Would You Daily Drive a Race Car?

I would straight up DD a race car.

When I lived in L.A.  I had a 74 Maverick 302.  It was quick, but I had dreams of a full-on, big flare body, stripped interior with aluminum panels, fake livery and numbers, full cage, and an STi AWD driveline.  I had even bid on a mostly-billet H6 from a Boeing surplus auction that was used as an experimental helicopter mule.

I would have slammed it Hoonigan style with wide sticky DOT race rubber, and the only things inside would be two race buckets, a cupholder, and a stereo.

Imagine pulling up to a stoplight beside that with me in a Kirkey with a harness listening to NPR and sipping a starbucks on my morning commute.  Yup.  Just another day going to work in a 600 hp AWD Suby Maverick with a cage, wagon wheels, and big flares.

Weekends I could use it to autox, hillclimb, or HPDE

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

My MGTD I have vintage raced wheel to wheel at least 30 times over the years. I'd drive it to the race track, race and drive it home.  Occasionally I pulled a little wire wheel trailer filled with camping gear and tools. 
Then Monday morning I might drive it to work. 
 

In reply to frenchyd :

I drove the Healey to the track a few times in the beginning. Hitch hiking home when it broke cured me of that one!

I think several people are answering the wrong question...

"Would you race a street car" is different than "Would you daily drive a race car". 
 

Pretty sure we don't need a definition. You know a race car when you see it... just like porn. 

The closest I have ever been to DD'ing a race car was my classic Mini - the engine in it was not happy as a street engine. It wanted to rev. A lot.  The side effect was it was loud. Even by classic Mini standards. Highway driving (which it could do quite easily) required ear plugs.  If I had kept it after I wrecked it, I probably would have put a cage in it and turned it into a vintage racer. 

Done it with my 924s. It slowly turned back in to a street car. 

I guess it depends on how "racecar" the racecar is.  Not A TA's T/A?  No, to much race car for the street.  A mostly gutted Eclipse for Solo?  When I get there, sure.  

SVreX (Forum Supporter) said:

Pretty sure we don't need a definition. You know a race car when you see it... just like porn. 

In the mid-80s I raced an IT car. It was street legal (registered etc) and it was essentially my 3^rd car for street use. I did use it occasionally to get to work, I had a muffler that easily slipped on and a set of tall tires used mostly for flat towing. It was a Pinto, they had a pair of the bigger headlights, but they were taped over when it was out in public.

In the early 80s I had an MGB with more than just a roll bar but less than a full cage, which I autoX’d. It was for a while my daily.

my goal is time trial/time attack.  being a 94 Miata in NC, safety is the only thing they look for.  while i have a kirkey with schroth harness, if they complain about it, i have a stock seat and belt i can swap pretty quickly.  belts are ready, just need to swap the seat   

Just keep enough around to keep it just north of street legal and swap for inspections, if that is doable for you.  

Dailying a base Samurai with no aircon in Louisiana with no covered parking available, much of that time with no top or a bikini top makes me think that it can't be that much worse for at least some race cars.

SVreX (Forum Supporter) said:

I think several people are answering the wrong question...

"Would you race a street car" is different than "Would you daily drive a race car". 
 

Pretty sure we don't need a definition. You know a race car when you see it... just like porn. 

I don't think you understand the history.  Sports car racing started in this country at least,  started with street cars.  MGTC's,  Jag XK 120's, Allard J2X etc. They were all street driven.  Daily driven.  Later in the Mid 50's  modifieds began to be trailered by a small handful of owners. While most cars were still driven to and from the races.   
   After Vietnam My first race back was a vintage race which I'd planned on spectating at turned out my MG was eligible. I borrowed a helmet,   suit, and Fire extinguisher.  My seatbelts met the requirements so I was good to go.  
     

In reply to frenchyd :

Of course I understand the history. Don't be insulting. 

In reply to SVreX (Forum Supporter) :

So does that make it a street car or a race car?  

Way back when I was single I daily-ed my gutted & slammed E30 for a little while when the head cracked in my other E30. It was loud and uncomfortable and very hot. Not recommended.

I have built race cars and I have also modified just about every car I have owned as a street driver, but the degree to which I customize the handling on a street car always fall short of what I would do for the track.  Ditto for engine tune - it is usually a pain to drive a high rpm peaky engine on the street.

That has changed a little in modern times - not in the handing department (uncomfortable is still uncomfortable on the street) but on the turbo cars which can be set up like they have a two position switch - normal street and full bore.  Off boost for normal driving, double the power and probably half the fuel economy when you implement the demon that lives inside the turbo.

Plus some of the thing you do to suspension and alignment for the track are not consistent with reasonable tire life on the street.

Don't forget (as frenchy said) that the original concept of the British sports car was a vehicle you could drive all week and then take to the track on weekends.  But that was before the days of modifying to a degree that made a race car virtually unusable on the street.

It wasn't a "wheel to wheel" race car but it did do LOTS of DE and track day duty for a few years. I drove it to the office and to do appraisals when I worked in the insurance industry. Sunny days of course. 
 

The answer is yes, absolutely.  Fortunately, I telecommute. 

Telecommuting from the driver's seat in the garage could be a fun and stupid decision. I find the Sparco in my racecar to be more comfortable than my desk chair.

buzzboy said:

Telecommuting from the driver's seat in the garage could be a fun and stupid decision. I find the Sparco in my racecar to be more comfortable than my desk chair.

The 2020 version of Wear Your Helmet To Work Day. (Did I miss that? I always miss it.)

Does this count?  (Since the A/C still works, I'm going to say no, actually.)

wspohn said:

Plus some of the thing you do to suspension and alignment for the track are not consistent with reasonable tire life on the street.

Don't forget (as frenchy said) that the original concept of the British sports car was a vehicle you could drive all week and then take to the track on weekends.  But that was before the days of modifying to a degree that made a race car virtually unusable on the street.

We also know a lot more about race car safety now than we did then.

I must be getting old.  I had an e46 M3 that I used as a daily driver and that was about as much a race car I would want to drive on the streets of Southern California.

Sure.

On the other hand...

I've ridden a race bike to work. It has a UCI sticker right on the frame.

In reply to Colin Wood :

Does a Nova hot rod with IRS, rack&pinion, and a ZZ4 count?