Rinaldo Catria

Rkreigh

car is heavy so it will be hungry on brakes and tires to be sure. With all that torq it will tend to eat up the consumables much faster.

Don't have any real world experience with this one, just my c4 lpe car at 619 and similar weight.

the r&t article from a while back pointed this out running the car at the new bowling green track.

maint on the porsche brakes is high enough people sell the car!!!

UnhandledException

Poor-sha

Rough math is $700/day assuming you run scrubs, instruct, and doesn't include fuel to get there, lodging, and meals. That's brakes, fuel, and tires.

range96

And it doesn't stop there. (Extra wheels, shop bills for tire mountings, tools, gears, car depreciation, insurance). I hope my wife doesn't see this! In my case (C6 ZR1) I calculate $1,000/day on top of the one time costs. I understand the appeal of Spec Miatas. Speed cost money across the board.

Poor-sha

I keep track of two separate line items. One is HPDE costs and those are in effect consumables to include brakes, tires, gas, fuel to get there, meals, and entry fees if applicable. I factored the mounting in to the tire cost but there is a lot of variability in how long brakes, tires, gas last. I self-insure. Other costs like wheels, harness bar, harnesses, shifter, and the Solo 2 DL I treat as "Equipment" since they are basically a one-time cost and you can get some of the money back if you sell them. Honestly my experience has been that the depreciation for a tracked car vs untracked hasn't been bad, maybe ~$2-3K?

I can compare the Z06 to the ZR1 but I don't know anyone that has comparable data to compare to a Porsche, Ferrari, or Lambo. The obvious different will be maintenance and warranty costs for those car as all the C7s have needed is oil and brake fluid changes out of pocket.

punky

I would not wanna be at thee mercy of my friendly neighborhood Porsche dealer after I busted my 200 cubic inch 6 cylinder pancake.

range96

Your cost is significantly lower, I do not instruct and pay full price for Hoosiers. I also don't do as many track days. Your approach is far more efficient.

range96

The first time I saw a Carrera GT at Pocono I was very impressed. I know it had a few more cylinders, but the engine revved up and shrieked like a race car engine. It did leave on the back of a truck after the engine blew. I hope it was under warranty, I think the engine cost as much as a ZR1.

The HACK

If you're worried about cost of high performance driving on track, then the sport isn't for you. I've found the cost to tracking once a month to be about the same as if you were to pick up a golf membership at a decent country club, no matter what you drive.

Even the cheaper "cost of consumables" type cars, like an older Civic Si or Mazda Miata, is still $2,000-5,000 a year depending on how much "tracking" you do. It's about as expensive as a crack cocaine habit.

The HACK

I think, at an average of about $90K before taxes, your average Porsche owner can afford some of the expensive repairs. Even the Cayman S, which is suppose to be cheaper, still averages out to around $80K each.

So I don't know if I've mentioned that I've been instructing for over a decade in a variety of clubs (maybe too many times? The credential drop?), but my observation is that this is an expensive sport, and those that do this in expensive cars have enough disposable income to not really let cost of consumables be a hurdle.

Something about how to making a small fortune in racing.

Not to say cost of entry is something to scoff at, but this is NOT a cheap hobby. Even those with older, used, and cheap cars have to come to a realization that a drug problem is cheaper than a track problem.

Rinaldo Catria

BrunoTheMellow

Hmmmm, c7 z51 for comparison. $120 for gas, 200$-250 for entry, $40 per day for pads per season, 60-120 per day for tires per 1-2 seasons for once a month.

Call it $450-600 a day from leaving home to returning home. Not bad.

desmophile

Using Cup 2 tires, OEM CCB pads, and 91 octane street gas instead of 100 octane ($9/gal) race gas, an HPDE day with 20 minute sessions-about $100-125/session. Just for consumables, not factoring in a reserve/hour for rebuilding the engine like you would for an aircraft motor.

On to Pirelli scrubs ($6000 buy in for wheels) so that may drop a little.
When the front CCB rotors are gone, may well go with AP racing brakes and spend a little less over a couple seasons.

So the price can vary a lot depending on what tires, brakes, and gas you use.

I suspect there is a pretty good correlation between horsepower and expense given two very similar cars. The more gas you burn, the more you wear out your tires and brakes. So, if you want a relative measure keeping tires and brakes and fuel the same, I would say the ZRI is going to cost a factor of 750/650 more to run.

And as Richie Hearn, Indy car driver/Spring Mountain Ron Fellows instructor said to one of my fellow students when asked "how long will a set of Cup 2 tires last on the track", Richie replied: how long do you want me to make 'm last? Richie can toast a set of Cup 2s on a Z06 in an hour on the track.

Rinaldo Catria

desmophile

range96

I usually short-shift on straightaways and I'm very conservative with braking UNLESS I run with other race prepared cars or chasing drivers like Poor-sha.

Scarpia

Yup; been my experience as well. If you have nothing to prove (including to yourself) and you have the smoothness that comes with practice/skill, everything lasts longer. :-)

desmophile

I agree. I have a Z06/7/A8, and paddle shift it at 5000, with the shift usually executed at about 5500. work on consistent brake points and smoothness/chassis stability rather than kamikaze late braking, but I do like to find the edge of cornering grip. A couple laps a session I will push the brake points a little deeper. I would prefer to mark the other cars with some smoothness and skill and corner speed rather than motor and brakes. I spend time following less potent, but well driven, cars until I feel comfortable I can stay ahead of them in the corners. They I will use a little more motor and brakes and go around them. If I can't stay ahead of them, I let them by and try to learn some more. The only thing I hope to "win" at HPDE, is the respect of those I drive with and leaving the track with original pain intact....... I don't want to be fast and be considered "the jerk in the Z06"

ZoratZ06

I'm by no means a track day 'expert' but you will find far, far, far more Porsches, BMW's, Corvette's and Miata's on the track than Ferrari's, or Lambo's. You'll be very hard pressed to see any 'special edition' Lambo or Ferrari on track...488 Pista/Aperta, or LaFerrari. Most of those are garage queens or street only machines. I'm sure someone will chime in about how their local track has them every weekend...but the truth is, they are probably less than 1% of the cars you'll actually see on track (running hard), esp. when compared to Porsche, Vette etc...

I know what regular maintenance costs on my Ferrari's are, and I really have no interest in knowing what track day costs would be, esp. if something broke...I'm not even talking about consumables. The word expensive comes to mind. Lastly, just because people can afford a $400k car, doesn't mean they want a $50k-$100k+ repair bill. I'd hate to see a repair bill on a McLaren Senna...despite it being a track beast. No one enjoys writing big checks, even wealthy folks.