supercedar

This weekend will be my first track day experience in Spokane. I have a stock 88 S4.
The temps could reach mid 80's. Should I remove my belly pans ahead of time to release excess heat and possibly making access to lower engine area easier if needed?

I will not be pushing it too hard as it needs to get us 350 miles back home.
Thomas

928mac

I would but that is me.
I would also have a buddy follow with his truck or van just incase someone slams into you and it is undrivable.

UKKid35

No - they reduce engine bay temps by aiding airflow

Flush your brake fluid, take spare pads unless they're new

928mac

Maybe I should have mentioned that my car did not have any belly pans.

Speedtoys

Ya..belly pans are PART of the cooling system.

Drive YOUR comfort, not the car's...people that go looking for the car's edge, bend em up.

People that drive within their limits..dont.

Mike Simard

Flush the brake fluid before and after. Also take some along in case you boil it.

Boiling brake fluid is part of being new! You'll think it's becasue of your mad sk1lls but you'll simply use your brakes more until you get experience.

Aside from the brakes every other part of the car will be just fine with nothing required beyond normal maintenance.

You don't need a convoy either, nobody is going to ball your car up in a beginner DE

dogleg

what i wouldnt give for 80F its 50F here.wow 700 mile round trip,i regularly do a trackday 100 mls away from me,i usually trailer the car to it(have never used the 928 ,maybe i should).you will love it its a great experience good luck on the day and keep us posted.

brutus

Avoid holding the brakes on after you come in from doing laps as the heat transfer to the pads easily boils brake fluid and warps rotors. It is not like waiting at a stop light in normal driving especially with an automatic get into the habit of taking it out of D and using the hand brake.
Take it easy and have fun it requires lots of track time to get really good much slower cars will run faster than you at first.

supercedar

Braking sounds like it could cause the most problems. I have 470,000 miles on the original brakes in my 98 Int. dump truck so I am familiar with not using them. Thanks to all for the tips and warnings.
Thomas

IcemanG17

#1 HAVE FUN...which is guaranteed....great advice on brake fluid and make sure the pads are above 50%

The reason many new drivers boil brake fluid is they are NOT using the brakes hard enough....brakes on track are like light switches....ALL OR NOTHING.... By braking 50% for twice as long causes the brakes to overheat.....

Don't worry too much about being hard on the car....when I drove my stock 88 auto on track it ran BETTER after it....nice italian tune up!!!!! Also the pace in begineer group is quite mild..not too taxing on the car.....

Just leave the car in 3 and use kickdown to power out of turns

Stromius

Here's an action photo of track prep today. Pictured Bill (hb4) and Thomas (supercedar) using Ken's PKBumpstick and 32v'r to set Thomas' timing. Compared to the 32v'r alone, much easier to advance/retard timing.

Bravo Ken!!

justaguy

Spokane has a very long straight and you come on to it at about 80mph so breaking into turn 2 is very hard. Turn 1 is just a kink high speed flat on the floor. You will need to work up to it though focus on your precision don't worry about the speed the 928 will be plenty fast. BLEED YOUR BRAKE SYSTEM as has been mentioned. Have fun be safe.

Tom. M

Spokane has been re-configured now.... the final turn cuts in tighter and there is a short straight through the former pit area (no longer need to cut over the track to get into the pits)...and then it joins the former front straight beyond the drag strip. This will be our first time with the new configuration..really looking forward to the new setup

The previous front straight was about 1.25 miles....nothing like pedal to the metal for that long long long straight...but that VHT compound on the dragstrip was like ice when it got even slightly wet...so the changes are for the best..

UKKid35

Get a well fitting comfortable helmet, and take some time to find the right seating position - this may be different to your usual driving position, which for most people is too reclined. However you will have less clearance so taller drivers have to find a compromise. Wear the best fitting footwear if you haven't got some driving/karting boots - probably less important in an auto but worth getting right. It can get very warm, so make sure you're comfortable and use your aircon if needed (but keep an eye on engine temps), I always have the sunroof open too. Get rid of everything from the cabin. Doing a trackday is the best way to find that thing you lost years ago, within minutes it will end up jammed behind your brake pedal.

Speedtoys

Aircon...yaa..the windows will be down, you wont wanna do that. Not worth the head load back into the system...really.