Track day prep

Lots of great info in this thread. Do you guys take any spares to the track? what about tools? I also take a hell of a lot of water to drink. My toolkit is very simple, a socket set, screw drivers and a set of pliers (4 different ones) and my collapsable jack from my jeep. I also remove all the crap from the back, just leaving the battery and yeah great tip, don't forget to leave in your tow hook.. oh and i also bring a hammer. :)
 
I only take insurance for visits to tracks that are new to me, or to tracks I know but with organisers/attendees I'm not sure of.
 
Some standard road policies cover for a limited number (uk) a year I believe, someone more knowledgeable will chime in here I expect.
I've had quotes from InsureMyTrackday.com and another I can't remember. Think along the lines of excess 10% of your car value and premium around 1 %. Looking back of course I wish I'd had insurance when I wrote my car of all on my own! However I have enough belief in myself not to make the same stupid mistake ever again, but I can totally see why some would think insurance is a good idea. It's very much a personal choice I guess.
 
bjd said:
So, who do we recommend for track day insurance?
I use MORIS, as they cover the Tourist days at the 'Ring (1st party only of course), and do discounts for multiple days.

Never had to claim, so I don't know how well their 'aftersales' service is :P
 
I have unlimited UK days included in my road policy, European days are extra cost, but for example a day at Spa and a day at Zandvoort was £104 total.

If I didn't have it included I'd not usually bother though.

Do read the cover very carefully - it really doesn't cover a lot, it wouldn't cover the engine if you blew it up by mis-shifting for example.

With regard to tools, I take a jack, a compressor for the tyres, spare brake pads (usually on old worn set); a socket set, a range of general tools - screwdrivers, Allen keys, pliers, etc, - a roll of gaffer tape, electrical tape and lots of cable ties ... You can fix almost anything with gaffer tape and cable ties ... ;)

Another thought on tyres - check the pressures regularly and let air out to keep them at a reasonable pressure - at the end of the day you have to add all that air back in otherwise you'll arrive home on four flat tyres.

Finally take loads of warm clothes, not sure why but circuit pit lanes always seem to be amongst the coldest places on earth.
 
Bedford is a very open circuit, worst I've seen is a Porsche in the gravel trap. I don't bother with insurance as it usually costs as much as the fee for the day. I only really worry about other cars but it's easy to spot those who are a little over-ambitious, let them past and leave them to it.

An oil and brake fluid change are worth doing before you go. Lots of water even on cold days.
 
Last time I was at Bedford a Focus ST170 lost it down the back straight, ended up smacking into the marshal booth. The MSVT guy was in the booth.. but luckily no-one was hurt.. but the circuit was closed for about 45 mins to deal with the incident. The after lunch session was wet and I was driving around with traction off enjoying myself but with that pile of tangled metal in the back of my mind.
 
Well I had a great day! We didn't get going till after 10:00 because there was still frost/ice on the circuit, but after that the weather was great and so was my new Z4M :D

We took it easy in the morning, slowly getting used to the car and track, but after lunch I was confident enough to turn off the traction control and push it pretty hard. I was surprised just how much grip it has. I was expecting to be sliding around a lot more that I was without the driver aids, but there was plenty of feedback and time to correct. The engine in our cars is sublime. Pulling out of corners seemed to surprise a few of the other cars and I always felt like I was catching people on the back straight. I did notice the extra weight compared to my old boxster and the brakes are definitely the worst component on the car, but not so bad that they caused significant issues. After 3-4 hot laps I felt some juddering under heavy braking at the end of the long straights, but half a lap of cruising cooled everything down enough to go again. Still, I think this is where I will focus my efforts for improvements and will fit some better pads and fluid - any recommendations?

I found the suspension generally OK, but there was a bit too much body roll for my liking. I'm probably not going to change the springs or dampers because it spends most of the time on the road and I don't want to ruin that, but I'm thinking maybe some uprated anti-roll bars could help?


It was quite an expensive dy in the end as we used 2 tanks of fuel just at the track and another 1/2 getting there and back. I also thought I might have worn out my rear left wheel bearing as we heard a bit of a rumble on the way home, but it turned out to be the wheel bolts which had come a bit loose. - Cheap but scary!

Here are some pic and video links:













https://youtu.be/w3LQo68Gegw

https://youtu.be/8IRssyLqVVM
 
great update their, agree on the brakes but some minor changes will really see some nice braking improvements... BUt... the biggy if you can stretch to it, is a a decent suspension setup, this will unlock the fantastic chassis / platform that the z4m is. The engine as you say is just incredible , so special, i still feel privileged to own this car.
 
Philjwb said:
I also thought I might have worn out my rear left wheel bearing as we heard a bit of a rumble on the way home, but it turned out to be the wheel bolts which had come a bit loose. - Cheap but scary!

Ah! the one extremely important bit of advice I (or anyone) forgot to mention. Check your wheel bolts before leaving circuit (in particular the back left as you found out). I had the exact same thing a while back, the wheel was sooo close to falling off on the way back. terrifying.
I now find I torque them at least 3 times a day on track!
Glad you enjoyed it, I'm out on the 20th Feb for the 1st of the year. Can't wait!
 
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