first time road racing, WHAT DO I NEED?!
 

Hey this will be my first time road racing, I'm actually taking a performance driving school.

Just wanted to see what things you gurus recommend to have, to do & to know of.

in terms of things to have, here's the list:
-koyo radiator
-70/30 water/coolant mix with redline water wetter
-falken azenis (which will have some decent mileage put on)
-MSD ignition, 10mm magnecore wires, new plugs
-SS brake lines
-tranny & differential fluid (redline MTL & 75w90)
-Gforce Snell SA2000 helmet
-front strut bar (for free!!!)

I'm kind of curious as to wat I should do for brake fluid. I believe I have either DOT 3 or 4 in there, would 4 be good enough?

My car is BONE STOCK, so are there anythings that I should remove/customize a bit for the track?

ehmm get some good brake fluid with a high boiling point. motul DOT 4 or wilwood 504 DOT 3 will do good. also check your pads. bleed accordingly.

bring money, food, water, and make sure to have fun. make sure everything in your car that is loose is out also (spare, jack, loose papers) and anything that is not tied down.

-steven

Check your other fluids as well. OIL, power steering, etc. I personally would go ahead and change the oil and oil filter, unless it's near brand-spankin' new. When the last time you changed the fuel filter? If it's been a while (> 1 year), I would recommend about changing it out. Better safe than sorry, IMO.

Brakes-wise, I usually change to new pads and bed them in before a road course event. I'll keep the old ones in case I melt the new ones (or completely burn them up). That way, I can just change to the old pads (worst case scenario) and finish the day and/or be able to get home. I recommend the ATE Super Blue brake fluid (DOT 4, I believe?). I've had a lot of good experiences with it. I've yet to boil it. :)

I am probably one of the best suited to answer this question right now since I just went to road course school last Saturday and Sunday, heh.

Some things on that list aren't necessary.

I just bought the car three months before the race. Here is what I changed before my race.

Fuel Filter
Spark Plugs
10mm Magnecor Plug Wires (old ones were in bad shape)
Fresh oil change and filter. You might want to go to a 20W50 weight just for the school.
All around Hawk HP+ pads
DOT 4 Brake fluid change

Redline rules and you should have it in all your cars. Watter Wetter is an alright product, but I didn't notice a difference when I used it on my truck. The warm up time seemed to be quicker, but no difference cooling and I seriously run that poor thing.

Unless your radiator is in horrible shape, you really don't need a new one. But I have always liked a good cooling system. Be SURE you get a thermostat too, I didn't see that on your list. That is an essential part of the system if you are redoing it. I am replacing mine this Saturday actually. I have an autoX event this Sunday.

If you can afford the Falkens go a head and get them, but I learned on some 205/60/15 year round tires. They worked fine. I believe it's better to learn on as stock as possible. You will learn a whole lot more about your car this way.

The most important system for road race driving is your brake system. Bleed them and put in new fluid. If I had to choose, I would take new HP+ pads over new Falkens, unless your tires are in REALLY bad shape. Get under there and be sure it's working very VERY well.

I went out to my school with a stock 1990 GXL,. My only mods were those maintence changes above and an exhaust sytem. I was running against some serious BMWs in my beginner class. Most of the cars there had race tires and some nice suspensions.

I had a stock suspension, some good year round tires, and some week old Hawk HP+ pads. The first day was an unlearning day for me. I had a lot of bad habbits I needed to fix. The next day I was keeping up with and in some instances passing many of the cars that were kicking my ass the day before. Learn your car stock, you will thank yourself later.

Our cars don't have a lot of power, but man do they have a braking system. Use it. It will be your most potent weapon on the course.

Go out and have fun. Don't worry about any modifications to your car or what others have. Out there you will prove what you learn. If you start passing the people you were once getting wasted by, you've learned more than them. 'Tis a good thing.

Are you going to a school in Calgary BTW?

thanks for the awesome list xplikt!!!
i actually DO have a new thermostat ready to go in, just forgot to put it on the list!!! hehe
& yes i am going to Race City
right now i have some pretty new OEM pads, would they be alright to use on the track? providing i bring an extra set?

if it wasn't such a pain to switch pads around (i.e. no bedding in) i would have picked up a set of hp+
if the OEM ones die, that's what i'll be doing cuz there are only 6 autox's this entire summer & i would like to attend all of them!!!

i'll also look into the DOT4 brake fluid, prbly do that the week of the school along with the SS lines.

thanks again for the detailed list!!

Looks like you are pretty set...

go with a cool head and have a blast...:)

Embedding the pads really isn't that big of an issue. I don't think my pads were even a week old. There were more like several days old. I just did some hard stops on them and a 4 hr drive to Spokane (230mi). After that I was all set. My brakes were ready to go.

I need some nice slotted rotors now though :)

I am also going to work on ways of getting better ventalation to them. I might remove the fogs and put some type of mesh in it's place.

Reflux,

Fluid - I run Motul 600 DOT4.
Pads - Carbotech Panther Plus, they're a track only pad.

OEM pads are probably going to fade as the session goes, but for your first time out there, go ahead and give it a shot. Just keep that in mind, those pads aren't designed for the high temps you're going to be subjecting them to.

PaulC

Reflux...

You may find this article interesting and helpful.

Look for "School Tips" in the legend of the following site;
http://www.bellmotorsports.com/

David

I have faded the HP+'s fairly quickly. One of the local PCA's time trial courses is very rough on brakes and tires ... I think I started smelling them after the first 5 minutes on course. They do come back pretty quick too; a lap with very light usage and voila .... brakes work again! The HP+'s are an okay track pad. If you're doing a 2-day drivers ed event, I'd bring another set ... just in case. ;)