Cobra4B

Throwing ideas around in my head... between my father and I we have all the spare C5 parts to make an older C5 a worthy track car.

Throwing around the idea of getting a cheaper C5 coupe or FRC to make into a track only car.

Could sell all the parts that are removed to recoupe cost. We could dual use it at HPDEs.

Eventhough my parents live in Greensboro we generally go to VIR together and each run our own car.

Thoughts?

Cons:
*Cost
*Money tied up in a car being used 3-6x a year

Pros:
*Don't have to worry about messing up the car
*Can have car stripped and ready for it's intended purpose
*No swapping back and forth of street/track parts

Miaugi

If I had the money I would consider a dedicated track car, but then there's the need for a tow vehicle, extra fuel, insurance, where to store the car and trailer, having to drive around town in a pick up truck rather than a Vette, etc.

Myself I like being able to drive my car to an event and then drive it home, also helps me to stay focused....don't want to mess up the "good" car.

AU N EGL

If you have a dedicated car, you will do more then 6 events per year.

WNeal

I had 15 scheduled this year but will end up with 12 due to an illness and family death.

My 06 has become about 95% track car.


I sometimes get lazy and do not want to change the wheels, camber etc. after an event so I just mess with it in the garage till the next event.

The end links etc. take a beating on the highway so I have pretty much not used it other than the track.


Now if I can just get someone to donate a new Z06 to me to use as my show car.

95jersey

My decision came from the lack of time to actually work on a non-warranty vehicle. With the family, I just don't have time beyond normal brake maintenance window to be wrenching on some beat up track car every weekend, AND I certainly don't want to pay some mechanic $75 per hour to do it for me...SO, I bought a new shinny street car and made it my dedicated track car with a set of tires and pads until the warranty runs out, then goodbye and on to the next car.

Financially, I am fortunate that I could buy a T1 car in a heartbeat with change to spare, but when would I find the time to work on the thing when I broke it every other track day? I work from 8am - 8pm 5 days a week, and 90% of weekends are booked with family or work around house. If I have 1-2 hours during a whole week for myself, that is impressive if I can find that.

Also, do I want to dump $$$ into a depreciating asset? These all worked into my decision factor to buy a new Z and use it 95% for the track. I'll keep the miles extremely low, and I figure after 2 years, I'll lose between $5-10k, which would be no more or less than depreciation and maintenance on a T1 "like" car, and I got something faster on top of it.

So, my point, the amount of events does not mean anything, and CHEAP IS EXPENSIVE.

RedLS6

I'll run about 10 DE's before year's end, this year. I've thought briefly about a track car, but then ruled it out immediately due to:

-I'd be taking depreciation on two Vettes, as I really want to have a car I can drive on the street as well.
-I'd still worry about messing up the track car. After all, it's still a Vette and is still worth money. If you break it, you still have to fix it eventually, unless it's cosmetic damage.
-Storage space on an additional vehicle, plus maintenance on an additional vehicle.

JSTAN

Have you considered buying a different dedicated track car? Something less expensive than a C5, like an LS1 based f-body.

jcmbird

pondered this along time. My 2cents. improve ur vette a little, track it,and enjoy life. I've tried to make a race car, chevy is much better than u and I. When u get tired of it get a new model.These z's c5[can't imagine c6] are fast? How many cars do u pass at events ? money not considered ! Try a porsche,ford, dodge, ferrari, chevy is on top of it [well a twin turbo would be nice]120k = 2 c6 z06's.I don't know, but time must also be considered. Good luck, keep us posted. thanks

0Randy@DRM

I'm willing to bet this keeps you up at night.
Track cars are great. You go out run the crap out of them. Fix when ever, upgrade as needed. The best part about them is after a hard track weekend, you don't have to wash it until before the next event. When the guy you are chasing puts a tire off, you can just laugh, instead of crying inside.

Now you get home and spend just as much time cleaning your car as you did racing it.

Randy

02impactblue

Get out of my head!

0Randy@DRM

OK I'm done!

The Spark

I did 1 DE and loved it - talked about it all the time.
We sold that car and got a 50th AE coupe that I was not going to track.

A year later my wife suggested I find a track car. Fortunately we were in a position to buy a C5 for that.

I run my own business so it was time to trade in my truck for a new one (go figure). So I got a F250 diesel. Just so happens the local trailer shop also had a sale on enclosed trailers so I got one of those too. Now I trailer my track car since the nearest track is 5 hours away.

I keep the trailer at my company's yard. The city won't let me park it on the street by my house for more than a couple of days.

I plan to do 8-10 DEs next year and 2 open road races.
After that I would like to get into TT with NASA.
My track car actually gets driven more than my 03 or 72. Go figure.

If you have a Vette that you don't want to risk messing up on the track or don't want to mod to make it good on the track, then you ought to think about a track car. Then, you need to look at your disposable income and see if it makes sense.

Good luck figuring it out.

Cobra4B

Guys... I'd get a C5 for 15k... it'd be fully depreciated. I have 2 sets of track wheels/tires allready, lots of brake stuff, and othe rmisc. parts. I allready have a truck/trailer.

I'd like to make my Z pristine again and have a track beater... Randy summed it up perfectly.

Take a '97 C5, swap suspension, fluids, gut it, sell parts taken off and then go beat it.... no need to worry about paint, no interior etc.

My C5Z is allreay very modded for the track:
*DRM cooling ducts
*SS lines
*Lots of brake pads
*Dewitts racing radiator w/ EOC
*G5-X2 cam w/ bolt-ons
*VB&P poly bushings
*VB&P HD endlinks
*Ultrashield pro roadrace seat w/ hardbar rails
*BK harness bar
*Harnesses
*etc etc etc.

I could gut my current car and make it a track car... but it is my first vette, I've had it for 5 years, and I want to make it nice again and enjoy it at shows and road trips too.

codysdad

I have a 06 C-6 and after almost a year on the street I went to 3 track days and I hardly ever drive my car on the road any more. I was already fastest guy on street tires with only 3 days the last time out. Nothing like 2006 technology and power in my favorite car. Only down side is driving around town being cool isn't as fun any more. C6+ headers+CAI+ synergy tune+pilot sports+track = 1 happy camper!
I don't know if I can have any more fun without someone buying me the #28 car.

ScaryFast

This is a timely topic for me as my buddy cracked up his street / track car this past weekend at an event. Luckily it was drivable (barely) the 355 miles to my local body shop. He rented a car and went home. He's been stressing for days now about paying for it out of pocket, trying to get insurance to pay for it, how he's going to get to work, what he's going to do next year, blah blah blah.

Conversely, my track only 'vette caught on FIRE at a track event in July and the side and rear were cooked severely. Since I escaped unharmed (very thankful for that, BTW), I was pissed for a few days, then bought some spray paint and stickers and "fixed" it. Raced it the rest of the season, no stress and a funny story to tell over beers after an event.

It's a harsh fact - If you track your car at some point something bad will happen. We try not to think about it but we all know it happens. The lucky ones can go years without an incident, but the fast guys have offs, and sometimes they're not just in the grass. If you do more than one or two DE's a season then you're running on borrowed time if you run your street car - especially if it's your ONLY car.

rustyguns

did you see a lot or a little of turning improvement with the VB&P poly bushings and end links? i'm thinking about doing that too!

varkwso

The improvement is notable - it really stops a lot of camber/toe migrations under load...

I will do about 30 events this year I think - we really slowed down this year due to other obligations.

Both of my cars are street legal. After many years of track use they are showing a few signs of use. To be honest the headlights on my ZO6 have not worked for over a year - so its street use has been limited - but I do drive it in the daylight when it is not raining (GA law on headlights). The FRC is a daily driver when it is not on jackstands(nre trans and engine this year)....

It is hard to bed brakes, test tunes, run in alignments, break in engines/diffs/transmissions and do other items with a track pure car.

Cobra4B

^ True... didn't think about that. W/O any insurance it'd be difficult to go test **** out. I guess I could have liability only.

rustyguns... yes the polys are great on track. Turn in is more crisp and car just feels better overall. It keeps the allignment in place and makes the car turn flatter. My stock bushings were hurting after 4 years of HPDE use.

However... on the street the car is stiffer and noisier. It's not horrible, but on nights when I'm taking the GF out in the car I wish they weren't in there.

AU N EGL

If you want a dedicated track car put a cage and fire suppression in.

Going off or into a wall is not "IF" it is "WHEN".

There are some race ready F-bodies out there with cages already in.

Cobra4B

^ Why the hell would I want to drive an F-body on track? The idea here is that I have all the parts/equipment for tracking a C5.

And the whole "not if but when logic" could be applied to everyone doing HPDEs.... so I should put a cage and fire supressoin in my car now.

But that's another discussion.