39 replies to this topic

[manthony121]

As a beginner in Spec Miata, I am juggling 3 basic needs: a car, seat time, and a way to get to and from the track.  I had thought that buying a dedicated track car would mean also buying a tow vehicle and trailer.  However, I have come across some posts by people who drive their track car on the street!

 

I had always thought that, to be street legal, a car needs air bags, catalytic converter, etc.  It turns out that may not be true.  I live in New York state, and not all that far from Watkins Glen.  It would be possible to buy/build a middle-of-the-pack SM car, hook a (very) small trailer to it for racing tires (perhaps a roof rack?), have it registered/inspected/insured for the street, and drive it to and from the track on race/HPDE weekends.  I have heard that AAA will provide towing (to members) if I bang it up too much to drive it home.

 

As near as I can tell, from looking at the DMV web site, all a car needs to be street legal in NY is: working brakes, steering wheel, various lights, a windshield, wipers, horn, seatbelts, street legal tires, and a rear view mirror or two.  Emissions are also checked.

 

So, does anyone have any advice on this?  Is it possible to drive a street legal car to the track, change the tires, (possibly) swap the catalytic converter out, and go racing?  I realize that it would be better to have a 24' enclosed hauler with a class A diesel motorhome to pull it, but if I can do it with a race car alone, that would make things that much easier!

[38bfast]

It has bèen done a lot. More than you would think. Obviously not ideal but very doable.

[FTodaro]

Living in NY State, you have to get the car inspected. I would stop by an inspection center and talk to someone, maybe more that one to be sure they know what they are talking about. It can be done, but i think that would be your problem, Your insurance company i am not sure would care till you made a claim.

[ChrisA]

The inspectors may want to see the DOT 3 point belts and as you said the Air Bags, which you would also need to remove at the track.

[manthony121]

The inspectors may want to see the DOT 3 point belts and as you said the Air Bags, which you would also need to remove at the track.

I think there's a difference between what car makers have to put into a car to put it on the showroom floor, and what the owner is required to have in it to drive it on the street.  I am not an expert in car law, but I saw a message that some people, due to physical problems, cannot safely use air bags.  Therefore, it is legal for the owner to remove/deactivate them, as long as the "This car is equipped with airbags...." label is also removed.  Air bags were not listed on the DMV site as an inspected item.

 

As far as seatbelts go, I suspect there is no requirement that they be of any particular type.  The DMV site says that seatbelts will be inspected for proper operation and anchorage.  It makes no mention of shoulder belts.  It also says that the air bag warning light will be checked, but the car will not fail inspection if there is a problem with it.

 

I do know a few people who inspect cars.  They should be able to tell me what the exact requirements are, and if a SM car will qualify.  I'll post the results here for anyone interested.

[Chris D.]

I've been doing this for years.   I always say going into a new racing year that I'm going to buy a trailer, but I always find other ways to spend my racing budget.  I do have a short drive of about 45 minutes to my local track in Waterford, MI.   But, I did do a complete season driving a couple hundred miles to tracks before my kids were born.  For those long trips I would use a Tire Tail to haul my race tires and drive on the stock steel wheels and all season tires.  For my short drives nowadays, I just drive on the race tires.  

 

I do pack a lot in the car and I it's like a Jenga puzzle, but I can even fit a 10' x 10' canopy in there.  I know there is certainly a risk of wading the car up and not being able to drive home.  But, I honestly don't think about it and it's been about 10 years without an incident serious enough to leave me stranded.   Granted I'm more of a mid-packer, but I don't feel it negatively impacts my driving.  

 

Bottom line, don't let the lack of a means of towing stop you from getting out there.   I already found an alternate use for my "trailer fund" and I will be driving to the track once again next year.  

[LarryKing]

My SM has always been registered and insured in Ohio, non-inspection in my area. I do it so I can bed brakes/take short test drives. I live in a rural area. I trailer it to events. My biggest concern is safety. You really don't want to crack an un-helmeted head against a rollbar, padded or not, if you're involved in a fender bender.

[Sean - MiataCage]

As stupid as you may look, I would not drive a car with a cage in it on the street without a helmet.  

 

Even the slightest of impacts will likely have your head contact the door frame bar of the cage and that will likely kill you if your lucky in an accident.  If it doesn't kill you I think you might wish it did.  Before someone chimes in an tells me that it's ok as long as the bar has roll bar padding on it, go ahead and take a hammer and a piece of tubing and roll bar padding.  Smack the roll bar padding with the hammer over top of the roll cage tubing and see what you think.  The old "soft stuff" is basically useless and the newer "hard stuff" is hard enough to cause a head injury.

 

When the car was a street car it had all kinds of soft edges and things that would absorb energy in an impact.  You have likely removed most if not all of it so therefor you now have lots of sharp edges and raw metal that is now exposed that can do serious harm.  I don't mean sharp to the touch, but sharp to a body part in an impact.  I consult for one of the big 3 in Detroit and have witnessed numerous crash tests and it is always amazing to me what forces are at play in something as slow as a 10mph test.

 

You can rent a tow dolly from U-haul if you don't want to buy a trailer, but the trailer math is easy for me......  How much do you make at your job per day?  How many days can you afford to be away from your job not working because of an injury before you would have paid for a trailer.  Add medical bills to that equation and it pays for itself very quickly.

 

I think you might want to consider the fact that you also may have some civil liability in the event of an accident and you hurt someone.  I would also read all of the fine print in your insurance policy on what they would or would not cover.  I wouldn't be concerned about your car being covered, I would be concerned about anyone else involved in an accidents personal property and/or medical needs.  If your insurance carrier deemed the car not street legal then they would likely not pay out anything and you would then have to find some alternative way of paying for the damages etc.  Race results are all online these days, so it would take about 3 minutes of internet searching for a lawyer to prove it was a race car.

 

If you can't tell, I am very much against this as the risk is far too much for the reward.

 

Just my .02 cents....... Sean

[Chris D.]

Good points Sean.  I have thought about the cage aspect.   In fact, I will make it a point to wear a helmet this coming year.  I have no doubts my head would lose in an impact with that SFI padding.  I don't care about looking stupid......I've stopped worrying about that long ago.....

[dstevens]

There have been stories about guys wearing helmets in cars and getting tickets.  Doesn't make any sense unless there was something else going on.  I find it hard to believe.  Bikes have to wear helmets.

 

Uhaul may suggest against the tow dolly for rear wheel drive though they will rent you one.   When I went from karts to cars before I was able to sell the kart trailer I used Uhaul and my truck with the auto trailer.  About $60 each time, or about $10 more than the dolly.  The dolly is about a grand and you can find a small new trailer for $1500 or so.  The hidden cost is storing it and the vehicle to tow it.

 

More than you think would drive to the track though it's not something I'd do.  An impact with no helmet on the cage could be bad news.

[manthony121]

As stupid as you may look, I would not drive a car with a cage in it on the street without a helmet.  

 

<snip>

If you can't tell, I am very much against this as the risk is far too much for the reward.

 

Just my .02 cents....... Sean

Thanks for your thoughts, Sean.  You make some interesting points.

 

I've heard the "if you have a cage you need a helmet" argument, but I don't understand why you think padding won't help.  A helmet is, after all, padding that is applied to your head instead of the car.  I have also heard that it is not legal to drive a car while wearing a helmet, depending on how much of your vision the helmet blocks.  I'm not even sure who I would ask about that.  Clearly, you can drive a motorcycle while wearing a helmet, so why not a car?  I suppose I could get one of those shorty helmets that just covers the top of my head?

 

As far as insurance is concerned, I would only buy liability coverage for it.  I don't think they would have any basis to deny a claim (on the street) on the basis that it was caged/tracked.  If it is registered and inspected, can the insurance company unilaterally deem it "not street legal"?  That seems unlikely.  In any case, I would make it very clear, when buying the insurance, what the car was for.  I already own more cars than will fit on a single policy.  My insurance agent is very keen to keep my business.

[38bfast]

There isn't any situation that it will be more dangerous as riding a motorcycle on the road. So if you are ok with that risk

[dstevens]

Thanks for your thoughts, Sean.  You make some interesting points.

 

I've heard the "if you have a cage you need a helmet" argument, but I don't understand why you think padding won't help.  A helmet is, after all, padding that is applied to your head instead of the car.  I have also heard that it is not legal to drive a car while wearing a helmet, depending on how much of your vision the helmet blocks.  I'm not even sure who I would ask about that.  Clearly, you can drive a motorcycle while wearing a helmet, so why not a car?  I suppose I could get one of those shorty helmets that just covers the top of my head?

 

As far as insurance is concerned, I would only buy liability coverage for it.  I don't think they would have any basis to deny a claim (on the street) on the basis that it was caged/tracked.  If it is registered and inspected, can the insurance company unilaterally deem it "not street legal"?  That seems unlikely.  In any case, I would make it very clear, when buying the insurance, what the car was for.  I already own more cars than will fit on a single policy.  My insurance agent is very keen to keep my business.

 

A helmet has a hard shell that diffracts energy in an impact.  Without a helmet and only padding your skull becomes that hard shell.

 

If you tell your insurance carrier it's a race car they are unlikely to cover you regardless of if you are street legal.  If you tell them it's a convertable car with an aftermarket roll bar that is street legal you'll be good to go on the street. You may even be covered for DE depending on your policy.  Certainly not for wheel to wheel racing.  If you are in a state where inspections are required and they deem the mods street legal the insurance company is going to have a difficult time challenging the state as to the road worthiness of the car.  

[av8tor]

I drive my street car 997 GT3 with a cage all the time.  It came from the manufacturer that way   I put padding on it to minimize any impact.  Of course there is more room in the Porker than a Miata.  There is not Fed or State requirement to have an airbag.  Racing harnesses are not Fed legal.  The Porker belts are DOT legal but they don't have a sub strap, like the DOT Schroth rally harness.  I hate the man holding me back so I say go for it.

I used to drive my barely street legal pre-runner desert racer when I lived in California. It was a full on race truck.  I got pulled over twice, once because I didn't have covers on my aux lights, I showed him the fuse was pulled and he let me go after I pulled some duct tape over them.  But then he said, "Let me hear your horn", luckily race trucks have horns to warn the buggies they are about to get run over, (Miatas don't, a bicycle horn with a squeeze bulb is sufficient - I recommend a Barbie themed pink one, it is a Miata after all).  Next time I was stopped, I was on the side of the road changing a flat.  CHP pulled up asked if I needed anything, started looking around, asked me to show him that the lights worked, brakes and blinkers, then as he was leaving, he turned around and walked back to the truck, looked under it and said, "don't see a cat under there", I said something smart about him jumping out of the engine bay when I started it up.  Then he wrote me a smog citation.  I had 5 days to get a smog test, had to go find a junk yard exhaust and bolt it on, A lot of work, but worth it to drive the race truck on the street.

[manthony121]

But then he said, "Let me hear your horn", luckily race trucks have horns to warn the buggies they are about to get run over, (Miatas don't, a bicycle horn with a squeeze bulb is sufficient - I recommend a Barbie themed pink one, it is a Miata after all).

Nice.  I was thinking of a Care Bears one, but I like your suggestion. 

[dstevens]

There are several desert race teams in town and all of them run full blown race ready fully caged prerunners legally on the street.  There are also some other desert class where they run street legal cars with full cages.

 

Barbie has a Vette.  Hello KItty would have a Miata...

[davew]

Just because I did something when I was young, does not make it smart. In fact the opposite is usually true.

 

You can buy a decent trailer for about $1000, put a few bucks into rebuilding lights and brakes, and have a nice trailer for years to come.

 

yes, it has been done. But it ain't smart.

 

Dave

[FTodaro]

Just because I did something when I was young, does not make it smart. In fact the opposite is usually true.

 

You can buy a decent trailer for about $1000, put a few bucks into rebuilding lights and brakes, and have a nice trailer for years to come.

 

yes, it has been done. But it ain't smart.

 

Dave

I could make a long list of things that I once did and justified doing at the time but would no longer do today.  Sounds like a good winter thread idea.

[davew]

I could make a long list of things that I once did and justified doing at the time but would no longer do today.  Sounds like a good winter thread idea.

 

I try to forget most of the stupid things I did in the past. Too many new stupid things to look forward to.

 

dave

[Jim Drago]

I try to forget most of the stupid things I did in the past. Too many new stupid things to look forward to.
 
dave

It's a wonder most of us are still alive