First track day (technically an evening) done. The car held up/held its own great and I wasn't responsible for any accidents so all good there. If you don't read the rest of this post atleast read this.. Take your car to a track, you won't regret it. It's not as intimidating an environment as you might imagine. The car loved it.
Booking was made very easy by the MSV (Motorsport Vision) website. MSV own several high profile tracks including brands hatch so they run there own track days aswell at leasing to other organisers such as Javelin track days. When you go onto they're website you get a few options, Novice, Road Car only and open pit lane are amongst those to be selection for each event. The clue is in the title as to who to expect on those days but don't be put off by the open pit lane format. So long as you have a good idea about how a car stays on four wheels you'll be right on an open pit lane format. In open pit lane the track opens at, for example 17.30 and stays open to any vehicle until 2000 minus any red flags for recovery etc.
The day cost £65 to book, I added an additional driver as I took the father in law for £25.
£45 fuel to commute 3 hours there and back and 2.5 hours on track.
With it being open pit lane there were cars ranging from old mk 3 fiestas through to ginetta/lotus race cars with Aero packages and a few exotics like Nobels and Aerial Atoms. Because of the range in vehicles and drivers 30% of which were on they're first track day you will notice some drastic closing speeds but the rules of the track day for overtaking are very clear. Pass only on the left, only on straights and by invitation. If your not comfortable with someone behind you and are travelling at a relative speed you just indicate right and feather the throttle to let them past (not back off ! That causes problems!)
In short, don't be put off by the amazing cars your sharing the track with.
The car it's self really held its own and I can't stress enough how much I learnt about my ability and what the car was capable off that just wouldn't be possible on the road, even if you were bending the rules. I oftern drive out over the dales etc. it is a different type of driving but I was reaching nowhere near the limits of the vehicle. The 3.0 was smooth and never really felt lacking in power at all.
My car is OEM as it was in 2004 with the only addition being DOT 5.1 brake fluid and none run flat Cooper Zeon CS sport tyres. It does have factory fit MSport Suspension and M sport seats. The sport button also saw use and was worth having.
In terms of wear and tare the tyres probably lost about 1-1.5mm. The brakes in OEM spec with very tired disks held out without fade for the 20 minute sessions I restricted myself to. As I gained confidence the brakes did eventually start to really smell like they were cooking up. I don't know how much difference having quite an open wheel, 108's made to cooling but they were getting on just fine.
I had the driving aids set to DSc, so one push of the button. The light started flashing out of the faster corners toward the end of the session but I didn't personally find it too intrusive. With full driver aids however it was very intrusive and I would say that it was causing more bad than good. I'll save that for wet days maybe !
I did completely cook my offside front wheel baring, it didn't fail until I was on my way home so I limped it back. My car does have 108,000 miles on the clock so I would say that this is not as a result of the track day but it probably was the nail in the coffin. £230 to replace, fitted.
I always run my car on Shell Nitro and would recommend it to anyone heading to the circuit. Run it a few days before too.. Not sure how our ECu's learn, maybe make a difference. I averaged 13.5 MPG over the evening. Used about half of a tank so it's cheaper than go carting !
Instruction, quickest way to make your car go fast. I paid £25 for 20 minutes with an instructor and can't recommend it enough. I'll be getting an hour the next time I go. I thought I was shifting before but after 10 minutes I was going maybe 8-10 mph faster through the corners with a much much more stable car with what felt like half of the stress being put on the gear box and engine.
I didn't time or video the event as timing is technically not allowed on these events and I didn't want to give a good day the kiss of death by getting the go pro out. I will fit some mounts to the car for the next event I attend.
There are plenty more experienced track day goers than me but from a novice to a novice if you have any questions or need help getting yourself on a track day give me a shout on here. It would be great to see more a' sat the circuit.
Booking was made very easy by the MSV (Motorsport Vision) website. MSV own several high profile tracks including brands hatch so they run there own track days aswell at leasing to other organisers such as Javelin track days. When you go onto they're website you get a few options, Novice, Road Car only and open pit lane are amongst those to be selection for each event. The clue is in the title as to who to expect on those days but don't be put off by the open pit lane format. So long as you have a good idea about how a car stays on four wheels you'll be right on an open pit lane format. In open pit lane the track opens at, for example 17.30 and stays open to any vehicle until 2000 minus any red flags for recovery etc.
The day cost £65 to book, I added an additional driver as I took the father in law for £25.
£45 fuel to commute 3 hours there and back and 2.5 hours on track.
With it being open pit lane there were cars ranging from old mk 3 fiestas through to ginetta/lotus race cars with Aero packages and a few exotics like Nobels and Aerial Atoms. Because of the range in vehicles and drivers 30% of which were on they're first track day you will notice some drastic closing speeds but the rules of the track day for overtaking are very clear. Pass only on the left, only on straights and by invitation. If your not comfortable with someone behind you and are travelling at a relative speed you just indicate right and feather the throttle to let them past (not back off ! That causes problems!)
In short, don't be put off by the amazing cars your sharing the track with.
The car it's self really held its own and I can't stress enough how much I learnt about my ability and what the car was capable off that just wouldn't be possible on the road, even if you were bending the rules. I oftern drive out over the dales etc. it is a different type of driving but I was reaching nowhere near the limits of the vehicle. The 3.0 was smooth and never really felt lacking in power at all.
My car is OEM as it was in 2004 with the only addition being DOT 5.1 brake fluid and none run flat Cooper Zeon CS sport tyres. It does have factory fit MSport Suspension and M sport seats. The sport button also saw use and was worth having.
In terms of wear and tare the tyres probably lost about 1-1.5mm. The brakes in OEM spec with very tired disks held out without fade for the 20 minute sessions I restricted myself to. As I gained confidence the brakes did eventually start to really smell like they were cooking up. I don't know how much difference having quite an open wheel, 108's made to cooling but they were getting on just fine.
I had the driving aids set to DSc, so one push of the button. The light started flashing out of the faster corners toward the end of the session but I didn't personally find it too intrusive. With full driver aids however it was very intrusive and I would say that it was causing more bad than good. I'll save that for wet days maybe !
I did completely cook my offside front wheel baring, it didn't fail until I was on my way home so I limped it back. My car does have 108,000 miles on the clock so I would say that this is not as a result of the track day but it probably was the nail in the coffin. £230 to replace, fitted.
I always run my car on Shell Nitro and would recommend it to anyone heading to the circuit. Run it a few days before too.. Not sure how our ECu's learn, maybe make a difference. I averaged 13.5 MPG over the evening. Used about half of a tank so it's cheaper than go carting !
Instruction, quickest way to make your car go fast. I paid £25 for 20 minutes with an instructor and can't recommend it enough. I'll be getting an hour the next time I go. I thought I was shifting before but after 10 minutes I was going maybe 8-10 mph faster through the corners with a much much more stable car with what felt like half of the stress being put on the gear box and engine.
I didn't time or video the event as timing is technically not allowed on these events and I didn't want to give a good day the kiss of death by getting the go pro out. I will fit some mounts to the car for the next event I attend.
There are plenty more experienced track day goers than me but from a novice to a novice if you have any questions or need help getting yourself on a track day give me a shout on here. It would be great to see more a' sat the circuit.
The odd track day is a lot of fun 
] round a circuit, but I took my 1987 E30 M3 around the Rockingham road circuit [and the Oval 
], 