1st Trackday

[ChawenHalo]

Hello everyone.

On sunday I'll take the Z out for its first trackday. Any advice would be welcome.

Car handling
Driving technique

I only have a little bit of experience with tackdays (mostly promogated "experiences" in some very fancy kit :wink: ). My only real serious track experience was a 1 to 1 with instructor a Scooby group N for a half day. (still remember my first powerslide!)

track is fairly short at 1.8 km and 12m wide. Car is stock with fairly new Michelin Pilot Sports or something.

Anyway, its my first time taking my own car on the track so I'm very exited . Since my long 750 km baptism with the car going home I've had a few fast blasts. On fast road driving the car seems really on the "button" and stays well with you and the electronic safety system quickly stopping making a potential hash of things. I'm wondering whether it'll be more vicious on the track, especially with TC off and Sports button on? :?

Also worried about the brakes. I've unbderstood that they are CSL items so should be pretty damm good.

Any comments appreciated and I'll give you the feedback.

Since its a new toy I could'nt help myself to put on another picture

 

[Taz]

never done a track day so can't give any advise

sure you will have a great day

 

[TINO]

could be fun steering wheel on wrong side

Dont let the red mist get the better of you!!

Enjoy lucky you.

Car looks good try not to scratch.

 

[markos]

Leave the TC on, Sport button off to begin with. The CSL brakes are considered a weak spot of the CSL and those that track them upgrade them. Warm the car and tyres up before pushing it and do a cool down lap after each session to let everything cool down before bringing it in. other than that: enjoy!

 

[flimper]

Don't put the hand brake on when coming in after 20 laps!

 

[Raify]

Which track are you doing? I've done a couple of French ones (abbeville, Croix en tournois and I'm looking forward to Ecuyers this summer).

Get some tuition if it's available.
Take some water (for you)
When you get in after a session, leave the engine running for a few minutes and don't use the handbrake.
Feel the tyres to check they're even heat across the width, adjust the pressures as needed.
Smooth inputs, don't grip the wheel too hard and look as far ahead as you can through the corner.

Those are all the things I try to remember on trackdays.

Have fun!

 

[Aliv6]

In my opinion. Don't think too much about it.

1/ Give the car a good check over
2/ Be there early, walk the track if you can
3/ Tuition is good if on offer or at small cost.
4/ Relax and enjoy it, there is ALWAYS somebody faster than you
5/ Short session, stick to 10laps or less, but at 1.8km thats a bit short!

 

[mmm-five]

Don't do more than 30 minutes at a time (that's including your 3-5 minute cool down lap/s), as both you and the car will become fatigued.

Don't forget that a cool down lap isn't just a slower lap (not too slow though), it also means you don't brake much (if at all) so that you put as much cool air through the brakes & engine before you park it, without putting any heat back into those systems. I normally put the car in 4th and keep it at about 40mph.

Personally I WOULDN'T leave the car idling for a few minutes in the paddock/pits as you'll just overheat it as there'll be no airflow to cool it. If it's really hot, then simply do more than one cool down lap.

Leave the handbrake off, engine off, and in gear so that it can't roll/move with the handbrake off.

 

[Lower]

1. Check all your tyre pressures and oil levels before you start
2. Take it gently at first. Your car will feel very different on track and quite alien with a helmet on
3. Learn the track and the get a proper feel on for the car before you really start to push it.
4. The get some tuition. Cannot emphasise this enough. You will enjoy the whole experience that much more once you know the lines of the track.
5. Concentrate on driving smoothly and carrying as much speed as possible through the corners. Don't just use the car as a straight line dragster and then scrub all the speed of before the corner.
6. Brake hard and quickly so that the brakes have as much time to cool as possible between corners. When the brakes start to fade, back off an let them cool down for a lap or two.
7. Do a full cool down lap without touching the brakes before coming into the pits. This will also give the engine oil a bit of time to cool.
8. Do not put the handbrake on in the pits. Stop the engine and leave the car in gear. If you put the handbrake on all the heat in the discs goes straight into the pads and you risk adhesion issues and boiled fluid.
9. I'd recommend not using the sport button. It makes the throttle too hard to modulate.
10. Leave the traction control on until you've got confidence in how the car handles.
11.If faster cars come up behind you, don't panic, just let them past when you're ready.
12. If the car in front won't let you past, chill out and drop back to create yourself some space.


Last but not least, relax and enjoy it.

 

[Raify]

Personally I WOULDN'T leave the car idling for a few minutes in the paddock/pits as you'll just overheat it as there'll be no airflow to cool it. If it's really hot, then simply do more than one cool down lap.

I've seen conflicting opinions on this too. When I was at the Car Limits day, Andy Walsh advised me to leave it running to avoid hotspots in the engine. Personally, I think a decent cooling down lap should achieve the same results. I'm in two minds. Mind you, I don't hit cars that hard on track, and don't think I need to worry about overheating.

I see plenty of people on the Lotus track days I attend running the car for a while afer their session....

Maybe that's a K-Series thing 8)

 

[Lower]

Leaving the car idling was originally for turbo'd cars to make sure the oil flow through the turbo cooled it enough that the oil wouldn't carbonise in the oil ways.

I think the K series engined cars often do it because the cooling system has very little coolant in it and they want the engine to heat or cool uniformly to aovid killing the headgasket through differential expansion/contraction.

A decent cool down lap should more than do it. At Donington a few weeks ago a cool down lap in the Z4M was reducing the oil temperature by from 120 to 90 degrees which is getting it down to the sort of temperatures you get on the road. If the oils cooling down, then its also cooling the engine.

 

[Andy C]

Hello, after a bit of lurking this is my first post. I've had my Z4MC for a few months now, absolutley love it and looking forward to tracking it soon.

I've always done a good cool down lap and then left the engine running for at least 5 mins in the pits. I've always believed that its good practive to leave the engine running after a session so that the water pump continues to run and the engine continues to cool down uniformily so that there is less risk of heat soak issues damaging the engine.

Another good tip from Andy Walsh is to leave the car parked on full lock whilst the hand brake is off and the engine is still running to stop your car running away. The last thing you want to see is your pride and joy going for a solo run across the pits!!!!


Have fun.

 

[mmm-five]

Pity that our cars have mechanical water pumps.

If they were electric, then turning off the engine (but not the ignition) would mean the coolant can still flow through the system without the engine adding heat from running - so you'd have the best of both options

 

[Lower]

I've always done a good cool down lap and then left the engine running for at least 5 mins in the pits. I've always believed that its good practive to leave the engine running after a session so that the water pump continues to run and the engine continues to cool down uniformily so that there is less risk of heat soak issues damaging the engine.

Have you seen what the oil temp does when you do that when the engine's hot?

It goes up.

 

[ChawenHalo]

Don't do more than 30 minutes at a time (that's including your 3-5 minute cool down lap/s), as both you and the car will become fatigued.

Don't forget that a cool down lap isn't just a slower lap (not too slow though), it also means you don't brake much (if at all) so that you put as much cool air through the brakes & engine before you park it, without putting any heat back into those systems. I normally put the car in 4th and keep it at about 40mph.

Personally I WOULDN'T leave the car idling for a few minutes in the paddock/pits as you'll just overheat it as there'll be no airflow to cool it. If it's really hot, then simply do more than one cool down lap.

Leave the handbrake off, engine off, and in gear so that it can't roll/move with the handbrake off.

thank you all very all very much guys. I had not remembered of the handbrake thing and its quite logical. Didn't know about a cooling down laps either and just thought about letting it run for a couple of minutes after 1O laps or so :roll: thats really good advice and makes much more sense.

Its my local track (20 mins away) and the guys running it seem like a nice relaxed bunch (apart from all these bikers )

Hows the cars handling on the circuit? I've heard it understeers if too hot into a corner (on OEM tires though) then the tail snaps progressively on lift off / power on past the apex. Any of you running on similar tires couyld tell me what to look out for? TC on /off.

As I've never been on this track I've booked an instrcot for 20 mins.

And I always leave the "attitude/ ego" behind when I grab my car keys 8)

 

[ChawenHalo]

never done a track day so can't give any advise

sure you will have a great day

I just cant believe it. The 3L is supposed to be better handling than the M and far sweeter. How come? :?

Its bloody expensive in UK. my run is only €90 for the day. Instructor 40 for 20 mins. Trackn insurance is €25 for the day and includes track damage.The one thing I hatted in UK was those B Day presents for 7 lap run on an overfilled track full of Bentley, 911 turbos and Lambos none allowad to rev above 4000 rpm? ridiculous.

 

[moonigan]

DO NOT SWITCH THE TC ON WHEN ITS DRY AS YOU WILL PREMATURLEY OVERHEAT YOUR BRAKES
You dont need the TC on unless its very very wet or you are an idiot.

Your tyres will take a huge beating especially if its warm.

Check your brake pads have at least 50% of the pad remaining. If they are low then change them.

Dont for get to press the SPORT button at the start of each session.

If you are on standard road tyres and its hot then you wont be able to do 30 minutes without melting them. As soon as you start to feel them move around underneath you slow down take a cool down lap and come in and let everything cool down. Open your bonnet and let all the heat escape. When the tyres have cooled down go out again.

When the car is cooling down move it forwards few inches every few minutes. Your brakes will still be very very very hot and you still run the risk of the pad material melting to the face of the disk if the disk and pad are kept in the same place for a long time.

Never let your fuel go below quarter of a tank.

Last year I could only manage 4-5 laps at a time (not including warm up and cool down laps) at Anglesey before coming in. If you have grippy tyres then your brakes will be first thing to overheat. I destroyed a set of standard discs and pads (rears) last year at Outlon park because I had so much grip on the track tyres. I was going faster and braking harder and they were closer to the limit than I thought.

Most of all enjoy it. The car is made for going on track.

P

 

[Lower]

Hows the cars handling on the circuit? I've heard it understeers if too hot into a corner (on OEM tires though) then the tail snaps progressively on lift off / power on past the apex. Any of you running on similar tires couyld tell me what to look out for? TC on /off.)

It does understeer if you go in too fast, so a slower in fast out approach works well because once you get on the power the understeer disappears and the balance goes from understeer to rear steering.

Which is great fun!

 

[daz05]

never done a track day so can't give any advise

sure you will have a great day

I just cant believe it. The 3L is supposed to be better handling than the M and far sweeter. How come? :?

Its bloody expensive in UK. my run is only €90 for the day. Instructor 40 for 20 mins. Trackn insurance is €25 for the day and includes track damage.The one thing I hatted in UK was those B Day presents for 7 lap run on an overfilled track full of Bentley, 911 turbos and Lambos none allowad to rev above 4000 rpm? ridiculous.

The 3.0l is not a better handling car, that sort of rubbish is spouted by the bitter ones that made the wrong decision. The fact of the matter is that it maybe slightly better (w/o run flats ofcourse) on some of the UKs B roads perhaps due to the softer damping, on track you'll be glad you bought the M.

The sport button is rubbish, keep it off it makes the throttle far too aggressive not what you want when trying to drive smoothly on track.

If you have time you could remove the front camber pins which will give you a little bit of negative camber and help with any potential understeer issues. Its easy a few of us run that set up on the road without issue.

I would also echo everything Mmmmm5 said he knows his stuff so you won't go far wrong listening to him.

 

[moonigan]

never done a track day so can't give any advise

sure you will have a great day

The sport button is rubbish, keep it off it makes the throttle far too aggressive not what you want when trying to drive smoothly on track.

Sorry but that is bollocks. Yes its crap for day to day driving but its perfect for driving on track.

P