I first noticed Club Motorsports in a small NH paper, 'New Hampshire Business Review'. Covers state business news and success stories, and business disasters. Call me crazy or call me...

... their newest member to join. I think I'm in temporary shock, and I'm just beginning to FANTASIZE about imagining the possibilities (OMG) :D :D

... but in no particular order...the turns! the staightaways!...the hills!... the onsite facilities for you... and your car!... alll the other people coming there! .... the IPO?!

Call Dan Croteau, say you're from the RX-8 Forum. If there's a few interested, we might get some advantage. He'll tell you all the details (603.437.3278 x204). The pricing is time-tiered in 3 levels. So at month end, it's going up again.

www.clubmotorsports.com Enjoy!

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Yah a few rich guys got together and are building a high speed track out here in Illinois by me. But in order to use it you have to pay some ungodly amount annually to join thier "club"

That rocks! All we get here in Houston is some lame ass piece of racetrack either 1/8 or 1/4 mile long. The only thing good about a long straight piece of pavement is that planes can land somewhere. Thank god there are driving events on the road course at Texas World Speedway but that place by you looks awesome. Finally someone somewhere designs a public track where people actually need to know how to drive!

There have been a couple of attempts at private tracks here in Pennsylvania, but the thing that I don't get about the track near you is the location. I mean the last thing that the Tamworth area needs is ANOTHER tourist attraction. The traffic up there is horifying as it is, and what are they thinking to do, use Rte 16 as access? That track ought to be built further out of the White mountains region. As a tourist attraction in a region of the state that could use the revenue more I think that it would be far more successful. Even a small move of thirty miles down to the South would put this track in an area that could use expansion more, and it's closer to its core market which are Massachusettsans anyway, since I doubt if there are going to be alot of New Hampshireites who will be able to afford the track fees. Well, that's my dumb ass opinion. I'm afraid that I just don't get it THERE.

Wow. If I were a rich man, I would either join the club or build my own road course. What a cool thing.

Originally posted by grogiefrog
Wow. If I were a rich man

Way I looked at it is it was: MAYBE (if I was lucky), it would take maybe 50 years of road driving to have even the same fun as 1 day of chasing myself around the track, the skidpad, and get all the good ideas from other motorsport-heads.

So a "few grand/50 years = practically pocket change/year", or another cut is it's about 10-15% of the cost of the car premium to drive it like I stole it - and not get arrested but maybe get cheered!! :D :D

I call that the deal of the century, now I can realize the reason I bought the car in the first place - To have FUN!

I think that this is great for tracks to open like this. Gives the guy a place to drive hard and not kill any bystanders. It's like having a shooting range. Same idea. :D I always thought how cool it would be to have the money to buy my own island. What would I put on it? My own road course.

How much is the membership? Did I miss that?

Well i just got off the phone with the gentleman and this is a really great idea, they are going to have allot more going on then just driving around the track.

However i may not be joining just because of the cost. I looked into the bronze package and it is a one time fee right now of $3200 each month the price increases until the place opens. feb. will be $4000. That seems like a good enough price and i could save for that however on top of that is a $75/month ($900 annually) membership fee. I think that is what will stop me from becoming a member, i am 23 in college and cant get anything but shitty paying jobs here and the costs of maintenance on the 8 will be enough for me ;)

now if i can somehow afford the $75/mo i will join sounds amazing except for the fact that IF something does go wrong insurance probably wont cover your car.

another idea i liked was that if you get a membership and find you cannot afford to keep up with the $75/mo payments any longer (let's face it people go thru financial changes) you can opt to sell your membership to someone on thier waiting lists, they will eventually sell out of memberships and have this waiting list. You can set the price for the membership and you get 35% of the profit of what exceeds your original one time membership fee.


for those who could afford this GO FOR IT! It sounds like it will be an amazing experience. they will have traditional driving school and also have the ability for an instructor to ride with you and critique your driving decisions.

I am glad this is opening nearby where i am, maybe i will be able to join and love everything about it.

more pricing taken from thier website

The price increase schedule for the Gold individual membership is as follows

$21,000 February 1st 2004
$23,000 March 1st 2004
$25,000 April 1st 2004
$27,000 May 1st 2004
$30,000 June 1st 2004

The current price for an Individual Silver Membership is $12,000

$13,000 February 1st 2004
$14,000 March 1st 2004
$16,000 April 1st 2004
$18,000 May 1st 2004
$20,000 June 1st 2004

The current price for an Individual Bronze Membership is $4,000

The price increase schedule for the Bronze individual membership is as follows

$4,500 February 15th 2004
$5,000 March 15th 2004
$5,500 April 15th 2004
$6,500 May 15th 2004
$8,000 June 15th 2004

Originally posted by grogiefrog
I think that this is great for tracks to open like this. Gives the guy a place to drive hard and not kill any bystanders. It's like having a shooting range. Same idea. :D I always thought how cool it would be to have the money to buy my own island. What would I put on it? My own road course.

How much is the membership? Did I miss that?

there will be other vehicles on the course with you, you wont be alone... they will space drivers out by about 15 seconds but not everyone drives the same speeds so you will have to slow down and make sure the other driver waves you by knowing you are there then you can pass.

as for the memberships i posted them above but visit thier site for more info

Hello all,
Thought I'd introduce myself since my name has been mentioned. I'm one of the founders and the Director of Sales for Club Motorsports. I'm also an experienced racer and instructor having done both for the past several years with SCCA, BMWCCA, and COM. I drive the 1995 BMW M3 LWT that is on our homepage. Please forgive me that I don't own and RX-8. I have driven a few very capable RX-7 on the track and some Miata's, and in the past owned an 626. They are all great cars as I'm sure the RX-8 is. I do want to take this opportunity to address the concerns raised by Haze. The congestion / traffic he describes is real 20 miles to the norh of our location in Conway and N. Conway. Our facility is located just off of rt 25 in Tamworth and there are no problems with traffic in our immediate area. There are virtually no major attractions within 10-15 miles of our site. In fact we are actually in an ideal location, close enough to the resort areas to make them easily accessable yet not in the middle of them. I'm happy to answer any questions by email or phone.
Thanks again for the positive fedbaclk

dcroteau,

will you be offering any group memberships??

yea but the corporate packages are REALLY expensive

i guess it depends how many members you get together.

who here would be interested i think we would need 10+ people to make it affordable for everyone.

Just out of curiosity, those of you who have joined or are planning, have you ever been on track before? Ever run with a club on a lapping day? Time trial? Do you know what you are getting into?

nope i havent

Then you'll probably be happy to find out that there are car clubs around for lapping and time trials. These clubs are a great place to start. In the club you'll start off as a student and have an instructor in the car with you at all times. You will also get classroom instruction which should cover many aspects of safety, driving, club rules, etc. For the most part, you will keep a log book and be considered a student until an instructor sees fit to recommend you for a license. When you get your license, you will be able to drive without an instructor in the car.

There will be other cars on track with you. There will be passing zones. There will be a lot of fun to be had, but safety should always come first. Most clubs will group cars by car ability and driver ability. For example, novice drivers with low powered cars won't be on track with expert drivers in their Porches.

The average cost is about $120-150 per day. Clubs in the Northeast run at many tracks, including NHIS, Lime Rock, Watkins Glen, VIR, Summit Point, Mosport, Mt Tremblant, etc. Some really nice places! Depending on the club & venue, you should get a minimum of 4 30 minute track sessions, though I have seen as much as 4-5+ hours of open track.

Before heading out, you have to realize that anything can happen on track. You might be the safest driver in the world, but that won't help you if the car infront of you drops a whole bunch of oil in your braking zone. In clubs like these, accidents are usually rare, but they do happen. That said, I would HIGHLY recommend getting in touch with some clubs that might be in your area.

I love the idea of Club Motorsports and wish them only the best! It is a great time to be an automobile enthusiast/driver. That said, I would find out more about how rungroups will be organized & scheduled, if there will be instruction, how drivers will be certified, etc. In the mean time, you might want to check out the locall club scene to see if you really do enjoy pushing your car to the limits around a track. Especially before you drop the big bucks!!!!

Originally posted by Wildo
Then you'll probably be happy to find out that there are car clubs around for lapping and time trials. These clubs are a great place to start. In the club you'll start off as a student and have an instructor in the car with you at all times. You will also get classroom instruction which should cover many aspects of safety, driving, club rules, etc. For the most part, you will keep a log book and be considered a student until an instructor sees fit to recommend you for a license. When you get your license, you will be able to drive without an instructor in the car.

There will be other cars on track with you. There will be passing zones. There will be a lot of fun to be had, but safety should always come first. Most clubs will group cars by car ability and driver ability. For example, novice drivers with low powered cars won't be on track with expert drivers in their Porches.

this is exactly what Club Motor Sports offers....

Originally posted by idle0ne
this is exactly what Club Motor Sports offers....

Then you should be psyched! ;) Clubs don't charge a $3200 joining fee or a monthly membership fee. Clubs usually charge about $30 for annual dues, then $120-150 per event. For the most part, you could consider a club event 4 driving sessions at Club Motorsports. If you get the Bronze membership, you pay $900 per year for upto 20 driving sessions. That breaks down to about $45 per session. Even if a club is charging $150 per event, then you are paying $37.50 per session. At a club/school, and depending what state you are insured in, your car could be covered. Is the same true for Club Motorsports?

I was not aware that Club Motorsports was offering instruction, let alone including it with the cost of membership. Is this true? I wouldn't take it for granted.

it is offered but it is not part of the membership.

they have not set defenite prices yet but to have an instructor go in your car with you for a 30 min session you are talking around $25-$30 per session.

they will also offer traditional driving school that will be 1,2 and 3 day courses. i am not sure what these will be priced.

yes they chage an initiation fee and they charge a monthly fee, however they are going to have ALLOT more than a car club, read thier site they will have pools, tennis courts resturaunt, garages, hotel, blah blah blah.

however i think a car club would be better for my wallet, but i dont know of any that have access to tracks etc... can you recommend any in the VT, NY, NH area?

I couldn't help out anyone on the East Coast, but over here in the SF Bay Area, there are a good number of tracks. I personally have done track days at Laguna Seca, Thunderhill (http://www.thunderhill.com/school.html) (very cool track) and Buttonwillow and sooner or later I'll try Sears Point. For about $200 or so, you get pro instruction and you get to find out what your car feels like at the limits.

The only problem is that as soon as you get home you want to spend money on the car. Shocks, sways, springs, racing seats, racing belts, forced induction......

"How do you make a small fortune in racing? Start with a large fortune."


- Matt

oh i should mention that Club Motor Sports has no insurance to cover your vehicles.... The gentleman i talked to said you might be able to persuade your ins co to cover it by saying it is a private road not a race track but some may not be covered, that would be the biggest thing stopping me from doing that.

Do you have a Porsche or BMW club in your area? Boston BMW ( http://www.boston-bmwcca.org ) has events at NHIS, Lime Rock and other tracks every year. Dan mentioned COM ( http://www.comscc.org ) earlier. They are a great club to run with. This season's schedule is already posted, including trips to NHIS, Lime Rock, Watkins Glen, Summit Point, Mosport, etc. Actually, looks like they are planning a two-day event at the Club Motorsport track!

Ask around about other clubs in your area. If you autocross, then there have to be people at those events that could give you plenty of info about options in your area.

Good luck! My only regret about racing/driving competitively is not starting sooner!

Originally posted by Vaillant
The only problem is that as soon as you get home you want to spend money on the car. Shocks, sways, springs, racing seats, racing belts, forced induction......


...and tires, can't forget the tires!
LOL!! Sounds like a true Miata guy. Takes one to know one, and I should know! ;) ;) :D :D

haha

NASA (http://www.nasanortheast.org/), SCDA (http://www.scda1.com/), and PDA (http://www.imp-auto.com/pda/) also organize open tracking events in the North East. My experience so far has only been with NASA and they did a great job of reminding you that your out on the track to have fun not to grab the checkered flag and everyone will be happier if you keep the shiny side up. :p

I've been waiting for the 2004 schedule to be posted so I can sign up for Watkins Glen, Lime Rock, and NHIR. If you are interested in trying a track day just let me know and maybe we can plan on going to the same event.

Originally posted by Wildo
...and tires, can't forget the tires!
LOL!! Sounds like a true Miata guy. Takes one to know one, and I should know! ;) ;) :D :D

Seriously, tires make a HUGE difference. I put Kuhmo Victoracers on my stock rims and the grip level is so much higher than any street rubber (once the Kuhmos warm up).

My roommate has a 230+ rwhp Miata and, at the last track event I went to, my 130 hp (probably 110 rwhp) Miata would easily pull away in any long sweeper.

- Matt

For those of us a tad south of the Mason-Dixon, it ain't all NASCAR. A newbie down just north of Camden, SC is Carolina Motorsports Park (http://www.carolinamotorsportspark.com/) .

I don't know jack about the place really (sorry), but there's their website. (I think they're not really getting going real well, but I might be wrong.)