Taking a wedge on a track

[planman350i]

Hi, just experienced my first track day today at Silverstone today in an elise 111R. Never had such a big smile on my face. It was fantastic.

So, this got me thinking. I really fancy doing some more track days in the future in my own car. But is my 350i going to be up to the abuse without major mods (brakes - definitely required!, and roll cage..?). Or would I be best chopping it in for something more suited to track days..?

[tallbloke]

I ran my series 1 350i at Snetterton at the TVR monster meet, and loved 4 wheel drifting it round the bends. You don't need heaps of horsepower to have a great time. I fitted a brake upgrade kit from [e-mail]

make sure your suspension bushes are ok, and expect to have to adjust wheel bearings at the end of the day. You'll want to drive the car home again, so don't stack it!

[jmorgan]

Get a noise test before you spend anything.

[planman350i]

Forgot about noise! The thing I liked about the elise today was that it was so chuckable. Although I have new bushes and adj. shocks all round on my 350i I would have worries whether the chassis and steering could take this kind of treatment...

[FrenchTVR]

I took mine to Spa back in July, absolutely awesome

I think between me and my mate we did just over twoo hundred miles around the track. Brakes were faultless, tyres lasted about 6 to 7 laps at a time before the fronts started getting too hot and started sliding about. Which to be honest was probably long enough at a time.

Go for it...

[tallbloke]

planman350i said:

Although I have new bushes and adj. shocks all round on my 350i I would have worries whether the chassis and steering could take this kind of treatment...

It's a race bred chassis, and my manually steered car was fine. Just go for it, you'll love it. My car makes 102db just check out the local regs and only rev it to 3 when they test it.

[wedg1e]

I did a track day in my 390SE and it was a bloody handful. There was a S2 Esprit (with half the engine capacity of the TVR) running rings round me on every corner.

[BHardy]

A 350i is great fun on the track, but needs some more respect than an Elise. It holds quite good and you can steer it with the throtle, but be careful as it takes some experience (which you'll gain quickly) to get a smooth end to a powerslide...

I volunteer as a track-instructor every year for the dutch tvr club at the zolder circuit. This implies driving in front a full hour without stopping and my 350i has put up with this without any problems for three years. After this i take the 350i out for quite a lot of laps during the day at high speed and i have to buy new tires at the back after only 5K miles so take that cost in mind.

The biggest problem however is the brakes as they will run hot when you enter the pitlane (no cooling from the wind) so keep your hand near the handbrake or fit bigger brakes which is a good thing even for road use.

I'm curious how the 400se will do next time!! Have a great time and but be careful

>> Edited by BHardy on Wednesday 28th September 20:27

[boosted ls1]

You could pm Ceejay on PH. He races a taz so may be able to offer qualified advice. Also Trackcar may have suspension parts for the taz as he developed the race car.

Boosted.

[boltontvr]

I went on the TVR car club track day at Oulton Park in July, and I can thoroughly recommend it. It was the first time I'd been on a track, so, initially, I was suffering from a twitchy rear end (not the car), but you soon get into the swing of things. I drove within my limits, which was quite slow as I was overtaken by most things from a Cerbera to a bog standard Audi A3, but I had a great time.
As far as my brakes were concerned, they were rubbish. The smell as the pads were cooked was tremendous, and the brake pedal went very spongy.
The noise limit at Oulton Park was 105 decibels, so most wedges with standard exhausts should be OK, but different tracks have different limits. If you pay up front, and then fail the noise test, you may lose your money, so it's worth bearing that in mind.
I would say to anyone with a wedge to try a track day, as it's great fun, and if you make a mistake you won't end up in a bush .

[andy390]

GO FOR IT!
can't reccommend trackdays enough. have done a couple in my 390 and had a whale of a time.
Provided your car is in good roadworthy condition,you should have few problems. i would check wheel bearings for correct play ,and make sure they're not too tight and are greased correctly(fronts at least). get some new fluid in the system,and away you go.
I must admit mine has the original 4 pot ap/lockheed calipers,but with plain old DOT4 fluid I had no problems other than the rear brakes getting hot. this i cured on my second trackday with some cold air ducting to the rear calipers, but i was driving the car hard.;-)
At the end of the day,you are in control, if you feel the brakes,or anything else feeling wrong, you CAN ease of the throttle!
I recommend reading steve heaths guide on trackday preparation, get your wheel alignment checked( all 4 wheels) and sign up!
Andy

[grahamw48]

Hey, you've got to leave yourself with SOME excuses !

I imagine the first time is like ice skating.
Clinging to the edge all the way round, then ooops!

"I can't go any faster in these crappy boots/skates/skis!"

"That Nova must have a full-race engine !"

"It's not a race! "

I'm waiting to buy a trailer to transport the bits home...then..

[planman350i]

Thanks for all the useful replies chaps.

I suppose my biggest concern (to avoid certain death) would be if I flipped it over. So presumably I would need a roll bar and bucket seats...which sounds expensive.

Maybe I would be better keeping the wedge and buying cheap track car, a 205 or similar when someone has already done all this work