TrackJunke

I am really excited, I am going to a track near Pittsburgh called Beaver Run or Falls, I always forget. The only thing I am worried about is damage to my Boxster. I bought some 3m blue masking tape at Home Depot and was thinking of taping up the front of my car to prevent stone chips. What do you think of this idea? Could the tape do damage? Any other suggestions on my fist DE? Thanks

Cisitalia

Congratulations. You will learn alot and performance driving will never be the same again with the new perspective. Caution, it is addicting.

I would not put the tape on, because it could damage the paint and/or it will be hard to get off with all the tape residue. I also think it would look real UGLY! I personally don't use any thing on the front and have many tracks events without stone chips. I do get rubber marks from tire chunks, but a little wax gets it off. A black car is great for this, it does not show as much. If you are really concerned about this get a front end bra. I don't think the concern is that bad, especially in the beginners run group.

Pointers: Open mind, listen carefully to the instructor with a good attitude and not be cocky. Don't expect to jump in the car and turn really fast laps. You have alot to learn with many DE events before that. Take your time and be patient, most people are not as good of drivers on the track as they think they are! I found gloves help, because the first time you do it your hands will sweat and the grip suffers.

Prepare car with high temp brake fluid and bleed the brakes. You should have new pads if possibly or nearly new pads in front (back is not as critical). Beginners can get away with stock, later you will want dedicated track pads and change back to street pads. You should have decent tires and research to get the best pressures to set prior to the track, than adjust accordingly. I would talk to some experienced people at the event (with same tire type etc.) to help you on that.

There are many others, but I have to go. Good luck and have fun.

Alan Herod

You should have a blast, but I think some stone chips are inevitable, but ironically I incurred the worst ones on the street. I have seen some clear stuff that you spray on, and smooth it with a paper towel and let it dry. Remove after the event -- I don't know what it is called, but it seems to work well. Since where you are going is a brand new track, you should be wary of the surface and maybe some of the apexes breaking up and not follow too closely through some of those parts. I would agree that masking tape is probably not the answer, racers tape may absorb a bit more impact and I have seen folks using that around the wheel arches.

<img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

Ghost Rider

Want to stop chips? Get Invinca-Shield

see <a href="http://www.smiley.net/boxster/" target="_blank">http://www.smiley.net/boxster/</a>

Jim Michaels

I'm way late on this, but thought I'd report my positive experiences using the 3M blue masking tape anyway. I've used it twice now and it worked surprizingly well considering its thickness. The second time it got hot sun, hard rain, and more hot sun, yet protected and peeled off without residue after being on for 3 days. I bought both the wide and the narrow rolls and used the wide roll as much as possible. I think I might get about 3 applications from the wide roll (a lot more from the narrow roll). That varies, depending on how far up the hood you want to apply it. Application time varies as well, depending on just how much you want to cover and how neat you want to make it look. My first application wasn't very neat, but the second time I took extra time to do a neat job. I think I can do it in less time the next time, as I've learned a few tricks (e.g., start at the top most part of the hood you want to cover and work your way down). The ends stay down better and look neater if you use sissors instead of tearing the tape with your hands. I think I'd like to try that spray-on stuff sometime. In the past, I've also used a regular bra, and a Mag Bra,
but never racers tape. Years ago I watched the guy next to me pull off some re-paint with his racers tape. Some sticky residue remained as well. For my car I think it's too late to have any of the more permanent and more expensive stuff like Stongard applied, but maybe for my next car.