Do any of you ever think about giving up this hobby?

So, I've been running autocross and time trials for a few years now (I don't have anywhere to park a trailer, which has kept me away from the wheel-to-wheel money pit). During that time, I've had a ton of fun and met quite a few great people! I've also had quite a bit of pain (particularly my lower back & hip), frustration/stress and thrown away more money than I care to think about. I do wonder to myself: how in the world do people afford this hobby? I'm pretty sure a crack cocaine habit might be cheaper. 

I sometimes come to the point where I wonder: is the occasional fun automotive outing worth the hardship that it costs? Do any of you ever come to the same conclusion? 

I started in autocross with the SCCA, like I assume most of you did. There's a lot to like about the SCCA, particularly in the Street classes: mods are kept to a minimum, which helps the cost not get out of hand. Or so it might seem. It's all fun and games until you start getting competitive... then you find yourself somehow justifying $800+ on a single splined sway bar, or $3000-$4000+ on a set of shocks in your "Street" car because the class allows it and you're trying to gain every advantage possible... to say nothing of the cost of tires, or that lightweight set of OEM sized wheels to save 2-3 lbs per corner. But still, the money spent on mods can be cheap compared to other forms of racing...

But the cost of cars isn't. Unfortunately, while the SCCA tries hard to keep costs down in several areas, because of the structure of the classes, there's always a "car to have". You might have the right car for the class right now, but next year, when that shiny new speed machine comes out, or they do a class restructure, all that hard work you put into the car might not do you any good. All of the sudden, you're trading in your beloved car of X number of years and eating a large bill for new taxes/registration and depreciation. Long term, even the "cheap" classes aren't cheap. 

So, you turn to organizations like NASA or Gridlife. From all I can tell, NASA's ruleset is likely the most fair rulesets I can think of, with a real effort to not create a "car to have" (even if it does happen from time to time). Last year at NASA Nationals, an old FWD Saturn SC2 took 2nd place in TT6 lol- talk about being able to make almost anything competitive. The idea behind it is great. In the lower classes, plenty of older, relatively cheap cars can be made competitive... but the cost to build said machines are astronomical for most ordinary folk. I can't even begin to think about how much such a machine would cost if you were having to pay for labor... and it gets a whole lot worse if the local fast guys literally own their own speed shops and are out racing to make a name for themselves, with an entire team to wrench at their facility and a budget that would make a privateer cry at night... how do you really compete with that while working a full time job/career and taking care of a family? 

Speaking of labor, how many of you have sustained long-term injuries from overuse in the garage? For all the work in the garage, these days I get to spend plenty of time with my physical therapist, Tommy. The more interesting days are when he's trying to use cupping therapy to get blood to certain injured areas and I come home with my back looking like I spent my afternoon in a make-out session with an octopus... 

And no matter how many jobs I do on how many cars, no matter how much my tool collection grows and my knowledge level increases, it feels inevitable that things will go wrong on a regular basis. My planned 1 day in the garage will turn into the next 1-2 weeks of troubleshooting whatever issue came up as a result of said project that weekend, and my XY budget quickly turns into an XYZ budget trying to fix whatever was broken during said project... I'll be up late, watching Youtube videos about whatever issue I'm trying to diagnose that week, unable to sleep, not wanting to go anywhere near a wrench, or even a steering wheel. The amount of space it takes up in my head, making it hard to focus on other areas of life from time to time. Does that ever happen to anyone else? 

Prior to the last couple years, where I really started to pile on the projects, I used to love CrossFit and ran all the popular endurance competitions: Tought Mudder, Spartan Race, etc. Too much time in the garage has led to injuries that make it more difficult to perform the same movements I used to perform with ease (I can't even remember the last time I tried to perform a handstand push-up lol)... it's like I traded one beloved hobby, for another, far more expensive hobby... 

Which leads me to the important question I've been asking myself lately: is it really worth it? 

I understand this is a very negative take on a long-loved hobby. But I figured if anyone would understand, it would be here. I would love to hear some struggles you folks have gone through and what you did to get passed them. 

After kid #4 I noticed that my involvement in auto hobby activity had cut back in a big way.  I just do not have the time, energy nor spare cash to devote to my hobbies that I once had.  Life just gets in the way, man.  These days I'm living the hobby vicariously through you all, lol.

I'll guess I'm significantly older than you (I'm 71) and I stopped racing in 2007 when I sold my race car to a student at the racing school. I got "sensible" and didn't immediately go buy/build a replacement. I went for a number of years scratching the automotive itch by building a Challenge car, then I got sick and have ongoing health issues that make it hard to do any car work. Yet, I just bought myself a nice Miata and I've spent the last few days scouring FB Marketplace for some cheap tires and wheels that fit, so I can give autocross a try again before I'm too old, or feeble. If you feel the way you say you do, maybe a break is in order, but don't be surprised if the itch comes back. I started my auto hobby doing TSD rallies, took a short break and then tried autocross for 10 or 12 years, then I took another break and went road racing for a decade. It doesn't hurt to take a step back and see if you miss it, or not.

I'd say there is more than one way to enjoy the automotive hobby. I went away from autocross and track days as my kids got older and required more of my time, but now that they've grown and are mostly on their own, I'd like to get back into it. But I certainly never stopped obsessing about cars, buying and selling them, working on them, driving and enjoying them. I'm a much better wrench than I was when I was actually doing a lot of events, and I go to more car shows now than I did then, too.

I actually already gave up, in part because of the SCCA and their region breakdowns. 

Got started in autocross and did that for a while and it was ok, but then we ran into site issues and it became 2+ hours each way to stand in parking lots for 6+ hours and get maybe 3 minutes of seat time. Just not worth it to me, especially because I'd rather play on dirt. 

Our local group managed to team up with a group from the other side of the state and did a rallycross program, but we had trouble keeping venues with that, despite leaving the venues in better shape than when we arrived. 

I would love to continue rally cross, but it's 3+ hours each way now to Ohio, eastern PA, or the far side of WV, which would mean keeping the excursion I loathe AND buying a trailer AND a car, or holding back at events to get the daily driver home. And for trips like that I'd rather stay overnight because I can't see to drive in the dark, so extra expenses there. 

With no interest in wheel to wheel, where I could afford a car or safety gear but not both, and no interest in drag racing, I don't really have any options in my corner of the state anymore. 

I did hear the small dirt track is making it's way back to life, but again, car or safety gear, not both plus I would need a trailer for it.

Nope.

yes

but I also have the constant need to tinker and this fills that nicely. broverlanding would be a good retirement from it all, already part way there.

perspective: for rally racing I work all year to do 2 (maybe 3-4) very expensive weekends a year. lots of blood sweat and tears for sure and sometimes I wonder if my other hobbies and general health (exercise) would be better suited. I wonder the day if/when I ball up the car if I will get back into it or not. there is always volunteering though so its not like I can just disappear from the sport - that I don't see happening ever. 

While I read the post and can understand how you feel and the frustration, I've never thought of giving this stuff up and always try to find a way. Here's something you can consider: Renting a race car (and doing that wheel to wheel you wanted to do) or co-driving in autocross. That eliminates the ownership/prep aspect and allows you to compete in whatever class is popular/viable.

Sometimes I wonder if I have too many hobbies–cars, BMX, photography, guitars, zines, etc.–but I truly enjoy cars too much to let that go. 

In reply to nderwater :

Living vicariously through ya'll is pretty accurate. I like to tinker but haven't A/X since 2010 and don't see myself for the next 5 or 6 years. Last wheel to wheel was 2008 and not sure when I'll do that again. I like cars though, so I buy, tinker, sell, wash and repeat. Kids, house, work.

In reply to RyanGreener (Forum Supporter) :

Playing off of this, I did a rental go kart league a few winters ago at a local indoor karting track, and it was a great way to stay engaged with the hobby without getting overwhelmed with all prep work, garage time and expense that usually comes with motorsports.  Literally show up with your helmet, jump into a kart, and have at it.  Sometimes you have the good kart, sometimes you have the slug.  But since there's nothing you can do about it, you just roll with it.  Can't exactly drop paychecks worth of cash on mods on a rental kart.  Plus it's a bit of a different skillset, so you're also learning and expanding your craft.  Would definitely recommend it as a way to step back a bit and enjoy the hobby without being consumed by it.

I autocrossed for 20 years, but recently gave up. Can't be competitive without spending huge money, roasting in the sun all day for just a few minutes of seat time, and all the good local sites are gone. Sold my "race" car and stay busy just keeping up with the needs of my 20+ year old daily drivers.

I miss racing, but haven't come up with a way to drive again. Sure I could get back into autocross cheap with my daily, but who wants to finish 15 seconds off the pace every event?

You can take a Yugo to the dragstrip but is it really all that fun?

In reply to roninsoldier83 :

You just need to reboot your brain......

While I want to be competitive I won't do that at the cost to my sanity. It's very easy to get sucked in:

In 1998 I started making really good money and fell into a deal on a very fast car; while on track it was great but the ownership experience was awful. It took most of my money and most of my time. 

After three seasons I went back to racing the Datsun . It's is dog slow but super reliable. Most years all it needs is oil changes. I won't make any mods that make it less reliable. The car is only occasionally competitive because I am driving the wheels of it..................and that is fun as hell.  

Between the Formula 500 and the Datsun 1200. I do around 10-12 events a year between the two cars and I'm spending around $4500-$5000 annually. 

You need to stop worrying about being competitive and just go have fun............trust my I have a tremendous ego but I've shoved it into a shed and never looked back.

Our Motto is "faster than a set of bleachers".  Fun is our only goal; if we do well, great but fun is all that matters.

Breaks are good, and sometimes a change of focus does one good.

I did a bunch of DE until I balled up my track car a few years ago. The amount of time it sat unfixed told me what I needed to know and eventually the car went away. Had a very enjoyable Lemons weekend this year but the pull wasn't there to start again. Autocross school was fun but I haven't gone, and it's not even inconvenient - just hasn't pulled me more than the rest of life does.

I really enjoy mechanical projects, but after the Porsche midlife refresh, the Amazon rebuild, and the Eurovan MT swap I'm ready for a break from that. In fact, we're preparing for much bigger change: moving overseas, at which point I won't own any cars for the first time in 40+ years, with no shop space other than makerspaces.

But like RX7 Kevin, I need to tinker even when otherwise busy. Photography, electronics, metal fab and music should do well for a while, but I still like to build cars. At some point I can see buying another one over there once I understand the hobby landscape and laws. There's also some decent karting there, which might grab me.

Take a break, try something else - this is a hobby, not a lifestyle commitment.

Sounds like you need to think about what your goals in the hobby are. All the talk about "cars to have" and "specific mods" for autocross is really only relevant if your goal is to win on a National Level. If that's your goal, great! You should be able cherry-pick the cheapest class (ES or STS IIRC) and build or buy a nationally competitive car (Miata). If that's not your goal, you don't need to worry so much about the minutia and expense of SCCA classing that seems to be getting you down. There are lots of great goals you can set in motorsports, and buying into one of them and focusing on it should inspire you to stick with it. Some ideas:

Is your goal to win an autocross trophy at Nationals? Pick a cheap class and get after it.

Is your goal to hit a specific lap time at a local track (like sub 1 minute at Lime Rock)? Mod your car and the driver however you want in pursuit of that. 

Want to drive as many different tracks as possible? Great! Plan some roadtrips, book some track days, and place some orders on trackdecals.com to get all the outlines.

Just want to have some fun driving? Build your car however you want and book some tracknight events or go to autocross in whatever class you end up in (it's just for fun, remember).

Want to race something, anything, as cheaply as possible? Go play at your local rental car place or get yourself a cheap iRacing rig. Or build something for the $2,000 challenge. 

There's SO MUCH to do in this sport, and finding a goal you're inspired (whatever it is) by should re-light that fire. 

It's who I am.  

It started when I was in grade school working on my Murray F1 Eliminator banana seat bike to my 2016 Chevrolet Silverado.  

Watching sports all day, golfing or shopping does nothing for me.  Give me 4 hours in the garage and I'm in my place. 

I've autocrossed, rallycrossed, and time-trialed for going on 20 years. I started Lemons racing in 2008. I've built 4 caged cars. I've run every kind of autocross class from street to E-Modified. I have a couple of regional championship trophies, one in E-Mod, and the other in MR Rallycross. I used to be 100% all in. Lived and breathed screaming tires and engines. 

Now my autocross whip is a mostly stock V6 Mustang on all-season tires. I've made it to two events this year and while I've had fun, it's not something I want to do every month. FS isn't very competitive locally, which is perfect for me. I can still manage a trophy the few times I run and don't have to spend $1000 on tires to do it.

My involvement in Lemons consists of providing expertise and fabrication skills to the group I used to race with. We are supposed to be at Road Atlanta in December assuming we can get some kind of suspension under the car. I'm going to mostly point, direct, and weld. Once at the track, I'm just going to hang out and cook for the crew. I really have no urge to climb in a car and spend hours flogging a POS around the track. 

Time Trial is up in the air. Winning a trophy is fun but I think I would have just as much fun at a track day as I would at a time trial and I wouldn't have to use up $1000 in tires to do it. But I can also have that kind of fun on a spirited drive through the mountains with the windows down. 

I honestly love cars. I also honestly no longer love the dedication, hours, and funds it takes to be competitive at racing them. I also don't love how much making cars competitive makes them suck at everything else. My wife drove the Mustang 1100 miles this past weekend to teach a Street Survival School. It was comfortable, quiet, and got 29 mpg. I'm not going to change anything about it. 

I want one car I can tinker with. No pressure. No deadline. Just something I can spend a few hours on making it nicer before taking it for a cruise and putting it back in the shop. That's going to be the Falcon. Everything else is headed to the chopping block. The XJ is already gone. I'm debating selling the Bentley as I post this.

More than anything, I think I'm just burned out on building cars. In the last few years, I've built several Miata's- 1992 NA, a 1994 NA, a 2009 NC and a 1999 Miata Sport for SCCA ES... I then built a 1988 CRX Si for both SCCA STS and SCCA TT Tuner 5... I then rebuilt an EK hatch... and most recently I've been building an Integra GS-R for NASA TT6 and rebuilding a formerly beat-to-hell BMW 128i (that I was originally planning on building for TT5). All of this has been done on my garage floor on jack stands because there's no good place in my garage to put a lift in. 

As a result of both my career and the last few years of wrenching, I've ended up with a torn labrum in my right hip, which has led to a plethora of lower back injuries. I've been working towards my next goal with my latest build, but every time I start wrenching, I can't hardly walk straight for the next week. And everything I touch here lately seems to be double the cost I originally budgeted for, to the point where I'm starting to feel financial stress, just trying to get the damn car ready- with the most frustrating feeling that I'm at a point of no return, where if I don't complete the car, the last year worth of building will all have been for nothing.  

My most recent debacle was doing a 36mm hub/axle swap, in which I've ran into a whole new host of issues... I've now spent the last 2-3 days troubleshooting something that wasn't broken before I started, ordering a host of parts to try and fix it (I haven't been able to diagnose it at all) and essentially doubling the budget I originally set, and will likely end up quadrupling the amount of time I had originally set out to spend on it. Honestly, if I wasn't so deep into the build, I would roll this POS into a field and light it on fire at this point. If my insurance company would cover all the money I've spent on parts, I would just leave it in the hood with the keys on the front seat.  

It's at this point where I think: I might have had my fill. 

I might like driving, and I still enjoy competing, but I do not enjoy wrenching anymore... and I don't have the funds to pay someone to properly build me a car. 

Quitting, no. But there's so many options of events, clubs, and vehicles that there's plenty of opportunities to reevaluate your priorities and change things to better align. For example, my friends and I figured out a while ago that we enjoyed it all a lot more when we weren't constantly working on cars. So we got newer nicer cars that, for the most part, just work. Yeah, the up front cost is a bit more, but everything has its tradeoffs. Don't like the low run time that scca autocross offers? Explore the alternatives, either TT or other autocross groups. And so on. There's a combination of group/event/car/class out there somewhere that should satisfy just about anyone. Also it might be easier said than done but being realistic about your goals and expectations is really helpful in determining what a reasonable amount of time, effort, and money to expend on any of this is.

I have had phases where I've thought of quitting autocrossing. Usually because my supercharged Miata required me to drive my absolute brains out just to get middle of the pack on PAX. For a while I had some serious doubts about my own driving skill. "Jeez, I've been doing this 8 years, and I'm middle of the field and getting beat by fairly new guys." The past couple years though I've co-driven some other cars, mostly in Street classes, and placed really highly, or beaten very skilled drivers in their own car, and gone "Oh, wait, I actually can drive." So this year I picked up an MR2 Spyder for next season and I'm leaving it in E/Street.

I've always loved cars, so not really. But, my focus in the car hobby is different than a lot of others here. I enjoy buying cars I like and then building them however I want, and not to fit into a specific class for motorsports reason. For example, I have a NB that I'm building to 300whp...why? Because I just want a 300hp Miata. I have a NA that I'll hopefully be doing a 1.8 swap in the future because why not. I have a kei truck on the way because I love those little things! Anyway, I haven't ever been autocrossing before, and would maybe like to some day, but I really enjoy building a car, finding some nice backroads, and just having a good cruise on some twisties with a passenger (dad, wife, etc).

You're probably wondering why the heck I'm even on this forum then...its because the technical knowledge and advice here is so much better than anywhere else I've been with the death of most other internet forums. Thats just my take on the hobby and how I enjoy it, and I know its different for everyone. :)

I have no inner desire to win. I am happy being competitive against only myself and my teammates. For that reason I can easily justify the $5/min to race lemons/ldr. I could be more competitive but then I'd burn more fuel and more tires and more brakes and more... and more... If I had easy access to autocross or rallycross I might be spending more time/money racing but sadly/thankfully I don't.

roninsoldier83 said:

I might like driving, and I still enjoy competing, but I do not enjoy wrenching anymore... and I don't have the funds to pay someone to properly build me a car. 

There's no shame in being done with wrenching. Join a rental cart league. Be somebody's co-driver at autocross. Be an arrive and drive for Lemons. Rent a car for track days. Get on iRacing. Plenty of ways to still get after it without spending any more time in the garage! 

roninsoldier83 said:

It's at this point where I think: I might have had my fill. 
 

And that's ok. 

I just went through something similar with my E82.  New shocks and springs sitting in the garage begging to be installed.  After a month of them sitting there and me still dreading rolling around on the floor to install them, I decided that the guy that opened a small shop two miles down the road from me needed some more business, so off it went for him to install the parts.  It was weird to do that, but I didn't hate it, and I realized that as long as it's done right, the car doesn't care who installed the parts.  It won't gain a second a lap if I installed or if the shop did.  Might be worth looking to see if there is someone that you can farm some of the ugly stuff out to. 

I think I am over track days and higher speed stuff especially after blowing the motor on the Integra, its fun, but not when things break. I got into the low 1:25s at the FIRM and think I met my goal there, anything else is chasing tenths.

Autocross I don't mind, as much as locally it isn't as serious and I can have fun with friends. If and when I fix it, I really don't know if I want to continue with any sort of track day in it, but keep it a street car and monthly autocross.