New to the forum and track
05-26-2011, 12:47 AM
#1
4th Gear
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New to the forum and track
Hi guys, I've been lookin around the forum, especially the auto-x and roadracing section and I finally decided to get an account. I am interested in going into roadracing but not anytime soon because I have little knowledge on this and would like some advice. I am mainly interested in driving in an open track/non-competitive events but I wouldnt mind competitive events. I just really dont know where to start with this. I am leaning towards purchasing a c5 corvette to start. I also know a few things about the physics of racing and the "best line" on the track which is why the sticky didnt help as much. Any advice will help. Thank You
05-26-2011, 05:06 AM
#2
Pro
Member Since: Oct 2010
Location: Montreal Quebec
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http://www.amazon.com/Going-Faster-M...6400733&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/Speed-Secrets-...6400733&sr=8-2
And do as many HPDE (driving school) events with your local clubs as you can afford before modifying the car, which will be much more capable than you at the beginning.
http://www.amazon.com/Speed-Secrets-...6400733&sr=8-2
And do as many HPDE (driving school) events with your local clubs as you can afford before modifying the car, which will be much more capable than you at the beginning.
05-26-2011, 07:21 AM
#3
Le Mans Master
Look for a Porsche Club of America (PCA) or a BMW club in your area. A lot of these clubs have numerous High Performance Driving Education (HPDE) events in your area at local road courses. That's how many of us got started in this stuff.
To start you don't need a high performance car. You can bring about anything to the track and the instructors will teach you the basics of going fast. It's a progressive hobby so you build on what you learned from prior events.
Where are you located? Some of us might be near you and can point you to a local club or event.
To start you don't need a high performance car. You can bring about anything to the track and the instructors will teach you the basics of going fast. It's a progressive hobby so you build on what you learned from prior events.
Where are you located? Some of us might be near you and can point you to a local club or event.
05-26-2011, 08:26 AM
#5
05-26-2011, 08:32 AM
#6
Le Mans Master
05-26-2011, 09:40 AM
#7
Le Mans Master
Jason - you forgot the motivational poster!
Yea, its a progressive hobby. I'm on my 3rd car, 2nd (mayber 3rd) engine, 3rd set of calipers, lost track of number of brake pads.
And I don't spend a lot
05-26-2011, 10:20 AM
#8
4th Gear
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I live in Eastern Pennsylvania and I drive a '10 mustang. And yeah I could see why it wastes a lot of money, I was looking around for a sequential gearbox and found one at lgmotorsports for 27 big ones.
05-26-2011, 11:16 AM
#10
Safety Car
05-26-2011, 12:39 PM
#11
Burning Brakes
If you want more info on local events and how to get started send me a PM. I can get you hooked up in the local scene (as can many others on this forum).
Cheers, Brad
05-26-2011, 12:58 PM
#12
Safety Car
I'd start by signing up for events with local PCA clubs & NASA. These are the best clubs for learning that I've seen. NASA especially seems to have a lot of very skilled drivers in each group.
05-26-2011, 04:19 PM
#13
4th Gear
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What I meant was that it's a hefty cost for a tranny.
I am located in lehigh county specifically allentown. I am interested in attending these HPDE's. How bad would the price be? And I would use my stang but I am worried about it since it's my daily driver as of now.
I found some locations nearby, I am gonna have to look into that, Thanks
Where in eastern PA? I started out doing DEs with an 07 Mustang GT a few years ago and then got a C5. Still have the Stang. Your '10 is an excellent DE car, why not start out with it. You are in a great area for race tracks: there are 2 in southern New Jersey, Pocono has multiple configurations, Watkins Glen NY, there are two at Summit Point in WV, one in Pittsburgh and then there is VIR in southern Virginia. Nelson Ledges and Mid-Ohio aren't all that far away. There is also Monticello in NY but its pretty much membership or invite only. All these places (except Monticello) frequently have "track days" or "High Performance Driving Events" organized by a variety of car clubs that you can attend. Just about all of them organize drivers into 'run groups' based on ability/experience and offer instruction. Everyone starts out in the "Novice" group with an instructor riding shotgun. This is the least expensive way (a relative term...LOL) to learn the basics of high performance driving and get a good foundation for possible competition in the future. Another option is to start out Autocrossing - excellent way to learn car control and far, far cheaper.
If you want more info on local events and how to get started send me a PM. I can get you hooked up in the local scene (as can many others on this forum).
Cheers, Brad
If you want more info on local events and how to get started send me a PM. I can get you hooked up in the local scene (as can many others on this forum).
Cheers, Brad
I found some locations nearby, I am gonna have to look into that, Thanks
05-26-2011, 05:05 PM
#15
Burning Brakes
Price....the cost of track time varies quite a bit. It depends on the Club organizing the event, the track, the day(s) of the week, even to some extent the time of year. For entry fee its usually in the $150 to $200/per day. For example - the Jul 11-12 two day event at Summit Point with Trackdaze.com is $375. Where if you only go one day its $225.
But the entry fee is only part of it. Gas - both driving to/from + on track (you'll use around 20 gals per/day on track), hotel if you need one, food, etc. Then there are the car consumables - brake pads, tires, rotors, etc. The cost of these varies tremendously from driver to driver (the faster you go, the more you use them up). You need a helmet of course.
Its an expensive hobby, no two ways around that. But its also incredibly exciting and rewarding. Everyone who likes performance cars should try it at least once and then determine where to go from there.
If you can afford these costs - great, come out and join us. If its a bit steep, AX is much cheaper, on the order of 40-50/day. There is also something that NASA offers at many of their events called a "Hyperdrive" - its basically a get your feet wet kind of thing - one classroom session + one on track session with an instructor for $50 or there abouts.
Regarding using the Mustang - as far as the engine, drive train, brakes, etc goes you will not hurt it. The Mustang is as bulletproof as any car out there, especially the '05 and up ones. There is always the possibility for damage from hitting something. But I will say, in the novice run groups, when instructors are in the cars, from my experience the number of on-track incidents are very few. Personally, I think you are more likely to be in an accident driving on the street than on track. There is also the option of track insurance (your street policy likely will not cover on-track incidents), there are a few companies that offer it.
Last edited by argonaut; 05-26-2011 at 05:16 PM.
05-27-2011, 10:25 AM
#16
Burning Brakes
Fanatic,
As Falcon said PCA HPDE is a great place to get started (as is BMW CCA and NASA). I'm a PCA member and Corvette owner here in the Lehigh Valley (Moorestown area) and a member of the PCA Riesentoter Region's track staff for 2011. We regularly have a dozen or more Corvettes participate in our events and several of our staff and instructors have Corvettes as their track cars. Prices for our upcoming HPDE at Lightning are the highest of the year and are relative to the facility costs. $400 for two days or $500 for all three. It's still a pretty good deal for 2-3 days of instructed driving on one of the "favorite" roadcourses in the area. I included both the registration link for Lightning as well as the remaining event schedule. Don't miss the September Pocono IMSA event. PM me if you have any other questions.
Jim
Join us for another excellent RTR Driver's Education event at NJMP Lightning June 10th - 12th! Registration is currently open to the public, and closes next Friday, so register soon! [Direct Link]
Signup by simply registering at: www.rtr-pca.motorsportreg.com/ For those of you new to Driver's Education, please take some time to review the DE Manual and the other information we have made available in the Driver's Education section of the Riesentoter Region website. We look forward to seeing you at the track!
Full RTR Region 2011 DE Schedule:
NJMP - Lightning Jun 10-12
Watkins Glen Jul 29-31
Pocono IMSA Sep 16-18
Summit Point Oct 21-23
As Falcon said PCA HPDE is a great place to get started (as is BMW CCA and NASA). I'm a PCA member and Corvette owner here in the Lehigh Valley (Moorestown area) and a member of the PCA Riesentoter Region's track staff for 2011. We regularly have a dozen or more Corvettes participate in our events and several of our staff and instructors have Corvettes as their track cars. Prices for our upcoming HPDE at Lightning are the highest of the year and are relative to the facility costs. $400 for two days or $500 for all three. It's still a pretty good deal for 2-3 days of instructed driving on one of the "favorite" roadcourses in the area. I included both the registration link for Lightning as well as the remaining event schedule. Don't miss the September Pocono IMSA event. PM me if you have any other questions.
Jim
Join us for another excellent RTR Driver's Education event at NJMP Lightning June 10th - 12th! Registration is currently open to the public, and closes next Friday, so register soon! [Direct Link]
Signup by simply registering at: www.rtr-pca.motorsportreg.com/ For those of you new to Driver's Education, please take some time to review the DE Manual and the other information we have made available in the Driver's Education section of the Riesentoter Region website. We look forward to seeing you at the track!
Full RTR Region 2011 DE Schedule:
NJMP - Lightning Jun 10-12
Watkins Glen Jul 29-31
Pocono IMSA Sep 16-18
Summit Point Oct 21-23
05-27-2011, 09:01 PM
#18
4th Gear
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Hmm...I get to Allentown once in a while doing business with Lehigh Valley Health Network (IT stuff).
Price....the cost of track time varies quite a bit. It depends on the Club organizing the event, the track, the day(s) of the week, even to some extent the time of year. For entry fee its usually in the $150 to $200/per day. For example - the Jul 11-12 two day event at Summit Point with Trackdaze.com is $375. Where if you only go one day its $225.
But the entry fee is only part of it. Gas - both driving to/from + on track (you'll use around 20 gals per/day on track), hotel if you need one, food, etc. Then there are the car consumables - brake pads, tires, rotors, etc. The cost of these varies tremendously from driver to driver (the faster you go, the more you use them up). You need a helmet of course.
Its an expensive hobby, no two ways around that. But its also incredibly exciting and rewarding. Everyone who likes performance cars should try it at least once and then determine where to go from there.
If you can afford these costs - great, come out and join us. If its a bit steep, AX is much cheaper, on the order of 40-50/day. There is also something that NASA offers at many of their events called a "Hyperdrive" - its basically a get your feet wet kind of thing - one classroom session + one on track session with an instructor for $50 or there abouts.
Regarding using the Mustang - as far as the engine, drive train, brakes, etc goes you will not hurt it. The Mustang is as bulletproof as any car out there, especially the '05 and up ones. There is always the possibility for damage from hitting something. But I will say, in the novice run groups, when instructors are in the cars, from my experience the number of on-track incidents are very few. Personally, I think you are more likely to be in an accident driving on the street than on track. There is also the option of track insurance (your street policy likely will not cover on-track incidents), there are a few companies that offer it.
Price....the cost of track time varies quite a bit. It depends on the Club organizing the event, the track, the day(s) of the week, even to some extent the time of year. For entry fee its usually in the $150 to $200/per day. For example - the Jul 11-12 two day event at Summit Point with Trackdaze.com is $375. Where if you only go one day its $225.
But the entry fee is only part of it. Gas - both driving to/from + on track (you'll use around 20 gals per/day on track), hotel if you need one, food, etc. Then there are the car consumables - brake pads, tires, rotors, etc. The cost of these varies tremendously from driver to driver (the faster you go, the more you use them up). You need a helmet of course.
Its an expensive hobby, no two ways around that. But its also incredibly exciting and rewarding. Everyone who likes performance cars should try it at least once and then determine where to go from there.
If you can afford these costs - great, come out and join us. If its a bit steep, AX is much cheaper, on the order of 40-50/day. There is also something that NASA offers at many of their events called a "Hyperdrive" - its basically a get your feet wet kind of thing - one classroom session + one on track session with an instructor for $50 or there abouts.
Regarding using the Mustang - as far as the engine, drive train, brakes, etc goes you will not hurt it. The Mustang is as bulletproof as any car out there, especially the '05 and up ones. There is always the possibility for damage from hitting something. But I will say, in the novice run groups, when instructors are in the cars, from my experience the number of on-track incidents are very few. Personally, I think you are more likely to be in an accident driving on the street than on track. There is also the option of track insurance (your street policy likely will not cover on-track incidents), there are a few companies that offer it.
Thanks Jason I'll buy it as soon as I am near barnes and nobles lol.