I ran my WRX at one track event to see if I liked it and after that I bought a $3K Miata and put another $3K into safety stuff. If I was doing it now I'd buy an E36 M3 or a C5 Vette or something like that. A stock power Miata on street tires is great for learning but it gets boring at some point.

The biggest thing for me is, if I stuffed my Evo I'd have a hard as f* time finding another one with as few miles that's in anywhere near this shape (ignoring the front bumper ). There are other reasons not to track an Evo versus tracking something else (ex: cost of consumables), this is just the best one IMHO.

Track insurance is so cheap (factored into the cost of everything else we do) that I can't see any other way to take a car on track.

You need to try pretty hard, like really hard, like stupid hard to total your car at an autocross.

I wasn't aware they allowed ride alongs at National Tours though.

 

Not to get off topic, but which do you prefer? I'm at a crossroads with the car when I blew the engine 2 weeks ago. PM me if you want.

 

You were there? Fascinating.

Edit: This reminds me, some 20 years back we had a local Grand Prix sponsored by the regional chapter. It was a 2-day event. First day at a go-cart track, second running cones in a lot. Last time we ran, a car was crashed each day. First day, a brand new Corvette kissed the wall with his *** (the corner was subsequently named after the owner). Second day, a prepped Camaro wrapped itself around a light pole. Granted, it's a relatively isolated incident, as most course are very safe. FWIW, we finished 4th overall in a 70whp sh/tbox.

Then there was the auto-x we ran on a 1/4 mile oval. The most frighting thing I've ever done behind the wheel. The concrete walls covered in rubbed-off paint, alone, stand one's hair on edge. I probably don't have to say that not everyone's car came home in one piece. We couldn't complete a single run.

The Evolution school preceded the event.

 

I used justified it to myself with the thinking that if I'm going to wreck my car I'd rather it be on a race track doing what I enjoy/love doing rather than having some a**hole on a cell phone run a stop sign and make the decision for me.

The funny thing about tracking your car is that the more you do it, and the better your 'skills' become, the less likely you'll be to wreck on the street. I've avoided more than a few accidents on the street because I was looking ahead and knew what the proper inputs were to make the car do what I wanted it to do. If you can control a slide at 90 then doing it at 55 is cake.

The other side of the coin is that the more skilled you become on track the faster you will go and smaller the margin for error is as you get closer and closer to the edge for longer periods of time. This year I had several 'close calls'. Some of which I was able to avoid because of skills/techniques I developed on the track, but others were just plain old fashioned LUCK. Thats just how it goes sometimes.

With that said, as other have already stated, if you can't afford to walk away from your car or you don't like the idea of it being walled and then repaired (even with track insurance) you should get a dedicated track car. The fun factor with a lower powered car is still there. In fact, I think its more fun chasing down faster cars in a lower powered car than it is in the EVO.

I did just that this year and wound up getting an E36 M3. I made the decision for several reasons, the biggest being my safety. Now that I have two young boys at home my priorities changed and I want to make sure I am here as long as possible for them. Since giving up on tracking/motorsports is not an option the obvious choice was to get a safer, dedicated track car that would have a lower terminal velocity. There were other factors in the decision, like making such a rare and versital car as the EVO a track only vehicle with a cage and the required safety equipment when its too damn fun to drive on the street!

 

If you are just doing HPDE's, you can get the above mentioned event insurance. Also as mentioned, target tracks with ample run-offs put on by well organized groups with experienced instructors. Doing these things negates a great deal of the risk.

Two points:

All the preperation and planning in the world can go down the drain in a heartbeat if you (or the person directly in front of you) suffer a mechnical in the wrong place/situation.

And, if you like so many of us, get started, get hooked and eventually find yourself in DE3/4 starting to push it, seriously considering competiton (TT or W2W), accept the fact that any given weekend you could leave the track without the car (hoepfully not injured).

I am a little older than most on here. If I ball the Evo up the next time i am at the track, it has already given me more fun in the past 3 years than it's monetary price could buy. Like is about risk/reward and finding the balance that suits you.

 

As most have said all ready, it's an addiction that some can afford, and some can not. I couldn't justify pushing my car to the limit like I can while it being my DD. Reason I bought another car to build up that wouldn't affect my ability to get to work on Monday after an event. I usually get insurance for each weekend to the tune of 10k more than kbb for the car (which usually equates to the minimum you must purchase anyway from the company I use). There is insurance out there for TT and W2W cars also, but it's typically a bit more than DE insurance.

It's not a matter of if you're going to have an incident on track, it's a matter of when.

It aint a fun feeling taking your DD into Nascar T3 @ Charlotte at 145 being the meat in the sandwich hoping the guy below you and the guy above you hold their S*** together.

Whatever you do Good Luck! Have no regrets!

 

I know it's a possibility and can also be entirely outside of my control. I have farrrrrr more anxiety over the much likelier mechanical problems. Crashing is just not something I consider particularly likely and mitigate the risk by knowing the limits of the car. I crossed them once but luckily there was runoff room and no harm, no foul.

 

Ive been autocrossing somewhere around 25 events a year for 8 full years now, so I'm not new to driving aggressively. I think this is what worries me most. I know I push a car on course and to wring everything out of the car Im driving with that back end 6-12" out at all times. Not leaving a lot of room for error but that's because I don't need to dodging cones.

I guess Ill just need to take it easy and not push like Im use to till my comfort level comes up.

I dont have any desire to W2W race, I'm all about maximum driving. If I want to bump others Ill head to the kart track. The most I see myself doing besides HPDE is Time Attack now that we're getting some of it here in the NW.

 

There are 2 main types of track days, one is with an organized club like BMWCCA, ACNA, PCA, NCCC, LAPPS or the VWCCA then there's the local mod shop or a group of guys from a forum that rent a track then tells friends or customers about it.

The first kind of track day includes a real drivers meeting with an explanation of track etiquette and flags, rules on passing and where on track passing is allowed, use of hot pits etc. But the big differences are class room time maybe some off track exercises and a trained instructor in car with you until you're deemed safe and a second instructor signs off on you.

Then there's track day number two. Drivers meeting that you may or may not attend a bunch of kids in 400-500 HP cars with no track time and little street time. Drivers may be broken down into run groups depending on what they claim they can do then the track opens and they have at it. On paper it looks like you may get more track time with this type of track day but in my experience you get less because of all the time the track is closed so the rescue crew can clean up after the mayhem. If you don’t want to be pulling your car home on a trailer pick wisely.

 

I would never take my car on track in this scenario, there is just way too much risk.

 

Yeah, the track day insurance folks usually don't insure those either IIRC.

 

I don't believe it's a matter of if....it's when. An inherent risk of the sport. Kind of like football; even the kicker is at risk of being injured....it happens.

Hell, I wrecked my Evo last week at the Nurburgring. Been racing for over 13 years, everything from drag, autox to karting - accidents will happen, you just have to be willing to take that risk.

 

It's not a "sport" there's no competition involved it's a track day not a race. HPDE

 

How far are willing to push your hobby?
I agree with the track insurance. If I was to be at the track regularly in my car. Id have the track insurance for sure.

 

By the time I was in HPDE 3-4with NASA I knew I was going to be trying TT competition. As such, I was logging lap times and pushing. Although this was not formal competition, the increased risk was there anyway. For someone competitive, the toughest competition can be with yourself.