I have no experience of track days but recently I was speaking to someone here and he told me it costs him almost 2000 euros for a full day, that includes things like car insurance brake and tyre wear and a car repair fund etc. I know motorsport isn't cheap but I didn't think it would be that much. For those of you who do track days what are your average costs?
Track Day Costs
- Thread starter Silverstar
- Start date
I used to do motorbike trackdays, cost me about £150 a day including fuel. I didn't consider tyre wear etc though as it never really seemed to be significant.
Liverpool
You really don't want to work it out after the fact, or let your significant other work it out either.
My e34 M5 worked out at £1000/day - including EVERYTHING:
The Z4MC worked out about £800/day:
Don't forget that in my case the brakes/tyres all did 25,000 road miles a year too - so some of the cost can be offset slightly. However, if you add 'upgrades' to the Z4MC costs, then it's probably similar to the M5
I tend to not do the 12 a year I was doing, and stick to 2-3 trips of 2-4 days long at the Nurburging which makes it more relaxed than our old 'there & back in 24 hours' escapades. I spend £500-ish on a 20-25 lap ticket (price depends on whether it's a peak or off-peak day, and some of my friends who go more often buy a annual ticket which works out much cheaper for them) and then there's not a lot of brake/tyre wear in comparison to a short(er) UK track. This then lets you space out your laps over the course of a few days, lets you drive around the area at your own pace when the track is closed, and gives you a bit of a holiday too. Although you then have to factor in travel/hotel costs.
My e34 M5 worked out at £1000/day - including EVERYTHING:
- track day - £200
- tyres - £200 (£600 set lasted 3 days)
- brake pads - £100 (£300/3 days)
- brake discs - £100 (£600/6 days)
- oil services (£60/day)
- insurance £100/day (but only at tracks/TDOs I've never used)
- petrol - £150/day
- accelerated wear on components - £200 (e.g. £2000 to replace adaptive suspension every year)
The Z4MC worked out about £800/day:
- track day - £200
- tyres - £150 (£600 set lasted 4 days, and have no space to carry spares)
- brake pads - £100 (£400/4 days)
- brake discs - £50 (£300/6 days)
- oil services (£60/day)
- insurance £100/day (but only at tracks/TDOs I've never used)
- petrol - £100/day
- accelerated wear on components - £100/day
Don't forget that in my case the brakes/tyres all did 25,000 road miles a year too - so some of the cost can be offset slightly. However, if you add 'upgrades' to the Z4MC costs, then it's probably similar to the M5
I tend to not do the 12 a year I was doing, and stick to 2-3 trips of 2-4 days long at the Nurburging which makes it more relaxed than our old 'there & back in 24 hours' escapades. I spend £500-ish on a 20-25 lap ticket (price depends on whether it's a peak or off-peak day, and some of my friends who go more often buy a annual ticket which works out much cheaper for them) and then there's not a lot of brake/tyre wear in comparison to a short(er) UK track. This then lets you space out your laps over the course of a few days, lets you drive around the area at your own pace when the track is closed, and gives you a bit of a holiday too. Although you then have to factor in travel/hotel costs.
All depends. I used to do 2-3 days a year in my old si Coupe - I'd still get 15-20k road miles out of the tyres, brakes etc, so the real cost was fuel, insurance & the trackdays themselves (Think probably 1-2 tanks depending on the format and how long you're on track for, plus £95 for insurance and anywhere from £120-350 ish for the trackday itself). The real expense comes when you start getting 'the bug' and doing lots of days, and then starting to upgrade bits so you can go faster. Then you end up with expensive tyres, brake pads, suspension components etc. But if you can resist the urge then they can be perfectly reasonable money and plenty of fun!
Best thing to do is to go do one and see. One day certainly isn't going to cost you much (see above indicative costings). Insurance is a personal choice - it doesn't cover mechanical failure, only crash damage if you bin it, or if someone bins it into you, and the excess is STEEP (think £1000 for a car valued at up to 10k and £2-3k for £20k value). A lot of people therefore say if you can't afford to bend it don't take it on track, but it's a personal choice really.
If you wanted to find out more on the insurance, Moris are good.
Best thing to do is to go do one and see. One day certainly isn't going to cost you much (see above indicative costings). Insurance is a personal choice - it doesn't cover mechanical failure, only crash damage if you bin it, or if someone bins it into you, and the excess is STEEP (think £1000 for a car valued at up to 10k and £2-3k for £20k value). A lot of people therefore say if you can't afford to bend it don't take it on track, but it's a personal choice really.
If you wanted to find out more on the insurance, Moris are good.
A
Anonymous
Guest
mmm-five said:You really don't want to work it out after the fact, or let your significant other work it out either.
My e34 M5 worked out at £1000/day - including EVERYTHING:
It did start getting cheaper once I bought smaller track wheels and found a source of relatively cheap track rubber (17 Pirelli P-Zero Corsa tyres from a Porsche Cup racer for £70) - and I could fit a spare set, and all my tools in the back of the car.
- track day - £200
- tyres - £200 (£600 set lasted 3 days)
- brake pads - £100 (£300/3 days)
- brake discs - £100 (£600/6 days)
- oil services (£60/day)
- insurance £100/day (but only at tracks/TDOs I've never used)
- petrol - £150/day
- accelerated wear on components - £200 (e.g. £2000 to replace adaptive suspension every year)
The Z4MC worked out about £800/day:
- track day - £200
- tyres - £150 (£600 set lasted 4 days, and have no space to carry spares)
- brake pads - £100 (£400/4 days)
- brake discs - £50 (£300/6 days)
- oil services (£60/day)
- insurance £100/day (but only at tracks/TDOs I've never used)
- petrol - £100/day
- accelerated wear on components - £100/day
Don't forget that in my case the brakes/tyres all did 25,000 road miles a year too - so some of the cost can be offset slightly. However, if you add 'upgrades' to the Z4MC costs, then it's probably similar to the M5
I tend to not do the 12 a year I was doing, and stick to 2-3 trips of 2-4 days long at the Nurburging which makes it more relaxed than our old 'there & back in 24 hours' escapades. I spend £500-ish on a 20-25 lap ticket (price depends on whether it's a peak or off-peak day, and some of my friends who go more often buy a annual ticket which works out much cheaper for them) and then there's not a lot of brake/tyre wear in comparison to a short(er) UK track. This then lets you space out your laps over the course of a few days, lets you drive around the area at your own pace when the track is closed, and gives you a bit of a holiday too. Although you then have to factor in travel/hotel costs.
Well it certainly shows how much more punishing on the car (and the wallet) pushing it hard on track days are compared to fast road use with some respect to other users etc..
Very interesting
The good thing about not going back to revisit costs, is you forget how much you spent.
You tend to pay for smaller things over a 1-2 month period (track day, insurance, petrol), 3-6 months (tyres/brakes), 1-2 years (major components/upgrades), so on any particular day you only think you've spent £100 on petrol...conveniently forgetting that you've paid for the track day & insurance in advance and will pay for the other bits later in the year
You tend to pay for smaller things over a 1-2 month period (track day, insurance, petrol), 3-6 months (tyres/brakes), 1-2 years (major components/upgrades), so on any particular day you only think you've spent £100 on petrol...conveniently forgetting that you've paid for the track day & insurance in advance and will pay for the other bits later in the year
Lets see, didnt bother with insurance, so per day i was:
160-200 day for trackday
50 on tyres (400 for 8 days)
50 on brakes (again 400 for 8 days)
Probably 10 on oil change ( only changed once a year/ every 2000 miles)
120 on fuel.
So 490-530 a day.
However, i almost always shared my car with someone, so all those costs were halved to 245-265 a day. I wouldnt have been able to afford trackdays if i wasnt sharing with someone, and i much enjoyed having someone to banter with anyways!
160-200 day for trackday
50 on tyres (400 for 8 days)
50 on brakes (again 400 for 8 days)
Probably 10 on oil change ( only changed once a year/ every 2000 miles)
120 on fuel.
So 490-530 a day.
However, i almost always shared my car with someone, so all those costs were halved to 245-265 a day. I wouldnt have been able to afford trackdays if i wasnt sharing with someone, and i much enjoyed having someone to banter with anyways!
mmm-five said:The good thing about not going back to revisit costs, is you forget how much you spent.
You tend to pay for smaller things over a 1-2 month period (track day, insurance, petrol), 3-6 months (tyres/brakes), 1-2 years (major components/upgrades), so on any particular day you only think you've spent £100 on petrol...conveniently forgetting that you've paid for the track day & insurance in advance and will pay for the other bits later in the year
It's the most important part of justifying it to the wife isn't it? If you yourself only think it's the cost of fuel then it's easy to keep a straight face when you're telling your wife how good value it is :roll:
No wife, or significant other...luckilyEd Doe said:mmm-five said:The good thing about not going back to revisit costs, is you forget how much you spent.
You tend to pay for smaller things over a 1-2 month period (track day, insurance, petrol), 3-6 months (tyres/brakes), 1-2 years (major components/upgrades), so on any particular day you only think you've spent £100 on petrol...conveniently forgetting that you've paid for the track day & insurance in advance and will pay for the other bits later in the year
It's the most important part of justifying it to the wife isn't it? If you yourself only think it's the cost of fuel then it's easy to keep a straight face when you're telling your wife how good value it is :roll:
Unfortunately I tend to arrange the travel & accommodation for the Ring or Welsh Tour weekends for about 6 people - so I have those bills to collect over the course of the year...and despite detailing/confirming everything on whatsapp & email before booking, you still get people querying the cost (or why you didn't book the flexible ticket at 4x the price). They get 2 chances before they get told to FRO and do it themselves.