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Ownership experience & costs with a Radical Prosport

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George G
(@greatlakes)
Active Member
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 6
Topic starter  

Having recently closed a 3-year ownership cycle with an early Radical Prosport / Clubsport, I thought I'd share my ownership experience and a rough breakdown of costs. (Warning: Long post)

The plan was to use it for trackdays initially, and *maybe* get into racing with SCCA. I stored it at the track and the local mechanic looked after it. 

Purchase: I got my Radical in August 2017. It was an early Prosport running a Gen1 Hayabusa. The car had a solid race history with SCCA and the price was good but it had been sitting for 2-3 years. This meant that various parts had to be refreshed (e.g., fuel cell foam, fuel and oil lines, fuel injectors, brake pads, battery, heim joints, chain, new belts, etc). The engine had 25-30 hours so a rebuild was on the horizon too. Initial outlay: ~$17K + $1.5K for shipping. 

Here are the main maintenance items and approximate costs ($$$ figures are rounded and include labor).

2017. The transporter tied the car down in a way that bent one of the front uprights (denied it was his fault, of course). It turned out the car had a custom brake system and the newer uprights have a slightly different, meatier design, which necessitated new rotors and calipers. Cost: ~$2K (new upright, 2 new rotors and 2 new Wilwood calipers)

The car arrived with just a few trackdays left in the season and the needed repairs meant I only got about 2 hours of running time.

At the end of the season we also replaced both fuel pumps. Cost: ~$500

2018. I got a Flatshifter Expert, which allows no-lift upshifts and clutchless downshifts. This was a massive improvement and made the car a lot more fun. Cost: ~$2K (incl. installation)

In the summer, the gearbox let go. This was probably caused by my rough shifting before installing the Flatshifter. Since it's one piece, I had George Moon rebuild both the motor and the gearbox. Cost: ~$6K (incl. removal, shipping, installation and dyno)

This was a frustrating year with lots of niggles, some big expenses, and I didn't get to the end of a single trackday without something that needed attention. However, I did have plenty of fun and got up to speed with the car. Overall, I got 9-10 hours of running time. 

2019. In early summer, the headers developed a crack. After an unsuccessful attempt to weld them, we had Rilltech build new ones. Cost: ~$2K

In the fall, one of the rear uprights cracked near the part that connects it to the lower control arm. We decided to replace both, as well as the axles given the parts' age. Cost: ~$2K

This was a fun year. The car was getting more reliable and another Radical joined my home track, which meant some good duels. Summer travel however meant I only got about 8 hours of running time.

2020. We replaced the battery and the chain, and that was pretty much it. The car finally became reliable and it was by far the best year yet. I got lots of long (30-45' stints) and another 3 Radicals joined my home track. Overall, I got about 10 hours of running time before I sold the car in October.

There were various other smaller maintenance items and repairs. Oil changes were every about 4 hours of running time at a cost of ~$200 per pop. I got take-off Hoosiers from John Bergett in Wisconsic at a cost of ~$350 + $120 installation per set, and they would last about 4-5 hours. At the end of each trackday, I'd do a wrench check, and I had my mechanic do it and an inspection every 2-3 trackdays. Fuel consumption was roughly 6 gallons of 100 octane per hour, at a cost of ~$9 / gallon.

Adding everything up, I'd put the total cost figure at about $40K. With our son on the way, I wouldn't be able to get much driving time in the next year or two, so I decided to sell it this fall. Sold it for $17.5K. So the ownership cost averages out to ~$750 / hour of running time.

Note: There's more than $10K in labor costs I could have saved if I were doing the work myself. And if I were racing, the cost would probably be much higher.

Takeaways:

Was it worth it? Hell yes! The rawness, the immediacy, the precision and the downforce are intoxicating. These are experiences you don't forget.

I did trackdays in an MX5 and a Mustang prior, and this is in a completely different league. It's not so much the straightline speed, but the cornering and the braking ability. Telemetry showed almost 2.5G's in cornering and 2G's in braking. I also found it quite easy to get up to speed (but only after installing the flatshifter).

Doing trackdays in a Radical with regular cars can sometimes be frustrating. First, in terms of speed, it's in a completely different league: At my local track, the fastest Porsches and Corvettes are typically in the 1.38-1.40 range, and I was running under 1.30. So you are often stuck behind much slower cars. Second, because you are so small and low, cars sometimes cannot see you. And you definitely don't want to crash with a 4000-pound Mustang!

Here's an in-traffic video:

More videos:

Would I buy another? Yes! But:

1. I would get the newest car I could afford. I am pretty sure it will end up being cheaper in the long run. I would also avoid any car that has custom modifications or that has been sitting.

2. I would go racing. Trackdays are fun, but after a while you want more. At the very least, I'd want to make sure I'd be running with other prototypes / open-wheelers.

3. Whatever my cost estimate, I would at least double it; probably triple it if going racing.

One piece of advice specific to early Radicals: While parts are much cheaper than for the late-model SR3, they are being phased out so you may have a hard time finding them in stock. 


   
Robert Bates, DavidF, Thomas Miller and 1 people reacted
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CharleyH
(@charleyhradicalsportscarregistry-com)
Famed Member Admin
Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 1822
 

That’s a great write up George (@greatlakes)!  I know lots of people will find that helpful.  I 100% agree with your conclusion and always tell people about the same thing... All Radicals provide an amazing level of performance, but buy the newest car, with the lowest hours, that you can afford.  

Hopefully you will be getting into another Radical soon.

Charley 


   
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Victor Ling
(@azwcat)
Estimable Member
Joined: 4 years ago
Posts: 89
 

Very nice write up and great advice!  I agree completely with your points.  I will say, however, you got a great deal on service!  6k for engine rebuild, all in with install and dyno test, wow!  


   
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Nick Laconico
(@nicklaconico)
Active Member
Joined: 4 years ago
Posts: 6
 

Great write up. Thanks for the info and sharing your experience! 


   
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Rich Kenworthy
(@rich)
Trusted Member
Joined: 3 years ago
Posts: 38
 

Great write up, that I'm surprised I missed! I have a similar Prosport story currently underway.

Did your car remain in Michigan and are there now other similar cars in the area? I ask as we are defiantly looking forward to making the trip from Ontario when possible.

I have also been enjoying your videos prior to reading this.

Thanks Rich


   
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Trakmnky
(@trakmnky)
Reputable Member
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 201
 

Rich, I'm from Wisconsin and run at least a couple of times a year at Gingerman.  This past season I spoke to someone that said there is a small group 3-4 prosports that regularly run there.  

I run a SR3 with SCCA.  There's a growing group of 6-10 Radicals that run at Brainherd MN and 6 more that do HPDE events in the Wisconsin/ILL area outside of Stradale.  

Hopefully most of us can start to do a lot of events together this next season as it's so much more fun when there are other Radicals to run with.  

I'll try and post to the forum here when I plan on attending events.  I think Ben J is doing the same.


   
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