TRACK DAY ADVICE

[Vanne]

I'd say your mech is spot on. re-flush the brake fluid with 5.1 and enjoy the day. dont worry too much about the other stuff. Just have fun and do remember that you have to drive home too.
Good advise whoever mentioned to get a lesson.

enjoy and let us know how you get on, that track bug can bite hard....

[Mr Tidy]

I can't offer any real advice, but it may make sense not to do too much in case you get really into it in which case you'll probably want to fit some upgrades anyway!

I did quite a few back in the 90s, but always in my mate's cars as he was a trader - I loved it!

I hope you have a great time!

[jpvd]

ok...taking the plunge....going for these >

pads.png (109.29 KiB) Viewed 788 times

[jpvd]

I'd say your mech is spot on. re-flush the brake fluid with 5.1 and enjoy the day. dont worry too much about the other stuff. Just have fun and do remember that you have to drive home too.
Good advise whoever mentioned to get a lesson.

enjoy and let us know how you get on, that track bug can bite hard....

thanks!....i've decided to just get the pads upgraded, but to nothing too hardcore....still expensive, but not £200 they ask for mintex and the like....need to use the car on weekends and drives in the country so don't want it fully race speced!

[lostmotel]

I did the Oulton Park novice day last week, and despite fairly recent brake fluid, the pedal still wend spongy after about two laps, and didn't really come back for the rest of the day. We were in our 2.5 so I think the brakes are the same size as the 2.2, so you'll probably suffer the same fate.

You don't need DOT 5.1, a good DOT 4 can out-perform a bad 5.1. Castrol SRF is the dogs, but very expensive. Having done some research, Motul RBF 600 apparently hits the sweet spot of not being too expensive, but having a sufficiently high boiling point that you should be okay.

I am planning changing to that, along with the 300mm front disc swap (Brembos) plus some Ferodo DS Performance pads, as I want to leave them in rather than faff around swapping pads before and after track days. Ferodo stuff seems pretty much universally praised, whereas there seems to be very mixed views on the various EBC products.

For the first go on track, the 2.5 was fast enough and definitely brought out the smiles. The fun is more about how much speed you can carry rather than ultimate top speed, so you should be fine at Cadwell.

By the way, if the day is with MSV then you'll need full face helmets unless you're running your hard top. You'll also need a towing strap or your towing eye.

Have fun!

[lostmotel]

Oh, I should also say, get an instructor as early on as you can. I had instruction for the first session of the day and it was invaluable, it meant I knew the quick line from the off and could spend the rest of the day working on it.

[hopz121]

I did the Oulton Park novice day last week, and despite fairly recent brake fluid, the pedal still wend spongy after about two laps, and didn't really come back for the rest of the day. We were in our 2.5 so I think the brakes are the same size as the 2.2, so you'll probably suffer the same fate.

You don't need DOT 5.1, a good DOT 4 can out-perform a bad 5.1. Castrol SRF is the dogs, but very expensive. Having done some research, Motul RBF 600 apparently hits the sweet spot of not being too expensive, but having a sufficiently high boiling point that you should be okay.

I am planning changing to that, along with the 300mm front disc swap (Brembos) plus some Ferodo DS Performance pads, as I want to leave them in rather than faff around swapping pads before and after track days. Ferodo stuff seems pretty much universally praised, whereas there seems to be very mixed views on the various EBC products.

For the first go on track, the 2.5 was fast enough and definitely brought out the smiles. The fun is more about how much speed you can carry rather than ultimate top speed, so you should be fine at Cadwell.

By the way, if the day is with MSV then you'll need full face helmets unless you're running your hard top. You'll also need a towing strap or your towing eye.

Have fun!

Swap to the 325mm Front Disc set up. If your are going to upgrade it seems pointless going for the 300mm set up!

[jpvd]

Thanks for the insight fellas...car is in garage now getting preped...all the metal brake pipes need swapping out, brake fluid and front pads to ebc yellow...then a couple of bushes at front...gunna hurt the wallet but will be happy on track now...lol

[lostmotel]

Swap to the 325mm Front Disc set up. If your are going to upgrade it seems pointless going for the 300mm set up!

I would but I have style 104s for winter which won't clear the 325mm setup. Also, if I went 325mm front I'd need to go to the larger rears too.

The alternative is just buying a 3.0si... but it's comforting knowing we can walk away from the current car if we bin it and it won't hurt the bank, not sure I'd happily wave goodbye to anything more expensive. No idea how people push as much as they do in the likes of Cayman GT4s!

[hopz121]

Swap to the 325mm Front Disc set up. If your are going to upgrade it seems pointless going for the 300mm set up!

I would but I have style 104s for winter which won't clear the 325mm setup. Also, if I went 325mm front I'd need to go to the larger rears too.

The alternative is just buying a 3.0si... but it's comforting knowing we can walk away from the current car if we bin it and it won't hurt the bank, not sure I'd happily wave goodbye to anything more expensive. No idea how people push as much as they do in the likes of Cayman GT4s!

You won't need to upgrade the rears as they don't do too much anyway.

But your probably right it maybe best to sell up and get a 3.0Si as a base car if you plan on using it for track days etc.

Your winter wheels wont fit an Si though so you'll still need to sort out a new set of wheels.

[peteslag]

I'm pretty sure my 3.0 SE has the 300mm set up. I have high temp pads, good discs and high temp fluid. I've used mine on a number of different circuits and had no issues. It is a cracking little track day toy.

[brillomaster]

quick question for those who have tracked a z4 e85 3.0... how do you find rear brake pad wear? reason i ask is that ive done two trackdays now(wet bedford and dry donington), and the low brake pad warning has come on already (EBC bluestuffs, standard discs). Its getting to the point that i'm seriously considering saving my money on rear brake pads - no matter what i buy, 2 trackdays seems to be the limit. or even just go for EBC ultimax at the rear, and replace them every trackday for the sake of £28!

gona try and get one more day out of the pads i have in there since i have spares and i'm replacing the discs soon anyways, but i'm getting a bit bored of buying apparently decent pads and still changing them frequently. are ferodo ds2500s any better?

[ph001]

I think the lesson here is stop buying EBC! DS2500 will be a lot better or Performance Friction Z rated carbon metallic better still (prob cheaper than DS2500 as well).

[brillomaster]

yeah might well give ds2500s a go... how many trackdays would you normally get out of a set? really i want a pad that can do 6 or so trackdays before needing to be replaced - is that asking too much?

[vester86]

quick question for those who have tracked a z4 e85 3.0... how do you find rear brake pad wear? reason i ask is that ive done two trackdays now(wet bedford and dry donington), and the low brake pad warning has come on already (EBC bluestuffs, standard discs). Its getting to the point that i'm seriously considering saving my money on rear brake pads - no matter what i buy, 2 trackdays seems to be the limit. or even just go for EBC ultimax at the rear, and replace them every trackday for the sake of £28!

gona try and get one more day out of the pads i have in there since i have spares and i'm replacing the discs soon anyways, but i'm getting a bit bored of buying apparently decent pads and still changing them frequently. are ferodo ds2500s any better?

my experience on a couple laps on the nurburgring is that stock rear brake pads will melt like swiss cheese in the sun. they just couldn't stand the temperatures. on front i have DS2500 and they didn't give a *($* those laps.