car rental question?

[Tim Dugan]

OK here is the question i have. Would people rent a car for regional or national events and what would people like to see for a rental class? Regional events ITR/ ITS/ ITA or what ever? Or would people like to see something more along the line of national ST? / production or what ever is up and coming? I know its a random question but doing a " study" on where are people going or where they would like to see options to rent/race in. I would like to be able to race in different classes on any given weekend but i dont have enough money to build a car for all the classes i would like to race in. Some weekends ITA is the place to be and other weekend ITS/ ITB/ ITR are where it's at! Lets see what kind of discussion this can create!

[Simon T.]

You mean as in if you had a shop with rentals which cars would rent out the most?

I'd say SM, both regional and national options, and maybe an ST car. I'd even look at what T4 will bring.

[Tim Dugan]

are u sure u dont have ESPN !? LOL ive been having some crazy thoughts about things like that. Not that i have money or the backing to make that happen but it is in my mind. I like the miata idea but where else would people like to race? ITR/ITS are very competitive and maybe a little faster just an idea. Mazda versus BMW there both very easy on parts and easy to drive? Just another option other then those go carts u call a miaita

[Matt93SE]

It all depends on area.

SM, EP, STU, SRF, and ITA are all popular here. Have only seen one ITS car in years, never seen an ITR race here.

Other areas have huge ITS or ITR fields..

[Flyinglizard]

I have bought 3 old IT cars and rented them for Chump. Chump is very strong. But the cost per race is high..
The regional rentals are very weak. I have no rentals for the double school. ( first time in 16yrs. @ 1200$ per weekend!!)

National level cars are not bad. ( points chasers)

Rentalrace cars are a poor business model right now at the low end. Move up to the pro stuff or Chump.
My finance manager defunded Chump, due to the stress of 14hr and 4 drivers per car. We were running 3 cars last year.
The entire car is a POS on mon AM also, needs about 40hrs of prep between races if it didnt blow up.

[Simon T.]

are u sure u dont have ESPN !? LOL ive been having some crazy thoughts about things like that. Not that i have money or the backing to make that happen but it is in my mind. I like the miata idea but where else would people like to race? ITR/ITS are very competitive and maybe a little faster just an idea. Mazda versus BMW there both very easy on parts and easy to drive? Just another option other then those go carts u call a miaita

If I owned a business doing it, I'd have to have a few SMs. You have a large clientele of drivers for Spec Miata. There's nothing wrong with BMWs and if it's just a business providing to a certain region, then sure, an ITS car rental would be fine if that's a large class in the region.

Spec Miatas also can be sold quickly if you need to get rid of it. The downside is they WILL get beat up at some point.

I would have said B-Spec would be a great rental car a year ago, but I'm starting to think it's a dying breed. I'm a believer in the class and love the concept but hey...

These are all just my opinions of course, I'm sure others here have more experienced insight.

[Dano77]

DO NOT USE FIRST GEN RX7's


Thats my deal. Going after the weekend warrior that is nostalgic about sporty cars with live axles.

Later,

Dan
77 IT7

[Andy Bettencourt]

You won't find many people who want to rent for a CLASS for a SEASON. Most rentals are for license fulfillment, either schools or retention.

So for schools I recommend anything from ITA-ITC or an SM with a focus on reliability and low-cost consumables over overall speed.

Every driver who might want to race in a 'class', will be different so locking into one type of IT car is limiting. SM's allow quick access to ITA/ITS and STL. Also, this type of driver MAY want new tires and a car that can run at the pointy end. Your willingness to comply will dictate the rates needed to be profitable.

[Bill Miller]

Weren't there a couple places in the NE that did SRF's? Haggerman?

I think John Weisberg (Berg Racing) has some SM's that he rents, and I know Charlie Greenhouse (Entropy Racing) had a fleet of old SR Renaults that he would rent for EMRA events and track days

I think Andy is right though, probably tough to get someone to rent for an entire season. You may have better luck offering arrive and drive prep service for someone's own car. You know, you take care of it, get it to and from the track, and support it at the track, and the owner just shows up w/ his suit and helmet.

[Tim Dugan]

Thanks for all the thoughts and advice! I like to race and would like to make racing a "part time job". Im not looking to pay my bills at home with this just looking to make racing a little more.... well more. Not really sure how to explain what i want. Not trying to compete with Flatout or jerry with the miatas. They seem to have a pretty good handle on that. Thats why i was looking at other reantal cars or the arrive and drive idea with track support. The hard part is we do so much with track support now with people is how do u start. The blethen family has been doing this for many years and done very well with very little. We have been discussing this for years and now i guess im doing a little pushing to make something happen. So thanks again just pocking around to see what the masses what ill check back in LOL

[Andy Bettencourt]

I think you need to either find a customer and define what you can do for them or define what you can do in total and find a customer. Our biggest business is Arrive and Drive. Yes we build 3-4 new cars every winter and we have 4 rental SM's but the core business is A&D for as many as 20-25 unique customers per year. For us, this is what in generally encompasses:

- Car storage
- Car transport
- Spares storage
- Spares transport
- Fuel and tire management (acquisition, storage and management)
- Pre race alignment by track
- Re-alignments if needed during races
- Full crew duties (including but not limited to things like full damage repair or transmission/clutch/diff replacement, tires, gas, lap times, any driver assistance) during race weekend
- Data and video analysis and coaching
- Off season tech
- Hospitality / driver area for warmth, cool, food
- Post race maintenance service/repair/upgrades or changes
...and it goes on and on

The rentals are largely break even or loss-leaders used as a feeder system into our core competency which is arrive and drive.

If I were you and I think I know what you are looking for, I would do this:

Hook on with a person who needs a crew person at the track, define your role, and charge them a flat fee. Maybe add other customers at that same level of service or expand your service offering for one focused customer.

Or build (or buy) a rental car. Offer 'discount' rental experiences. No guarantee of tire heat-cycles or spares/repair but some simple level of SLA. Make sure you have a signed contract on damage.

Tons of ways to go if you want to talk. Good stuff.

[gran racing]

Almost regardless of which direction you go, it's going to be a lot of work. How much free time do you have? I know with a little one in the house it can be challenging.

As far as cars go, it would be really hard not to go with a Miata. There's good demand for them, parts can be found, and they're just extremely reliable.

Maybe working with one of the shops that rents cars? But then you'll be at the track working, and not racing. Kinda defeats the purpose. I think the ChumpCar could be a neat idea especially if you could get Ray / Stephen to buy in on it a bit. You guys already hang out together and do car stuff, maybe have this as a project? I'd rent a ChumpCar ride from ya in the future.

[Flyinglizard]

I stopped rentals when my Son started playing baseball. Wasnt worth the time away from home. Cant buy the time back later..
Now that he is 21 and full into racing, we are at it again. There is a good chance that if the racing made me miss some of his life, that he would not embrace it.