Anyone club race a daily driver ?

[///My5UV]

Is it possible to set up a car for club racing and still have it comfortable enough for day-to-day use ?

Swapping brake pads and tires is no big deal, but can you build a cage that meets the rules and still allows easy entry to the rear seat of say, an E36 coupe ?

You probably wouldn't win alot of races with the extra weight of a full interior, or is that required to be ripped out to prevent fire ?
Modern adjustable coilovers should provide enough ride height and comfort adjustment.
<br>02 LeMansBlue/Silverstone M5
98 EstorilBlue/Grey M3

[stevewalsh]

You *could* build it to 'Stock' class rules, and drive it on the street. But you won't enjoy driving it. It will be uncompetitive on the track, and a pain in the butt on the street - literally.

And forget about that backseat !!

I know folks who drive the cars to a race, but they have daily drivers too.
Points to consider: radio, cd-changer,a/c, spare wheel, jack are all extra weight on a racecar, but can you drive 300 miles to a track without them...in July ?

A 5-point harness makes turning your head to reverse next to impossible. Or how about toll booths? Or how about the wrinkles in your work clothes? Or picking up dry-cleaning, or ....?

I think you get the picture.

[Bob B]

drive it to work about half the time. You won't be able to use the rear seat, due to the cage, but you can have a bolt-in side bar to make getting in and out of the drivers seat easy on the street. For a race, I install the race seat (four bolts, plus rear brace), roll cage side bar (three bolts), window net (one bolt), different pads, front splitter, and its ready to go.

[Bob B]

trunk and a jack when you drive to the track. I love my radio and nothing beats AC during the 5 minute pit stops. Yes, the suspension will need to be much stiffer than you want for the street, but I wouldn't say uncompetitive.

[///My5UV]

<br>02 LeMansBlue/Silverstone M5
98 EstorilBlue/Grey M3

[DanLaw]

[Paesan]

Anything is possible. You can race your daily driver, but as Steve said it is not reccomended. If youare sick and tired of driving school and want to race, RENT. Renting a race car is a wonderfull idea. You have nothing to worry about but to show up and woop asss. Spec Miata can be rented from 1200 to 2000 dollars per week end. An ITC VW can be rented for 1000 dollar a weekend or a Spec Racer Ford can be rented for 1600 to 2200 a week end. Think about the things you would go thru in a week end and than it makes perfect sense to rent. Call Bimmerworld and ask for their rates. Just a thought. Wrecking your daily driver sucks and if you think it will not happen, think again, it happens to the best of us.

P.S. Which tracks are you planning to race on?

Good Luck

[JerseygirlM3]

"If you can't afford to lose it, you can't afford to race it."

[///My5UV]

The M3 is our third car. I bought it specifically for track use (DEs), and I think I'd like to do some racing. My wife drives it pretty often during the week so she won't put too many miles on the Z3, so we want to keep it streetable and at least modestly comfortable. She goes to the track, too, so she'd tolerate some more extreme stuff than most wives would.
Getting it ready for Stock class in BMWCCA does not look too bad, and it's probably the only way to be competitive without shelling out big bucks. Eventually I'd need a full-on race car, since I imagine there aren't many really good drivers to test yourself against in Stock. Running stock seems like a good way to get my feet wet without spending a ton of money.

Of course, there are barely a handful of BMWCCA club races per year anywhere near me, so I may have to go outside the marque anyway to do anything serious and then it would be something much cheaper, like a spec ford.
Thanks all for the advice!
<br>02 LeMansBlue/Silverstone M5
98 EstorilBlue/Grey M3

[Paesan]

If you plan on running SCCA with your car in T2, there is a new rule out for Touring. They are requiring all Touring cars to have welded cages with nascar bars. Just a heads up if you plan to run with them due to the many events that they offer.
Your car will be fine if you want to start racing and I am sure you will learn alot your first year and then you can see how serious and which series you want to pursue. If you ever come up to VIR shoot me an email