Cost of building your own race track?

[nyeboy]

It's something I've always wanted to do, there are large amounts of land available to buy in the bush of Australia for around $50,000 and I'd love to make it into a race track.

It's just a boyish dream but I'd like to know what would be needed to achieve such a dream. Such as, how much land would be needed to make a good sized track with good run offs, what it would cost for the tarmac, cost of buying or renting the equipment needed to make the track etc.

 

[Boffin]

er.....alot. Council requirements, legal obligations to have safety staff, materials, land clearing, designers, engineers.

If you do end up making a racetrack...can I come play?

 

[nyeboy]

The track would just be for personal use, would you still need safety staff for that?

 

[Boffin]

well, I s'pose you could classify it as a driveway....but even if it's on private property I think so - but not certain.

 

[nyeboy]

I know of a private owned circuit around Newcastle somewhere, so it can be done. Here's a picture of it from Google Maps.

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?ie=UTF8&om=1&ll=-33.267434,151.236119&spn=0.009975,0.017037&t=k&z=16

 

[Northstar]

Not really sure, I guess depending on size around 700,000 US dollars for a smaller track.

 

[Jim Prower]

There's guys I know who have Motocross tracks in their backyard...Basically, if you're rural, and you own the land (and are alright with not making money off it) you can build whatever you like.

On the other hand, opening this up to a paying public could get rather messy.

 

[Beerz]

If you do all the handwork by yourself you can save a lot of money.

 

[Roo]

How big a track are you thinking of? A small scale thing in your driveway like this, or something a bit larger?

 

[Paulie]

I'd guess millions. Everything costs millions these days.........

 

[Eric.]

I'd guess millions. Everything costs millions these days.........

To do something really nice, definitely. It depends on the length, width, if you're gonna have multiple layouts, the topography of the land (will anything need dug out/flattened/raised?), whether you actually have walls...

I would think you could just have a concrete company start pouring as if it were a driveway job...but the ground is going to need to be prepped appropriately and be sure that its not going to sink from having the weight of the concrete and cars...Otherwise its probably going to crack and stuff.

I'd file this in the "If you have to ask, you can't afford it" bin.

 

[Beerz]

I'd file this in the "If you have to ask, you can't afford it" bin.

Exactly. 👍

 

[neanderthal]

The land is the cheap part.
Unless you're doing a dirt track with Porta Potties for facilities.

 

[CyborgGT]

Searching Google:

Paving 3 miles would cost well over a million dollars.... that can change a lot depending on the surface you are paving, and what needs to be done UNDER the asphalt.

This is a big project, you will need a general contractor to handle all the subs.... but this would cost into the millions. I got a quote for a 1/4 mile of asphalt on a surface that could be directly paved on (was already hard pack lime rock) and it was 80 grand.... and it was not nearly as wide as a race track would need to be.

Start off with calling general contractors/civil engineers. Create a specific statement of work for what you want done to give to the contractors.

You can also call a paving company if all you want is pavement.

source

Apparantly, GM's gigantic proving grounds only cost $7 million. I've dreamt of building my own track as well, more about the size of Tsukuba. Compared to GM's compound, it looks like something that size could easily cost under a million... unless buying tarmac in bulk is somehow cheaper

 

[niky]

The easiest way to build one is to build a rallycross track. Doesn't need as much in terms of equipment, and you can use haybales for barriers.

Of course, for it to be a good track, you'll want to compact the soil for a relatively hard-packed surface, so that it doesn't degrade after just a few runs.

The great part about a rallycross track? Lower speeds, so it's safer, and more sideways, so it's more fun. Just be sure to get all the rocks out, or you'll be too busy flipping cars back onto their wheels to have a really good time.

 

[Azuremen]

My parents left my brother and I about 80 acres of land, with a hill and some wooded areas on it. I plan to eventually make a single lane wide dirt course around it, and maybe later pave it if resources become available. Would be my driveway later on when I build a house there

But a proper track with width for passing and such would be a fortune to build.

 

[CyborgGT]

This is an interesting thread. Some of the posters seem to have a bit of experience with costs of laying pavement. Some solid figures are given.

 

[nobuffalo]

My parents left my brother and I about 80 acres of land, with a hill and some wooded areas on it. I plan to eventually make a single lane wide dirt course around it, and maybe later pave it if resources become available. Would be my driveway later on when I build a house there

But a proper track with width for passing and such would be a fortune to build.

This is what I would do, start off with a good dirt track. Drive on it for a while, pack it down real good. Then go gravel, do the same with that. And after that if ever possible pave it or asphalt it.

They where re-doing about 25 miles of highway close to where I used to live, and somehow one of the locals was able to get alot of the excess asphalt and he made himself a really nice and very long driveway. I forget how he was able to get it, but that would be awesome.

I'm pretty sure a personal race track is any auto enthusiasts dream.

 

[nyeboy]

I was talking to my uncle who works for the council and he said that they have to pay to dump tarmac. I could offer to take it off their hands for free or pay them a small fee if they're too tight to give it away, that could save a lot of money. So even just making a drag strip would be fantastic, maybe a rally circuit with just packed down dirt aswell if there's enough space. Ahh, that would be heaven.

 

[homeforsummer]

To be honest, if you're building a track for yourself, it's probably not that expensive. That Aussie track above doesn't appear to have any gravel traps, much run-off etc. If you're intending to use it for events however, I expect that's when things get expensive.

 

[seanyb505]

I keep thinking about something as a driveway. I just dont want it to be a crapload of u turns, but actually having bends that you could carry some speed would be nice. I dont want to be doing 70-80 mph in my backyard, maybe 40-50 would be enough to get some adrenaline going. If I ever dont live in a suburban area its something Ill definitely think about. And then become friends with a contractor. I like to think I could design something with 10-20 acres of land. Maybe open it up for friends, go kart racing for family members. Fun stuff.

 

[Jim Prower]

Would merely be a matter of how much landscaping and asphalt you can afford, then. If you don't open up to the public, you don't have to worry about insuring for liability...I don't think.

 

[Eric.]

Cheapest racetrack - 40 acres of field and woods, a chainsaw, a truck, and an Evo or STI.

 

[homeforsummer]

Would merely be a matter of how much landscaping and asphalt you can afford, then. If you don't open up to the public, you don't have to worry about insuring for liability...I don't think.

That's my line of thinking with my previous post. If you aren't opening it to the public then all the safety stuff is pretty much at your own discression. If the track is made public, safety becomes obligatory.

 

[Philly]

I'd suggest making a go-cart track if you really want to do this. It'll probably be cheaper because it won't have to be as strong and smaller. Plus it's easier to build a safe go-cart track than something you'll be driving cars on.

And I would suspect that it would be a lot more fun tossing a go-cart around at low speeds in your driveway. Or you could just build a parking lot and buy some red and white curbing and make a cool little autocross track.

 

[harrytuttle]

Apparantly, GM's gigantic proving grounds only cost $7 million.

In what year? 1924?

I say: unless you hit a 9-digit lottery (after taxes), make a go-kart track. Not quite the high-octane experience you may be looking for, but far more accessible both in terms of cost and ability. Plus, a 30MPH go-kart at 2" from the pavement can be far more appealing than a Caterham at 70MPH...or so I hear.

 

[homeforsummer]

I've never found go-karts as entertaining to drive as normal cars, regardless of the sense of speed. That's not to say they aren't great fun, but driving a car quickly is more fun, for me at least.