Track day prep
Discussion
Hi All,
I know this has been covered before but most relevant posts are now quite a few years old. The recommendations have probably been superceded by newer, more competent parts. I have also tried to open links and most do not work anymore either.
This will be my first track day with the Chimaera and I'm not going to go mad. I want to see how the car handles and obviously have some fun and be able to drive there and back home.
I'm definitely going to change my brake pads and upgrade the fluid, sticking with my standard brakes for now. The common pads seem to be Ferodo DS2500 or CL RC5 or now RC5+. Are there any other suggestions?
I know this has been covered before but most relevant posts are now quite a few years old. The recommendations have probably been superceded by newer, more competent parts. I have also tried to open links and most do not work anymore either.
This will be my first track day with the Chimaera and I'm not going to go mad. I want to see how the car handles and obviously have some fun and be able to drive there and back home.
I'm definitely going to change my brake pads and upgrade the fluid, sticking with my standard brakes for now. The common pads seem to be Ferodo DS2500 or CL RC5 or now RC5+. Are there any other suggestions?
I have always run DS2500 on my TVR and they have always been perfect. A little bit of a squeal every now and again but otherwise excellent.
Check your hoses are all good
Take a tyre pressure gauge and foot pump.
If you are using standard road tyres these will go off within a fairly short time although quite driveable. Check the temperature and pressure when you come in to the pits and if it has gone up by 6-7lbs then I would reduce it by about 4lbs
Come into the pit slowly and come to a halt by leaving it in gear and don’t use your handbrake. Putting this on with a pad hard up against the disks can cause them to warp
Make sure your oil level is at the top and keep an eye on this a couple of times during the day
keep your track time down to a maximum of 20 minutes each outing and make the last lap a slow lap for cooling the whole car down .
Make sure you use decent oil
What track day are you doing?
Check your hoses are all good
Take a tyre pressure gauge and foot pump.
If you are using standard road tyres these will go off within a fairly short time although quite driveable. Check the temperature and pressure when you come in to the pits and if it has gone up by 6-7lbs then I would reduce it by about 4lbs
Come into the pit slowly and come to a halt by leaving it in gear and don’t use your handbrake. Putting this on with a pad hard up against the disks can cause them to warp
Make sure your oil level is at the top and keep an eye on this a couple of times during the day
keep your track time down to a maximum of 20 minutes each outing and make the last lap a slow lap for cooling the whole car down .
Make sure you use decent oil
What track day are you doing?
Checking the hoses is a good one.
Standard shocks if old will be a hindrance if your Stirling Moss.
Don’t over fill PS or reservoir fluids as they will expand and find a way out.
I’d call this your first real shake down test so a lot you might learn/ find out so steady Eddie works well.
Start with the remit anything can happen and build up. I sort of expected the car to be really poor on track so was very careful but slowly warmed to it.
Taking into account it’s still a road car I was impressed with mine. Not it’s power but it’s feed back.
A hot day will do for it so anything more than 15-20 mins flat out will not be worth the mechanical wear.
Car goes soft and slow. Performance is in the first 10 mins max especially on a hot day and heavy braking areas will only make it worse.
Controlled shorter runs are much better for the cars performance imho.
Open bonnet every time you finish to relieve the heat build up.
Don’t expect you much and you might be pleasantly surprised.
Enjoy.
A geometry check should really be carried out if it had not been done recently or just drive a bit steady until you feel the car out.
I enjoy the twisties in a Tvr on a fairly flat track. Nippy if you get it right.
You can induce understeer or oversteer and rotate the car with your feet which is great for a driver. It’s predicable after a bit of practice.
Great fun on an open track.
Standard shocks if old will be a hindrance if your Stirling Moss.
Don’t over fill PS or reservoir fluids as they will expand and find a way out.
I’d call this your first real shake down test so a lot you might learn/ find out so steady Eddie works well.
Start with the remit anything can happen and build up. I sort of expected the car to be really poor on track so was very careful but slowly warmed to it.
Taking into account it’s still a road car I was impressed with mine. Not it’s power but it’s feed back.
A hot day will do for it so anything more than 15-20 mins flat out will not be worth the mechanical wear.
Car goes soft and slow. Performance is in the first 10 mins max especially on a hot day and heavy braking areas will only make it worse.
Controlled shorter runs are much better for the cars performance imho.
Open bonnet every time you finish to relieve the heat build up.
Don’t expect you much and you might be pleasantly surprised.
Enjoy.
A geometry check should really be carried out if it had not been done recently or just drive a bit steady until you feel the car out.
I enjoy the twisties in a Tvr on a fairly flat track. Nippy if you get it right.
You can induce understeer or oversteer and rotate the car with your feet which is great for a driver. It’s predicable after a bit of practice.
Great fun on an open track.
Edited by Classic Chim on Sunday 18th July 10:49
Edited by Classic Chim on Sunday 18th July 10:55
Classic Chim said:
You can induce understeer or oversteer and rotate the car with your feet which is great for a driver. It’s predicable after a bit of practice.
Great fun on an open track.
This if you have road tyres.Great fun on an open track.
Before I switched to better tyres with my first chimaera I noticed that if you are relatively on it mid bend, you can transfer from oversteer to understeer by gently coming off and getting back on the power. Very strange.
Later on when I switched to Toyo Triple 8s that completely disappeared!
phazed said:
This if you have road tyres.
Before I switched to better tyres with my first chimaera I noticed that if you are relatively on it mid bend, you can transfer from oversteer to understeer by gently coming off and getting back on the power. Very strange.
Later on when I switched to Toyo Triple 8s that completely disappeared!
Race that tyre and it will be sliding pretty quickly and over heating if your not very careful. Racers are faster than the car or most budget race tyres so they become the limitation. Before I switched to better tyres with my first chimaera I noticed that if you are relatively on it mid bend, you can transfer from oversteer to understeer by gently coming off and getting back on the power. Very strange.
Later on when I switched to Toyo Triple 8s that completely disappeared!
Can you honestly say your on the ragged edge of adhesion revs and grip on a trackday. The extra rubber laid down at race weekends allows far greater corner speeds so help destroy tyres.
Including a trackday the day before plus practice day so by race day you might have done 30 laps already so flying. I’ve barely managed 3 laps on a trackday before slowing to allow faster cars past or having to lose all momentum because of slower cars around me. Or chasing a que which will never reduce lap time.
You can’t replicate racing speeds and if you did you’d likely tell us a different thing.
You have to manage 10-12 laps in most short race formats so I’m pretty sure you could use up the tyres Peter.
I get your point though. For trackdays they are spot on.
[footnote]Edited by Classic Chim on Sunday 18th July 12:14[/footnote
Edited by Classic Chim on Sunday 18th July 12:27
The track day Toyos do go off a bit if that’s what you are referring to Alun. They give tremendous grip and then start getting a little soft. Not surprising when you feel the temperature of the tyre when you pull into the pits. Quite often you can hardly put your hand on them!
Generally, if you really get into doing track days then buy a spare set of wheels with some decent track day tyres fitted.
I have a set of Federal 595 RSRs fitted on my track day Skoda. These all the poor mans Toyos but still give about 90% performance for nearly half the price!
The newer pattern Toyo R888s that i used on my Porsche are absolutely fantastic and performed well even in the rain at Combe a few weeks back.
Anyhow, enough of that. Just make sure everything is checked on the car and check your wheel bolts before and after doing a couple of outings as they do tend to loosen with the heat expansion of the alloy wheels.
Report back on here and let us know how you got on!
Generally, if you really get into doing track days then buy a spare set of wheels with some decent track day tyres fitted.
I have a set of Federal 595 RSRs fitted on my track day Skoda. These all the poor mans Toyos but still give about 90% performance for nearly half the price!
The newer pattern Toyo R888s that i used on my Porsche are absolutely fantastic and performed well even in the rain at Combe a few weeks back.
Anyhow, enough of that. Just make sure everything is checked on the car and check your wheel bolts before and after doing a couple of outings as they do tend to loosen with the heat expansion of the alloy wheels.
Report back on here and let us know how you got on!
also remember your engine oil will take about 5 miles to warm up - totally different to the engine water temperature. Give it 2 laps at normal road speeds (less than 70 ish and 1/3 to 1/2 throttle). If you do not have an oil temp gauge then a good way to check is the oil pressure at tick over.
phazed said:
I have always run DS2500 on my TVR and they have always been perfect. A little bit of a squeal every now and again but otherwise excellent.
Check your hoses are all good
Take a tyre pressure gauge and foot pump.
If you are using standard road tyres these will go off within a fairly short time although quite driveable. Check the temperature and pressure when you come in to the pits and if it has gone up by 6-7lbs then I would reduce it by about 4lbs
Come into the pit slowly and come to a halt by leaving it in gear and don’t use your handbrake. Putting this on with a pad hard up against the disks can cause them to warp
Make sure your oil level is at the top and keep an eye on this a couple of times during the day
keep your track time down to a maximum of 20 minutes each outing and make the last lap a slow lap for cooling the whole car down .
Make sure you use decent oil
What track day are you doing?
Thanks for the information fellas! Check your hoses are all good
Take a tyre pressure gauge and foot pump.
If you are using standard road tyres these will go off within a fairly short time although quite driveable. Check the temperature and pressure when you come in to the pits and if it has gone up by 6-7lbs then I would reduce it by about 4lbs
Come into the pit slowly and come to a halt by leaving it in gear and don’t use your handbrake. Putting this on with a pad hard up against the disks can cause them to warp
Make sure your oil level is at the top and keep an eye on this a couple of times during the day
keep your track time down to a maximum of 20 minutes each outing and make the last lap a slow lap for cooling the whole car down .
Make sure you use decent oil
What track day are you doing?
Infinite Time Attack at Barbagallo Raceway, Perth, Western Australia. Small tight track with some tough braking corners as a friend found out
The format is no racing; 5 laps -->1 lap warm up, 3 timed and last lap cool down. Queue up again etc. 2 x instructors on hand if needed. Works pretty well with 2 distinct ability groups - fast and slow! No pressure and really friendly bunch.
I will check the car as recommended.
So...DS2500 pads are the way to go? I just thought there would be a newer, probably better option as the DS2500 pads are a bit older now.
Absolutely no issues with the DS2500. These will stop the car without any fade all day long. Have used these exclusively on my 5.5 Chim and now on my track day Skoda.
I don’t know anything about the Pagid pads but if Martin says that they are good I’m sure they are.
I might even give them a try one day.
I don’t know anything about the Pagid pads but if Martin says that they are good I’m sure they are.
I might even give them a try one day.
Just because it is Australia, doesn't mean that it will be hot. The next track days there are in September and October, and they are evening sessions starting at 6pm. It's unlikely to even be 20C in the evening, which I know is still a lot for a TVR designed for Lancashire weather!
Don't forget that you also need:
Competition Drivers Club (CDC) membership – $40.
Cams license level 2 speed – $140.
ITA event entry fee – $175 track night.
WA Time Attack entry fee – $TBC street class
1KG fire extinguisher properly mounted (no cable ties).
Tow point stickers – Front and rear.
Battery location sticker. (That will be interesting in a Chimaera, unless you have moved it to the boot!)
Helmet with AS/NZS 1698 standard sticker (motor cross helmets not allowed).
Long Pants.
Long sleeves.
Fully enclosed shoes.
Don't forget that you also need:
Competition Drivers Club (CDC) membership – $40.
Cams license level 2 speed – $140.
ITA event entry fee – $175 track night.
WA Time Attack entry fee – $TBC street class
1KG fire extinguisher properly mounted (no cable ties).
Tow point stickers – Front and rear.
Battery location sticker. (That will be interesting in a Chimaera, unless you have moved it to the boot!)
Helmet with AS/NZS 1698 standard sticker (motor cross helmets not allowed).
Long Pants.
Long sleeves.
Fully enclosed shoes.
Thanks Lucy P - I have already been to an ITA event twice before in a different car (S2000). It was great. This session is actually 12 - 6pm and the way the weather has been recently it could well be wet.
This time around I'm after information regarding the TVR, especially the brakes and capability of the car to take me home afterwards as well!
This time around I'm after information regarding the TVR, especially the brakes and capability of the car to take me home afterwards as well!
TVRMs said:
I would recommend a fluid change, my choice would be Castrol SFR
Thanks, exactly what I'm after. Edited by TVRMs on Friday 23 July 07:30
Will take a bucket load of spares too - cable for throttle, rotor arm, dizzy, sparks, leads, bulbs, tape, zip ties, spanners, tyre inflator, trolley jack, fluids etc, kitchen sink!
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