Do you have a race car or a track car?
 

Had a bit of a conversation with a friend of a friend over the weekend. He states he daily's his race car. So I asked him what races he partakes in. But he only mentioned event names for track days. Then I asked if he actually races the car or just does track days. Which he then mentions they're both the same. We got into a bit of disagreement and I wasn't trying to put him down, but simply all I was trying to do was correct his definition of race car vs. track car.

I always though a race car was towed via trailer(not always), in sanctioned races (Grids, poles, specific classes), vs a track car was just a hobby to drive a vehicle on the track on track days. (point to pass, specific ways to pass, no hard racing, ETC.)

What are your thoughts on this?

against time, or against opponents on a closed quarter seems like a general definition of a race...could be casual, semi-casual, or pro


to me a race car is zero compromise...striped interior, 4+ pt harness, huge wang, slicks 24/7...open wheel or closed
anything else to me is just a road/street car

In my humble opinion, a race car is one that is raced. Whether time attack, hillclimb, autocross, or wheel to wheel - it is a car that is competitively built to win.

There are many classes in even wheel to wheel racing that do not allow huge slicks and a huge wang, doesn't really make them any less racecars.

-Mark

so you’re saying if you built a car competitively built to win but never entered it in a race but only track days you’d still consider it a race car

To me a race car or track car are the same. I use both terms interchangeably when talking about my 86, I usually use the term race car when i'm trying to make myself feel better about it. Realistically it's just a stock car with a couple of bolt ons, so is it really a race or track car? Naaaaaaaaah

I guess if you wanna break it down a race car would be full blown cunty to drive on the street, track car would maybe be your weekend warrior machine?

Either way this thread is kind of pointless and similar to arguing if the glass is half full or half empty...

What if my corolla i'm planning on doing time attack or hill climbs in it and it's in my garage in pieces being "built" and driven sporadically here and there, can I call it a race car?

To me for it to count as racing you have to actually be racing against the clock or other drivers (ie road racing, hillclimb, stage rally). I wouldn't consider an untimed event (lapping/track days, TSD or gimmick rally, etc) to be a race, especially since the event description usually states "this is not a race" somewhere in there. To the best of my knowledge AutoX is the only exception to this.

A car that is set up to pass tech in a racing event won't be road legal because of the cage/seats/harness/etc and it would be unsafe to drive without a helmet on (which isn't legal iirc) so if it's daily driven (or driven on the road at all) it isn't a race car.

A race car is trailered to the track, and is not street legal. Otherwise it’s a track car as far as I’m concerned

I took my civic to the track but it wasn't a race car. It was my daily that I raced but I wouldn't call it a race car even though I "raced" it more than most "race cars" do.

I guess it's just what you wanna call it to make yourself feel better about yourself.

A race car, to me is something that doesn't drive on streets. Otherwise you have a street car, that you race.

Berz out.

Good thing for me, hardparking is so much easier to define. :fullofwin:

No... the very first thing I said was that a race car is a car that IS raced. Only doing track days =/= racing.

-Mark

is it tomato or tomato?

Race cars are built to meet specific requirements to specific series that you participate in with a racing licence. Anything not built according to a class is not a race car. Your friend sounds like a retard.

Auto cross is a timing and competitive event with classes. But you don't need a track car or race car. Confusing lol

Track day is a "lapping day" at VIMC. No timed or competitive driving allowed. But of course people use an APP and time their laps anyway.

You will find that the street cars that people race are generally in classes which are more "grassroots", limiting things like aero, fuel, tires, etc. These in my opinion, are not race cars, they are street cars which are driven competitively in a street/modified classed competition. Think street class time attack or auto cross. These events usually also limit the driver to non-professional, amateur or hobby only.

A "race car" is a car that is not street legal, because to be competitive in its class, requires non-street legal equipment for safety, performance, etc.

If you need me, I’ll be autocrossing this weekend in an amateur event, requiring no special licenses, for fun. I’ll still be telling people I went racing for the weekend though.

-Mark

http://www.uhlmann.ca/wp-content/upl...91958079_o.jpg

To everyone else that's not into Motorsports, race car and track car is the same thing to them lol

I think 'race car' is a bit pretentious, unless you literally have a stripped out car that is purpose built for racing, and is only used for racing/track days. Everything else is just the weekend car or track car.

IMO If you use a car for Road Racing, it's a race car, as it has all the necessary safety equipment (even if you drive on the street). Track car would be anything else motorsports related.

by definition of the word race,

race
rās/Submit
noun
1.
a competition between runners, horses, vehicles, boats, etc., to see which is the fastest in covering a set course.

Therefore, if the vehicle is in a competition that is timed or scored to see who is the fastest it is a race car.

If it does not compete in these parameters, it is a track car as in a vehicle you drive on the track.

I also think that a race car is only a race car if it was purpose built to compete in a type of race for specific rules.

For example a Porsche GT3 RSR is built to compete in LE MANS = Race Car
A Zonda R does not meet any qualifications or rules to compete in any type of race = track car.

It has nothing to do with speed or how fast the car is, just the purpose.

Some people just like calling their cars a race car because it makes them feel better.

my 2 cents.

P.S. racecar is also cooler because its one of the few words that are the same spelled backwards and forwards. Interesting fact.

i like that

https://i.imgflip.com/rob5b.jpg

So what do I own? The Rally Bug was built as a race car, and used for competition in it's first couple of years. But now it's used just for CCA events, which are non-competitive, and some track days which are typically not competitive.

I'll still refer to it as "the race car" to some people, but usually it's "the Rally Bug". I don't think either terms are necessarily incorrect, which can be the case for a lot of cars out there.

Personally, if someone is calling their car a "race car" because they want the recognition/ego boost of calling it a race car...then it probably isn't. If they refer to their car as a "race car" because it's the easiest way to quickly identify a particular vehicle over another vehicle...it's probably a race car. I would simply call the Rally Bug "the bug" if I didn't have to differentiate between the others in my garage or that I've owned.

Does your friend vape?

According to the TV show Street Outlaws this is a street car because it has metal quarter panels, roof/hood and it still has a vin tag.

https://i0.wp.com/chevroletforum.com...g?w=1000&ssl=1

https://st.hotrod.com/uploads/sites/...nd%7C660%3A495

^ If you got a VI in that I doubt they'd agree

LMFAO a race car can be any car he wants it to be, what if he races the bus daily? :)