Take your daily driver to the track ?

Depends on the type of event and how you use your clutch. At one point in the 80's - 90's I was running 20 - 25 track days a year with my 308, at 100 to 150 miles a day. These were car club road course events, not autocross or drag strip. I got 60,000 miles out of my second clutch during that period (the first one only lasted 40,000, but 10,000 of that was with previous owners). I don't do burnouts or speed shifts, and I double-clutch when downshifting.

 

If you do autocross and do a lot of standing starts, then it will wear your clutch. If you don't do standing starts, then your clutch will be perfectly fine.

It's all about how you drive. If you drive well and shift well, your clutch should be fine

 

I track the CS quite frequently but I haven't put the 599 on the track yet, but I will as soon as it cools down in Phoenix

 

I bet you are looking forward to that Alex!!

 

My daily driver Mondial even loves the track.
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Slippery slope warning!!! I started by taking my Porsche Boxster S daily driver on the track in 2001. Spin forward to present. I have a dedicated factory built race car,a 26 foot enclosed featherlight trailer, Ford F350 dually for towing the freight and a spare engine just waiting to be installed the next time I ruin one. That along with massive quanities of spare parts and so on and so on. Dont do it man save yourself from the addiction!!!! Jon in Delaware

 

Gotta love it!

 

The track has a certain connotation that I find innaccurate. I like to take my cars to the track because it is the only place I feel I can safely open them up. But I am kinder on cars at the track than many people are to their cars on the road. I never rush the gearbox, I don't overcook the brakes, and I am very careful with my downshifts. In fact, if I think a downshift will be tricky for whatever reason, I just blow it off. I'd rather lose a few seconds on a lap than risk tearing something up or even adding significant wear. In fact, my instructor at my last event told me "you will be faster coming out of there in 2nd rather than 3rd". I told him that I didn't really care, it was easier just to leave it in gear and concentrate on my line and the many other things that I need to improve. It is a different mentality when you RACE a Corvette (like the instructor) than when you are enjoying a Ferrari. I will still drive the car hard in turns and I can keep a respectable pace; it is hard on tires, but little else.

At VIR I typically shift 4 times/lap, 2 up, 2 down (3rd into 1, into 4th after 6, back into 3rd before Oak tree, into 4th on straight, off gas at 120mph, staying in 4th all the way to 1).

On local mountain roads I may be shifting countless times. I think the mountain roads are probably as hard on the car as the track.

Of course, I have never had a speeding ticket either...

 

JSalman...you are in what addiction experts call "the early stages of addiction" If your not carefull you will one day soon find your self getting bored with the pace you are currently traveling. As your skills improve you will feel you are under driving the track. This will cause you to move to one of the later stages of the addiction. This combined with a moderate level of competetive juice will cause you to bring your pace up a bit. You will start over breaking your street pads and tires and someone will suggest that a better set of sticky tires and some harder pads will help you go deeper into corners and hold the line better. and so it goes AKA slippery slope warning. I am at stage 10!!! Jon in Delaware Enjoy the Journey!!!

 

X2 Dude,

I have autoxed for about 25 years, known a lot of drivers.

My old buddy Marvin, (928S4) hammers the living sh*t out of his car. He started with a karman ghia, went to an scca 911, then a pumped 914-6, never a clutch problem, even SCCA racing.

But i digress, he taught me at an early age that you slip the clutch just enough to get the car going, THEN hammer the gas. Fools do drag race starts and burn up clutches. From that stand point, autoxing is definitely harder than a real track day.

Back to your point, if you are easy on the initial start, double clutch on the downshift and don't let the clutch out late on shifting, it should last a good long time.

Tires, on the other hand, are gonna cost ya if you go fast.

 

What about the strip? anyone ever took there daily drivers there before?

There's gotta be a ferrari owner here that also owns like a Z06 or viper that drives it everyday.

 

I track mine a MINIMUM of twice a year. Been doing it for ten years. It is really good for your car if you do it right.

The last thing you want to do is let it sit and sit and sit and sit...

 

Hahahaha!

+1!

-Peter
www.peterkrause.net

 

If you use (not abuse) the clutch, you should be fine and simply follow regular intervals.

Amen. BTW, selling my street/track modded 308 to continue my Formula Continental SCCA racing. Probably have over $60k into the 308 due to upgrades/mods, and think she will be sold this week for a low $34k including all spares. See http://www.enjoythetrack.com/ferrari/

BTW, amen on the Ford and, frankly, everything about the addiction. New (to me) Formula Continental meant 'needed' new 2008 F250 Super Duty... needed new 18-foot Cargopro Series 3000 aluminum enclosed trailer...

WARNING: The real 'problem' is that in my rookie first year ever racing i came in 2nd in SCCA NER and also the NARRC division driver's championship/points. So yeah, that means first loser... and also wil be trying THAT MUCH HARDER to be #1 next year.

How do you make a small fortune racing... LOL