Dead Serious

Don't know why anyone would buy a trailer. U can rent a u haul trailer for less than 100 bucks for the whole weekend....good luck finding a decent trailer for less than 2000 bucks. So the trailer option is that much more accessible

limbo

Well if the plan is to use it >20 times you would spend the same amount of money and have an asset when all is said and done.

Good point on the rental uhaul trailer, though. Definitely an option for the casual DE/racers.

anorexicpoodle

We have been doing this for the last year primarily due to storage space constraints (we estimate the cost of the rentals is cheaper than the cost to buy + store) so here are my notes:

A single track day is ALWAYS a 2 day rental (you depart before U-Haul opens and return after they close). 2 days = $125 after taxes and insurance. Full weekends would be 3 days.

The UHaul trailers are very well thought out and super easy to use but heavy by comparison.

The UHaul trailers may require special considerations for loading low cars or cars with splitters while private trailers are often lower car friendly (dovetail)

The UHaul trailers are geared toward auto-transport not racing. A private trailer can have provisions for carrying tools, tires and a winch making recovering the car onto the trailer more difficult if you break something.

Most uhaul locations have 1-2 auto transports so you may be at te whim of availability. We have had our reservation shifted a few times because of this. Not a deal breaker but inconvenient.

The trailer isnt available on demand.

Andrie

On my race car I trailered because I have no option. But on HPDE car, I much rather drive it.

Trailering is a chore. Loading and unloading takes so much time. And if you store the trailer in other place than your home, add those time which easily a couple hours.

Cost is much cheaper driving the car.

Comfort is relative. I find driving on race seat is much less tiring. Driving on street care seat gives me sore body.

I drove to and from the track on my race car the first 2 years because of financial. Now, I carry a lot of spares to ensure I don't miss the weekend, because now I have sponsors to answer to. Otherwise, I would still drive the race car to and from the track. Harshness is non existent if you have good damper.

Mahjik

I actually looked into this myself. The bigger expense is the vehicle that will do the towing rather than the trailer. However, if you take out the tow vehicle, what I looked at was my typical weekend. I would leave on a Friday and return late Sunday or early Monday (depending on travel distance). That basically put me at 4 days for the rental. After a little over a year, I would have paid for a trailer. The other thing is as mentioned, the U-Haul trailers are fairly limited. They are typically pretty small in which you don't have room to adjust the car placement for your tongue weight. Using a weight distributing hitch can help if the weight is too far forward, but not if it's too far back. You are just stuck with it in that situation using a smaller trailer.

The main downside to buying a trailer is storage. A lot of "planned" neighborhoods will not allow you to park one in the driveway. With this, people typically have only two options:

1. The garage is big enough to park the car on the trailer in the garage
2. Pay for storage spot

I had to do the latter which runs about $80 a month. I could find a cheaper storage facility, but this one is less than 10 minutes from my house which is worth the extra money for that convenience.

Dead Serious

Sorry, for not posting facts.........i drive my S2 to the track and have never rented a trailer. My padock neighbor at homstead said somthing like that a while back when i asked about his u haul.

josserman

This bussing great info, thanks guys! Based on this it further validates drive to local track but for weekends I'll rent a trailer. As I move up and look to gut and cage my car, my wife will be more used to the rent a trailer and I can close her on keeping one at the house, we have a perfect spot off the driveways here it wouldn't be an eyesore at all!

spdracerut

I think that's your answer right there. To me, that implies you're pushing hard. Therefore, you're at the limit and the risk goes up exponentially. Get a cage, proper safety gear, truck and trailer. Don't mess around.

pgss2k

+1 there on that being your answer
It only took me about 3-4 HDPE before I realized I wanted to go faster/get better and push myself. I went roll bar/seats/harnesses right away and am now ready to go fully caged as I want the flexibility to perhaps try some W2W in the future. The trailer came about at the same time, for the first year I towed it with my work van, the next season I got a decent domestic P/U that makes the tow so much more pleasant. As others said it is quiet/comfy and cush. I paid $1400 for a used open trailer that I have been using for 4-5 seasons now. I did replace the decking boards last spring (about $200 and an afternoon) and have been careful to keep the hubs greased but other than that it is no hassle. I do have space in the side yard for it.

spdracerut

And don't forget a HANS device!

Just to drive the point home, there was a death this past year out at Chuckwalla and one a year or two before at Willow Springs. On top of those, there have a been a few cars that have rolled including a Mustang and a old Shelby Cobra replica. It's very easy to get complacent and think it won't happen to you, but the fact remains we're out there going very very quickly. It doesn't take much to go wrong to end up in a very bad way. It might not even be your own fault; someone here recently totaled their S2k because a car in front of them dropped oil on the track.