Flat out or don t bother

[Ben-xfz3o]

As a complete beginner to track days, other than doing some circuit experience days which I appreciate are very different, I’m not sure about a few things and wanted some opinions before I start.
Firstly the car I have is my daily, only car, and so I want to be able to drive it there and back as well as have fun on track. However is a 340bhp saloon driven at 8/10ths just gonna get in the way? I’m asking that as concerned if I drive flat out the tyres, brakes and potentially gearbox are going to get hammered. Maybe most cars can take it these days, and of course would expect a fair amount of wear.
Secondly insurance, from what I can see for 1 track day it costs £150-200 but with excess around £1000-1500. This seems a lot and if I’m taking it easier then it’s others I’m more worried about.
Then taking both points into consideration I wonder whether it’s better just to get a cheap hatchback like a Mini Cooper s or similar for a few grand and use for primarily track and if it breaks or gets damaged it’s not as big an issue.
I’m not sure.

[Steve H]

1. Drive as steady as you wish. There will always be someone going faster and someone going slower so as long as you work with the other cars to allow safe overtaking it’s all good.

2. 90% of trackdayers don’t insure. If you are undecided then maybe insure for your first day and then judge again for future ones.

3. If you are doing it regularly then it may be worth getting a dedicated car but if you have something you can have a first go with then that’s a good place to start.

[brillomaster]

Personally, I've never taken my daily on track. Isn't designed for it, brakes and tyres would take an unnecessary hammering and if it goes wrong, either mechanically or crash damage, then no daily.

I much prefer a cheap track car for the job. Have had various bmws, a z4 and now in a boxster.

I'd recommend either a cheap mx5 nc, or a cheap z4. Great fun on track, can be thrashed all day and not the end of the world if you bin it. I have never insured any of my track cars.

While a 340bhp saloon driven at 8 tenths wouldn't get in the way, there's no point going to a trackday and babying the car, IMO. get something you can drive properly.

[mmm-five]

Using a performance road car as a daily and track car will get very expensive, very quickly.

I used my Corrado VR6, e34 M5s and Z4MC as both commuter (15-30,000 miles a year) and trackday (5-10 days a year, plus 'Ring trips) car for about 20 years...and I'd say the maintenance costs probably trebled over being just a daily (for about 5 heavy trackday years I had to replace the electronic suspension on the M5 annually - at a cost of £700-£1200/corner).

Tyres could last 2-3 trackdays as well as 10,000 miles...or I could go through a whole set in half a day...depending on the track.

I only took insurance when I was going to a new track, or using a new TDO, and ALWAYS at Castle Combe (because of the number of numpties who always drove there...so much so that I stopped going to CC).

I still have/use the Z4MC (on 165,000 miles)...but it does less UK trackdays and more trips to the Nurburgring instead (not just for the trackdays/TF days, but so I can enjoy driving around the region and doing some easy 100mph+ runs).

I've probably taken all my cars since the Corrado on the track...even those not meant for it when I've had a car problem and didn't want to (or couldn't) cancel. I've also taken a 105/115bhp Alfa 147JTD to the Ring for a week, and to Cadwell, and I've taken my e46 330D auto on all-seasons to Oulton Park and the 'Ring. A lot of fun, but in a very different way to the more performance-orientated cars.

---

As to your original question...just take it easy for your first couple of sessions / track days, and don't get tempted to chase lower-powered cars, as you don't know the level of track prep the car/driver has and you could end up in the armco/tyre wall on your first track day (I've seen someone in the exact same road car as me, following my lines around a wet Castle Combe and then just sliding off on a fast bend simply due to something simple like putting a bit of power on, or lifting off slightly, or putting a bit too much steering in).

If you catch the bug, you can then decide whether you need a dedicated trackday car (and/or trailer).

Edited by mmm-five on Friday 20th February 11:49

[Ben-xfz3o]

Thanks for the responses. I think for this first time I’ll take my car and see how I get on, maybe just only doing 2/3 “on it” laps at a time and then giving the car a breather. If I like then can look into more permanent option of a specific track orientated car.
Funny you mention Castle Combe as that is where I was thinking of going as its closest track to me and a track I’ve driven a couple of times before. I’ve heard that on Fridays before race meets there can be a quite a lot of race cars testing out and I wondered if that’s when you’ve been or if there’s just more bad drivers there anyway.

[OGDB]

I did my first open pit lane day yesterday at Brands Hatch, so my input here is going to be less relevant than those who have more experience. However my input would be.

The majority of cars on the day yesterday had been trailered. The cars that hadn’t been trailered were a lot of the same gen1 minis, 197s, 182s and two MX5s. There were a few higher end things, M2/3/4s an A45 and a golf R that had been driven. The more expensive stuff was certainly out a lot less from what I noticed.

I bought a little mx5 back in August, with the idea of doing some track days. So the purchase price of the Mazda, the cost of the track day, tuition, fuel, even lunch and expenses ok the day, came in at less than a grand. If it’s something you wanted to do I would encourage you to go that route.

Personally with no experience, I found the mx5 was more than enough for me, I think I’d need about more seat time before I needed more power out of it.

I have no idea how this compares for you, but I drove there, have it everything it had for 150 miles on track and then drove it back home again. It’s certainly daunting all day knowing that you have to drive home!

[mmm-five]

Ben-xfz3o said:

Thanks for the responses. I think for this first time I ll take my car and see how I get on, maybe just only doing 2/3 on it laps at a time and then giving the car a breather. If I like then can look into more permanent option of a specific track orientated car.
Funny you mention Castle Combe as that is where I was thinking of going as its closest track to me and a track I ve driven a couple of times before. I ve heard that on Fridays before race meets there can be a quite a lot of race cars testing out and I wondered if that s when you ve been or if there s just more bad drivers there anyway.

As I've not been back for over a decade - and that was at a private track day for <20 ///M cars - I can't say whether the public track days or CC course control have become any better.

The worst events were the Castle Combe 'action days'...but the race cars using other track days as cheap test days was another reason I stopped going.

The race car testing on normal track days was/is not supposed to happen, but CC didn't seem to clamp down on it at all. If they're not bothered following their own rules (just to be able to run a full field) then I decided I didn't trust them to take action against other rule breakers / bad drivers either...and always worried what would happen if anyone with track day insurance was involved in an incident with someone testing/timing (as the insurer could claim it was invalid as timing was going on and not stopped).

Edited by mmm-five on Saturday 21st February 12:07

[motco]

I chose an airfield day as my first rack day outing on the basis that there's loads of runoff, wide level track, stringent control (Motorsport Events are very good) and cheaper. I have found over some years that a trackday is safer than driving on the roads with a Se7en style car (Westfield in my case) but that is predicated more on how dangerous it is on the roads being very low profile.

On one occasion in December, late and nearing Christmas, I opted against trailering my Westfield to Keevil in favour of driving my Z3 2.2i Sport and driving that on the track. The M4 on a Saturday near Christmas in near freezing temperatures didn't appeal.
The Z3 behaved very well considering the slagging off it gets from 'experts' as being an E36 in running shoes, however the brakes were far from up to frequent hard braking from high speed and after a few laps the pedal went 'long' and as I had to drive it back up the motorway, I let it recover before the end of the day. It took a surprising length of time for the pedal to have any resistance. Road going cars' brakes are frequently not up to that kind of use. Even my son's Z4M Coupé's brakes, whilst better, really didn't like it. I have even seen an Audi somethingorother with the front brake on fire!

One interesting tip is to switch off stability controls. You will be driving in a manner that upsets DSC or ESP type of systems and they give the brakes a hard time all on their own trying to stop your antics!

[brillomaster]

To the OP... what car is it? As that will help judge how well it might hold up to some track work, and what might be worth checking.

General rules if you take a car on track - make sure the fluids are topped up and ideally fresh, particularly engine oil and brake fluid. Make sure you have a good amount of brake pad material remaining, and have some tread on tyres - though actually if you arent overdriving the car, tyre wear isn't too bad.

Then on track, keep sessions short, keep an eye on engine temps and tyre pressures, and make sure you do a good cool down lap before pitting.