Driving a race car on the street

So I have this '80 VW Rabbit race car. It's a "real" race car... i.e. no side windows, gutted/caged, no speedo, aluminum race seats, header/straight pipe to a supertrapp, etc.

My problem is, the only time I've ever driven it is from my house down about 2 blocks to my storage garage where it has sat since last fall. The weather is gorgeous this weekend and I want to go play with it!

I'd like to drive this car a bit to get a feel for it before I show up blind to a trackday or something with it.

I don't think I'd need to wire up headlights, though the housings are still there it wouldn't be too tricky.. .and/or blinkers, maybe a simple toggle switch. I'd probably just chance the noise with the Supertrapp... or maybe put a muffler/clamp on the rearmost straight section that's easy to swap. I already took most of the stickers off it so it's not as obnoxious.

I have no intentions of making this a driver... but has anybody out there ever plated a race car for the sake of being able to sort out bugs, drive it around, etc. ???

My mx6 Challenge project has plates, and will continue to do so. That's about all I got.

As long as you aren't doing stupid stuff, it shouldn't attract too much unwanted attention. We used to test drag cars all of the time in an industrial area. The only time it was ever an issue is when gramps idled the AMX funny car (as in 1-piece fiberglass flip body, the works) up and down trying to solve some steering/braking issues. That was the funniest traffic stop I've ever seen!

Be careful unhelmeted heads and rollbar tubing don't play nice together.

There are some legal issues to consider, and every state is different. Many states do not allow racing harnesses for instance and you could get ticketed. And if your head could contact a roll bar in an accident, that could be bad news in keeping your head contents in tact.

I used to drive my IT car to events, some several hundred miles away, but it still had all of it's lights and windows, etc. In the end you are taking a risk, so it depends on how much you want to take.

My Spec E30 is licensed for the street, but I rarely use it because the roll cage is a PITA. The 'fun' of it wears off really, really quickly.

ddavidv wrote: My Spec E30 is licensed for the street, but I rarely use it because the roll cage is a PITA. The 'fun' of it wears off really, really quickly.

Right right... I have no intention of making this a "street car", I guess I just want to get some seat time in to feel it out, and have no way to casually stroll to the local race track.

I realize the cage/head is a known risk. I'm not looking to commute to work in it.

Michigan is pretty lax on vehicle req's.

I would do it. Get out of town quickly if possible. Keep off the interstates and rather onto 2 lane back roads keeping away from known strict small towns.
If in town, hit a empty business park or industrial area on the weekends.
Keep it to daytime driving so you will not have the issue of lights. Be sure to have brake lights.

Do you have plates? Take a chance but a freshly typed "bill of sale" in your possession could maybe be helpful. You are likely better off with no plates than you are with the wrong plates.

Gutted to death, no windows, loud, fast; none of these things scare me.

Driving a car with a roll-cage on public roads (i.e., with a bunch of mouth-breathing numbtards who can't be bothered with the whole "driving" thing) with no helmet scares the E36 M3 out of me. Brain damage...or leakage for that matter...does not sound fun.

No plates+title/BOS is 100% better than wrong plates. Wrong plates is a good way to go to jail and get the car impounded. Fresh BOS gets you a ticket and an admonisment.

I've done it. My Escort is LOUD when you're on the throttle. I had turn signals wired up to momentary switches. I had to have a passenger operate them. Same with headlights. People gave me funny looks sometimes, but I never ran into any cops that I can recall.

http://youtu.be/R_9IA5cE2Z4

Hah, that was my plan from the start

One early October Sunday morning I was driving up rte 89 in Vermont to the annual British Invasion in Stowe. You have to picture this, It was early, just after sun up. I was half asleep. Nobody else was on the road. That's when a full bore SCCA GT1 Mustang flew by me. He must have been doing well over 120MPH. By the time I got around the next bend in the road, he was gone. It was beside me before I knew it was coming up behind me. The instantaneous deafening sound scared the crap out of me.

My nephew has 2 260Z drag cars and both of them are plated. IIRC the "little" car is now running high 9s and the "big" car is now running 6s. He plated the big car so he could run it in street car competition which requires an on road tour before the race.

The little car was featured in an episode of Pinks Season 4, Episode 6 I think. He won a guy's 1960 Falcon with a 460 engine.

The M3 is track day + TT car. roll bar (well behind the seats) 6-points, seats. Loud, obnoxious, lots of spring rate.

I drive it to events and some on the street and it's a PITA.

I've never had a MD/DC/VA cop give me a hard time about the harnesses, likewise they don't seem to care about the historic tags on my Miata/Sprite/RD400.

Do it, but be careful.

Bear in mind that street driving doesn't do a lot to uncover race pace problems.

motomoron wrote: Bear in mind that street driving doesn't do a lot to uncover race pace problems.

QFT.

It does cause some though - the roads around here are wheel bending, exhaust ripping nightmares. You gotta have some ride height.

My Caged Civic still gets driven occasionally on the street, race numbers and all. I does get looks and yes I call it the cop magnet because 70% of the times I have driven it I get looks and/or pulled over by law enforcement. It is plated and techinically legal as it still has it's lights and such. It's a mixed bag driving it on the street, if you have some great roads near by you can actually get a feel for it. ( I am maybe an hour from the Tail of the Dragon so those are the kind of roads in my back yard) I would keep in within the legal limits on the road within reason and stay out of populated areas, if you have plates it should be OK.

You might consider an open face helmet altough that will really put you on the cop radar. I don't wear one, and yes I have padding on all the bars within reach of my body, and yes I know it's dangerous, hence the rarely drive in on the street thing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJr2vgD5jX4

Surely you've seen this? Any guesses on power to weight ratio?

That's the best thing about your track car being a rally car - it's street legal :)

My recommendation? Address anything that really needs to be addressed such as brake lights, stay close to home and tell the truth if you get stopped. If you're making a good faith effort to be a good person, you'll get a much better reaction from the cop than a fake bill of sale.

well it wouldn't start over the weekend. boo.

seems to have no spark. no time/tools with me at the storage garage for proper diagnosis.

Oh well. I do have a proper title for it, so I'll likely go full legit and buy a plate and put PLPD on it anyways so I can drive it to test/tune nights rather than always having to truck/trailer it.

I drove my fully caged CRX hillclimb car on the street all the time. Lots of HDP on the roll bars, lots of scraping thanks to the ride height, exhaust, front lip (cone catcher). Also brutally stiff but incredible on on/off ramps thanks to the Toyo R888's.

Lots of people asked for rides before realizing there was only one seat.

xflowgolf wrote: I'd like to drive this car a bit to get a feel for it before I show up blind to a trackday or something with it.

A lot of people use autocrosses to to get familiar with or sort a track car before a full on track day.

I was planning on doing the same with my GTI when I get it up to Ohio and complete it. Occasional drives, mostly summer, without a cloud in the sky. Dont have windows in it as well. Only problem I have is it is an OBD2 car with a race exhaust, no cat and more than likely will have all the smog equipment taken off. If I do this, there is no way of getting it past the emissions tester. I could cheat, forcing all the DTCs to pass, but I dont think it will get thru.

I dont think you would have a problem. Like everyone else is saying, cages and un-helmeted heads making contact leaves ooowies...

DukeOfUndersteer wrote: ...there is no way of getting it past the emissions tester.

Only a few counties in Ohio have smog testing. The Aussie and I do not. You can title the car here.

In reply to jrw1621: