[Fot] Street Legal

[Richard Taylor]

Steve,

Driving a street-able race car is like taking a transvestite to the
symphony. You're forever wondering what the hell you were thinking about.

I drive my TR-4 both to the track and on the street.  To the races I tow a
light trailer with Hoosiers, tools & motorcycle (Triumph Trident). The bike
provides transportation after the car has gone through its conversion. Some
of these junkets are 750 miles or more; it's called grueling.  

It takes a couple of hours to unload the bike, unhook the trailer, remove
the windshield, wipers, change tires and crank that cantankerous Triple. Not
much time difference from the conventional set-up. But it's the compromise
on the track that is the challenge. I faithfully shift at 5K; not because I
want to but because I also need to drive home. The car still has lights,
turn signals, horn, roll-up windows and heater; read heavy.  The car also
has a mild cam, intermediate compression and the tall rear-end w/OD. The
engine dyno'd 125 hp at the flywheel with an in-line pickle muffler. A
straight-pipe @ 5K showed < 1hp gain; a reasonable price to pay for no-roar
hassle. Consequently racing is one continuous study of inertia control. If
you ever saw Bob Hoover fly his aerobatic air show in his Twin Commander
with both engines feathered, you'll get the picture.  

On the brighter side, in the last 28 races I've had but one DNF. VIR to
Atlanta, on-the-hook, costs about the same as a Hans Device. AAA paid 1/3 of
it. 

In fine, driving your car to the race ain't for everybody. If you're a
fearless, steely eyed, fire-in-the-belly racer, forget it. But if you can
find satisfaction back there in the pack squeezing everything that can be
squeezed out of the car you've built, no matter how imperfectly, it's an
option. But you will study more than your share of taillights and you will
forever wonder what the hell you were thinking about.

Richard Taylor



To: Steven Belfer; FOT
Subject: Re: [Fot] Street Legal

Compromises on both sides of course.

I plan to do this with the AMBRO. 

It may not see much action in either venue, but it has an appeal to me to
have the choice.

Joe

>Are any of your race cars street legal?
>
>I have considered modifying my car to make it street legal for an  
>OCCASIONAL drive.  I probably won't do it because the thought of some  
>driver in a Escalade with video screens on the cell phone might be my  
>demise.  I'm more afraid of that than turn 9 at Willow Springs.
>
>If you have gone "streetable" with a former race car, what are your  
>experiences or recommendations?
>
>If I did it, I'd have to do the following:  Raise the ride height, bad  
>idea for a race car
>
>Put in an alternator, lights and a horn:  No big deal
>
>Use milder cyl head or thicker HG for less compression / pump gas
>
>Muffler: Supertrapp?
>
>Title!  My car has no title but I have the ID plates from a scrapped  
>TR3.
>
>This is probably a bad idea.  I know my dad wouldn't like it but it's  
>killing me to only enjoy being in the car a few times per year.
>
>What would they look at at the DMV?
>
>
>
>~Steve
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