Anyone ever codrive/share a track car?

[jayuuey]

A close friend and I decided to share the expense in building up a track rat so we can both drive at DE events. Since he will be just starting out at hpde1 and I will be in hpde3, the scheduling and switching between sessions should be doable.

Any experience in this situation? Good idea or bad idea? What are some mods/maintenance items for an 88 325is that will allow it to last driving to and from the track and potentially 8-10 DE sessions?

Thanks.




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[gobuffs]

Have a prenup. (Seriously, have a prenup in case the inevitable happens)

[B1mmer]

Have a prenup. (Seriously, have a prenup in case the inevitable happens)

This. Basically lay out what happens when something breaks, someone does damage to it, or someone totals it. Set a value of the entire thing and what the payout to the other person would be if it were totalled, minus what could be sold off.

As far as making it last for a shared DE, good brakes and rotors with spares (something like Hawk HT-10's or PFC 08's will last multiple events with 2 drivers on street tires). I'd use something like Dunlop ZII's or Hankook RS3 V2's for tires. Aside from that, new brake fluid for each event and creating a good sized spare box will help. For my E30 DE car, I have an extensive spares list, but I tend to be pretty anal. A lot of that is I don't want to miss track time due to a part going bad. At a minimum, I'd have an extra set of rotors and pads, all accessory belts and a pair of spare wheels and tires. You can rotate in the spare wheels/tires to keep the wear consistent.

I'd also rotate your tires after each driver gets a session. Some tracks tend to be harder on one side of the car (left front for instance), so rotating them should keep from grinding a single tire down to the cords.

Otherwise, sharing a car can be a cost effective way of doing it, as long as everyone understands the rules. - AB

[Jica06]

Highly recommend not doing this. When something breaks on the car, someone is going to be put to blame. Could hurt the friendship. Someone won't want to pay.

I've done this before. It never ends well.

[jayuuey]

We are planning to have contingency fund and probably a "break it, you buy it" should the worst happen. Thanks for the feedback so far.



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[Jica06]

This is what happened with my scenario. I was driving the car and had a couple of fumbles in the shifting, but no miss shifts or over revs. I got out and handed the car to my buddy. He went out and miss shifts/spins out after a couple of laps. He brings the car back in and gets out to cool off for a bit. I take the car back out. I made it one complete lap before the engine seized. He blamed it on me, and I had to pay for the engine. He refused to put up any money.

We were in the same scenario that you would be in. Just sayin, be careful!

[e30_302]

Might as well go ahead and build a Lemons/ChumpCar.

[aventari]

I think it all depends on your friendship and money situations. If you're both tight on money it will cause problems.

[1990m3]

you guys should split track insurance when the car goes out. That way if there is a total loss one of you doesn't have an down conscience and the money comes back. There are a few companies that offer track insurance, one of them is through the BMWCCA too.

[Hooffenstein HD]

Highly recommend not doing this.

[ForcedFirebird]

Depends on the relationship, but it can work. I am partners in more than one car - but we all have a mutual understanding, you break it you buy (fix) it. Some guys can fix the stuff, some guys can pay for stuff. Has to be a balance.

Might as well go ahead and build a Lemons/ChumpCar.

This too, but remember, two more people on the team to add to "drama".

[Zeshin]

I've co-owned a vintage race car with my best friend before. It worked out fairly well, but we are both very responsible and fair minded people, and had equal driving skill and budget.

I think all the comments above are totally relevant. I really like 1990m3's suggestion on splitting track insurance, as it will relieve a lot of the anxiety of wondering who will be in the car when the big stuff breaks. I also agree that everyone should have the same budget in mind and not be strapped for cash.

A contractual agreement is always good to have, especially if you are planning to really put in some money to the project.

[B1mmer]

I like the idea behind insurance, but that only works if you stuff it into the tires or a wall. Mis-shifts or other mechanical failures need to handled between you.

I co-drove for 10 years straight with a buddy of mine doing national autocross events all over the country. We split everything down the middle down to the penny using a spreadsheet. With autocross, the fear of a mis-shift was about the extent of the potential user caused damage. We never had an issue and split broken parts (axles and other wear related stuff as needed). There always was some risk of someone hitting some immovable object and we knew that if that happened, the driver covered the cost to fix it. This was over 7 cars over 10 years, with cars ranging in value from $10k to $50k. We stopped running last year so I could focus on getting my competition license, but we made sure that whatever happened, we agreed it wouldn't impede on our friendship.

I am 1/4 owner of a Lemons/Chump car. Our issue is the wide range in disposable income, but the same rules applied. Regardless of what happens, friendship came first. For both of these setups I've had no formal written agreements, but I've likely been lucky. I think if you decide to do this, you need to both go in with the attitude that if the car get wadded up, while you'll both be upset, you can laugh about it over a beer later. If that's not the case, don't walk, run away from this idea. - AB

[solo318]

I have had the pleasure of instructing co owned cars and divers over the years. What I have come to notice is that all things are not equal. One driver is usually much more aggressive than the other. But the parts breakage almost always happens to the easier/smoother driver. Co-owning a race car/track car is always a losing proposition. You would be better off buying the car yourself and setting a fixed event fee for your buddy. some weekends you will make a tidy profit. some weekends you will lose your shirt. Over all it seems to even out in the end. As already stated PUT IT IN WRITING. I know a few guys that were left with totaled track cars over a "gentleman's agreement"

[e30_302]

A contract is only as good as the people signing it, unless you go to court. Do you really want to take your friend to court over a race car? If you think you need a contract with said person, find a new teammate.

Best way to do it is as a dictatorship- you own the car and buy the parts and rent him a seat at events. That can be tough because it's all your money upfront getting it built. If you do go the splitting costs route, get the other party's share of the money upfront before you buy anything. That saves you from going on a spending spree on your own dime and having him say "I don't think we need all that stuff."

Don't let something as silly as a track car ruin a friendship, it almost happened to me and my best friend.