Advice, road legal vs pure race cars and buying/hiring trailers

[jp_lcr]

Hi, know we've got a lot of racers on here so after some advice on my next step please.

I've been sprinting my standard 172 Cup last 2 years and now want to step up to something closer to dedicated race car.

Option 1 - something for road going classes that need to be MOT or be capable of passing one.

Option 2 - pure race car.

I feel like if I go option 1 I'll just feel compromised, hardly ever use on road, might be too rough to drive to events or still have in back of mind need to drive home end of day - so might end up wanting to trailer. Also I'm tight so will annoy me paying for MOT, tax and insurance (don't worry I get bigger costs in racing but still will bug me).

Other than never get to occasionally use on road I can't see any downside in comparison to option 2, maybe I don't have bottomless budget?

On trailers buying or hiring what are peoples experiences? Worth investment within a couple of years?

The advice I got on here led to me getting standard Clio and enjoying last couple of year but I'd like to try something different, just thought I'd ask people who've likely gone through variations of steps above, and what your thoughts are looking back what worked or what you wish you had done? Cheers

 

[Starlet_gt]

Have you got anywhere to store a trailer? If there's one thing that really pisses me off, it's having to pick my trailer up and drop it off before/after trackdays. Definitely takes some of the shine off!

 

[JamesBryan]

Hiring is fairly cheap round here.

£45 roughly per day.

 

[Bluebeard]

dedicated track car and your own trailer. 100%.

 

[jp_lcr]

I've got a single garage Clio lives in over winter so think there's a Brian James Minno or PRG Sport, so car could live on it in garage (just*)

 

[PAUL JA]

Trailer storage is a real pain but if you can sort somewhere local I’d invest in your own, buy wisely and u won’t loose a fortune.

We had the same dilemma regarding a non road legal race car and finally decided that using a trailer for everything I.e. trips to the rollers / geo checks / specialist repairs we couldn’t do ourselves etc would be a PITA so we opted to have a road legal car.

 

[Brushwood69]

I used to drive my Audi TT sprint car to track then 2 things happened 1st smashed it into the wall! the the second time the cam followers crapped out. So when I moved to Clio Rally/Sprint car 100% trailered and dedicated to motorsport!

 

[Bluebeard]

I've got a single garage Clio lives in over winter so think there's a Brian James Minno or PRG Sport, so car could live on it in garage (just*)

I just sold my Micromax trailer and that will fit in a single garage. (A proper single garage, not none of this new build shite)

the trailer is so small it can be towed with a normal car too, no need for a big tow vehicle.

very good trailer too for something so small.

 

[loggyboy]

Nothing to stop you having a pure car thats road legal, there's lots of provisions for race/rally cars in the MoT regs to allow things like removal of airbags, belts replaced with harnesses and daytime lights only. limited mileage insurance can keep costs down, and online tax/sorn means you can pay for a few months of they year if your prepared for a bit of admin.

 

[Bilb123]

I had the same thing. Driving to track, but then in back of my mind thinking this cars got to get me home. I borrowed a trailer a few times and it’s just a hassle picking up and taking it back.I’ve just bought a Brian james a couple of week ago . Now I can leave the Clio on it, open garage door hook it up then reverse back in. Happy days . Ideal if you’ve the space .

 

[thecrim22]

A lot depends on your mot tester as well and how much he will let you bend the rules if you have a good tester then you can have a dedicsted race car motd no bother as mentioned before. most classes require cats to be fitted nowadays also so thats one less hassle for mot

 

[jp_lcr]

A lot depends on your mot tester as well and how much he will let you bend the rules if you have a good tester then you can have a dedicsted race car motd no bother as mentioned before. most classes require cats to be fitted nowadays also so thats one less hassle for mot

Yeah local MOT guy is sound as in current Clio got Sabelt FIA seat and steering wheel with all airbags removed, he looked at scrutineers stickers and said its fine it's clearly used in competition not just track days, all well fitted so OK to be classed under Rally car regs.

 

[SuperCinq]

I have a hill climb Clio 172 which is fairly modified but still keep it MOT'd

It's good to be able to test out any modifications on the road before getting to the event, a 10 minute shake down to make sure nothing falls off gives me a bit more confidence on the day.

 

[donnylad]

100% buy a trailer mate, renting is a right waste an an arse picking up / dropping off.

That said If you need to rent or want to try it I know a few close to you, near Stocksbridge. Also storage places to keep one if your needing space at home etc 👍

 

[jp_lcr]

100% buy a trailer mate, renting is a right waste an an arse picking up / dropping off.

That said If you need to rent or want to try it I know a few close to you, near Stocksbridge. Also storage places to keep one if your needing space at home etc 👍

Cheers pal, yeah remember you were renting and said you had to plan around stuff more.

 

[donnylad]

Are you back at Curborough at all in the next month or two James? I need to drop my novice trophy back but am to busy to drive down at the minute!

 

[jp_lcr]

Are you back at Curborough at all in the next month or two James? I need to drop my novice trophy back but am to busy to drive down at the minute!

No mate sorry, I nearly forgot to do same with my Lifeline one until Steve reminded me, last time down was start of August. I can get his address to post?

 

[BIFCAIDS]

We rent a trailer from Barlows in Preston/Layland, between 45-50 a day. We currently have nowhere to keep a trailer so it's a no go really.

Can't help but think how helpful it would be sometimes to be able to drive the car on the road though.

 

[alistairolsen]

I did both, I had a trailer and towed to events, but still MOT'd it because trying to trace faults before an event is horrendous when you cant heat cycle or load the car.