Legalize racing cars/kit cars?

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hawkeye122

hawkeye122

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gdwest1
I was pondering about winning the lottery today, a thought occurred to me.
"I'd definitely buy an LMP2 car."
Not a bad thought, it's probably one of the quickest cars you could purchase at that price thanks to the cost cap.

Sadly, they aren't registered highway vehicles, and it wouldn't be entirely legal. This presents a problem.

I feel that a Radical is poor compromise, it's smaller and looks significantly less BA.

So if I had a Closed-top Lola, how hard would it be? It has fenders, a multitude of lights, rear view mirrors, windshield wipers, I'd probably run rain tyres, windows and probably one of the worlds safer crash structures.

Obviously it would need a "bit" of emissions work, but with a production-sourced engine, would it take that much?

"Hawkeye, you're an idiot. A P2 car would be so impractical!" Well yeah, but neither is a Miata, or a Lamborghini. Practicality isn't the point. It would be nifty is all.

I then further wonder about "What about a GT3 car? That would be fractionally more practical..." Do they start life as road cars? Could I take it in and be like "Oh yeah, SLS, nbd"? Would it be easier to go BUY an R8 and then deck it out? The "illegal" solution would be to buy a Baby Blue Aston, and then a Gulf colored GTE car, clip the plates off the street car and call it good. Would most policemen even notice? I doubt it.
But that's hypothetical and I really don't think anyone should try it ever.

Any cars you guys would like to get out on the road?
 
Well you could just take a WRC car and run it on the road, they have to be road-legal anyways.


The only problem I see with a race car is the engine, emissions and noise.

That's going off of a GT3 type car, I don't see an LMP car being licensed easily due to the lack of crash testing.



And a Miata is completely practical...
 
Bopop4
Well you could just take a WRC car and run it on the road, they have to be road-legal anyways.


The only problem I see with a race car is the engine, emissions and noise.

That's going off of a GT3 type car, I don't see an LMP car being licensed easily due to the lack of crash testing.



And a Miata is completely practical...
Click to expand...
Not if you're 6'4" and need to go get groceries.

The noise, yeah, hadn't considered that.
 
Kit cars are legal.

Assuming you would silence the exhaust and make it actually legal to drive...

Race cars on road tires would be pretty slow. The suspension is designed from the ground up to be run on race tires and on a smooth race track's surface. The patchwork surface you find on curving roads will spit you out if you attempt them with any speed. The suspension's low travel would suck at negotiating uneven surfaces or speed bumps. The engine is designed to be run at race speeds so it lacks power at the low RPMs. The clutch and gearbox in particular would be extremely impractical on the road.

The car would be less practical, harder to manage, and actually slower than road cars.

You could cruise in it. That's about all it's good for.
 
How about a Dauer 962? Probably only legal in Germany though.

dauer-962-le-mans-03.jpg
 
Like these?
CLK-GTR
Mercedes_CLK_GTR_Crop.jpg


LeBlanc Mirabeau and Caroline
2009-LeBlanc-Mirabeau-Leblanc-Caroline-1920x1440.jpg


GT40
1967-Ford-GT40-Series-I-4.jpg
 
Plus crash testing isn't just how safe your car is. I don't suppose a LMP2 car is particularly 'pedestrian friendly'.
 
I wouldn't plan on smacking too many pedestrians with my LMP2 car in the first place.
 
Race cars converted to road cars are notoriously dreadful at being road cars, for the reasons Zenith mentions above. And do you really want to have to have a small team of technicians on hand to start your car every time you want to take it for a spin?

Most GT class race cars are less powerful than their road going versions anyway. By the time you've raised the ride height, softened off the suspension a little and fitted road legal tires, you're left with a slower, noisier, more uncomfortable, less practical single-seat car that's a pig to drive at any less than 8/10ths.
 
Indeed. If you had that much dosh you'd be better off just actually racing the thing.
 
TheCracker
Most GT class race cars are less powerful than their road going versions anyway.
Click to expand...

This is another important thing that I've missed. Most race cars have displacement limits. Road cars don't. You could have a higher displacement motor in a standard road car that would produce more power and be easier to use on the road. I can't think of many race cars that have more displacement than an LS3 V8, one of the most common motor swaps.
 
I have a solution to your problem: Factory 5 Daytona Coupe. Impractical, loud, but looks badass and is relatively cheap, and since it uses Ford V8's, it's emissions legal too.
 
And with current hybrid, diesel and other eco-friendly engines being used in LMP's, you could add a muffler and still keep it race-spec!
ish.
 
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