Track day car preparation for a newbie.

[Bomber Denton]

Hi I have bought my first dedicated track car it's a Mk2 Golf 16V and I was wondering if you could point a newbie towards the main points to preparation.

I have used the TVR on track before but they are generally too soggy to abuse to the max so this will be the dedicated track slag.

As it stands the car is standard and I will be starting from scratch, any tips would be most appreciated.

Corin.

[deviant]

Bit of an open ended question really mate.

Whats your budget?

Whats your aim for the car?

At the minimum:

Full service...so timing belt, plugs, plug leads, dizzy cap, coolant flush, oil and filter, air filter.
Full underbody check to make sure everything is in its place.
New set of brake pads and fresh brake fluid.
New tyres.
And that will do you to be honest.

The other extreme is that you find yourself a race preperation shop and have over a boox of pre signed cheques and eventually get a Veyron beater

[Bomber Denton]

It's on a budget to be honest and will be built from bits here and there, the only major expenditure will be a cage at some stage.

[Droptheclutch]

Do not skimp on safety.

Get a roll cage before you hit the track (there will be loads available for your Golf). Accidents (and sometimes BIG ones) do happen on track days.

At least get a bucket seat for the driver, and at least a four point harness also.

You will of course need to buy a helmet and I would say get a pair of driving gloves too.

Search on the VW/Audi forum on Ph and also elsewhere - loads have prepped Golfs so the combined knowledge should save you time and money.

[richad027]

I couldn't agree more, safety has to be the number 1 priority, serious accidents are rare but they do happen. So the first thing I would do is get a proper racing bucket seat and a full six point harness. Make sure these are installed properly. If you can afford a cage I'd get one.

Not only is the seat safer in the event of the worst happening it also helps you drive the car properly as you are fixed in position and can easily feel what is happening to the car.

After that suspension mods are the most cost effective way to go faster.
There is tons of stuff for golfs out there.


Richard.

[stueys]

Hi, apart from the above advice about checking and servicing I would recommend the following. On my Mk2 GTi 2.0 16v, I have got the Spax adjustable kit, the PSX I think. I have also added G60 280mm front brakes (requiring 15" wheels), ATE super blue fluid brake fluid and Ferodo DS pads. After doing 2 track days with it, I would like to get some polybushes to replace the probably knackered standard ones, and a Eibach anti roll bar kit. My suspension is reasonable, but even on a medium damper setting it has a lot of bodyroll. With these bits on a circuit thats not too power hungry it would give a lot of more expensive cars a good seeing to :-)

Edited by stueys on Friday 30th November 09:28

[Toltec]

deviant said:

New tyres.

I wouldn't think new tyres are a good idea unless they are R888, A048 etc. and even then you want to scrub them in a bit. From my, admittedly small, experience road tyres tend to overheat when tracked and the tread depth on new ones just makes this worse. Of course if you are starting this winter and the track is wet you could be fine.

[iguana]

deviant said:

At the minimum:

Full service...so timing belt, plugs, plug leads, dizzy cap, coolant flush, oil and filter, air filter.
Full underbody check to make sure everything is in its place.
New set of brake pads and fresh brake fluid.
New tyres.
And that will do you to be honest.

Perfect advice to start with & youd then see & feel what areas needed improvement, for other end of the scale lock at how I prepped my tracker-

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/284172.htm

Deposit now taken so im not gratiuatously advertising again

Now that is way over the top to do as a novice & is not cheap & was done over couple of yrs years as my experience grew, still a long way from ultimate spec, but a massive deal faster as you'd expect than a stock Golf, but ignore engine spec & look at chassis & thats the way to go over time.

Track wise you dont even need oil coolers & baffled sumps or big radiators etc for quite a while if its all in good order, dont even need to uprate to 280 brakes, 256 are fine, remove back plates, use decnet discs- not aftermarket crap use Brembo stock Vw ones, decent pads- many to choose from, heck I'd do you a deal on these http://www.clubgti.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1492...

New fluid- race rcomended- I use RBF600 almost to SRF standard but a lot lot lot less ££

If you are gunna run sticky rubber, change ball joints yearly & even if on road rubber- before you track prep it change em anyway along with all wheel bearings esp NSF as they will all go soon anyway NSF one is a yearly consumable anyway.

Well worth polly bushing all round.

Edited by iguana on Friday 30th November 10:09

[richardb.jones]

As a dedicated track car then I'd suggest you lose weight ... take out the rear seats, rear carpets, rear door/side cards, anything cosmetic, boot liners etc - I suggest weighing it as you take it out as well piece by piece. You'll easily lose 100Kg+ in weight when you add it all up.

[JakeR]

richad027 said:

I couldn't agree more, safety has to be the number 1 priority, serious accidents are rare but they do happen. So the first thing I would do is get a proper racing bucket seat and a full six point harness. Make sure these are installed properly. If you can afford a cage I'd get one.

When I was going through this process, I was advised by a regular track dayer not to get harnesses until after getting a cage. The reasoning being that if you rolled and the car got 'squashed', the harnesses leave you with nowhere to go. Seemed sensible to me, so I got seats, harnesses and cage all done at once...

Also, if you do get a cage, make sure that any parts of it that your body could conceivably hit in a crash are padded. I understand more than one person has been killed by impact with a cage.

Sorry to be morbid, but safety first and all that.

Have fun though, there is nothing like it....

[smckeown]

mods in this order

safety (cage, haness & brakes)
instruction
weight reduction
handling
power

sean

[Bomber Denton]

This is all great stuff guys - keep it coming.

I got the car Friday afternoon, paid £150 for it as a non-runner (gearbox) it's a 3 door, non-PAS with big bumpers etc so ticked all the boxes. Six pounds later and a genuine linkage fitted and it's back on the road!
I have been going through the car seeing what needs doing, it has the 239mm brakes so firstly I'll be going to 256mm with some second hand hubs etc. New top mounts, track rod ends, bearings are on the cards and are cheap as chips from GSF.
I already have a pair of Recaro Recliners with harness slots and a spare Momo rim so that will get the ball rolling, I'm trying to build it for around a grand and it looks possible.

I have changed the oil and coolant and will change the brake fluid, I have some Bendix Dot 5 but it's about six years old - should I ditch it?

[GreenV8S]

Bomber Denton said:

I have some Bendix Dot 5 but it's about six years old - should I ditch it?

If it's still sealed it should still be good as new. However, are you sure changing to DOT5 is a good idea? I would have thought DOT5.1 would be a lot easier (no need to replace all the seals etc) and also a safer bet in terms of water absorption.

[vrooom]

I think it wise to change gearbox oil as well. as the oil just sit in the gearbox, they dont get Pressured, cooling down filtered, they would have remains from gears teeths, they get everywhere.
it would be wise to change them.

[custardtart]

Forget mods - spend all of your money on instruction

[Bomber Denton]

GreenV8S said:

Bomber Denton said:

I have some Bendix Dot 5 but it's about six years old - should I ditch it?

If it's still sealed it should still be good as new. However, are you sure changing to DOT5 is a good idea? I would have thought DOT5.1 would be a lot easier (no need to replace all the seals etc) and also a safer bet in terms of water absorption.

I'll check the can tomorrow.

Also harnesses... would a good second hand pair do or is it new every time??

[smckeown]

don't go to 256mm, go straight to 280mm (i.e. g60 calipers)

[deviant]

Toltec said:

deviant said:

New tyres.

I wouldn't think new tyres are a good idea unless they are R888, A048 etc. and even then you want to scrub them in a bit. From my, admittedly small, experience road tyres tend to overheat when tracked and the tread depth on new ones just makes this worse. Of course if you are starting this winter and the track is wet you could be fine.

New tyres are still going to be better than some balding, 5 year old, £15 jobbies from kwik fit though!!
You can help the overheating by adjusting the pressures.

Bomber Denton said:

GreenV8S said:

Bomber Denton said:

I have some Bendix Dot 5 but it's about six years old - should I ditch it?

If it's still sealed it should still be good as new. However, are you sure changing to DOT5 is a good idea? I would have thought DOT5.1 would be a lot easier (no need to replace all the seals etc) and also a safer bet in terms of water absorption.

I'll check the can tomorrow.

Also harnesses... would a good second hand pair do or is it new every time??

I use Penrite RBF600 in my tack slag. Its pretty cheap and has a boiling point of 600deg C but is a lot more friendly to your braking system and doesnt seem to absorb moisture so readily.
If the bottle is still sealed you should be OK...Best to check with the manufacturer if it has a shelf life though.

NO 2nd hand harnesses are not a good idea. I know a new set is a little pricey when your on a budget but you just cant trust used ones. You dont know their history and you dont know how old they are.
FIA approved kit is now only valid for 5 years at a time. They introduced this to get rid of the many many sets of sun damaged and ageing harnesses people are using.

Oh and 1 other thing I have not yet seen mentioned....Fire extinguisher!!
You need to get one with a metal bracket and metal clasp. Talk to Demon Tweaks...they will have something suitable or you can have a look at their catalouge and find something similar yourself.
It should be a powder type and be a minimum of 1KG.
To position it you need to sit in the car with your harness on and locate it somewhere you can reach it without twisitng and stretching to much.
I have mine mounted on the floor in front of the driver seat.
Also if you are taking passengers on trackdays think about having a 2nd one mounted in front of the passenger seat...at least then if your unconcious your mate can still reach one to use!!

[Bomber Denton]

Superb advice still coming - thank you!

I have found a problem with the NSF hub, one of the studs has been cross threaded so I have bought these...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

Many birds with one stone, I get the upgrade complete with all the bits, a mate of mine will skim the discs and I will overhaul the calipers etc - add some proper pads and braided lines and we're off.

As for the fluid, it's Dot 5.1, I bought it for a G60 I built years ago, used what I needed than stored the rest - I am guessing it needs to be binned?

[iguana]

Use a new master cylinder & only pressure bleed- never pump & bin that old brake fluid & use RBF & personally id bin those discs & use GSF Brembo ones, they wont crack & get all the issue that cheap aftermarket drilled discs do & they are cheap circa £30a pair

Edited by iguana on Tuesday 4th December 21:39