Track experiences??

J

Jonnymito

Member
 Perth
I know that with the weather the way it is that track sessions are probably far from most peoples thoughts but I have just picked up my 3.0 Si coupe and was interested to hear others experiences of track driving.

I have just got rid of a VX220 which I had for nearly 7 years and I spent a great deal of time on tracks across the UK and I also spent some time at the Nurburgring. I understand that my new car is a very different animal but wondered if there is anything specific that I should be paying attention to before heading to a track? :driving:

Thanks in advance :thumbsup:
 
Jonnymito, I've been on airfield track days a couple of times in my 3.0si coupe and found the handling to be brilliant, beautifully balanced through fast corners but plenty lively at the back end on the slower ones if you want it to be. The biggest challenge I have found is the tyres on the car. The bridgestone runflats are dreadful and go off after a 5/6 laps and you find yourself understeering wildly. This maybe down to the airfield surface but I'm probably going to get some track day wheels and tyres to avoid this.

Other things - brakes no problem with 3.0si, fuel, down to 7MPG but to be expected.

Hope this helps.
 
Hi Chris, thanks for your response, it's good to hear about the brakes as these were definately on my radar for upgrading. You also said about the front tyres which is kind of what I was expecting to be honest having tried lots of different tyres on my previous car. I think I'll wait and see how good it is on track and decide if it's going to be a regular occurance. I can see me doing the same as you and getting another set of wheels with some sticky rubber! :driving:

I assume your from the Leeds area, I've got friends who live in Leeds so am down there fairly regular and I've managed to get a couple of days driving at croft which was novel as it is so flat in comparison to Knockhill which is on my doorstep. :lol:
 
I've done Donington and the ring in my 03 roadster.The brakes are weak on my model .but better on the facelift models.Z4's handle very nicely, but they're no lightweight like the VX.
 
The OEM brakes on my facelift are pretty dire on track really. Not much of a suprise though.
Ive got EBC Yellowstuffs just on and new discs (Pagid arent available for the z :( ) and it will see the track in a couple of months so we'll see how they go.

Other than that the car is a bit understeery until you push it and then things get quite interesting. It changes direction very well though on the standard suspension and keeps pretty flat. It will feel a lot bigger than your VX thats for sure byut nothing you dont know already.

It certainly feels nice from the driving position, you kind of notice how far back your sitting more than on the road as obviously the back swings around more. 8) Adopt a Stirling moss long arm stance and enjoy :driving:
 
Mine's now got EBC turbo groove discs and yellowstuff pads, but at the ring it still ran put of brakes too quickly. Ultimately, it's a cracking grand tourer,not really a track day special. I'd love to switch to a Brembo or AP Racing set up,but it's pretty expensive,and my mind tells me to buy an M car instead,but I don't want an M.I just need to adjust my expectations of the car, and you may also need to,depends what you are looking for. i don't drive mine hard on the road at all,but I like to enjoy the feeling of unleashing what it has got on the track occasionally.
 
Hi Dreamer, if your looking for Pagids you should check out Thorny motorsport as I've just order some from there along with some Goodridge hoses as I was always pretty hard on brakes with my last car and like it's been said already the Z is much heavier!

It's going to be sometime before I get near a track so going to make a few changes through the winter. :thumbsup:

Bigshurv I tried an M coupe before I bought this but to be honest it was an even harder ride than my VX and as I was going down to 1 car I decided I wanted a better compromise, I just didn't think I could live with it everyday. My track excursions are probably going to be fewer than they used to be so the prospect of a great tourer suits me fine :thumbsup: particularly since my brother has just moved to Chamonix! :driving:
 
Really? I looked up getting some Pagid Blues as ive used them before on another car and they were amazing but couldnt see them at all for the Z4. Ah crap.

The Yellowstuffs were cheap and a friend of mine has an Alfa Romeo GTV 3.0 track project coming along at the mo which i'll be driving mostly with him so my car wont see much track abuse this year.

Quite a bit of work to do on it still. Just got it wrapped matt black, here she is... http://ambientgraphics.wordpress.com/ :evil:
 
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