Charley Hoyt

I know that this may seem like a silly question....but, other then the exhaust not having cats....why can't these cars be licensed? Is it because the air bags are removed? Obviously it wouldn't be a car that would be driven on the road often...but it would be nice to be able to drive to HPDE's.

wallyman424

Some are street legal... depends on your state and how strict they are. MD specifically does not allow you to remove the side windows... that was the only thing preventing me from plating my car 3 years ago. They didnt care about the harness, airbag, cage, exhaust... just the side windows.

However, rollcages on the street are a bad idea in general. Plus having a trailer to put the car on makes you 20-25% faster on track.

davidfarmer

T1 in particular was legal until they allowed removing catalytic converters a year or two ago. When I ran T1 in 2000, the cars were completely legal.

Gary2KC5

So...T1 cars are street legal, as long as you have cats on them, put the windows in them and what ever you need to when it gets it's state inspection.

Then you can drive it to the local car show or cruise...I can't imagine why else you would want to drive a race car on the street.

If you have a T1 car for HPDE's you are running track tires and not driving it to events...most likely.

AU N EGL

If you want to be competitive in T1 or NASA ST2, you dont want a street legal Vette.

besides the suspension, rocks would be softer on the public roads.

Wicked Weasel

Harnesses and race seats are generally not legal.

Charley Hoyt

Thanks for all of the advice. The reason I am asking is because I am toying with the idea of buying a car for track only use....mostly for autocross and HPDEs. So I am investigating my options. I am not competitive enough to compete in T1 yet....but, I need to do something because my widebody convertible is fine for Autocross but it will be difficult to make useful for track days (hard to make a useable roll bar). So I fugure I have the following options:
1) Add a roll bar to my convertible (which is my daily driver)
2) Buy a C5 Z06 for track use
3) Buy a C6 Z06 for track use
4) buy a T1 or similar car.

I have room for a third car...but, a need to trailer will be a hassle because I don't have room to store a trailer.

Thanks again for the help.
Charley

Jason

A couple of years ago I was in your same spot.

And against everyone's advice, I chose to put a roll-bar in my vert as I started moving from autox to more track days, and also trying to keep the car on the street. Eventually I got tired of beating my head against the wall, as every club, every track, and every insurance company had different rules concerning verts/rollbars/tracks. I also spent a small fortune on tires and alignments in the process.

So, here's my advice to save yourself money and time and aggravation in the near/short term:
Get a C5Z. Make it a dedicated track car. Get a tire trailer if you are running sticky tires. You can still drive it to the track for HPDEs and autox. Down the road, you eventually take it off the street and start trailering it to the track.

And here's my advice if you REALLY want to save yourself long term cost and effort:

Get a T1 car, truck, and enclosed trailer now. 5yrs from now you'll thank me. You can sell this to your wife as a safety issue, as fully caged T1 cars are much safer than street vettes that go just as fast and hit the wall just as hard.

It just depends how much you're willing to spend in the short term to save in the longterm. But without a doubt, if you are addicted to track time, ditch the vert. I miss mine every spring, until I get to the track in my Z.

95jersey

How can a car with a full cage and race seat be street legal? I live in NJ and there is no way a car with a full cage is passing any inspection. The cats are the LEAST of your issues. You can turn off the sensors and go right through inspection (they no longer put sniffers in the tail pipe, just look for codes)

wallyman424

Again it all depends on your state and where you get the car checked.

I did have my car plated with a 30 day temp tag back in the day. It was FUN driving that thing around with a helmet on. This was when it was black with GIANT sheriff stars on the hood.

95jersey

I would also imagine with a full cage car a Helmet would be MANDITORY all the time, as you could kill yourself in a minor fender bender hitting your head on the roll cage. That right there is a reason you can't drive a full cage car on the street, unless you want to drive around wearing a helmet...now that would be interesting.

wallyman424

Having a helmet on on the street really kills your visibility too.

drivinhard

I had a dead battery in my DD in upstate NY back in '01 or so, so I had to jump in my race car to get to work (wasn't far, rural NY mountians, not a lot of traffic). I hit a NY State Police license/registration/seatbelt check point. I'm wearing slacks, a tie, and sitting in a race seat, 5 pts, full cage, door bars and everything. Trooper pulls off his hat, sticks his head in the window, looks around, says "I guess you're good to go".

AU N EGL

Jason

Move out of NJ.

Charley Hoyt

Thanks for sharing your experiences... They match my gut feel. I was hoping that there may be an intermediate step, where I could get a T1 car and drive it to the track until I get competitive enough to justify a trailer and cost / hassle to store it. But, that probrobly isn't realistic.

Thanks for the help.

Charley

95jersey

The trailer is cheap, you can find good used one's all over the place for a couple grand or less. It is the tow vehicle that will cost you. If you got that...go for it. The trailer will pay for itself in mileage saved on the car.

AU N EGL

Yup and in expensive used 1500 pick up, open trailer and a garage for the car.


of course it is all down hill from there

RedLS1GTO

<~~~~ ANYTHING is legal in OH!!

Charley Hoyt

I know I am standing on a slippery slope