My first Track Day... A humbling experience.
 

And quite frustrating...
I went to Infineon Raceway(Sears Point) and did a track-day with the Jim Russell Racing school(http://www.jimrussellusa.com/driving.../trackdays.php)

I'll start with the positive things first:

1.) I didn't pop my motor
2.) I didn't crash/damage my car
3.) I was able to drive myself home and not need towing
4.) Great instruction...many things learned
5.) Good Instructor-to-Student Ratio (7 instructors-to-18 drivers)
6.) Saw some pretty sweet high-end cars on track(mostly from behind:mad:) I got some good pics too.
~Fully Modded GT2 which may have been supercharged driven by some chubby guy named Boris.
~Carrera Cabrio Supercharged with Slicks
~Supercharged NSX
~C6 Corvette
~Chrysler 300 SRT-8...this fucker was a BEAST. 4100+lbs with 425fwhp. This car was fast.
~3 BMW M3's
~Dinan 5 S2
~"Something" 7. It looked British and only weighed 1000lbs. w/ 240 rwhp driven a by a guy that looked just like Sammy Davis Jr.
~and some other cars...Mustangs, Camaros, stock 911, s2000 etc.

This was my first time taking my FD out on the track. I was nervous to say the least. I didn't want to smash my car into the wall or pop my motor. I learned a lot about my car today. I whoel shit-load of little things went wrong today that sucked up my track time and threw a wet blanket on my enjoyment. Don't get me wrong I had fun but this time. The next track day will be much better. Since I know what to expect.

Here's what went wrong:

1.) My rear sway bar end-link broke(again). This happened before I even left SF on the way to the track. My bushings are also shot, so my car didn't insprie much confidence.

2.) I experienced Brake-fade for the first-time! It was the first of six 25 min. track sessions. I was chasing the Porsches, driving aggressively, I was going around 100mph into turn 7, which is basically a big, wide U-turn. The pedal was firm but the brakes weren't grabbing/stopping. This was pretty scary. I let them cool off and went out the rest of the day and tried to drive mellow and stay off the brakes. Gee, I guess I can't just drive like a mad man. I need to upgrade my brakes.

3.) I popped my hood after the second session and saw oil every where under the hood and on LIM and TB. Th It turned out to be the 3/8" oil line off the filler neck. I had to drive 15 mins to a gas station to buy a $2 hose clamp. I'm glad that it wasn't something major.

4.) And what finally did me in was a stupid IC coupler. lIt popped off while I was on the track and I thought I blew my motor! It would run but it had about half the power. It was the coupler between the Greddy elbow and the pipe to the SMIC. It popped off during the 5th session and I just couldn't get thing to stay on. I ended up just leaving early.

It was a learning experience. There are so many little things that I take for granted with my 13 year-old FD that just work fine on the street, But get it on the track and the little things start to go wrong... I'll be better prepared for the next track event.



Just my .02

Hey John, glad you could make it out to an event....sorry for all your problems, but the track does tend to bring these types of problems to life. At least it wasn't anything serious! :D

Now that you've got your first taste of the track, want to start hitting events with me? :)

Tyler,

Hell yeah! That was a blast. I just need to take care of these issues and get more seat time. Just let me know when you are going. I'm in...

J

Sounds like fun mishaps aside. I bet the SRT-8 was a bit of a handful around the track, putting that power down through an open diff.

Also, how'd the C6 fair? I see them almost daily around here and a few Z06s a week, one of the perks of living around Detroit :).

lots of good info there. now i'll know what to check for before my first track event... and what to expect with my worn pillow bushings.

I'm picturing some nutter in an FD going 100+ down the straightaway, one hand on the wheel and another holding a camera to his nose snapping pictures :p:

Tell me you took pics in the paddock and not from the cockpit :D

The important thing is you made it through your first time without any big mishaps. On the other hand you learn real fast that there is no such thing as a "small" problem when at the track. Gotta have her buttoned up tight before you even leave the garage.

Believe it or not, the SRT-8 was fast around the track. I spoke to the owner, and he said that it had Active Handling and Torque control(or something like that) and it basically keep him from going off the track. He saud that he really puched the car and that he felt the Traction/Braking system kicking in.

On a side note, his left front tire was basically trashed by the end of the day. I guess that 4100+ lbs took it's toll.

Caterham Super Seven

Glad you had fun! It sounds fabulous.

the "something" seven is a caterham super seven, weighs around 500kgs and is a kit car - has a higher power to weight ratio than an FD even when it has the standard 1.4 engine in it hahaha.

Awesome cars, nothing really can match them for handling.

http://www.madmotors.com/images/seven.gif

That's the car.

Awesome post! Thanks for sharing. Sorry that some things held you back, but I'm sure it was a lot of fun. Get those things buttoned up and start taking names:)

The C6 driver was pretty timid, he had just gotten the car, and got better toward the end of the day. Most of us were passing him in the corners. However, on the the straight aways his 400 hp was pretty fast.

Yeah, the pics were from the pits during a break.

I was just about to call you and see how it went. What were the temps out there? 90*?

I knew your brakes would not be up to par. I hope you weren't running on street pads.... HP+ at the minimum. The big U turn is turn 11..... but turn 7 is one also and can be a tricky late braking zone. I've run off there a few times and had to go wide.
http://www.infineonraceway.com/image...eating_web.jpg

Sucks about the rear sway bar mount breaking..... and you knew about the pillow ball bushings.... git to work :)

1st time at the track always brings out the weak points. At least you didn't have cooling problems.

Next time come out to a NASA HPDE event. $149/day There are quite a few left in Sept/Oct and November.

-Mark

That's awesome. I'd love to do that. Anyone know where I can get a "track day" like that in the mid-east states?

The Caterham is based on the '60s Lotus Super Seven. I always wanted one. Something so low you can drag your knuckles on the ground.

I want to go on a track day, we have a couple big ass tracks in CO, I will check and see if they do that sort of thing. sounds fun as shit. I also want to more about that super 7 kit car, anyone know where I can find some info?

Summit point raceway has fatt (friday at the track), here's the school that runs it http://www.bsr-inc.com/SCHEDREC.HTM, and the track site is http://www.summitpoint-raceway.com/.

Great. Thanks. I'm going to look into it.

As far as the Caterham 7's go, they aren't the only company that produce the super 7 replicas. I actually have a book on building your own from scratch.
I'll look for it when I get home from work. You can also find them already built on ebay or Hemmings. Another bad ass replica is the Beck 550 Spyder. A replica of the infamous James Dean type Porshe.

Oh, and jpandes, I feel your pain. I put in a new intercooler and pfc a week before going to the track last weekend. I turned up the boost to 12 psi, blew off my bov, a small hose off the y-pipe output, and for the grand finale split the coupler off the y-pipe.

I decided to just turn down the boost to 8psi and not push the car, really made me appreciate how fast 1st gen rx-7s and miatas can be! Or maybe how slow I am in a corner and how much of a crutch the speed of the car is...

My co-worker with the brown supercharged mustang was there. He had alot of fun. Don't sweat the FD breaking down. Everytime I've gone to track with the FD, I've had a minor problem. Good thing your engine didn't blow, I've know quite a few people who have blown their engines at the road course.

That sounds like a fun day. I've been asked to go out to Buttonwillow in Bakersfield for a track day, i have somethings i need to clean up first.

A pad upgrade may be adequate for your next few track days. I have my 4th and 5th events of the year this fall, I can hardly wait.

What pad are best suited for both Street & Track?

None, LOL. The Hawk HP+, Axxiss Ultimates are probably OK for your first several track events -- IF you are not overdriving the car...:)

The best way to go is to run good street pads on the street and swap in some of Ntech's Lapping Day pads or similar in the fronts for track days. I've heard the N-techs are quite "streetable" to get to the track with. Your rears should be fine with street pads.

How much of an improvment do you think he would have if he had ducting for the front breaks with stock rotors and pads?