driftxsequence

iTrader: (8)

So I'd really like to take my car to the track at least once this summer. This car is my daily driver.

I have a fairly stock 87 base model. 14 inch rims(4 lug), full RB exhaust, aftermarket filter. just rebuilt the engine with a fair sized street port. oil pressure and temp gauge.


keep this in mind - I am not made of money - but I would like to try this at least once and put the money in places that it is most beneficial. i am 20 living at home. i make about 1000$ a month, with 200 going to insurance.



What major things do I need to get to get the most enjoyable track experience?
I plan on getting an rtek to control the air/fuel to make sure im not running lean anywhere. also a wideband.

I figured larger rims would benefit me since there would be a lot less sidewall flex. (185/70/14)

The suspension is all stock - I would love to replace all the bushings...Is it worth it? or shocks/springs more so?

the car only has 88k on the clock, but 24 year old rubber bushings are 24 year old rubber bushings...and springs and shocks.

beefhole

iTrader: (29)

Based on my limited (but gathering) experience:
BRAKES, suspension and tires.
Brakes most importantly. Bleed that system well, make sure the rotors are good and get some nice quality pads that you can use on the track. This is the most important part of your car out on the track.

Suspension because it is old. Replacing all the bushings and old shocks is something anyone should do on an older car, even if you aren't going "racing".

Tires finally. You're going to have to buy tires regardless of what you do. If you go out with regular ones, you will destroy them and need new ones after. Physically, they will appear fine, but out on the track, the temps and stress will kill them. I know, I ruined tires before. You will want to get a performance summer tire, which means you should probably get rid of that crappy 14" 4 lug you are riding on.

We won't forget to mention you need a helmet and have to pay for the event. This gets expensive real quick.

gxl90rx7

iTrader: (1)

beefhole hit the nail on the head, brakes, brakes, brakes.. make sure you have enough pad and bleed them before every track day, old fluid will cause brake fade, trust me i know. you may want to upgrade to bigger wheels and do a TII caliper and disk swap.

I would put suspension 2nd also. makes a world of difference, even if you have no power

Black Knight RX7 FC3S

iTrader: (7)

Flush your entire brake system with clean brake fluid. Get better brake pads, i use Hawks HPS in my gxl and it is great on and off the track.
Suspension wise, it would wise to change bushings all around seeing how its a 20+ year old car. Shock wise, as long as its not blown, and the spring not sagging, its good, but getting performance shocks and springs would be best if you want to go to the track more then 5 times, or autox somewhat regularly.
As for tires, its the most important. Its the only thing contacting the road. 205 is fine all around on a 16 inch rim if you are cash strapped. but 215/50/16 is a nominal size for budget. You can try and find S5 turbo rims. They are wide enough for 215 and 225 I believe, and they are pretty cheap. If you go with 15 inch rims, you can try GXL rims and fit 205 or 215 with a low aspect ratio of around 50, it will make the car stance look weird as hell though since theres so much gap between the tire and fenderwell lol.
Sumitomo is a great budget tire for the performance it dishes out.

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

in an HPDE, you're learning how to conduct yourself on the track, and also learning the proper line, so its not very fast.

you really don't need much car for an HPDE event, ive seen people drive all kinds of things, smart cars even too, remember its not a race, its a school.

so you need to make sure you have new engine oil, brake fluid, etc etc. brake pads need lots of meat, or new. you also need decent tires.

with the suspension, replace anything that's worn out or broken, but stock stuff is fine. there will be cars out there that are less "performance oriented" and they do fine. and its also perfectly acceptable to make the car better as you go.

it actually needs to start slow, as even slow on the track is faster than the street, and real racing isn't like grand turismo

but have fun! it IS cool, and hopefully the bug hits and you actually do work up to going racing

driftxsequence

iTrader: (8)

Thanks guys. I race RC cars so I'm familiar with all sorts of racing techniques and lines even though its not an exact comparison. I also understand what suspension slop can do to camber,caster,toe in and out and roll center.

I know tires will make the biggest difference, so would you recommend a set of 16x7-8 or 17x7? Would a set of sportmax wheels be okay? I'm looking for something i can keep on the car on a day to day basis as this is my daily.

driftxsequence

iTrader: (8)

maybe a set of sportmax xxr 002 16x8?

Zero10

I am in a very similar boat (87 GX, racing beat cat delete, rotary performance catback, phone dial wheels, 185/70/14 tires) and am looking for advice on wheels/tires for auto-x and HPDE events. The wheels that are being recommended, are these being recommended keeping in mind that the OP has a 4-bolt setup? If so, where do you recommend buying wheels, and can you guys provide links?

As far as advice for the OP goes, as said above:
Fix anything worn out, if there are any torn rubber bushings, replace them immediately. Make sure your ball joints are good, your tie rods are good and make sure your tires have decent tread and do not have any bubbles or sidewall (or tread) damage.
Get the car aligned once you have finished this, after 20+ years things have probably been messed with and the alignment may be way off.
Also, get your brakes in 100% perfect shape. After 20+ years the rubber brake lines are likely showing small cracks, replace them all with new rubber lines (don't go SS as you cannot inspect the internal rubber lines on them). Replace the rotors if they are at all worn, you want as much mass there as possible. Avoid the temptation to go with crossdrilled rotors (at least the cheap ones), slotted is fine but they will eat pads a lot faster. Also, get good thick pads, again, you want good material and a lot of mass to soak up the heat. Replace the brake fluid, bleed out every drop of the old fluid and replace with new. I recommend going to a fluid with a higher boiling point than normal DOT 3 fluid, but likely you won't find yourself boiling brake fluid at HPDE events (or even auto-x events) so DOT 3 is probably fine if you change it at least every 6 months.

Generally in a HPDE event you won't reach the limits of stock braking systems (this is intentional), but if you step it up a level or two you will quickly find yourself running out of brakes. Once you get started, focus on learning the lines and not over-braking.

Black Knight RX7 FC3S

iTrader: (7)

woops, forgot op was a 4 lug

Zero10

You need to watch a couple things. The ones I have seen for sale are all 0 offset, so you wouldn't be able to use them safely (especially at 8" wide) unless you really rolled your fenders. Also, our wheels are hub-centric, so you need to get matching hub centric rings to bring the center bore down to the correct size for your car (59.6mm??).

RockLobster

iTrader: (7)

1. Make sure the car is in good mechanical condition. Meaning, fresh fluids, no leaks, clean engine bay, working seatbelts, good tires, everything tight, no sloppy suspenion or steering. Good brake lines. Replace any worn out parts or pieces...

2. Forget aftermarket upgrades. You need to be focusing on driving first and learning what is good and bad about you and the car.

3. BRAKES: The only upgrade first time track people should be thinking about are a good set of pads and freshly bled fluid.

In your particular case, I would consider piecing together a 5lug conversion with the 4pots and vented rear rotors. The 4 lug braking system is woefully inadequate and does not have good front pad availability.

What i always tell people is street pads belong on the street (HPS, stock, etc)

Track pads belong on the track (HT-10s, DTC60s, etc)

Crossover pads belong on the shelf.

....change front pads at the track with a good race pad, leave the rears as a good street pad at first. Eventually you will want racing pads all the way around when you get faster and you will want to change them at the track...

Nothing ruins track days faster like bad brakes...

Tires, just make sure they are in good shape, not worn out, cracking, etc...drive on street tires first and slowly work your way up from there...going to a sticky tire, especially a race tire will just hurt the learning process...

JohnnyH

iTrader: (3)

There is lots of good advice in this thread.

Front wheel bearings should also be checked before each track day and after each session. I think road racers have to worry about it more because of aggressive camber settings, but you should still check for excessive play in the front bearings regularly.

Just make sure to keep your eyes open when out on track. Don't forget to check your gauges and mirrors frequently. This becomes easier the more track time you have. Your 'bandwidth' will increase each and every session out there and you'll begin to notice more of what is going on around you.

Good luck, have fun, and be safe!

Digi7ech

iTrader: (1)

I'll pre-empt this with: I prefer to have a stable platform to learn on before I try and get driver experience...
The first things that will make the car enjoyable will be wheels and coilovers.

I constantly beat up on porsches and mustangs in HPDE with my FC. Coilovers will make the car more predictable. 17 inch wheels will give you less sidewall and more contact patch(17x8 with 235/45/17 is what I run)

17x8 wheels are reasonably prices.
Once you go to 17's, 235 tires get cheap. I run federal 595's and they go for about $65-75 each.

Coilovers w3ill set you back. You may be able to get away with Tokico Blues and some lowering springs but they won't be the same as coilovers.

Next would be replacing bushings. DTSS replaced with delrin and new control arm bushings will make the car feel amazing.

Brakes, Unfortunately you have the 4 lug small brake version. Look at putting together a 5 lug swap with the 4 piston brakes. These things stock kick serious ***. Add a decent pad like Hawks and you're in business. A temp solution may be some Hawk pads for the single piston brakes.

Pointless things to skip:
Strut bars. They don't do as much as you think. Only put one on if you get it for dirt cheap.
NA engine mods. It's NA, it's going to take a lot of cash to make it powerful.

driftxsequence

iTrader: (8)

Thank you very much for all of this info. This is great and I feel I was heading in the right direction.

One thing I'd like to comment on, I have a full free flowing exhaust and a pretty big streetport - Do I need to monitor my engine at all? I'd really rather not run lean. Is it worth getting a wideband to monitor?

I have contemplated getting 5 lug, It would make finding rims so much easier. If I go this route I could kill 2 birds with 1 stone by putting all new bushings on at the same time.

Digi7ech

iTrader: (1)

If you haven't tuned for the SP then yes, you should get it checked out.

The NA maps are usually pretty fat so you may be ok but going lean is the leading cause of blown engines.

RotaryRabbit

HDPE is going to be great but I'd agree with the above poster that said stick with stock wheels and tires if you are on a budget and worry more about the brakes. Usually entry fees, with an instructor, are close to or more than $200 where I live. The important thing is to get out there. Most instruction courses will have helmets too. Just take a bandana so you won't get lice Chances are in favour that you will be really slow the first day anyways, so just focus on being safe and keep looking ahead. Have fun.

Digi7ech

iTrader: (1)

Local NASA HPDE requires you to bring a helmet.

They will accept Motorcylce grade helmets until you get up in the DE's and time attack.

I bought an M05 or something helmet for $75 at a bike shop since they got a new batch of M10's or what ever the number is now.