Hi guys, have booked my first trackday in the zed (first for the car, not me) is there anything i definitely need to do to the car before i go? Im thinking cdv delete and maybe lose the staggered 18s in favour of some square 17s? Anything else i should be looking at apart from the obvious fluids and consumables check? Cheers
Trackday prep
- Thread starter Swizzle
- Start date
1. Change engine oil and filter
2. Flush brake fluid with uprated fluid
3. Uprate the pads
4. Check cooling system for leaks
5. Check suspension components
6. Square vs staggered is personal preference, you should be more concerned on the tyres which you are running on track instead
7. Enjoy yourself, it’s all about having fun
2. Flush brake fluid with uprated fluid
3. Uprate the pads
4. Check cooling system for leaks
5. Check suspension components
6. Square vs staggered is personal preference, you should be more concerned on the tyres which you are running on track instead
7. Enjoy yourself, it’s all about having fun
As above but might be worth getting your geo checked if you've not had it done in a while, could easily destroy a set of tyres if it's well out from where it should be, or where you expect it to be.
CDV delete won't make much difference out on track I wouldn't have thought though obviously won't hurt. I wouldn't worry about staggered or square set up, unless your going to be doing a lot and want to swap tyres around for wear purposes then square is obvs better but otherwise what you have is fine.
Apart from that enjoy! Where are you going out of interest?
CDV delete won't make much difference out on track I wouldn't have thought though obviously won't hurt. I wouldn't worry about staggered or square set up, unless your going to be doing a lot and want to swap tyres around for wear purposes then square is obvs better but otherwise what you have is fine.
Apart from that enjoy! Where are you going out of interest?
Check the brakes will work. A trackday is no fun if you can only do 2 laps at a time before the brakes overheat. fresh fluid and decent pads will help. if you've got an early E85 with front foglights, i personally think taking the foglights out, and the removing the access flap behind them so cool air gets into the wheel well helped me out, the Z4 has no front brake cooling as standard.
Secondly tyres. while you can have a great fun time on mediocre tyres, decent trackday rubber will remain in its operating window a lot longer, and make driving a lot more consistent. i was happy enough with staggered 18s, but you're buying a dedicated set of rims for track work, perhaps a square set of 18s or 17s is the way to go.
Other than that, as R60BBA says, check the car over and check the servicing is up to date and you're good to go!
Secondly tyres. while you can have a great fun time on mediocre tyres, decent trackday rubber will remain in its operating window a lot longer, and make driving a lot more consistent. i was happy enough with staggered 18s, but you're buying a dedicated set of rims for track work, perhaps a square set of 18s or 17s is the way to go.
Other than that, as R60BBA says, check the car over and check the servicing is up to date and you're good to go!
A little, maybe... i already had a set of 18" track wheels, so just bought tyres to match. If i didnt already have a set of 18s i might have bought 17s, but i wanted an 8" front width to run a 245 front tyre, harder to get 17x8 wheels down the oem route.
My preferred 17 wheel (bmw style 68) run a staggered 7.5" front, 8.5" rear.
My preferred 17 wheel (bmw style 68) run a staggered 7.5" front, 8.5" rear.
Hmm tell a lie, bmw style 44 are a very common wheel off an e46, and they run a square 17x8 setup.
But they look a bit dull! If i bought a set id definitely rattle can them black! :lol:
But they look a bit dull! If i bought a set id definitely rattle can them black! :lol:
Swizzle - I'm just about to start prepping my 3.0si for a track day at Bedford on 14th November...where and when are you going? My Z4 is new to me, so I have not taken it on track yet either. So, I apologise for the hijack, but thought this might be interesting/useful for us both.
Can anyone comment from experience on which track-biased brake pads they have liked?
I'm wondering about Ferodo DS2500 or 3000, but I've never tried them and have heard mixed reports. Ideally, I want pads that will be good for daily driving too...or at least not too much of a compromise.
I've used EBC Redstuff (Subaru - scary - they broke up), EBC Yellowstuff - supplied free initially by EBC in compensation for the dreadful Redstuff pads...then several more sets because they were OK are cheap (Subarus and a Toyota Corolla TSport - not too bad - a bit of vibration and they get spongey when worked very hard), Mintex 1144s (MX5 - excellent once warmed up), Brembo 'Racing' (135i - better than BMW OE) and ATE OE pads (135i - less fade than BMW OE).
Can anyone comment from experience on which track-biased brake pads they have liked?
I'm wondering about Ferodo DS2500 or 3000, but I've never tried them and have heard mixed reports. Ideally, I want pads that will be good for daily driving too...or at least not too much of a compromise.
I've used EBC Redstuff (Subaru - scary - they broke up), EBC Yellowstuff - supplied free initially by EBC in compensation for the dreadful Redstuff pads...then several more sets because they were OK are cheap (Subarus and a Toyota Corolla TSport - not too bad - a bit of vibration and they get spongey when worked very hard), Mintex 1144s (MX5 - excellent once warmed up), Brembo 'Racing' (135i - better than BMW OE) and ATE OE pads (135i - less fade than BMW OE).
what have you got in there at the moment? ferodo Ds2500s or even EBC Yellows will be ok for occasional track use, as long as you treat them with respect and know their limitations. Pretty much any brake pad gives good retardation, until they overheat. A cheap set will overheat in 2 laps, a medium set like 2500s or yellowstuff maybe 4-6 laps, and a quality set like Pagid race pads, Carbon Lorraine or Performance friction, will pretty much keep going indefinitely. if you keep pushing and don't allow brakes to cool once overheated, then you will get rapidly increasing wear.
my z4 was a 95% track car, and i ran Performance Friction PF08 compound pads. And they were great, lasted ages, took all the abuse i could throw at them. but they werent cheap - a full set front and rear was £360!
Interesting aside, the Prodrive built, Le Mans 24hr winning, Aston Martin Vantage GTE car this year may just have won the race this year because of its brakes - they managed the entire 24hr race on a single set of brake pads and discs, which saved a minute or so in the pits by not having to change them mid race, which was about the winning margin.
my z4 was a 95% track car, and i ran Performance Friction PF08 compound pads. And they were great, lasted ages, took all the abuse i could throw at them. but they werent cheap - a full set front and rear was £360!
Interesting aside, the Prodrive built, Le Mans 24hr winning, Aston Martin Vantage GTE car this year may just have won the race this year because of its brakes - they managed the entire 24hr race on a single set of brake pads and discs, which saved a minute or so in the pits by not having to change them mid race, which was about the winning margin.
ph001 and Brillomaster - thank you so much for your insights. The Z4 I have just bought is 100% standard and, from what I can ascertain from its condition, it's been very carefully driven. I don't know what pads are in there. The minimum I'll do before taking it on track will be decent oils, brake fluid and pads. The discs will be fine for a while yet.
Swizzle, you may know a lot more about these cars than I, but I shall be buying some of the recommended pads and some high temperature brake fluid...
Swizzle, you may know a lot more about these cars than I, but I shall be buying some of the recommended pads and some high temperature brake fluid...
This is my first bmw and i knew nothing about the z4 before i bought it, i’ve done plenty of trackdays before, had a couple of track cars, looks like there's nothing too particular to worry about with the z, will give everything a check over and see what it looks like, cant imagine snetterton in late November will be dry or hot so hopefully consumable wear will be low
As everyone has said brakes can spoil the day, I run decent fluid, braided hoses, CSL discs, Porsche 4 pots and Pagid RS29 pads.
This is my first z4 and I bought it for track days mainly, the bug caught after my first day! The car is morphing slowly through experience but is still road legal. Cadwell tomorrow
hoping for a dry day but not looking good
This is my first z4 and I bought it for track days mainly, the bug caught after my first day! The car is morphing slowly through experience but is still road legal. Cadwell tomorrow
hoping for a dry day but not looking good
Liverpool
Watch out for fallen leaves - even slippier through the Hall Bends than when it's icy - and it's not a spot you want limited retardation with the Hairpin rapidly approachingKev said:As everyone has said brakes can spoil the day, I run decent fluid, braided hoses, CSL discs, Porsche 4 pots and Pagid RS29 pads.
This is my first z4 and I bought it for track days mainly, the bug caught after my first day! The car is morphing slowly through experience but is still road legal. Cadwell tomorrow
The outer part of the track dries quickly if there's a breeze, but the inner stays damp for quite a while as it doesn't as much sun/wind to dry it out.
