First track car

[Gonad]

i have just bought a 1.8 mark one MX5 for tracking and am booked on my first day on the 19th, is it a requirement that a roll bar is fitted? I do intend to get this done but may not have enough time and what other preperations/ mods should I consider?

Thanks

[Chris71]

It's not a requirement no, but apparently rolled MX5s (as with many convertibles) can be a pretty sobering sight.

[MGRacer]

Trust me - I rolled an MGF (Race Car) had it not had a cage then I would have been "road kill". The screen frame went straight down onto the cage!!

I would therefore recommend 1) Dont roll it 2) Get a full cage fitted.

[Gonad]

Okay looks like that's a must then! Any other preperations that I should do, I will have it serviced

[Chris71]

Depends on your definition of must. You do see a lot of people without roll bars (myself included I'm ashamed to say, but it's not really a track car), and it's unlikely you'll need it, it's just you'd very much wish you had one if the situation did arise!

As for car preparation, ask the MX5 people, but IIRC the general consensus is that a 1.8 MX5 doesn't need any special preparation for track work. For what it's worth my TVR is completely standard and I haven't had any problems with brake fade or overheating on track given occasional cooling down time.

The only thing I can think of is a general thing really: Make sure your springs and dampers are in good nick and get a full four wheel alignment done by someone like Wheels In Motion if you haven't already. Again, it's not critical, but it could make it a lot more fun on road and track.

As a disclaimer, I have to say this is from fairly limited personal experience, I stand corrected by any experts out there...

Edited by Chris71 on Thursday 7th May 14:56

Edited by Chris71 on Thursday 7th May 14:57

[Gonad]

Thanks Chris any recomendations for insurance? It will I imagine do no more than 5k miles per year

[speedychrissie]

read up on trackdays before your first one.

be aware that it is incredibly rare for you to get an insurance company that will cover you while you are on track. So if you crash it (or if someone else crashes into you) you will be footing the bill for your repairs.

If however you do want to be insured while on track there are a few specialist companies (search for them) who should be able to also cover you for on the road if you are not doing too many miles.

regarding a roll bar:
Yes it is sensible if you can get it done, but I have an mx5 that has been on 3 trackdays without a roll-bar and that hasnt bothered me. Generally you have to be doing something very wrong to roll an mx5, so as long as you are sensible the chance is minimal. I know others will disagree with me, but that is how i see it.

[MrChips]

My 205 is insured with HIC (https://www.hertsinsurance.com/) on a limited mileage policy which also includes trackday cover. Also happened to be a decent quote too!

To be honest though, it depends on how much the car is worth as to insuring it or not. If I crashed on track and claimed on this policy, I believe it'd still count as an accident so i'd have to declare it for future insurance quotes.

[Chris71]

Gonad said:

Thanks Chris any recomendations for insurance? It will I imagine do no more than 5k miles per year

Yes. If you're over 30 (I'm not but I got in before they introduced this rule...) speak to Hagerty.

They're extremely cheap, particularly for higher risk drivers, and they charge 10% of the road premium each time to add a track day. In my case that's £20 a hit, so for a '5 it would probably be even less.

5k a year would be right on the upper limit of what they'll do though (on the road that is, I don't think track miles count!) and it has to be garaged as a second car. They are a little touchy about roll bars and mods though, depending on who you speak to, so be careful how you phrase it.

I had an MX5 beforehand with one of the more mainstream performance insurers and covering the TVR with Hagerty costs me about a third of the price!