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Track day towing?

7K views 8 replies 6 participants last post by  Korntera 
#1 ·
I plan on doing my track days, this year most importantly track days more than 2 hours away from my local track. As you can see from my sig line I also have an 04 Porsche Cayenne S to be used as a tow vehicle. Ideally I would get an enclosed trailer but that will not work because
A. It would mean I would have no funds for track days if I buy one
B. I have zero room at my house to store it, we already have 5 cars parked at my house the neighbors would kill me if I bought a trailer too.

So my thought is that I can rent a U-Haul car trailer for one or two days at a time, only $110 for two days, it's an open trailer though. The tracks I plan on going to are two and three hours away but I would also like to go as far as a 10 hour drive to get to some world class tracks.

Would you do this or is there a better way? My main reason for wanting to trailer is incase something breaks and so I have room to carry tools etc in my SUV that I wouldn't in the lotus, saving the Lotus mileage is also a concern but is very minimal. The car may be parked outside at night on the trailer if I get a hotel room but I don't think that is a concern either because I take the car on trips and park it outside at night at hotels before.
The last option is for me to buy a flatbed trailer but at $1,000 for a decent one I can rent one ten times before breaking even and I only plan to trailer 3-4 times max this track season.
 
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#2 ·
Your above solution is what I do. I attend maybe 3-4 track days a season (sometimes more if work allows it), but I have NO room to store a trailer. I usually just rent one from uHaul, load it up, and drive to the track.

If you have the cash on hand, sure, buy the best trailer. But for me, its cheaper to use uHaul.
 
#3 ·
Wouldn't it not be cheaper to just drive the car and have someone drive a truck with all your gear?

I towed my car this weekend on my 18ft trailer, but that was only because it was about 6hours north on crap roads and I had the truck jammed back with stuff too. My trailer stays parked at the house but my driveway is pretty big. Have 2 trucks, 3 Jeeps, 2 cars, a full size van and my trailer right now and still plenty of room.
 
#5 ·
Wouldn't it not be cheaper to just drive the car and have someone drive a truck with all your gear?
No because that would require two people lol.
I plan on going to most track days on my own so the GF doesn't have to take time off, plus then paying for fuel in two vehicles plus wear and tear on AO48 tires costs more than a trailer at $55 a day plus the option to take my car home without a tow truck if it breaks.
 
#4 ·
I just compare price of the potential towing bill compared the price of the rental trailer, then estimate my odds of breaking. I arbitrarily give myself a 20% chance of needing a tow, so unless the tow truck bill is going to be more than 5x the cost of a trailer rental + extra fuel, I drive the car to the track.
 
#7 ·
I am just not seeing a Porsche Cayenne as a decent tow vehicle. I know the Lotus is pretty light, but you'll still be at 4000lbs+ after you figure the weight of the trailer, then add in your gear, probably another 1000-1500lbs there if you pack everything to include the kitchen sink and a spare just in case like I often do. rotfl

My truck is a 1 ton diesel and there have been many many times I'm glad I had the weight and power of it, or otherwise likely have ended up dead after flying off a cliff (hardly any guardrails on the roads up here. Many have no shoulder either, it's pretty much edge of the road and then cliff.) Mind you I don't just use it to tow my car. I tow lots of other things that are much heavier. Last week I had 16,000lbs of topsoil on the trailer.


As far as the driveway, one of the Jeeps and a truck aren't mine (I rent part of the house out). One of the other Jeeps I bought at auction for the engine (5.9L Grand Cherokee), the van I got for free and it's got 1 ton axles under it. So bought the Jeep and van will be cut up and gone in a few weeks.

And the rest are all fully insured/license/sorta daily drivers.
 
#8 ·
Make some cheap wood ramps
Go to SAMs club and buy the heavy duty tie down straps for cheap
Get the through wheel padded straps from MACs online(totally worth the $)
And rent a Uhaul

Of course if can find an open trailer for $750 and a friends house to park it, letting him use it prn for storage payment, then that's way to go.
 
#9 ·
I think the cayenne should be fine, 2150 lb trailer and 1900 lb car plus myself and less than 200lb of tools.

Ideal vehicle no, but will it meet my needs and is fun to drive and I already own it, YES!
 
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