First trackday on the 996. Tips and/or advice?
01-18-2017, 08:40 PM
#76
Racer
Thread Starter
Your going to enjoy your first, "car" track day. If they let you use your MC helmet, for one day, your fine. Your instructor will help keep you safe and help you to enjoy your day. Just like the first time PCA will, for the most part let you run without a fire extinguisher, you should check with the group hosting this event. If you do the event an get hooked ( Hope you do) then you can investigate a dedicated helmet. As was stated above, MC helmet are not fire retardant, as the rider usually gets thrown from the bike. In a car incident, a trapped driver needs to make sure his helmet can protect him should a fire ensue. You should be fine.
After your day, and I will assume that the hook will go in deep, and set (oh yeah, that's the best part). shoot me a pm. Fontanna is a banked track, some things to think about......not for your first day......we can discuss later.
Enjoy, have a blast, hope you become addicted.....track guys are great people...some of my best buddies I have met through track driving! I will be interested to hear your impressions of the differences between MC and P-car.
After your day, and I will assume that the hook will go in deep, and set (oh yeah, that's the best part). shoot me a pm. Fontanna is a banked track, some things to think about......not for your first day......we can discuss later.
Enjoy, have a blast, hope you become addicted.....track guys are great people...some of my best buddies I have met through track driving! I will be interested to hear your impressions of the differences between MC and P-car.
I do have an addictive personality. To put it into perspective, I did my first motorcycle trackday in late 2005, and in 2006, I did over 20 days
It got worse from that point! I molded my life around track days.For sure if this becomes my new obsession, I don't like to skimp on anything - especially on safety gear.
01-19-2017, 03:40 PM
#79
Racer
Thread Starter
My car? Just your average MK1 C4 MT.
I am in the less is more camp. I only care about suspension and perfect mechanicals.
Here is my modest 1000 hp garage.
I am in the less is more camp. I only care about suspension and perfect mechanicals.
Here is my modest 1000 hp garage.
01-20-2017, 11:06 AM
#82
Rennlist Member
Excited to sign up for my first car trackday at Fontana!
Let me preface by saying, i've done over 10 years of motorcycle trackdays, and 3 years of motorcycle road racing--so i'm familiar with the track routine. I had done a bunch of SCCA Solo AutoX, 20 years ago, but you can say i'm still a newbie car driver -- even @ 40 years old!
I have a fully serviced and ready to go '01 C4, with brand new tires (S04s) and stock M030 suspension. The car has 57K on it.
I am currently running street pressures of 36f/42r, but I guess i'll adjust accordingly when i'm at the track. Not sure of ambient track temps at this point--never been to Fontana.
When I had the tires installed, I got a 'street' alignment (which really means 1.5 degrees of negative camber instead of -2. Toe is set to 0 f/r.
I have newish OEM brake pads, and coolant tank in perfect shape, as well as zero leaks of any kind, not even any signs of wetness from the RMS.
I will install my tow hook on the front bumper, and going through the self tech list, I don't see anything that sticks out on my car, that I need to address.
While I have the ability to tow my car to the track, I decided to drive it there and back (about 400-miles each way) I'm heading the day before the event, so I should be rested.
Is there anything else I should double/triple check on my car before heading out?
Let me preface by saying, i've done over 10 years of motorcycle trackdays, and 3 years of motorcycle road racing--so i'm familiar with the track routine. I had done a bunch of SCCA Solo AutoX, 20 years ago, but you can say i'm still a newbie car driver -- even @ 40 years old!
I have a fully serviced and ready to go '01 C4, with brand new tires (S04s) and stock M030 suspension. The car has 57K on it.
I am currently running street pressures of 36f/42r, but I guess i'll adjust accordingly when i'm at the track. Not sure of ambient track temps at this point--never been to Fontana.
When I had the tires installed, I got a 'street' alignment (which really means 1.5 degrees of negative camber instead of -2. Toe is set to 0 f/r.
I have newish OEM brake pads, and coolant tank in perfect shape, as well as zero leaks of any kind, not even any signs of wetness from the RMS.
I will install my tow hook on the front bumper, and going through the self tech list, I don't see anything that sticks out on my car, that I need to address.
While I have the ability to tow my car to the track, I decided to drive it there and back (about 400-miles each way) I'm heading the day before the event, so I should be rested.
Is there anything else I should double/triple check on my car before heading out?
I was pretty nervous about the event.
I left having a great experience.
I had a great instructor, right from the basics about seat and hand position, to understand what I was feeling as the suspension worked in the corners.
I did not push the car anywhere near the limits, but instead took the opportunity to learn as much as I could about track edicate and how my 996 operates on a track.
I have been around high performance cars all my life, but I put all of it aside, and had a wealth of knowledge put in front of me.
I will say, after two track days, I sleep really well on Sunday night.
01-21-2017, 08:18 PM
#84
01-23-2017, 04:49 AM
#87
Racer
Thread Starter
Well, my first day was a success as mentioned. I drove around 1000 miles this weekend (to and from the track), and really got to know the car well since purchasing it. Happy to say the car didn't burn one drip of oil or gave me a single issue. Heading from SF Bay Area to LA on HWY 5, I was getting around 25mpg doing 80-90. That was a bonus for me--as I don't usually drive the 996 on long highway runs.
At the track, I took in as much instruction as I could. While i'm very familiar with track riding, there are some major differences between cars and motorcycles. On motorcycles, you don't look behind you or even pay attention to whats behind you. I found out on cars, it's the exact opposite. After 10+ years of track riding, I had to re-train myself to keep looking in my mirror.
I would say that once I got on track, it was pretty fun pushing the car around. It's also not nearly as physical as riding a motorcycle, but still a lot of fun.
Here are a few random things that popped in my head throughout the day.
- The car has quite a bit of body roll! I thought the car was stiff for the street (I have M030), at the track, it's not nearly stiff or low enough.
- Brakes were amazing. No fade even after doing full sessions at speed.
- No problems with tires. I set hot pressure and left it for the rest of the day
- Left PSM on as this is my first day on the car. I let it do it's thing when I got a little throttle happy.
- The track config has a part of a banked (think nascar) curve that I hit 135 on--which then tightens up to a turn, that definitely got my heart racing. Any mistake, and i'm hitting the wall.
- For the whole session, I was basically running the car near redline, a few times, I mis shifted and trying to accelerate out of a corner at anything under 6k rpm, is not great- you lose all drive and momentum.
Overall, the car performed amazing. Not a single issue. Only collateral damage is some new rock chips, but i'll live with that.
Already setting up the next day, but I think i'll address the suspension first. For those who know Auto Club Speedway, we were running the Roval config; doing about 2:12s.
At the track, I took in as much instruction as I could. While i'm very familiar with track riding, there are some major differences between cars and motorcycles. On motorcycles, you don't look behind you or even pay attention to whats behind you. I found out on cars, it's the exact opposite. After 10+ years of track riding, I had to re-train myself to keep looking in my mirror.
I would say that once I got on track, it was pretty fun pushing the car around. It's also not nearly as physical as riding a motorcycle, but still a lot of fun.
Here are a few random things that popped in my head throughout the day.
- The car has quite a bit of body roll! I thought the car was stiff for the street (I have M030), at the track, it's not nearly stiff or low enough.
- Brakes were amazing. No fade even after doing full sessions at speed.
- No problems with tires. I set hot pressure and left it for the rest of the day
- Left PSM on as this is my first day on the car. I let it do it's thing when I got a little throttle happy.
- The track config has a part of a banked (think nascar) curve that I hit 135 on--which then tightens up to a turn, that definitely got my heart racing. Any mistake, and i'm hitting the wall.
- For the whole session, I was basically running the car near redline, a few times, I mis shifted and trying to accelerate out of a corner at anything under 6k rpm, is not great- you lose all drive and momentum.
Overall, the car performed amazing. Not a single issue. Only collateral damage is some new rock chips, but i'll live with that.
Already setting up the next day, but I think i'll address the suspension first. For those who know Auto Club Speedway, we were running the Roval config; doing about 2:12s.
01-23-2017, 05:29 AM
#88
Race Director
Good job! 2:12 is respectable for a first time. You should be able to get to 2:05 or so pretty easily next time at that track. You should be over 135 on the bank in your car.
01-23-2017, 03:14 PM
#90
Racer
Thread Starter
