... and very importantly the MAM of the trailer must not exceed the unladen weight of the towing vehicle. This will actually rule out most car transporter trailer / towing vehicle combinations.
Towing with a Focus, safe? Or asking for trouble
- Thread starter Phate
- Start date
... and very importantly the MAM of the trailer must not exceed the unladen weight of the towing vehicle. This will actually rule out most car transporter trailer / towing vehicle combinations.
I think you'ed be pushing it by the sounds of it, a Focus is fine for towing light trailers full of junk or furniture or a ride on mower even ....but a track car on a proper transporter trailer ...whatever the car and the total weight of the two actually is ...at best it's going to be very close and at worst it'll be overweight so I wouldn't.
I understood your point, I was just commenting that a stripped out small hatchback can weigh well under 800kg. Irrespective, a Focus is not a suitable tow car in this case.
Soldato
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Saw an old style mini on the french motorways that was towing a range rover on a trailer
Mini was packed full of bags etc and had some on the roof. Suprised it could even get going..Saw an old style mini on the french motorways that was towing a range rover on a trailer
That sounds rather dangerous, the RR and trailer must have weighed ...probably 3 or 4 times what the Mini did.
Deleted member 66701
Deleted member 66701
My trailer and track car has a combined weight for 760kg.
Would help to know what car your track car is.
I should have really added that to my second point about the 85% recommendation.
I'm undecided on which track car. But I am seriously considering one!
Options are right now:
ZS180 Track specced one (theres one currently for sale) (850ish kg when stripped)
MX5 Super Gay Edition Supercharged/Turbo'd
E36 of some sort
Whatever I get will be significantly stripped of any unnecessary weight
Options are right now:
ZS180 Track specced one (theres one currently for sale) (850ish kg when stripped)
MX5 Super Gay Edition Supercharged/Turbo'd
E36 of some sort
Whatever I get will be significantly stripped of any unnecessary weight
I'm undecided on which track car. But I am seriously considering one!
Options are right now:
ZS180 Track specced one (theres one currently for sale) (850ish kg when stripped)
MX5 Super Gay Edition Supercharged/Turbo'd
E36 of some sort
Whatever I get will be significantly stripped of any unnecessary weight
It probably wouldn't be advisable to tow any of those with the Focus. Even the lightest + a trailer will exceed 100% of the towing vehciles weight.
If you are looking at a decidated track car + trailer, have you considered instead getting your race license and an old single seater? eg Formula Vee, Formula Ford, Formula Vauxhall Junior etc?
They probably won't cost you that much more to buy, should hold their value when you come to sell, are in some ways easier to work on/prepare, and ultimately performance wise will blow anything else you have mentioned out of the water.
If you find you really enjoy it, you then have the option to compete in hillclimbs/sprints or start racing at a later date.
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RLY?
MG ZT 260 V8, awesome tow car, be better than the ZS to boot
YARLY
It's up for sale for a £1000 right now...
Its a mk1 with mk2 body kit on it.
So you buy it, sell the mk2 stuff, replace for much cheaper mk1 stuff, sell the interior which is worth good money, throw a bucket in it and jobs done, You'll be no more than a few hundred out of pocket.
Oh it's had an LSD fitted, springs, brembos etc.
Thats just plain stupid!
Alas, I see similar sights often, the tail wags the dog & all that..............
Looking at the single seaters I haven't got that sort of cash to spend (looking minium 7k for a rough one) It would be a silly amount of fun to drive no doubt, but I'm not going to be racing. Just regular track days really.
Currently thinking of an MX5 and Turbo
- It's alllll speculation for the time being!
Jake
Currently thinking of an MX5 and Turbo
- It's alllll speculation for the time being!Jake
Looking at the single seaters I haven't got that sort of cash to spend (looking minium 7k for a rough one) It would be a silly amount of fun to drive no doubt, but I'm not going to be racing. Just regular track days really.
Currently thinking of an MX5 and Turbo
Jake
Where are you looking? You can get a ready to race formula vee from around £3k or a formula ford from about £4k. As long as they are mechanically sound, anything cosmetic can easily be sorted with a little TLC.
If you intend to buy a real cheap road car (£1k) and not spend a lot modifying it for the track, then a single seater in comparison is expensive.
However, it's very easy to start spending a lot trying to turn a car that was never really intended for the track into something half decent... and if you can see that happening, in the long run you may be better off with a single seater, even if you are only testing. Ask Housey what it's cost him to get his Mx5 fully sorted for the Mx5 championship!
Good luck whatever you decide to go with.
http://www.veecentre.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=98&Itemid=103
http://www.classicformulaford.com/forsale/forsale.htm
http://www.racecarwarehouse.co.uk/car_list.php?cat=8
http://www.racecarsdirect.com/categories/single-seat-race-cars-for-sale.html
http://www.monoposto.co.uk/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=11
to name a few
Many cars (especially cheaper ones) don't get advertised - they get sold through word of mouth at race meetings etc. If you do take this route, going to some race meetings and speaking to people if often the best way of hearing about cars that might be suitable
Motorsport is a fickle business too - price doesn't necessarily tell you how good a car is! You can pay a fortune for a pile of junk, just because it's a fashionable car for a particular championship, or was driven by someone famous once! However other decent cars are at rock bottom prices just because they don't fit into one of the popular championships, or are 'unfashionable'. The funny thing is though, at club level the driver makes the biggest difference, and overnight those cars can become very in demand if someone starts winning in it!
If you only intend to test and have a bit of fun you have a lot of options open to you.
You may decide it's not for you - there are various advantages over running modified road car on the track .. but also some disadvantages. It's defintiely worth being well informed before going ahead. However, I do meet people all the time who spend a fortune on track cars, who no question would have been better off buying a racing car in the first place!
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