Novice trackday questions

[steve 944t]

Hi folks,

After a prolonged stay tucked up in the garage, my turbo has today been collected by those nice chaps at RPM. After some much needed TLC, they will be fitting some shiny new KW3 suspension to replace the very tired M030. So, in the next few weeks I will be looking to book a trackday. Previous experience is limited to a few RS Owners Club days back in the early 90's, so it is fair to say I am a bit rusty. I am also used to driving my daily 4 wheel drive chaveza so will need to readjust to the 944.

Can you trackday veterans suggest a suitable venue (preferably southern) for a novice? Am I right in thinking that Bedford has large runoff areas? My insurance covers me for trackdays, so long as it is a recognised organiser, so that may limit my choices to some extent. Would you suggest open pit lane, as opposed to fixed sessions? Finally (for now) do all trackdays have instructors who can be booked in advance?

Thanks in advance.

 

[edh]

Steve

I think you've got it pretty well covered - Bedford is a good place to start (although I did see a Yaris rental car on its roof at Bedford -that's another story!)

I think you can book instructors for most trackdays now.

I prefer open pit lane - you get more control over your track time and don't feel like you should stay out for half an hour just becasue that's your session time.

 

[John Sims]

Go with a Company that doesn't stand any nonsense on track. Stupidity causes frustration and is more likely to develop a red mist - either way it will cause accidents. I wouldn't hesitate in recommending Gold Track in this respect; any poncing about and the culprit is sent home - it doesn't matter who they are or what time of the day it is.

If you can wait that long I would also highly recommend evenings over track days, particularly if you are looking at getting back into things. Evenings are shorter, but cheaper, and leave you wanting more.

If you can go with a group of people this is good. The more people you know the less spaces are left for Chavs and Scoobies (and Fiestas []).

 

[Diver944]

Bedford is definitely a good starting point as it is soooooo wide open with hardly anyting to hit (unless you really try). The GT circuit is very long at 4.3 miles so can be hard to learn, but the West circuit at 1.9 miles is perfect. I think Open pitlane for a complete novice can be quite daunting as you often have really fast cars coming at you from all directions whereas in sessions you will be grouped with other novices so should all be of a similar pace (though there is the added worry of a complete novice making silly mistakes right in front of you)

I think the marshalling at Bedford is always spot on no matter who the organiser is, because Mr Palmer runs a very tight ship

 

[sawood12]

Another good thing about Bedford is that they limit the number of cars on track to 20 for the West Circuit. The track day I did at Donington didn't limit the number of cars on track and it got pretty busy at times. At Bedford, although a group of faster cars may have come up behind you, once they had got by you usually got a clear run for a couple of laps before being caught up again.

 

[333pg333]

Well I would also add that getting a decent seat is paramount. I did my first trackday last year in a stock old black leather seat and spent most of the day sliding about the cabin and was bruised for the next week just holding myself in. Makes an enormous difference along with track tyres and decent brake mods. Nothing too expensive but definitely worth the investment. The KW's are a great choice too as you no doubt would have read about on here. Have fun.[]

 

[steve 944t]

Thanks very much. So Bedford looks like a good option. Good point about the mixed abilities with open pit lane. I guess either way has pros and cons. I do like the idea of going out/coming in when I choose so am angling towards the open pit lane.
Evening sessions are definitely something I would like to do. I know Silverstone have done this in the past so will look into it.
For the time being I will keep my slidy leather seat as the car is still primarily a road car. I have just fitted some Toyo T1Rs so am not using track tyres. I think it may take a while before I acquire Schumacher-beating abilities [], so cornering forces will not be huge to begin with. I may think about fitting a harness though, as I remember this making a huge difference to comfort and confidence when I fitted one to my old RS.
I look forward to seeing some of you in the coming months.

 

[Neil Haughey]

Toyo has been my favourite road tyre for years now. The problem you may or may not find is that you could end up shredding the tyres on the track i.e. it ends up working out cheaper to use track day tyres or slicks which are made to cope with the extreme loads of track driving. ISTR that at Bedford somebody blistered their road tyres, could have been Riverside.

Harnesses can be a problem. I have a harness bar that I intended to fit but then noticed that due to the shape of the seat my shoulders are no where near wide enough for straps to go over without fouling the sides of the seat. This means that I can't use harnesses with the stock seats. However at Bedford I found that due to my sub 11 stone frame I fit snugly down in the seat and didn't move around to much. It also helps that I have the back of the seat base right down and the front all the way up. What I am fitting next is one of those CGlock things which locks out the lap strap nice and tight. There is a thread linking to these things over in the general section. Seems like a top notch idea. Loads of ppl hate the Porsche seats but for me they are a perfect snug fit.

 

[steve 944t]

I do expect the tyres to be destroyed fairly quickly. If I end up doing enough trackdays I will probably buy a spare set of wheels and fit some track tyres, but for the time being I am just looking forward to using the car, rather than see it collecting dust in the garage, which is what it has done for the last year or so.

 

[AndrewS]

Hi Steve,

Bedford is a great circuit, but if you do the full GT circuit it could be daunting for a novice as it is a long and technical track (much like Silverstone GP). However, it is an excellent venue with very little opportunity for getting it wrong and also the surface is amazing from a grip perspective. I can't think of a better track to start with though.

The best advice I can give you is in the preparation of your car. Having KW suspension is a great start. Make sure everything is in good shape and that you have clear cooling ducts to the front brakes (this is all you need to save your brakes - even with standard pads on M030 cars). The most important compenent is tyres and investing in a spare set of tyres for dedicated track use makes a lot of sense. You then don't trash your road tyres and you also get to go much faster on proper track tyres that will make the day a whole lot more fun [].

The 944 Turbo is an extremely capable track car and has far more potential than many other far more expensive Porsche models (not to mention the Evo/Scooby brigade too []). As you have KW, you can experiment with ride height and damping to get the most from your car at the track.

Depending on your driving skills and amibitions, it may make sense to get tuition from a suitably experienced track day instructor. Porsche Club days are also a nice safe way to start and have many organised events this year with discounted places to club members (that effectively pay your membership).

I hope we can all get to another event soon. The last one at Bedford West Circuit (Feb 24th) was a great day with many 944S2/Turbo models in attendance.

Hope to see you at a day soon.

Regards,
Andrew

 

[Neil Haughey]

I have Hankook RS2 on the car at the moment in 225 front 245 rear. I don't know if anyone else in the 944 fraternity is using them. So far very impressed. The car handles miles better then on the T1-S I had before. It seems that the carcass on these tyres is very very strong, since the car feels like it is on rails on both the road and track (but the sidewall is fairly compliant, strange). Not sure yet just how grippy they are. I have much more rubber on the road then before and these tyres seem to have a much sharper limit then the T1-S.
They come with 7mm tread and after Bedford and about 700 miles of road driving I have between 5.5mm and 6mm. ISTR that one always looses the first mm of tread pretty quickly just breaking the tyres in. Hopefully they will last OK since they are treadwear 200 which is very hard for a track tyre. Just like Toyo they also take a very long time to break in.

 

[Neil Haughey]

Hi Andrew, I know you mentioned this before but I would really like to get together again with all the guys on the track sometime in the next month. Any ideas?

 

[steve 944t]

Thanks for the tip on brake ducts Andrew. I hadnt thought of that! I will definitely be taking some instruction and am also planning on booking a day at Bruntingthorpe with Don Palmer. Should be a good opportunity to get reacquainted with the 944 without getting in anyone else's way!
Really looking forward to collecting my rejuvenated car on Saturday morning []

 

[Hilux]

This means that I can't use harnesses with the stock seats.

Nope, nor should you even attempt it.

The two top straps need to sit evenly on your shoulder and the seat back width prevents this. A lot will say its ok for them but if it rolls the belts will ride down the seat sides and you are unprotected.

Get an upholsterer to form a strap hole or change for proper seats.

 

[AndrewS]

ORIGINAL: Neil Haughey

Hi Andrew, I know you mentioned this before but I would really like to get together again with all the guys on the track sometime in the next month. Any ideas?

Hi Neil,

I will be next out at Castle Combe in April (28th I think - with the Boxsters).

I agree, another day would be an excellent idea. I guess it needs to be a central circuit, but the cheapest circuit is probably Snetterton. It's quite a journey for some, but it's a great circuit.

Also, what about other days with Goldtrack? They have quite a few GP days this year (quite expensive though).

Circuit Days have the following days in April:

Croft Circuit
Sat 14 April 2007
£169.00

Snetterton
Mon 30 April 2007
£169.00/£89.00/£99.00

Croft is a great circuit and it has the benefit of being on a weekend too - and the price is reasonable also.

Anybody else have any other suggestions?

Regards,
Andrew

 

[Riverside]

ORIGINAL: Neil Haughey

Toyo has been my favourite road tyre for years now. The problem you may or may not find is that you could end up shredding the tyres on the track i.e. it ends up working out cheaper to use track day tyres or slicks which are made to cope with the extreme loads of track driving. ISTR that at Bedford somebody blistered their road tyres, could have been Riverside.

My car had new (less than 1000 miles) Michelin Pilot Sport road tyres & I was glad of them in the wet but once the track had properly started to dry out I was ripping chunks out of them, you could hear them rumbling (just like picking up marbles going off the racing line) but they had smoothed themselves off by the time I got home. I didn't lose much in terms of tread depth but the inner parts of all the outer tread blocks are shredded.

I have two sets of rims & usually just use whichever have less tread depth on the track (in the dry), with hindsight I should have taken both sets & swapped them over as Andrew & a couple of others did.

I left my old set at home for my recent 'ring trip too & the Michelins were fine, although I wasn't pushing as hard as I had at Bedford.

It's probably going to be a while before I'll be able to do another driving trackday but I hope I'll be able to come along for a few pax laps later in the year []

 

[Diver944]

Paul Mcnulters, John Sims, Tony Foote and myself are booked on to the PCGB day at Donington on 4th April if anyone else wants to join in. I think MarkK was thinking about it too.

Goldtrack usually have half a dozen open pit evenings at Silverstone between July and September that are very reasonably priced and always attract half a dozen of us, but that's later in the year.

I have a hankering to try Rockingham at Corby as I have never done it and wonder what the banked section will be like. Bookatrack have an Open Pitlane Sunday on 20th May for £199 if anyone is interested?

 

[sawood12]

What's going on during July and August as I am struggling to make another trackday until then. I might be able to squeeze one of the evening ones in during May.

 

[Neil Haughey]

I would like to do Silverstone if its the full GP circuit. I guess I would have to join PCGB to do the PCGB track day?
Donny is on my track wishlist as is Cadwell and Spa. Croft and Snetterton seem a long drive from Northampton, how early in the morning would one need to get up to get there?
Have any of you guys done the newer airfield days? There are about 3 down here in the area near to Castle Combe.

 

[Neil Haughey]

If you have the mounting tabs at the front of the wishbone then you can fit the 968 duct set. I got all 4 pieces (2 each side) for about 40 quid from the OPC. I found this made a massive difference since I was finding that I could overheat the brakes driving on the road, really is a no-brainer upgrade.