legokcen

iTrader: (8)

Here's another shot of her at Road Atlanta. This is Turn 5. I just love this thing. I have fun every time I drive it. I always would love more power, but I still have a blast every time I drive her.



If you look hard enough, I think you can see a wide *** grin on my face.

Jeezus

iTrader: (4)

+1

I always loved dark RX7s. That is a track day, yes? Tell me how you get into those, I have been giving it serious thought.

Syonyk

Lots and lots of money. Track weekends usually run a minimum of $500 for transportation/fees/hotel, and it's really quite easy to go through $800 or more of tires in a weekend. A guy I know races semi-regularly, and $2000 weekends aren't uncommon if he gets a lot of track time (2 sets of tires, brake pads, rotors, wheel bearings, fuel, fees, hotel, gas to get there/back, etc).

-=Russ=-

FirebirdSlayer666

iTrader: (3)

Damn, and to think it's only 16Euros to run Nurburgring.

Naegleria_Fowleri

Man, for the kind of fun that would be I'd shell out all the cash for it if I had the cash to shell out.

XLR8

iTrader: (52)

That's why I am getting in to Shifter Karts. Still pricey but much less comparetivly.

Rogue_Wulff

Getting into track day events can be affordable. Many road course tracks offer a program that allows the use of street cars on the track. The cars must pass a safety check, and the drivers have to go through a training course. After completing the training course, they will start giving you on-track training, that progresses throughout the day/weekend to full speed runs, only allowing passing to be done in certain areas.
Some programs are one day, while others are 2-3 day weekend or weekdays.
The first step towards getting track time, is checking with the tracks in your area, to see what is available, and at what cost. Anything less than $100-150/day is very reasonable, but many charge as much as $200 or more per day. This can vary greatly at different tracks, so check around.

justint5387

iTrader: (1)

The track days that i go to cost $159 per day or $279 for 2 days. I just run street tires (Azenis, Hankook) when I run, you don't need race tires unless you are trying to set a time record or something. Other stuff that cost money is food and gas (which includes about 320 miles of driving to and back)... It cost me about $300 when I do just 1 day.

Zyrano

lego, what mods are you running? I'm just curious...

legokcen

iTrader: (8)

Most of the track days that I do are part of SCCA, NASA-Southeast (National Auto Sport Association) or several Car Clubs that I'm affiliated with. Also, there are tons of car clubs who also have track days.

http://www.nasa-southeast.com

is the website. There is an HPDE (High Performance Drivers Education) event coming up next month in Savannah, GA which is a great way to get started. That is a wonderful track to start learning on. I'll be instructing there as well as driving. Also, Barber Motorsports Park is in August.

HPDE's have 4 levels and you start out with HPDE 1 with your own instructor in your car during the weekend. It is split into on track and classroom time where techniques and skills are discussed and then applied on track. It's a wonderful way to "really learn to drive" the car safely and at speed. Plus, I can't think of any other way to have as much fun with a car you enjoy driving.
NASA events are usually aroung $300 for two days but that includes an instructor for you as well.

Aside from making sure you have decent tires (don't get a new set) and bleeding brakes, your first track day experience shouldn't be too expensive. Take a reliable car, bleed the brakes, use street tires the first few times (they talk to you more than race tires), and have fun. The folks that make these expensive believe that they have to get this gadget or that gadget and that the car would be better with racing brakes, race tires, this suspension, etc. I drove my stock daily driven RX-8 to track days for 2 years before deciding on making my RX-7 a track car. My only expenses aside from the event, a hotel that I shared, and food, were racing brake pads ($120) which lasted a whole year since I changed them out for the events. Also, after several events, I decided to get a set of track tires/wheels which I'm not selling since I don't track the 8 anymore. They don't have to be expensive at all, especially when you first start out. Also, many clubs have work for credit programs where if you work at events, you get to have a weekend of driving credit for it. I've even done that as well.

Many car clubs, Corvette, Porsche, BMW, Mazda, etc have track days and allow cars of other makes to join as well. The Triangle Z club (in NC) gets together every once in a while. I've talked to them several times. You may also want to look at Skip Barber Track days and Chin Motorsports. Chin is expensive, but you get a hell of a lot of track time, so the $/track time is pretty good.

http://www.chinmotorsports.com
http://www.trianglezclub.com
http://www.skipbarber.com/driving_sc...ng_school.aspx

There are also many resources to find out about track events going on in your area. These will tell you what's going on and have links to their sites:

http://www.trackschedule.com
http://www.opentrackaction.com
(btw, the green RX-8 in the left top corner is me in my DD at Road Atlanta)

Also,
http://www.seattime.com
is an inexpensive one day track event at Roebling Road Raceway. It's usually about $175 for the day. For the folks in the Southeast, this is a great deal, though it is mostly on Fridays.

The NASA website has a good deal of info about HPDE's and how to get to them. They also have a forum that you can join to get all of your questions answered.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them.

legokcen

iTrader: (8)

I ended up making the RX-7 a track car because I thought I'd be able to do the work myself and make it pretty inexpensive. I've gotten it pretty much all ready for the price it would have cost me to get a good set of coilovers on the RX-8.

Well, the engine is still stock, but I've changed a lot of other things. The car is stripped and has a Kirk Racing 4-pt bar. I'm contemplating putting a full cage in it now. Sparco Ultra Racing seat and 5 pt harnesses. Most of the interior that I don't need is also removed.

Stock engine, but all emissions, etc removed. Nothing in the engine bay that doesn't help the car go fast.
RB Holley
RB Header with custom 2.5" exhaust to a MagnaFlow muffler (still very very loud). I really can't drive it on the street without getting a LOT of attention.
Koni Red in the front
Illuminas in the back.
Short Shifter
TMC adjustable front sway bar.
Poly Bushings
13x7 wheels and Hoosier Racing Tires
CP Racing Strut Tower Brace
Suspension Technique Springs.

I'm sure I'm missing some things...

All in all, these cost me a little under 2 grand. I spent my time finding what I wanted and finding the right deal. There are lots of racers out there that you can get parts from. Example, the TMC front bar was an eBay auction I won for $10. I paid more to ship it to me. The wheels were on special (last year's stock) and were $25 each. I tried to take my time and make it cost effective. My wife was much more supportive that way too.

The car sticks like glue. I love the way it feels. It of course needs more power. Everything can use a little more power. But, she's fun as hell. I've got some other goodies on the way. Camber plates, panhard, etc which will help. I'm also looking into a ported 13B.

The car weighs 2370 with me in it, with a full tank of gas. I've got a few more pounds to shed on her. I've decided agains the coilovers for now. I've weighed her on Longacre scales and she's pretty close to 50/50. I can relocate the battery and get her closer.