OverclockN'
Well-known member
Taking a car to a track doesn't void a warranty. IMO, you want to beat on a car while it's under warranty so things can be replaced without using your own dimes.
If you are talking about road courses and not drag strip, the other thing to keep in mind is consumables. Vettes run pretty wide tires compared to most cars, which means they are not cheap. The serious track Vette guys I know spend about $2k at least a month on consumables to track their cars (tires, brake pads, gas, etc). The faster you go, the more it costs. These are some of the reasons why I picked the S2000 to race and now do some tracking with the Alfa 4C. Lower powered lighter cars which are far easier on consumables (which means easier on my wallet). I can do a lot more events for less money.
He makes some excellent points, and it's true. However, scale it down to normal track days (I assumed that's what you'd be doing) on a more conservative budget with far fewer track days per year. I do 6-10 track days a year. In that time on my C5Z, I could spend up to $2,800 on tires alone (Nitto NT01 315/30/18). That's not including oil. The C5Z's run hot, and if you run it hard you'll be replacing engine, trans, and diff oil every 3 track days or so. That's about $220 in fluids. That sounds extreme, but I see 290-300F engine oil temps every track day I do. The trans is mated to the rear diff, so they build heat together. I've seen the Trans Overtemp 280F warning on several tracks. Once you see that, you do cool down laps before you melt the trans temp sensor/plug. The oil will be fine if you run good stuff, and everything will be mechanically sound if you do good PM. If you buy big, sticky tires, it'll be hard on the wheel bearings. Good quality SKF race hubs are $370 each. I haven't trashed a wheel bearing yet though. Front brake pads can go quick, depending on what your setup is. If you run stock replacement rotors like Centric blanks, you might trash the rotors in 3 track days.
Pads as well. You can get ahead of the curve with a good racing brake kit, which is what I did. Also keeps maintenance low. One set of pads lasts me a whole season, and the rotors have gone 3 seasons so far. But it costs a LOT up front. It'll go through stock replacement hardware fast. So if you do 10-12 track days a year, assume $4000+ in consumables or so (variable depending on tires/fluid used) in a year.
To Mahjik's point, I was spending CONSIDERABLY less running the BRZ for the same track days. Tires were "cheap", the fluid capacities were low (C5Z is 7qts engine, 4qts trans, 2qts diff), etc. I have a thing for Vette's, so like he said, I made the move to what made me happy in the end.
The other thing to consider is what you're bringing on the track. I have some friends that will take any car at all on there, even if they are making payments on it. If you're OK with that, then it's fine. Personally, I'm not comfortable tracking a car that isn't paid off in full and it would cause major issues to lose. In other words, I don't track anything that I would be in a world of hurt (financially and otherwise) if it went into a wall. Accidents happen, and very few insurance companies cover you on track days. You can get track day insurance, and it's about $230 a day on a $28,000 car last I looked (I insured by BRZ on most track days since it was my daily driver).
So, Supra or C5Z? There's a lot of angles, none of them making it easy. In the end, he has the right idea. Do what makes you happy and fits in the budget....and doesn't leave you stranded taking the bus if things go pear shaped.
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