track days

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Gooch

Gooch

Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2007
Messages
509
Location
Ballarat, Vic
Hey Folks

What is the minimum I need to do to my car for a track day.

Braided brake lines?
CAMS lic?
Learn how to drive?
Detune motor for reliability?
roll cage?

I am looking forward to hitting the track maybe early next year in the mean time I will be building up my car I just dont want to bring it back on a trailer.
 
i went on my first time with just a helmet, brake pads and rotors, flushed my brake fluid with some good fluid, semi slicks, wheel alignment and suspension.

minimal if its going to be your first time...
 
oh and i also forgot to add, when i went to winton, i could buy the license on the day for 50 bucks..
 
Gooch said:
Hey Folks

What is the minimum I need to do to my car for a track day.

Braided brake lines?
CAMS lic?
Learn how to drive?
Detune motor for reliability?
roll cage?

I am looking forward to hitting the track maybe early next year in the mean time I will be building up my car I just dont want to bring it back on a trailer.
Click to expand...

For my first track day I just ensured I had fresh (and bedded in) brake pads and fresh brake fluid. I would also strongly suggest you do something like a Driver Dynamics day at Sandown when they hold them - they provide instructors who ride with and coach you and they also mark out the apexes and turning points you need to shoot for at each section of the track - very very helpful when you have never driven there before. Their days are a little on the expensive side - but I learnt alot and had a heap of fun so it's worth the $$$.

Whilst I'd never-ever deter somebody from making safety upgrades - a rollcage is a huge and costly modification to your car (having just had one installed in mine). In addition to the rollcage you would need to go with fixed back seats and racing harnesses.

IMO you would be better off spending your $$$ on days like the aforementioned Driver Dynamics sessions and getting used to driving your car at speed and ensuring your brakes and suspension are as good as you can afford. When you start building up confidence (and with confidence comes speed) you should start looking at things like a rollcage, harnesses, fixed back seats, etc as the likelihood of you needing them increases.....

Also - don't make the mistake of thinking "huge power is a must". More power = more chances of the car biting you in the ass. There's a huge huge difference between accelerating quickly to 100km/hr on the roads then hitting the brakes hard because you've exceeded the speed limit - and accelerating past 160km/hr and HOLDING IT THERE when a turn is coming up on the track. You'll find your car has plenty enough power stock when you start using it right.....

I went to a Motorbike store and picked up an Aust Standards approved dirt bike helmet for $100. It does the job and if/when the $$$ allow I'll upgrade. Again - buy the best you can afford - but be realistic.
 
Shayne and Pete are on the money, there is no need to go overboard with the costs for your first event.
Good pads and fluid, car club membership and l2s cams licence can usually be purchased on the day.
I just bought a $100 helmet from revolution racing when I started and it did the job just fine.
Tyres are the big issue, don't make the mistake that I did by running a sprint day on a new set of street tyres-by the end of 4 runs they were stuffed :(!! Place a wanted ad and search for sale classifieds to try and find a secondhand set of semis with a little bit of life left in them.
They will make a huge difference to how your car handles on the track, and stop your street tyres from quickly disintergrating!
Oh and give your car a good service before and after running an event, at a sprint day the car cops a fair workout- I use the comparison that 1 hard lap of the track is equivalent to a couple of hundred ks of normal driving.
 
If you have some old street tyres, then for your first outing I would use them. No you are not going to get the grip that semis will give you, but they will let go progressively, teach you how to balance power vs understeer/ oversteer etc and will limit your cornering speed to a safer level. Semislicks are a huge step up and will show up any deficiencies in your suspension and brakes and once they start to get old, there is a fine line between grip and slip. They do not let go as progresively as street rubber.

I would go out first with crap pads but freshly flushed and bled fluid. Go out, and find out just how poorly those pads stand up on a track and what happens when you get pad fade.

But most importantly, learn from all this and have fun.
 
Good on you for wanting to enjoy your car safely and in a controlled environment. You'll have an absolute blast and come to really appreciate your car and what it's capable of.

Once you race on the track - you'll always want to go back - it's that addictive :w00t:.
 
enginr said:
good on you for wanting to enjoy your car safely and in a controlled environment. You'll have an absolute blast and come to really appreciate your car and what it's capable of.

Once you race on the track - you'll always want to go back - it's that addictive :w00t:.
Click to expand...


very addictive!!
 
lol.. done that in the old LB Lancer in the Watagan Mountains at night and ended up going sideways towards the biggest tree in the forest lol... Lucky for me there was a ditch caused by rainwater runoff on the side of the dirt road and the wheels bedded in, the car lifted sideways and then popped back down onto all 4 wheels again - a real HEART THUMPER that was.... never went rally driving at night ever again!!!! lol
 
The biggest thing is to drive within your comfort zone and forget about what everyone else is doing. Be aware of who is on the track with you if it is a sprint.

You will gradually improve yourself over the day. You won't be Schumacher on your first attempt nor your 50th. It is all about having fun.

rob323 said:
Addictive, but boring :p.
It's much more exciting when there are trees within 2 feet of the road :w00t:
Click to expand...

Come and have a run at Lakeside.

Drifting on the final corner towards the armco and going through the kink at 200km/h+

This is a guy off PF at Lakeside. He runs a 58.?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxNw2Z6u7sI
 
My car goes up to MCA next week, once it's back I might have a go at the "new" Lakeside (and see if I can bed in some Lucas pads). I will admit that it is 6 billion times more challenging than QR is, but still gets boring after a while.
I just prefer driving on dirt, it's just more consistent.
My scariest moment at the Lakeside of old was coming down onto the straight in the wet, sliding wide, hitting the ripple strips (which were friggin HUGE back then) in a vr4 with 160 000 km old suspension. The car got all unsettled, felt like it turned to jelly and my passenger mirror every so slightly scraped the concrete barrier. I'm a big chicken when it comes to that corner now :p.
 
G5R5OL said:
Which car Bobba ?
Click to expand...
It will be the Galant with the mods coming I think I will enjoy it. The missus wont let me get within 50 ft of the Leggie anymore <_<

rob323 said:
Addictive, but boring :p.
It's much more exciting when there are trees within 2 feet of the road :w00t:
Click to expand...

I been watching "LOVE THE BEAST" and there seems to be a lot of trees in a targa! who knows where this might take me never know for my 40th I might enter the targa as a mid life crisis treat! :w00t:
 
Tassie Targa would be ACE :w00t: but as you said - there's alot of trees....

I'm thinking of signing up for Classic Adelaide next year if the $$$ allow. A couple of guys at work are keen to navigate for me and split the costs.
 
i was planning to take mine out to the track this oct

but pending tomorrows inspection the motor or box or something might need rebuilding again :(


anywhoo

my plans were better front pads
new fluid + bleed
semi's (ive been told street tyres will get hacked up in just one day)
also dial in some more camber

that was my list for the first day
 
GROOV3 said:
also dial in some more camber
Click to expand...


Matt at Adelaide Radial Tyres in Holden Hill for track wheel allignments :thumbsup:

tell him i sent you - he's also a member of the GSR/EVO Club
 

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