Good Tracks for a Low Powered Car

[Stu_1.4]

Hi Guys,

I'm currently driving a Rover Mini Sprite, with a stage 1 kit. So by no means is this thing fast.

However the previous owner has fitted some spax shocks and Hi-Lo dampers, so its an absolute hoot round the bends on a nice country road.

I'd just quite like to try my hand at a track day, but don't want to go to some huge race track where you need a hugley powerful and stripped out purpose built car. I'd just like a tight twisty circuit, with short straights. Something like a kart track would be ideal, but i don't really think they let cars on so.

So do you have any suggestions for a good circuit, suitable for my car?

Cheers

Stu

[T89 Callan]

Do Three Sisters run car days?

[MK INDY]

Teeside autodrome would be ideal,they do a trackday on a very tight and twisty circuit,you get a bacon butty,lunch,and a kart race at the end included all for £99,have a look here for details.
http://www.thetrackdayclub.com/booking.html

Or the next choice would be Cadwell park

[tertius]

Honestly pretty much anywhere will be fine. You might find Silverstone with the huge Hanger straight a drag but even in my Elise I enjoy it - the rest of the circuit has plenty of twists and turns to more than compensate.

As mentioned Cadwell is ace, but even Cadwell has a couple of long straights.

Brands Indy is also very good for low powered cars, though short.

[Stu_1.4]

MK INDY said:

Teeside autodrome would be ideal,they do a trackday on a very tight and twisty circuit,you get a bacon butty,lunch,and a kart race at the end included all for £99,have a look here for details.
http://www.thetrackdayclub.com/booking.html

Or the next choice would be Cadwell park

they are both great suggestions, teesude looks perfect. However, its quite far to travel. I'm from oxfordshire so i would be a looking at some where 3 hours max away.

[slugelise]

Its not a race - do anyone you fancy. There's no minimum speed limit.

[NeilC]

Think of it another way, if there are moderately long wide straights then other cars will be able to pass you easily. Cornering speeds seem largely dependent on the driver/tires.
Close to oxford Rockingham have some days on the smaller circuit inside the oval that doesn't have many straights and has plenty of run off but is a bit flat. Mallory Park is more like a country lane drive and doesn't really seem to have any straights at all when your driving it and is great fun, but you won't be able to go mad and spin everywhere.

[t11ner]

Oulton is within your three hour range and well worth the trip.

[HereBeMonsters]

Stu_1.4 said:

MK INDY said:

Teeside autodrome would be ideal,they do a trackday on a very tight and twisty circuit,you get a bacon butty,lunch,and a kart race at the end included all for £99,have a look here for details.
http://www.thetrackdayclub.com/booking.html

Or the next choice would be Cadwell park

they are both great suggestions, teesude looks perfect. However, its quite far to travel. I'm from oxfordshire so i would be a looking at some where 3 hours max away.

Motorsport Events do a day at Abingdon. A bit faster than their usual tracks, but I've always had fun in my 205 there.

[JoePublic]

Brands Hatch Indy maybe? Anglesea? Llandow maybe (basically a glorified oval, but no long straights and great value)?

[Phantom Mark]

Caddy is one of the better ones, but its a really BHP sucker on the two straights that exist, even with my 430bhp I only reach around 125mph at the end of Park straight, in Comparison my 165bhp BMW 320d managed 105mph........just trying to quantify how quick your likely to go with ya mini

[chris7676]

I think Brands Indy benefits more poweful cars in the Paddock Hill Bend on exit. Rockingham should be fun for most cars.

[HereBeMonsters]

Seriously - give these people a look. For your first trackday it's great to have the run-off areas, and a lot of their tracks are tighter and twistier than you'd imagine for an airfield.

http://www.motorsport-events.co.uk/

If you're undecided about which track, look on YouTube for videos of each. I've got a few up of Keevil, Colerne, Abingdon and Hullavington behind the wheel of a 205, should be fairly similar speeds to a decent Mini.

[joe_90]

HereBeMonsters said:

Seriously - give these people a look. For your first trackday it's great to have the run-off areas, and a lot of their tracks are tighter and twistier than you'd imagine for an airfield.

http://www.motorsport-events.co.uk/

If you're undecided about which track, look on YouTube for videos of each. I've got a few up of Keevil, Colerne, Abingdon and Hullavington behind the wheel of a 205, should be fairly similar speeds to a decent Mini.

+1 I have taken the S2000, and the clio cup there.. keeps up with much faster stuff as the straights are not that long.. plus the bendy bits are where the fun it.

[Matt UK]

I asked this question a while back and got some good advice.
Take a look:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[Stu_1.4]

Cheers for all the input.

I've since decided im going to get myself booked in a colerne. Watch a few videos and it looks like there is plenty of fun to be had!

Just another quick question how long of actual track time do you get?

[Matt UK]

When I did Colerne, I think it was open pit. So apart from an hour at lunch, you could stay out as long as you liked. 20-30min sessions though was my max before both car and driver needed a little rest!

[Stu_1.4]

Matt UK said:

When I did Colerne, I think it was open pit. So apart from an hour at lunch, you could stay out as long as you liked. 20-30min sessions though was my max before both car and driver needed a little rest!

Well i'm assuming you did it in something relativily low powered, did you enjoy it?

And cheers for the help.

[mattsayle]

t11ner said:

Oulton is within your three hour range and well worth the trip.

What he said I did a TD at oulton is a bog standard one litre Corsa and had one of the best times ever!

[Matt UK]

Stu_1.4 said:

Matt UK said:

When I did Colerne, I think it was open pit. So apart from an hour at lunch, you could stay out as long as you liked. 20-30min sessions though was my max before both car and driver needed a little rest!

Well i'm assuming you did it in something relativily low powered, did you enjoy it?

And cheers for the help.

Stu, I did it in my Mk1 MX5. It's a std 1.8 with upgraded springs and dampers, so not that fast at all.

I had a great day at Colerne - you'll love it. This year I've done Brands Hatch Indy twice, Bedford autodrome and Colerne.

The airfield days have the advantage of being a bit more open with room to really push. The organisers seem to tolerate the odd slide and spin as well, which was fun - there's a hairpin at Colerne that I particularly enjoyed sliding around. The other benefit is that the layouts can be varied so regulars have some variety. Also they tend to be cheaper. But the surfaces can be quite coarse and bumpy, the tracks are flat and the locations a bit bleak and featureless on a cold day.

Bedford has all the advantages of an airfield day except that the track surface is perfect and it has proper curbs as well. Much better facilities but more expensive though.

Brands I loved. The gradients make things far more interesting and challenging, the surface is perfect, and the sense of atmosphere and history is something I really liked. The downside (as with most proper circuits) is that errors on certain corners will end up with you hitting something hard, like a wall. So you tend to drive most of the track very 'neat and quick' as opposed to playing with the car's handling up to and maybe beyond the limit. But there are control-days for that sort of larking around.

Get stuck in! You'll have a great time and having done a couple of events on my own, I can vouch for the fact that almost all track day goers are a very friendly bunch, keen for a natter in the pits abouts the cars.

All I'll say is ensure your car is in good order beforehand and start the day slow, building up your pace from there. Pit often to rest you and the car, learn the circuit early and spend some laps following others to see the lines they take (mind you, at Brands, I followed about 8 different cars through the McLaren/Surtees/Clearways complex and came to the conclusion there must be 8 different lines and never did quite figure out the 'right' one )

Enjoy