How much to charge an Autocross co-driver?
 

As I have improved in Autocross and my car is starting to get competitive I now have people who want to co-drive my car.

I was wondering what a reasonable amount to charge for 1 days co-driving in my car. The last 2 time I have just charged my entry fee which has been $30 but I think with tires and gas I spend more than that before I even get to wear and tear on the rest of the car.

What is the going rate for a local autocross event?

What would the cost be for a National tour event?

Thanks for you help guys.

This can have a wide range of responses depending on tire cost/condition, how well you know that person, # of events, etc. but generally for a local, I think tire wear plus a few bucks is fair, and for a tour the price of one tire. This is what I consider the "friends and family" plan. More is fair for a pure transactional arrangement.

Entry fee, cost of gas and consumables (tires, brakes) plus an X amount for wear and tear (transmission, engine, general wear items like shocks etc).
Since you also had to purchase the car and tune it to make it "competitive" I think that anything less than 200$ a day is a gift.

I'm not an autoX expert though, track car rentals are at least 4x that though.

Like I have pointed out in the past, most co-drives are a gift. Nobody will ever pay the actual cost except for the most competitive cars at a National Tour, Pro Solo, or Championship where there is the possibility of contingency winnings. Unless it's somebody you are especially friends with and you are getting something else out of the deal such as vehicle setup or driving feedback from someone knowledgeable/experienced it will likely never be worth it from a compensation viewpoint IMO.

I co drove last year with Jadrice down in Texas. I covered the cost of the hotel plus some gas money, and he covered the rest. Although I did have to give him the Hoosier I won for placing 2nd down there...

Thanks, guys the people that are co-driving my car are experienced drivers who have either National level experience or have lots of local instructing experience so I am gaining tips on driving and I enjoy the competition because it makes me drive faster.

If that's the case I wouldn't charge a thing. If you are learning something from them, that will go much further than a few dollars will...

I think getting them to pay entry fee is fair, tires don't last long with 2 drivers.

I will discuss the Dixie National Tour with him which is our primary goal obviously splitting all travel expenses then Maybe 2 tires if he want to drive it regularly at local events.

Be sure to have an agreement in advance for what happens if:

Something breaks

The co-driver wins cash or tires

I am yet to ask anyone for money for driving my car at a local event, and Paul you've seen how often others drive with me. I leave it up to the other driver's discretion if they feel like offering me money. And things have failed or gone wrong on my car (like today). But the way I look at it, so many people have been kind enough to offer me a ride when I didn't have one, especially nationally, that if I can do the same for others locally, I do it. Especially if I can learn from the other driver. I don't think one local event is a big deal, but for a longer-term co-drive I would probably bring up the question. You could also figure out your costs and charge per run. When Marcus and I co-drove in CS, we would split tire cost and gas/travel expenses 50/50, and everybody kept whatever contingencies they won nationally.

Howdy,

This is squarely in the "it depends" category. I've done a lot of codriving, with a lot of different deals. Everyone has their own levels of expectations.

I started writing up a long explanation of what I do, but fundamentally.... Its your car and you need to be happy with whatever the arrangement is. If you're helping out a buddy and don't need to worry about the cash, then don't worry about the cash. If you're getting a national level guy in the car and are learning from him, that has some value. If you're a little strapped for cash and are looking for a codriver to help with expenses, then focus on the money a little more.

Etc. The only thing I guess I'd say is that looking _only_ at "what fee should I charge?" is an easy way to ignore other benefits you might get like warmer tires, learning from your codriver, helping out a friend, etc. I'm not saying you should ignore the straight financial side either, but don't focus on that and ignore the rest.

In the end, you need to make sure you're having fun and its an arrangement you like. After all, its a hell of a lot cheaper to just sit at home and watch TV, right? We don't autox to save money. :-)

Mark

Yeah, only RT drivers do that. ;)

Its cheaper not to have twice the wear and tear without sitting at home watching TV

I wouldn't charge a thing honestly. having someone to hang-out with and enjoy the day and then build a friendship where they come wrench on the car in the future is worth far more to me. Honestly when I did autocrosses we had bets... Looser pays the entry fee, made for a lot more fun and we battled harder for that than the trophy! They now all crew for me for free when I am off racing W2W and really need them.

If its someone with experience... get them in your car. Beg them and don't even consider charging them. People pay all the time for driver coaching. Take advantage of it if you can get it for free!

Stephen

Street tires are cheaper than cable! :lol:

I sort of agree but the guys that are driving live hours away so there is no help with wrenching on the car no splitting travel expenses.
Basically I set up the car and get it there and they just drive. Also on race day we cannot have a co-driver so it is very hard to learn anything other than the car will go faster, which I knew anyway.

I am enjoying being a student lots of guys are being very helpful giving me tips and either jumping in my car or letting me jump in there cars during test and tune to help squeeze out those few tenths out of a lap.

Does anyone have a reasonable data acquisition app for a droid to collect data about each lap that would really help to learn from other drivers. I really don't have $600+ for a proper one at the moment.

Video can go very far as well. I don't have any data acquisition yet but using video between my runs and other drivers has helped me in the past.

Good idea, a GoPro is on my Christmas list, currently I use my phone mounted on the windscreen but without seeing the driver you don't get a lot of information.

Trackaroo's trackmate works wonders if you have an external gps antenna :)

Howdy,

Change the mounting position?

Something like this is a good view for a single camera. Its not perfect, but its better than the standard "straight out the front" view:


A gopro or similar cheap camera setup is a good path for comparing drivers. A data system is nice as well. You can find DL1's usually for $500 or a little more. You want something that can provide a good mph trace around the course at a minimum.

The best, IMHO, is an integrated video & data system. The cheapest way I know to do that is with a RaceKeeper system, but you're starting at $1600-ish. You can get there using a DL1 based system as well using Video4 addons, but you'll spend a little more I think. A good round # budget for integrated video/data that doesn't suck to use is $2k... Well outside your budget I think.

I'd start with a used or possibly new GoPro. Then later if you want to step it up you can resell it and not be out all that much cash.

Mark

I use a concoction of GoPro, iPhone, DashWare, Harry's Lap Timer, Dual XGPS150 and PLX Kiwi Wifi. I like what I get from it.