Shared trackday cars - Logistics?
Discussion
To keep this updated, here's my post from another thread after attending a Javelin session on the GT Circuit at Bedford yesterday:
Well, what a bloody brilliant day! The weather was great, the track was fantastic, the day was well organised (and attended) and the car went brilliantly.
Although the 4am start and day's exertions left us shattered, it was comfortably the most fun I've had in a car in almost 20 years of driving.
As two novices on a first outing with a new car, the day was an unqualified success. Fellow trackgoers were largely courteous (despite us running out of steam on the longer straights), and we found our feet fairly quickly and completed around 40 laps gaining in speed/smoothness/confidence during the course of the day.
Apologies for being the cause of the only (albeit brief - 5min) red flag of the day. After around 30 laps our (road-spec) rear tyres had taken a hammering, and we (I) locked the back end under braking/downshifting for the last right-hander. A 'graceful' pirouette and a low-speed nudge into the tyres brought about a pleasant (but embarrassing) chat with the marshal and medical staff, while the tyres were moved back into position. No real damage to the car, meaning we were able to carry on to the end of the day.
Spent some fantastic cool-down time in the pits chatting to the owners of a new Mustang, a grey Ibiza, a 911 Turbo, an A45 and an i8 - all of whom seemed fairly (or politely) impressed with our steed.
The to-do list for our next outing:
Well, what a bloody brilliant day! The weather was great, the track was fantastic, the day was well organised (and attended) and the car went brilliantly.
Although the 4am start and day's exertions left us shattered, it was comfortably the most fun I've had in a car in almost 20 years of driving.
As two novices on a first outing with a new car, the day was an unqualified success. Fellow trackgoers were largely courteous (despite us running out of steam on the longer straights), and we found our feet fairly quickly and completed around 40 laps gaining in speed/smoothness/confidence during the course of the day.
Apologies for being the cause of the only (albeit brief - 5min) red flag of the day. After around 30 laps our (road-spec) rear tyres had taken a hammering, and we (I) locked the back end under braking/downshifting for the last right-hander. A 'graceful' pirouette and a low-speed nudge into the tyres brought about a pleasant (but embarrassing) chat with the marshal and medical staff, while the tyres were moved back into position. No real damage to the car, meaning we were able to carry on to the end of the day.
Spent some fantastic cool-down time in the pits chatting to the owners of a new Mustang, a grey Ibiza, a 911 Turbo, an A45 and an i8 - all of whom seemed fairly (or politely) impressed with our steed.
The to-do list for our next outing:
- A pair of track-spec tyres for the rear to match the fronts
- Uprated front pads and a brake fluid change
- Pulling a small dent out of the front wing (optional)
- Purchase helmets
james_gt3rs said:
With 3 people, either the car will take a beating due to no breaks for it, or you'll all get less track time if you let the brakes etc cool.
Depends on the car. My dad's MX-5 NB never had a break except for lunch at Bedford Autodrome SEN layout last year. It would literally come in, and either him, me or my brother would be waiting to jump in it. It had a lunch break and fuel stops and that was it.And after the track day, it towed my friends NA MX-5 back home after he forgot to put oil in it and it blew up.
It's an NB with factory larger brakes, so that might help, but with the engine power and weight of it, it really wasn't stressed at all. It was flawless, love the s
t out of it.Last run of the day, 30 mins from closing time or so, his car gives out a few corners from the pits and sounds like a tractor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j13WO8KXxk
Neither MX-5 had a hint of brake fade throughout the day, but that could be due to the layout of the track offering plenty of time for them to cool.
routari said:
Neither MX-5 had a hint of brake fade throughout the day, but that could be due to the layout of the track offering plenty of time for them to cool.
Interesting. Bedford (full layout) is the only place where I've overheated my brakes, there's some really big stops there.routari said:
And after the track day, it towed my friends NA MX-5 back home after he forgot to put oil in it and it blew up.
Rest my case 
james_gt3rs said:
Rest my case
The car being driven by one person, that had frequent rests throughout the day for drinks, food and piss (maybe even a sneaky poo), but had no oil in it, that then blew up, proves your point? 
It was the car behind that was chasing that never had a rest! It was being shared by three people all day. It also was an impromptu tow car for the 1.5 hour journey home. Engine never got too hot, brakes were consistent for the entire day. If you put oil in them, they're totally unstressed for how light and low powered they are.
james_gt3rs said:
With 3 people, either the car will take a beating due to no breaks for it, or you'll all get less track time if you let the brakes etc cool.
Incidentally, we managed about 40 laps between us yesterday (15min on, 15min rest), which felt like a reasonable return from a couple of hundred quid for the day.
Camoradi said:
Good to hear you went for it. I like the idea of a small hot hatch for track days. Looks like the right balance of performance and fun with sensible costs
It's funny you say that. The chap in the new 911 Turbo was flabbergasted when we told him how little we'd paid for our trackday car - our total investement was about a third of what he expected to spend on consumables.My co-owner and I could comfortably afford a much bigger investment (we'd initially talked about a track-prepped E46 M3), but we felt like this 'disposable' level of spend made for a much more enjoyable and relaxed experience (including schoolgirl giggling at our spin) in the short-term.
While the 911 was hitting 160+ on the long straight, the owner bemoaned the lack of engagement and feedback (and fear of damage). So much so that he vowed to bring his Clio Cup the next time he did a trackday...
There's a lot to be said for a slower well handling car on a track day. I'm taking my RX-7 to one in a few weeks, and my dad is going in his MX-5, and I've paid for half of his fee just because I want to spend a load of time in the MX-5 too without feeling guilty about nicking the drivers seat.
It's just plain fun being in something where you really have to drive the backside off it to keep up. Where the name of the game is trying to carry as much speed through the corner as possible, rather than just relying on the engine to fill the gaps.
I love how quick the RX-7 is, but if it's purely about having fun and maybe to practice driving on the limit, I'd sooner be in the MX-5. The tyres are half the price. The fuel is half the price. The brakes are a third of the price. Going into a barrier is a quarter of the price. I also love the challenge of seeing what I can make an MX-5 do and who I can catch up with. When you only have 130bhp, almost every time you start to catch up to another car, it feels like a huge victory. Every time you let another car through, you don't care as you're just in an MX-5 or whatever.
Any time a low powered car is going well, it flatters the driver. If a high powered car is going well, even if it's being driven well, it tends to flatter the car.
It's just plain fun being in something where you really have to drive the backside off it to keep up. Where the name of the game is trying to carry as much speed through the corner as possible, rather than just relying on the engine to fill the gaps.
I love how quick the RX-7 is, but if it's purely about having fun and maybe to practice driving on the limit, I'd sooner be in the MX-5. The tyres are half the price. The fuel is half the price. The brakes are a third of the price. Going into a barrier is a quarter of the price. I also love the challenge of seeing what I can make an MX-5 do and who I can catch up with. When you only have 130bhp, almost every time you start to catch up to another car, it feels like a huge victory. Every time you let another car through, you don't care as you're just in an MX-5 or whatever.
Any time a low powered car is going well, it flatters the driver. If a high powered car is going well, even if it's being driven well, it tends to flatter the car.
routari said:
There's a lot to be said for a slower well handling car on a track day.
Agreed, particularly for the novice trackgoer. We have both owned and driven much faster cars (our 'support vehicle' was my co-owner's SL500!), but agreed that we probably wouldn't have had significantly more fun in something faster. Whether this stays the same in future is unclear - but the grins on our faces after a session each suggest nothing fundamentally needs to change for the foreseeable.For those following this from the perspective of money etc., I can report that it's been fairly easy to keep a rough track of major expenses to date (including things like insurance and tax). We're logging our spending in a Google Docs spreadsheet, and have a joint bank account where we're depositing a cash each month to cover future outlay.
For anyone considering getting into this with a friend, I can wholeheartedly recommend it.
You may notice that we have reduced in number (from 3 to 2) since my first post. Friend #3 is suitably green with envy after we shared Monday's videos, but has decided to stay on the sidelines until next year because of abnormal work commitments (selling a business).
towelie said:
Nice to see that you've taken a step towards becoming a petrolhead ??.
Although can you pm me when you're going on your next TD so I can avoid that day? You definitely sound like a liability.
Oh also why fwd for track?
Although can you pm me when you're going on your next TD so I can avoid that day? You definitely sound like a liability.
Oh also why fwd for track?
Still showing off your brother's car on your profile, I see?
C70R said:
towelie said:
Nice to see that you've taken a step towards becoming a petrolhead ??.
Although can you pm me when you're going on your next TD so I can avoid that day? You definitely sound like a liability.
Oh also why fwd for track?
Although can you pm me when you're going on your next TD so I can avoid that day? You definitely sound like a liability.
Oh also why fwd for track?
Still showing off your brother's car on your profile, I see?
That's a Yellowstuff brake pad after one day on track. I could give you lots of very helpful advice such as don't be a moron sticking Linglongs on the rear and r1rs on the front 😂, but I know you don't come here for advice.
Also it made my day just thinking about the fact I angered you so much that you had to start stalking me 😂.
If you get into arguments with everyone who gives you advice on the forum. You should probably realise that it might be *you* that requires a reality check.
towelie said:
C70R said:
towelie said:
Nice to see that you've taken a step towards becoming a petrolhead ??.
Although can you pm me when you're going on your next TD so I can avoid that day? You definitely sound like a liability.
Oh also why fwd for track?
Although can you pm me when you're going on your next TD so I can avoid that day? You definitely sound like a liability.
Oh also why fwd for track?
Still showing off your brother's car on your profile, I see?
That's a Yellowstuff brake pad after one day on track. I could give you lots of very helpful advice such as don't be a moron sticking Linglongs on the rear and r1rs on the front ??, but I know you don't come here for advice.
Also it made my day just thinking about the fact I angered you so much that you had to start stalking me ??.
If you get into arguments with everyone who gives you advice on the forum. You should probably realise that it might be *you* that requires a reality check.
Thanks for the advice, kind guru and sage 'enthusiast'. I'll leave you to go back to your burnouts in McDonalds car park.
EDIT: Bloody plane wifi froze, and meant that I stuck two versions of the quoted bit in.
Edited by C70R on Monday 8th August 09:58
Trabi601 said:
I was slightly amused that they caused the only red flag of the day. Pretty much as I predicted from mates buying a cheap track car for a laugh.
I omitted the 5-6 yellow flags (that we saw) from more 'experienced' and well-prepped cars who had breakdowns and off-track excursions, and the chap in his M3 racecar who ended his day by pranging something and holing his radiator (although curiously we didn't spot a red flag).
But yes, of course, we were an utter liability.
If that's what it takes to amuse you, I'd suggest (based on your rate of post-whoring) a bit of time away from the internet.
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