Track Day Questions

[Stuno1]

Thinking of doing a track day in my F with my dad in his boxster. I have a few question. Done days on my bike but never on my car.

1. Are there any days to avoid such as multi car days where muppets with corsas come on and act like plebs?

2. Is insurance required?

3. Assume I need a helmet?

4. Will one day kill tyres/discs/pads?

5. What preparation do I need to do before the day?

6. Are the group days like bike days e.g. Novice, inters, advanced?

Stu

[MrW]

I've done loads of days in all sorts of cars.

1, I've never felt that there were any plebs in attendance at any event I've been to, organisers are quiet strict on inappropriate behaviour on track. Its not the scene usually for chaved up corsas, Open pit lane days tend to give a bit more flexibility and once the rush is done at the beginning you go out when you please. Sessioned days are ok, but if you end up with a problem in your session you then miss out. Having said that it does give you and the car time time to cool off.

2, Up to you, I've not bothered, but its your call.

3,Yes, covered arms generally to.

4,Depends how you drive but it will wear them heavil, I would make sure you've got at least half on your pads, and the tyres are in good nick.

5, Obvious stuff, make sure fluids are topped, pressures are correct, tyres and brakes as above, and you empty the inside and boot. Stuff flying round the cabin isn't good!

6, Group or session days, tends to group by the description you note however if you're an novice but have a quick car, like the F, I'd put yourself in a class above other wise once you get into it slow stuff will constantly be in your way. However in most cases the organisers will switch you if you are in the wrong group.

Hope that helps. Where are you thinking of going?

[Stuno1]

Thats great! Pads were 3/4 at last check and that was about 2k ago with no mad braking so thry are fine. Looking at Donny. Did it on my bike and my brother is 15-20 minuntes from the track. Good advice about going up a group if it is a group day. I will go for open pit lane i think. Few more questions!

I just put on new tyres on the rear and the fronst are 5mm, is that sufficient? Will i need new tyres after one day? My bike tyres lasted 4 track days of heavy abuse and 3k road miles.

Would a motorbike helmet be sufficient? Can you hire on the day?

Also, can you get tuition?

For open pit lane days, is it worth waiting 30mins - 1hour for people to relax a but then go out?

Stu

[MrW]

Donnington is excellent, never got to put my IS-F round there, but have done it twice in a Seat Ibiza Cupra 16v many years ago and a Mini Cooper S last year, and was huge fun.

Tyres sound fine 5mm is plenty, yeah bike helmet is fine I believe. tuition is available at some events depends who the orgainser is

Not sure if you are on Piston Heads or Facebook, but if your willing to travel up to the midlands, there's some guys called Sprint and Trackday (they have a page on FB) who run mini Trackday sprints once a month at Curborough in Lichfield. You basically go one at a time and do a run round the track. usually 10-15 cars so you get plenty of runs. Its £60 a day and fantastic fun. They end up with a great variety of cars, and are a fantastic bunch of chaps. I'll pm you the details if you wish. Did 4-5 events with them last year in the IS-F and it was excellent. The car doesn't get so much hammer either being short bursts, rather than lap after lap of hammer. they run a little top gear style timings board for the day too, so whilst its very informal there is a little competitive edge to it too.

[Stuno1]

Thanks for the information. Please PM the information as it cant hurt to take a look. I am on PH and Facebook so can have a look.

So ideally while i will (obviously) increase the rate of ware I may not have to replace brakes/tyres. Not a massive issue oif i do just want to get rough idea of costs.

Some circuits are silly expensive compated to bike days. Silverstone GP is 400 for a car and 170 for a bike.

Stu

[MrW]

Yeah they do vary wildly. I usually look at days that are £150 max which can rule out some. Think Donnington was only just over £100 but it was a Sunday in November!

[Stuno1]

Thats good. Peak season GP at donny is 195 which i can stomach. You then have fuel, disposables like tyres brakes etc, food, photos (if you buy them). Not cheap but worth it!

[MrW]

The IS-F would be awesome round there, good place to really stretch its legs. Gutted I never got mine round there.

[Stuno1]

Agreed. Some fantastic opportunities to get up some serious speed. My favoutite cirucit so far. Only done a few though.

[DAN@ADRIAN FLUX]

Hi,

If you'd like a quotation for Track Day insurance then please feel free to drop me a line.

Regards,

Dan.

[Mr Dunkie]

Stu have you considered most circuits have noise limits which we both may have issues with

[Stuno1]

Stu have you considered most circuits have noise limits which we both may have issues with

I have a db tester. I would be surprised if ours our over the limit. Assume same as bike for loud days I.e 102db ish.

Any idea what revs have to be at when tested?

[Mr Dunkie]

Last one I did was at 2/3 of max revs so around 4000 rpm I would have thought

[Stuno1]

Ill read donny rules and db test it warm.

[janey]

Hi Stu,

If you & your Dad fancy a bit of friendly competition check out the Toyota Sprint Series, there's classes for Lexus/Toyota & a Class X for other marques.

They are basically run by Javelin Track Days & range from Airfield tracks to ones at Blyton & Croft.

As a rule you get 2 sighting laps then 2 un-timed runs at the start of the day followed 8 timed runs plus if there is time 'play-time' at the end of the day, there's a good mix of people from top tuners to joe bloggs & everyone is friendly & willing to help out/give advice.

Link here for the main site & here for the facebook page

Forgot to add - it's just one car on the track at a time so no possibility of any numpties :winky:

Edited May 25, 2014 by janey