how much can one spend on a hobby is truly a personal matter. i think question was more about realistic expectations of what are minimal required expenses. I think we only speak of averages here anyway.

like speaking about tires - all that stuff is very difficult to estimate - most competitive folks go over 5-6 sets of A6 hoosiers for auto-x alone, people who are less competitive may go over whole season on same set of kumho v710. same with track folks. I have managed to go over whole current season on same set of discounted dirt cheap v700 kumhos as I simply stopped agressively overdriving my tires constantly and had plenty of fun despite that i could spend more and be .5sec faster on a 60sec course. it is all relative.

so primary budgetary estimates for me are - set off on a different bank account (so wife would not see) enough money to cover any possible repairs - for me it is set to $20K. it should cover possible ad-hoc engine replacement and any body work.

for ongoing expenses i set a $10K annual budget and everything so far fits into it - rotors (new fronts every season, rears ever 2-3 seasons as it seems so far), rs29 pads seems to hold for 2 seasons ($500), 2 sets or r-comp tires per season, 2 flushes of motul 600 per season (6x $15) and DE fees. track rims I consider in the modding budget as it is a 'once in a lifetime' expense - used 18" 9"/12" CCW are 1.5-$2K usually or new ones are $3K.

modding budget is also a different story, so far for me it was about of $15K per season for 2 seasons, pretty consistently, but it was put to a hault now.

an alternative approach could be: my mechanic has a client who owns 2 997 GT3 RS cars and a turbo for street driving (he actually replaces them on on-going 2 year basis, currently it is 2009 rs and 2007 rs), he races one and keeps second in reserve. what is interesting for you perhaps - that guy has plenty of money to afford a cup car but he prefers to run gt3 rs. i wrote before 'stripped' but honestly do not recall now if it was stripped, it had a cage but i think most interior was left intact to keep car sellable.

 

This is one of the most entertaining threads ever! We are actually adding up the costs of running a GT-3 - GT-3 Cup over the course of a year! I think the only way to spend more money than you all mentioned is to go racing...trust me you will stop adding up your expenses then! All you have to do is look your wife/girlfriend straight in the eye when the big brown truck drops off yet another box and say, "That was a return, I paid for that last year"! Then when the credit card bill arrives, "You know what happened...the credit didn't go through yet"! We are insane or we wouldn't be doing this...now go drive.

 

If I'd never seen a race track in my life, I would have spent about $250K - $300K less since I went to my first track event 7 years ago.

I can only imagine what kind of trouble I would have been in now.

 

+1, except the booze part. Can't do without that one.

 

there are no 09 RS. 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2011

would love to know more why the pref of tracking RS over cup. may help me save money for once.

 

ah, i would have retired by now and sipping a cold one somewhere in maldive.

 

May be he doesn't really race... I can't recall having seen a RS in a real race actually. Or he just don't want to be with the front runners...

 

anyone care to opine on the added depreciation to such a nice car after being tracked?

 

I race bikes competitively and $1k for a 2 day race weekend, consumables only, is a fair estimate. cars have to be a multiplke of that.

the more you do it the more dedicated track vehicles make sense (I have 2 bikes, an A and a B bike - same bike, one is a back up/spare). The more you do it, the more that lower hp vehicles/spec classes make sense. tracking a gt3 eems like tracking a gsxr1000, seems logical to a beginner, but most experienced people will be running formula vees/fords, or miatas/boxters, unless you have the talent and $$ to run a cup witth the big boys.

go to the track/scca events and talk to people who've been tracking 5 years and get their advice.

 

yep. you speak the truth. but hard to convince the newbies. i used to thing ppl like u are just full of BS. now i learned and i tell them the same and in turn, they think i am full of it

 

You guys are forgetting probably the most expensive part: The fact that a car like the GT3 and or the GT2 is worth about $2K less after every hard core track day.

It is truly a rich mans sport. That is why I only do go karts anymore, at $75 bucks a day a bargain.

 

^^ Why do you think the car depreciates that much just cause its been tracked? Breaks and tires are obviously replaceable, you don't have to purchase a roll bar that is welded in. I'm sure you know all of this, but I don't understand why you think a car loses that much value because its been tracked.

 

Sorry but not true.

No significant difference in value between a GT3 that has seen track days and another which went on the streets only. Unless it has seen the guard rail obviously

The only cars that could keep a better value are the garage queen with no mileage... but then why buying a car just to look at it Don't get it .

These cars are solid as a rock and are builded to be tracked. Put pads, tires and fuel and they will last. Can't say that for most of the other brands.

 

i'll add to GT3 techo....

some ppl looking for garage queens wont like tracked cars.
a HEAVILY tracked car will lose value. but even my car that sees 35 days a year isn't considered heavily tracked, so i would say most ppl's car are not heavily tracked at all.

it's in how well you care for the car.
i have some rash on the sill area, discolored calipers. but other than that, you will find it as good as not tracked car cosmetically.

mechanically, my tracked car are way better than cars i dont track.
tracked is checked, rechekced and goes through fluid changes all the time. it's in much better shape than any garage queen.

 

If you guys believe that then there is a bridge in Brooklyn that I will sell you.

The #1 cost of car ownership is depreciation, especially on high end cars.

A GT2 was on sale here recently and it was priced in the 60's because everyone new she was a track *****.