I'm taking my 355 to our first ever track day next week. I'm excited as can be but also a bit nervous as I worry about stressing the girl out. It's at the Miller Motorsports Park near Salt Lake City. They let one car go at time spacing them out by something like a minute so no worry of getting in a fender bender. Anyone have any advice for my first ever track experience?
From my own (few) track days the most important factor was braking. Watching fast cars, it all looks quite smooth; when you are on the track you see that the braking is brutal. If your car has standard brakes........well, you can guess the rest. Ditto if you are running street tyres. That said, it's dangerously addictive! Enjoy the day!
YOU: don't stress out...you don't have enough skill to stress the car beyond its limit but you can wreck it. listen to instructors and be mature like your boss is looking over you shoulder. That will help keep emotions in check and you thinking with your head keeping you out of trouble nobody wins a trackday Know your flags. First lap, find every corner worker's station. go as slow as you can and learn the line which is where you should be on a track gradually build speed over the course of the event you are not going to burn up brakes on a first trackday unless there is a lot of driver error. Brakes do not win races and brakes don't make you faster. Go out and practice right now on roads you know how to heel n' toe downshift if this is not already second nature on track keep your head up and look way down the track not at the next turn. Look through it. Be smart, drive your 10/10ths where there is nothing to hit. Back down when near things you can hit. CAR: take all the junk out of your car and leave it at home. you can live without floor mats for 1 weekend. At home bleed your brakes and your clutch, check tire pressure, torque lugbolts check oil level. There is a nice tech form of minimum things you should check before going out on track http://www.speedventures.com/events/tech.pdf The only tools you should need trackside are a torque wrench for lugbolts and a tire pressure gauge and for a first day you probably don't even need that. get to track with a full tank of gas and completely stock car with geometry set-up stock on stock tire pressures. If you think you have a handle on things and want to play with tire pressures keep notes on your changes. check your lug bolts at least during lunch. many just do that every session as a track habit IF you have a small handheld fire extinguisher check to make sure there is no way it can become a projectile in your car if there is a crash. develop a habit of glancing at your gauges (oil pressure temperature etc) at a regular place on track every lap like front straight. PERSONAL GEAR: 99% of trackdays require you wear a helmet. Make sure your eye glasses fit inside it. drive on track with visor DOWN! driving gloves are sometimes optional but improve your car control especially if sweety palmed. tennis shoe as a minimum that work well in your footbox to heel n" toe downshift bring iggloo with ice and water. stay well hydrated. leave the ice tea and coke at home. best suppliment are those small indivdual packs of emergen-C if you have to have something in your water.
if i where taking a stock car to the track the only things i'd do would be Brake Fluid Clutch Fluid Engine Oil (i grade heavier than street oil if it's your DD) Trans Oil/Diff Oil Race/Semi-Race Pads looking at pads you can get hawk pads for ~$175F & ~175R you can chew up your rotors if you're very aggressive OE rotors i saw for ~$333F & ~$333R on ricambi that's for the pair which is pretty cheap if you end up chewing through your current rotors
Miller is quite safe, mostly third gear corners with safe runoff into dirt, connected by some fast, fun straights. You have heard good advice about car prep, here is some about "head prep". 1. Hydrate yourself. Drink a bottle of water and/or Gatorade every half hour until you need to hit the bathroom every 30 minutes. You will use up water in the car. 2. Relax, this is fun, don't push yourself past where you are comfortable, there is no shame in pointing faster cars by. Ferrari's get passed by Miatas at track days all the time, don't feel pressured to go fast. 3. What was said about the difference between street braking and track braking are true, but you dont need to even try that now. You will be smoother, faster and safer, if you simply arrive at the corner with car in the proper gear at a speed where it is ready to change direction and think about how soon you can begin to accelerate. Races are won by the first guy to get on the power, NOT the last guy on the brakes. 4. EYES UP!!! If you learn nothing else, learn that you need to look WAY further ahead than you think. Turn your head and LOOK for your apex and then look for the exit while you add power and unwind the steering wheel. This will be the single most important thing you will ever learn about going fast. 5. Don't be obsessed with counting every lap in teh available time. Make the most of the laps you drive, and then stop if you start to feel tired or you see yourself getting sloppy or out of control...a few minutes on pit lane to digest what you are doing will help a lot. 6. Find a competent instructor. An experienced guy can really help you out. Don't fall for some kid who just wants to drive your car, make sure whoever is helping you has actual credentials. You don't need an expensive coach for your first days, but later, if you get serious and need help, it can be best money you spend! Good luck and have fun!!!
I ran a few autocross events before going to the track to get a good feel for the car. It made a difference as I already was comfortable in the car and had sorted out my tire pressures before getting there so I could concentrate on the track. I encountered fairly severe brake fade on the stock brakes so will be going with better pads before the next track day. Everything else is spot on, stay hydrated and don't go out there if you're tired.
Your car will be fine! Go have FUN! I've done many track days in my P-car, and recently did my first track day in my F355. The F355 is unbelievably good and easy to drive fast. Everything is basically stock on my car, including brakes. The F355 behaved perfectly. Enjoy.
First time, just drive it will come to you naturally Most of all have fun Next time out try to improve
fbb's post is, of course, the fruit of years of experience - perfect. My comments were from a beginner to a beginner. My remarks about the brakes and the tyres were meant to point out (quelle surprise!) that they both overheat with respect to "normal" driving. I hope that my reply was in the spirit of the OP's question. My first outing cost me a set of (old) Bridgestones and the standard brakes did not stop as well at the end as they did at the start. I learned later that the track surface was very abrasive. Great fun though!
At the end of your run, make sure you minimally press down the brakes as you enter the paddock to where you park (shift into lower gears) and leave car in 1st gear without engaging parking brake. You will see the rotors will still be red-hot from the heat. Also if you feel tired or start missing apex due to tiredness, it is time to call it a day... or pit, take a breather and wait for your next run. Usually I don't do the last run of the day since I get tired and more prone to a mistake. Listen to your car and if you do an off-road excursion, don't fight the car, it knows what to do.
Your remarks are actually correct. You bring up an advanced point that sometimes on the surface seems counter-intuitive. You see your statements are absolutely correct from the standpoint of a beginner trying to drive as hard as he can not yet at the level to keep his momentum, control his car, and use his brakes as little as possible. That lack of tools does need to be factored in because a beginner can use up a car while driving a lower overall speed while an advanced driver may use the same car up at a much greater overall speed. So you are not wrong. We who have been doing this longer see much more potential in the stock system than a beginner would, and could drive the same car faster than a beginner would. So our first thought is to say leave it stock. Therein lies the biggest problems for those on track not limited by a set of car build rules. When a driver sees limitations does he see those as a limitation in his ability or a limitation in his equipment? If everyone must drive identical cars the answer is obvious. Newcomers to the track have a tendency to modify the car which is actually much more expensive and slows their development as a driver. This is an advanced discussion beyond the OP's original question but one we all face if we continue in the sport. And yes great fun! Each finds their own fun. Some want personal improvement and the challenge of a chess match at high speed with risk. Others like toys. So sticky tires, a dozen set of springs, and big motors are where their enjoyment lie.
Just have fun, Erick. Being a little nervous the first time is good. It means that you're taking this seriously, as well you should. In addition to the good advice already given you here, make sure they assign you a good instructor and listen to him carefully. If he brings along his communicator, you'll be sure to hear what he's saying out on the track. If you know the course your group will be using at Miller Motorsports Park, try to find a YouTube video showing some onboard track laps to help familiarize yourself with the track before you get there. Barry
I'm sorry, but the stock brakes really are inadequate on this car. I also have a Porsche 944 and have run hour and a half stints with zero brake fade on it with the only upgrade being Hawk pads, both at CMP and at VIR - one stint of which was on the grand course which is a brake killer if there ever was one. I would get 4-5 laps at speed in the 355 before the brakes would fade on VIR south. Next time out it will have better pads at minimum.
