Track days, where, when, how much?

[-Neil- 0]

As im getting my car up to scratch and pretty much renewing all the major suspension componenets, im interested in a track day, just to say its something i've done, and have always wanted to.

 

But i dont know anything about them.

 

Could anyone give me any advice on where when why and how?

 

I live in sheffield so im pretty central to the UK to get anywhere.

 

Cheers

[was8v 0]

I just did my first one last week at Oulton Park - £99 for the afternoon (£10 for passengers).

 

I was worried people scaremongering about brakes and tyres, so I bled new brake fluid through (as I'd had the car a year and didnt know when it was last changed), checked my discs and pads had plenty of meat and checked the tyre tread would be legal to get me home afterwards.

 

One think I will mention is my oil temp went up to 138 (110 normally) degrees on track and water temp was rock solid at 105 ish. Tyres were blistering and small chunks coming off. My front wishbone rear bushes were on their way out to start with and now they are completely shot. Any weakness in your car (cooling system, brakes, handling) is likely to be exaggerated on track so fix it first. In the end the brakes never felt like they were fading at all and proved up to my driving.

 

What normally happens is you go out behind a safety car for the first couple of laps to learn the lines and corners. Then you are free to go round. Dont stay out much longer than 20mins or so, if you are doing it properly your oil temp will be high and road spec brakes stinking hot after this so let the car cool back to normal before going out for another 20 mins. Always do a careful first lap to get some heart in the tyres and then a cool down lap where you dont use the brakes afterwards. Also leave it in gear rather than on the handbrake when parked up to prevent disc warp/ your car wondering off when the brakes cool.

 

I had a fantastic day, it was supposed to be a novice day but they iopened it up at the last minute to anyone. Hence plenty of much faster people were going round, I never had a problem moving out of their way or overtaking slower cars.

 

On the pistonheads site a few recommend a day at Teeside Autodrome - £99 for a full day and free for passengers.

 

Consider some insurance - most don't bother including my friend who ran a £42k year old Z4M coupe.

 

Also see: http://clubgti.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=168329

My pics at: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=70361

[-Neil- 0]

brilliant, cheers for that info, so im looking at £100 for the day, plus alot of fuel to get there and to 'drive and enjoy'.

 

Ive recently just replaced:-

 

Ball joints, Wish bones, steering rod ends, front and rear brakes and discs, rear bearings, 4 new toyo proxie tyres, oil/filter change, front engine mount..

 

so im hoping it'll handle good around the track, i want to do it for a laugh, it'll be fun.

[was8v 0]

brilliant, cheers for that info, so im looking at £100 for the day, plus alot of fuel to get there and to race.

 

oooooh dont mention the "R" word at a trackday! :nono: for insurance and organisers purposes there is absolutely no racing or timing going on. Its just you VS the track :D and you will be briefed as such.

 

I used around £35 of optimax in the half day.

 

Ive recently just replaced:-

 

Ball joints, Wish bones, steering rod ends, front and rear brakes and discs, rear bearings, 4 new toyo proxie tyres, oil/filter change, front engine mount..

 

so im hoping it'll handle good around the track, i want to do it for a laugh, it'll be fun.

 

Sounds like good prep, also make sure you have AA or some recovery in case it does go pear shaped or you break down. Make sure you get a few 1000 miles on those tyres to scrub them in - my mate was going all out in his clio cup 172 on new toyo proxies and the front nearside was a mess afterwards!

[-Neil- 0]

just read your post on clubgti forum, sounds great, and the pics are amazing!

 

I've got RAC FULL cover so im fine with that.

just found this page, which i think is what you went on,

 

http://www.motorsportvision.co.uk/oulto ... uctID=4283

 

How much in advance did you book it, and how long on the track were you?

 

Thanks for your info!

[was8v 0]

My girlfriend booked it as a present 2 months in advance, but the day wasn't full so you could have just turned up on the day.

 

Oh and if you dont have a helmet, they were £10 to hire at oulton park. My mate in the clio cup just used a cheap (£30) motorbike helmet as they never checked the helmets - they just had to see you wearing on before letting you out on track.

 

Croft is supposed to be a good track and not far from you:

http://www.trackdays.co.uk/tracks/croft.htm

 

Teeside:

http://www.teessideautodrome.co.uk/trackDays.php (crap website,. best to ring them)

 

and I went to Oulton Park with Motorsport vision:

http://www.motorsportvision.co.uk/oulto ... noviceonly

 

Theres lots of others, Anglesey is a really good one apparently. Airfield days are another option too (more run off if you get it wrong but not such a good track).

 

Mine was supposed to be "sessioned" where you go out for 20 mins then back in for another group to go out. But there wasnt many there so they ran it "open pit lane" where you can come and go on track as you please.

 

I went out for 20 and back in for 20 I think, so about 2hrs tracktime in total - I could have stayed out ALL afternoon if I was mean to my car- but it was surprisingly exhausting all that concentration!

[Slimg60 0]

I paid £145 for a full day open pit day at Snetterton. I found this to be better than sessioned days as it meant I could go out whenever I felt like and stay out as long as I wanted (temp's and brake fade permitting :D )

This was through MLR

[dinkus 10]

Just to add to the above:

 

Don't do a track day with new tyres - the big thread knobbles will get ripped off your expensive new tyres... go with some half-used, but not completely shagged ones (you'll use up to 4mm of tyre tread if you're really pushing along at a track day... probably far less if it's your first time out).

 

Make sure your brakes have plenty of meat on them and come in every 2 or 3 laps to let them cool down - find a flat spot to stop and don't put the handbrake on - you'll warp the disks. If you stay out too long, you'll overheat the brakes and either boil the brake fluid and burst a pipe, or if you've got braided hoses more likely set the brakes on fire! You'll know when they're starting to get hot because you'll get brake fade (either spongey pedal or not as much happening when you push the pedal).

 

If you've got ABS - don't use it :D It's ok to let it kick in every now and then, but that's all it was designed for. If you ride the ABS on every corner, you'll boil your brake fluid even quicker and possibly cook the ABS pump too. The perfect braking force is juuuuust before the ABS kicks in. Alternatively, you can pull one of the ABS plugs on top of the front turret which will disable the ABS completely. You'll know if it's disabled because the ABS light will come on.

 

Lastly, but by no means least - change the oil relatively shortly before hand so you've got some nice fresh stuff in there for when you're thrashing the engine... then get it changed again fairly shortly afterwards - the heat will start to break down the oil and it won't do a very good job.

 

Other than that, have fun :D

[corozin 0]

It's normally at around this point in any trackday thread that I turn up (late) and offer some extra advice but I thought on this occasion I'd change tack.

 

I was at a slightly more expensive trackday at Goodwood last weekend. £100 airfield days are terrific fun, but when you go upmarket you start to see kit like this on track (especially the last one - plaudits awarded for anyone who can correctly identify it. Clue : it's very very rare)

 

John

[Toad 0]

plaudits awarded for anyone who can correctly identify it. Clue : it's very very rare)

 

MG Maestro turbo with bodykit?

 

How's the car running now John?

[Adz The Rat 0]

Is that an old Jag?

 

I would love to do a trackday but think would like to do it in somethin smaller and cheaper than my Corrado, like a 205 GTI or somethin

[Wendy 0]

Track Days - Yeah !! 8)

 

I have my next one booked for 29th July at Silverstone :D :D :D

This is in a Honda Civic Type R with Instructor at £248 for 3 sessions on Track each lasting about 20 minutes.

 

Personally I think this is excellent value.

 

I have spoken with them last week stating I would now like to drive other vehicles and am waiting an response.

 

This is at least a way of getting a real feel for the whole experience before you commit yourself too greatly on the finance front.

It would also provide the opportuntiy to walk through the paddock and speak to many of the owner/drivers for their experiences and advice.

 

I found the Tracks further North to have slightly friendlier more approachable people.

Before I receive masses of abuse - I am from the more southern part of the UK too. ! It is just true.

 

Good Luck and enjoy.

[corozin 0]

Is that an old Jag?

 

Pretty close; it's an original 1958 Lister Jaguar with a late version of the Costin bodywork (Mike Costin went on to design the Ford Cosworth engine). Only 18 ever built, and only 4-5 survive today. Absolutely beautiful. :luvlove:

[was8v 0]

Oh yeah an instructor session (30 mins in your car i think?) was £25 extra at Oulton park.

[-Neil- 0]

Oh yeah an instructor session (30 mins in your car i think?) was £25 extra at Oulton park.

 

is that basically you paying the instructor £25 to sit in your car and him give you advise on how to take corners?

[dinkus 10]

Oh yeah an instructor session (30 mins in your car i think?) was £25 extra at Oulton park.

 

is that basically you paying the instructor £25 to sit in your car and him give you advise on how to take corners?

 

That's exactly what it is :)

[was8v 0]

Oh yeah an instructor session (30 mins in your car i think?) was £25 extra at Oulton park.

 

is that basically you paying the instructor £25 to sit in your car and him give you advise on how to take corners?

 

That's exactly what it is :)

 

 

Yeah. People I've spoken to have said even the basic level of instruction has been well worth it. Hitting the correct line around corners and the exact braking points, when to get on the throttle when to hold it flat to the floor etc etc will make a massive difference.

 

I wish I'd taken them up on it tbh.

[dinkus 10]

Yeah, I can see why it might seem like a waste of money, but you'd be amazed at how much they can tell you and get you driving much quicker :)

 

It's certainly the cheapest £ per second improvement you can spend on the car!

[g60karmann 0]

I'm planning on heading to Brands Hatch in late August for a novice track day if anyone else who has never been on the track before wants to join?

[corozin 0]

Yeah, I can see why it might seem like a waste of money, but you'd be amazed at how much they can tell you and get you driving much quicker :)

 

It's certainly the cheapest £ per second improvement you can spend on the car!

 

I absolutely agree with this 100% Dom. If it your first time at a track day you will learn more in that 20 minutes with an instructor than you would believe possible. It will also give you some proper confidence; going on track for the first time usually produces one of two emotions - sheer nerves or over-confidence - both of which are a disadvantage.

 

John

[-Neil- 0]

I'm planning on heading to Brands Hatch in late August for a novice track day if anyone else who has never been on the track before wants to join?

 

 

Hmmm i wouldnt mind doing this, but i like the idea of an open pit lane rather then 3 x 20 min stints.

[was8v 0]

Hmmm i wouldnt mind doing this, but i like the idea of an open pit lane rather then 3 x 20 min stints.

 

 

Trackdays advertised as Open pit events tend not to be novice events. You might end up pulling over all the time or being intimidated by faster cars. However the marshalls are VERY good at controlling bad behaviour and alerting slower drivers with blue flags to fast cars behind them.

 

The trackday I did was advertised as novice sessioned and ended up open pit as not many people took part. The trackday a mate did at Oulton park last month was advertised the same and also ended up open pit.

 

Obviously you want as much track time as poss for your cash :) there is nothing like the feeling of being on a proper race in a fast car nailing the corners and flooring it round blind bends :D get it booked!

[g60karmann 0]

I'm planning on heading to Brands Hatch in late August for a novice track day if anyone else who has never been on the track before wants to join?

 

 

Hmmm i wouldnt mind doing this, but i like the idea of an open pit lane rather then 3 x 20 min stints.

 

 

I think Piston Heads have track days like that but I don't know whether you can get the instructor lessons on those days plus you will be mixed up with the impatient pros as well as the novices

[mic_VR 3]

I'm planning on heading to Brands Hatch in late August for a novice track day if anyone else who has never been on the track before wants to join?

 

I would love to get out on the track, been talking about it for ages. Tempted by the same thing but at Snetterton at the end of April. £119 but it's a whole day rather than an evening.

[-Neil- 0]

I'm planning on heading to Brands Hatch in late August for a novice track day if anyone else who has never been on the track before wants to join?

 

I would love to get out on the track, been talking about it for ages. Tempted by the same thing but at Snetterton at the end of April. £119 but it's a whole day rather than an evening.

 

 

do you have the link and info for this please?