pleasant.
I follow the rule of "Never drive a car on the track unless you can afford to wad it up into a flaming ball of junk and walk away." A friend of mine offered to let me take his Ferrari out for a session once and didn't understand why I turned him down. I just don't want that liability.
I used to tow a street-registered car to autox, but it was running on Hoosiers and I hate changing tires out in the sun.
We have an Elantra GT that does daily duty for my wife, so if I manage to destroy my car there is still something left. Obviously that would be a crappy scenario, but that's okay with me. If I plan accordingly the car that I acquire would be paid in cash. I hate having monthly payments.
I suggested the Infiniti G35 in another thread the other day. Available with a 6 speed, 4 doors, RWD, and can be had pretty cheap. I've been very pleased with the coupe I have. If you have the budget you could even consider the G37 sedan.
What's the rear seat situation with the g37 coupe? Love the look of them, but the last time I was in the market all were pretty haggard.
Is a Cadillac ATS or earlier CTS in the cards? Both capable, reliable, available with a manual and baby well.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:
Are we talking about autox here? No way would I bother with a tow rig for autocross, 100% do the one car thing. If you want speed then maybe an F125 kart and a small pickup.
This....that's way too much effort and money for autocross. Buy a car for virtually any class other than high-modified stuff, street drive it there. If it's a small car, get a tire trailer. End of story. Unless you're some kind of money-is-no-object-so-I-want-to-win-nationals kind of person, there's really no reason to have a trailer and tow rig for autocross IMO.
btw, an e30 can do just fine at autocross, HPDE, and general driving with different tires and some big sways. You already like driving it apparently. So unless your goal is to beat the world at autocross, just do it all with the e30.
Side note: an e30 with 4 doors and no cage can haul like 8 wheels/tires, so you don't even need a tire trailer ;)
E30 for autocross duty works. For now. If I want to do any track driving though, it's a 3 hour drive there and 3 hours back. That's way too many miles with an m42 running 3500-4k rpm to be pleasant. Even my local autocross requires a 45 minute there and 45 back all highway drive. What's worse is that the local SCCA moved the last three autox events of the year 2 hours away from me.
All in all I think just getting a car that does everything comfortably is the answer.
Maybe.
I don't know.
In reply to captainawesome :
The coupe seats are decent for small people. My middle son at 5'11" can't sit up straight without hitting the rear window. Under 5'10" works barely. Younger kids are no problem as long as you don't have to fasten their seatbelt. The passenger seat is powered in my G35 so when you fold it, it slides all the way forward and then slides back automatically as well. I wouldn't plan on using the rear seat on a regular basis though. It wouldn't be fun.
In reply to captainawesome :
You could get some taller tires for the street to reduce revs and then change to the lower diameter ones for the tracker autocross. trust me I've spent a ton of time on highways doing 80 miles an hour with m42 so I know haha
I have the stock 205 55 15 size and most run 205 50 since that’s what the sticky stuff is in. What really kills me is 4.44 gearing. Not highway friendly at all.
I never liked having to auto-x my daily driver without backup transportation. I stripped a lug nut changing tires after an event and then I was rushing around on a Sunday afternoon/evening to fix it and make sure I could take it to work the next day. It’s so much better to be able to park the auto-x ride/race car and take something else to work. I can’t comment on the truck and trailer since I haven’t done that yet, but I think it sounds great.
