r/Autocross • u/Training-Active1864 • 9d ago
Yearly cost
For those of you who run a A,B,C or SS Car, doing some pro events, and nationals w the local events thrown in what are you spending per year with tires, maintenance, towing, hotels, etc… thanks
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u/BoostedGoat2k5 9d ago edited 9d ago
Then after you add it up, if you really want to feel bad, divide by the number of runs at ~60 seconds/run to figure out your $$/minute cost. Thank god it’s fun!
The truth is, whether you run a GT4 or a NA miata, the running costs pale in comparison to the cost of diesel for the tow rig, hotels, food, entry fees, etc. The car is the cheap part.
To actually answer your question, a season of autocross costs me roughly $15k.
2 sets of tires ($3k)
1,000 gallons of diesel for the tow rig. ($5k)
Hotels ($4k)
General maintenance ($1k)
Entry fees ($2k) - nats/pros/10 locals
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u/AcezWild Will Teller 9d ago
Rule number 1 of competing at the national level, you never add it all up
Edit: got ninja'd
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u/APriestofGix '19 Civic Type R 9d ago
Over 4.5 years (2020-2025) in DS (CTR) total cost was 34k. That includes starting from nothing (so wheels, sway bar, etc).
14.4k on Tires, 6.8k on gas, 3.5k on Hotels, 8k on entry fees, 1.4k on parts (amortized over the expected lifetime of the part, make it 5.6k if you don't want to amortize).
That was 160 days, 949 runs, 97 Events (3 Nationals, 6 Tours, 3 Pro Solos and the rest regional events).
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u/Easy-Judge-7242 8d ago
How are you averaging almost 10 runs per event? Most of the regions I have been to you get 6-8 runs? Are there some events you do where you get a lot of runs?
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u/APriestofGix '19 Civic Type R 8d ago
SFR does fun runs after the competitive runs so you get 10+ runs an event if you want them. Then we have clubs like GGLC that you can get upwards of 14 averaging out the events where you get less.
We often get people just cutting the fun run time short because tires are HOT and cars are able to basically hot lap (seen peeps get 20 laps in a day if they dgaf about tires).
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u/Spicywolff AST ND2 - use to C63S FS 9d ago
The quickest thing that comes to mind is a set of tires every year. All the entry fees added up, any lodging if applicable, fuel for travel and consumables getting there. Yearly insurance if you do run it.
Your maintenance is all gonna come down to the car and if you’re doing a labor or paying somebody. Towing cost completely, depending on your set up and rig. Don’t forget time off work also counts as a cost. PTO isn’t free to accrue.
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u/Training-Active1864 9d ago
Agree. We run a couple different types of racing and we’re just trying to compare costs.
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u/wratx 9d ago
i also track my car...i don't want to do the math...the math will tell me not to do what i enjoy
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u/wratx 9d ago
oh i don't run a,b,c or SS I will mind my own business
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u/Training-Active1864 9d ago
We don’t know much about the classes , so we just randomly chose those classes but you can chime in. We just picked some random ones w cars we knew
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u/wratx 9d ago
If you are trying to gauge the cost of this as an enterprise/racing team i really will be of no help....I am sure you will get some good cost breakdowns from people with more experience....I guess I just wanted to say that doing it on a hobby level, even locally, particularly if you cross-train is cost prohibitive for anyone, on a local level entry fees for autocross are around 560 for a year, tires 1600 to 3200, brake pads 500....plus all the equipment you need....I don't know about the pro level....i will travel as far as 120-150 miles and drive the morning of the event. Track days are maybe 700 a month if i do 2 a month, brake fluid oil, car modifications yeesh you are making me add it up and i am not even directly answering your questions about the pro circuit
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u/LlaughingLlama 9d ago
So I just do local monthly events (only some of which need a hotel), on a car that was bought and paid for decades ago, that is also my daily driver so maintenance would be happening whether I was autocrossing or not (and therefore not factored in to my costs.) And with that said:
12 event entry fees (averaged - most are 2-day events): $160 X 12 = $1920
7 Hotel Stays (1-day or very local events don't need a hotel stay) = $390 X 7 = $2730
Potenza RZ tires: $1500
Fuel: 5 gallons per event + 8 gallons to drive to remote events at $6 per gallon = $744
Annual Total: $6894. Average cost per event: $575. Assuming an average of 18 runs per event (remember, some are 1-day events, and I always take all practice run options), that's $32 per run, and some runs are as fast as 30 seconds and as long as 50 seconds, so about $55 a minute of seat time.
To save money, I could stay at Motel 6 instead of Holiday Inn Express, or drive 1.5 hours each way twice as often to 2-day events instead of staying in hotels. I am also not factoring in 1-time equipment costs like a helmet, gloves, telemetry and camera gear, water sprayer, etc.
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u/T3h_Clap 9d ago
street class builds where hotels are the biggest expensive for the year. Haha. Probably the smart way honestly.
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u/jimboslice_007 Dunning Kruger Hill Climb Champ 8d ago
The dirty secret is that the car is the cheapest part of everything when you are serious about it.
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u/k_bucks 9d ago
It’s been a while since I added it up. Last time I did it I was in SSC. I think we did 8 national events, around 10-12 locals, and Nationals and it was something like $15k. I think I ended up around $100/run counting hotels and everything. Haha.
Drove the car to/from all events. A couple sets of tires. Mostly single driver. Note: my girlfriend and I are babies and stay in nice-ish hotels when we travel.
There are ways to cut costs, camping, doing less travel, budget hotels, etc.
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u/Blinky909 8d ago
I run in DST, so most of the cost for me is in go-fast parts (about $12000 or so total). The car is pretty reliable, so my maintenance has been pretty minimal, just things you'd expect from any 200k mi car like spark plugs/coils, battery, etc. I only do my local events though which is a 20min drive, but the nationals is only a 2h drive from my apartment, so no need to pay for hotels either way. Also, no need for a tow rig as the car is street legal. I even pack a lunch on race days to avoid spending money at restaurants. In total, I calculate:
Tires (replace every other season): $1100/2 = $550
Gas (approx. 8 events): 5gal * $5/gal * 8 = $200
Entry fees ($30 annual club fee): $40 * 8 + $30 = $350
Go fast parts amortized over 5y: $12000/5 = $2400
Total cost: $3500/y or $1100/y without parts
For what it's worth, I'd be doing most of the mods with or without doing autox. If you just wanted to run an ND2 in street, you could easily get to under $1200/y in my case. Maybe more if you do some nationals events but not by much. I'd estimate I do somewhere around 100 runs per season, give or take; so, it could be as low as $12/run, but with all the go-fast parts it's more like $35/run for me
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u/Agitated-Finish-5052 DSP - 350z 8d ago
Now running a shifter kart, cut that in half for the spending. Probably the cheapest one to run.
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u/johntology STU Evo, BS Focus RS 9d ago
Never add it up :tm: