I am going to second everything Mark (
csamsh) wrote, as I have similar motivations, resevations and experiences. Having been doing autox, HPDE, TT for decades, a few W2W races just didn't add enough for me to want to take that plunge.
AUTOCROSS
This sport gets little respect on the "driving pyramid", and its a shame. This is a VERY intense, competitive, driving-centric sport that emphasizes 10/10ths driving every millisecond. Sure, there are a lot of cheap-assed entrants, but there are some serious entrants as well. There is NO better place to learn car control (except as Mark suggested - maybe ice racing), and I often tell my HPDE students to GO AUTOCROSS FOR TWO SEASONS when they are just starting out, especially when they lack any car control and have bad skills learned (hands on wheel. shifting, braking, smoothness). Controlled aggression for 30-60 seconds with a big adrenaline rush. I've been doing this sport for 28 years, and while I have burned out on the SCCA and their classing restrictions/instability, I still enjoy doing it in "whatever I have" that I'm racing in other motorsports venues. Occasionally.
+ PROS - Low cost entry fees, low consumables (except tires), lots of classes for most cars, very safe (low risk of injury to driver or car), classes very different for street and race tires. You can learn a LOT autocrossing with respect to set-up, data logging, competitiveness that can help you elsewhere
- CONS - The SCCA is the biggest game in this business, and that's not a place for stable, rational, common sense modifications that racers usually want to do. Classing isn't exactly favorable to Muscle Cars like the S197. The "entry level" Street classes usually have a single car choice that dominates, which is usually different every two years, and usually a brand new car. Very little seat time relative to other events (3-6 minutes), lots of standing around in the sun (shagging cones) can lead to sunburns and skin cancer (ask me how I know)
I have done close to 400 autocrosses and will always consider myself an "autocrosser", first and foremost. Doesn't mean I'm any good at this sport, but I've learned the most about driving doing this than anything else, and wouldn't trade that experience for anything.
HPDE/TRACK DAYS
A great place to learn how to do that "road course thing", with instructors, friendly clubs, and lots and lots of chances to race at world renowned tracks in almost anything. There are so many clubs/groups that run these at so many tracks you can usually find an HPDE every weekend of the year (that it doesn't snow in your area).
+ PROS - Easy access for almost any driver or car (exception: convertibles need a roll bar in almost all clubs), instruction is usually available (and worthwhile!), can be used for testing for competition. Safety requirements go little beyond a 3-point OEM belt and a Snell SA2000 helmet
- CONS - The lack of true competition can be a turn off for certain personality types. After a while you feel like you are "just driving around aimlessly". Can include some degree of risk, especially in powerful modern cars. Also a con: safety requirements go little beyond a 3-point OEM belt and a Snell SA2000 helmet. "Its up to you". Wildly varying degrees of skill amongst entrants, and you might run into
this guy.
I prefer Time Trial nowadays but had a lot of fun doing HPDEs in college, when I could afford the entry fees and tires/brakes. We still run HPDEs with a few local groups 2-3 times a year and use it for showcasing parts/cars, testing new set-ups, and to help customers' with their chassis tuning.
TIME TRIAL/TIME ATTACK
This is sort of a step between HPDE and Club level W2W road racing, and not a bad place to land (its where I spend most of my time driving). I did my first Time Trial back in 1989, before it was even called that, and really started it in earnest with NASA back in 2007. I wrote this
"Intro To Time Trials" back in 2008 and it still is valid today. Since I've found I get bored easily in HPDE (no competition) and don't care for the added risks of some other driver running into me trying to pass in anger (W2W), this fits me and my "racing goals" really well. I win a lot more tires than my buddies who Club Race and spend less on body repairs and consumables, since I can put in 50 laps or one lap if that's all that's needed.
+ PROS - Fierce competition both regionally and nationally (NASA), also competitive classes in GTA and Redline + Optima has a TT element. Can win as much or more contingency as W2W club racing. Safety gear requirements are the same as HPDE (but MANY drivers will go way behind that), can still compete in your daily driver (at least in some "letter" classes) so no truck/trailer is needed. FAR less chance of car-to-car contact than Club Racing (although it happens very rarely).
- CONS - Safety gear requirements are as lax as HPDE and the risks are slightly higher, due to the "red mist" of competition and faster lap times seen in TT vs HPDE. Slow pokes still exist here who become "rolling road blocks", just like in HPDE (although not NEARLY as bad).
W2W CLUB RACING
As Mark said, I will also not be campaigning a W2W car anytime soon, for similar reasoning. My temperament isn't a good fit for incidental contact, the costs and risks are MUCH higher, and the build budgets are higher than some folks here are admitting to. A competitive AI car is a $80-120K car, and a competitive Spec Iron car is a $45K+ build, and CMC is a crashfest (at least in some regions) with still relatively slow-ish cars (12.5:1 pounds per hp, or therabouts?). I've done a few events in the crapcan league and didn't care for the added risks, wrecks, rules or politics.
I'm not going to "pro and con" this one, but we do support some customers who do this and they spend more than our HPDE and TT customers - all to win a little plastic trophy.
In the end I think there is a good fun to be had in all 4 of these motorsports venues, and I try to mix it up with a little bit of all 4 (with moderation use in autox and W2W, for me). Go check out a NASA event to see HPDE, TT and W2W racing all happening at once, and talk to racers and race directors before you dive in. Ask them about costs, risks, chances for contact, etc. Look at the rewards each can offer, in the forms of contingencies and "fun". Not everyone should do what anyone here says - go see for yourself and see what YOU enjoy.
But by all means... JUST KEEP RACING!