Hey all, I'm getting ready to track my spicy girl! I've never done a track day or autocross, so this will be a totally new experience. I'm signing up with a driving school, so I'll have an instructor with me the whole day.
Here is what he said when I asked him what I should bring-
"Minimum i would reccomend would be torque wrench for lug nuts, tire pressure gauge, shop rags, qt of oil and some basic hand tools. I tend to bring alot with me! Ill bring a floor jack and jack stands, tool box, electric impact wrench, spare brake rotors and pads (s2000 are known to be hard on brakes) and some food and water. We're a friendly group so if you need/forgot something, im sure someone will have some to loan."
We will be driving both cars @ Mazda Laguna Seca!

I need some advice on brakes however. I don't know what kind of pads are on the vehicle, but definitely suited for a daily driver. I believe we will be out on the track for 4-5 20minute sessions, so I'll be doing at least 2 session in my car. How well would DD pads hold up for both sessions? Should I plan on getting performance pads and bringing jack and stands to swap pads before the sessions and after?

I'm also going to swap diff/tranny fluids and motor oil before the track day.
If anyone has any tips, I will greatly appreciate them!

 

MAKE SURE that your cooling system is properly serviced!! I would check to make sure that the front of the air intake is properly cleaned and the 1" space between the AC Condenser and actual radiator is not full of trash!

Coolant at the proper level and dilution (antifreeze to water)

BC

 

I have a set of track pads and rotors that I swap on the day before the event, and then swap back to the street stuff the day after or so. There's no harm in running track pads on the street, they just tend to be REALLY loud and eat rotors (hence why I have two sets of rotors). I run Hawk Street Track pads (the street part is a joke) but they're great on the track. I don't like doing much work at the track for fear of something going wrong and running out of time and/or needing different tools. The most I'll do at the track is swap wheels/tires (which I don't do anyway).

Most of all, listen to your instructor and have fun! Laguna Seca is one hell of a fun track. It's my favorite place in the world.

 

I'm fairly new to track days as well. I took my C5 for one last August and my second one earlier this month. Both days were 4 sessions of 25 minutes on a 3.51 mile circuit with >20 turns, hitting 135 mph on the longest straight away. In the novice run group, a number of people in our classroom session said that they were on stock brakes. So two sessions for you on stock brakes as a beginner is probably not a problem. The bigger issue is making sure you have plenty of pad life before the event and that you run fresh brake fluid. My oil and coolant temps were never an issue.

I decided to error on the side of caution for my first event. Here is what I modified:
1) Hawk DTC-60 race pads
2) basic Centric rotors from Rock Auto (didn't want my nice drilled/slotted ones to get cracked)
3) stainless steel brake lines
4) Motul 600 racing brake fluid (boiling point is >590* versus around 300* for standard DOT 3 fluid)

It all depends on how much money you want to spend. You can drive to/from the track with race pads. They are louder and dust a lot, but no big deal. I put them on the weekend before the event and put my street pads/rotors back on the weekend after the event.

My first two track days were a blast. Relax and have fun. There is a sticky in the autocross section of the forum called "C5 Track Car \ HPDE Conversion: What I have learned!" which is an excellent resource.

 

As far as brakes go your DD pads that are on your car will not be adequate for the track and will fade/overheat quickly. There is a great thread in the Autocross/Track section on brakes that i suggest everyone read: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...questions.html

For the event you are going to you should probably be good with a pad switch and fresh brake fluid.

 

Thanks for the pointers! Okay, so it looks like I should just swap rotors/pads before I even head out. I was hoping to avoid jacking up the car for this one time, but I guess I'll be getting some pucks along with rotors/pads. This track stuff is starting to add up, people aren't lying haha.

 

Yes, I would highly recommend DOT4 fluid. As far as pads for a beginner you really don't need that much pad I would strat with the Carbotech XP8 pad. This pad can be driven on the street with no issues and is very rotor friendly you could leave them on for street use as well with no issue but some noise. If interested I will be happy to help you. As far as rotors get some centric premium blanks these work well for track and are inexpensive.

Carbotech™ XP8™

A high torque brake compound with a wide operating temperature range of 200°F-1250°F+ (93°C to 676°C+). Carbotech™ XP8™ is the first of our racing compounds. Good initial bite at race temperatures, high coefficient of friction, excellent modulation and release characteristics. Extremely high fade resistance and very rotor friendly. Perfect for track day use with any tire and can still be driven safely to and from the track. Carbotech™ does NOT recommended XP8™ as a daily driven street pad due to elevated levels of dust and noise. Carbotech™ XP8™ is a great compound on the front & rear of most open wheel and sports racers.

 

Just out of curiosity and to give good tips pertaining to your car for your track day, how long have you had the car and what service/ inspection has been done recently?

I ask as there are potential problems for wheel bearings, brake lines, and clutch slave cylinder that never rear their ugly head until the right kind of flogging happens on the track.

It is suggested to add an extra quart of oil and to regulate the oil level when tracking the car. Braided brake lines are always a really good idea. Clean fluid all the way around, too. Jack the car up and do an inspection of the suspension, both by sight and wiggle things. You could also do a bolt and nut check by getting a wrench and or socket and just go over all of the bolts to check that they are still tight.

A bunch to prep for but you want a great experience for your first time. Have fun!

 

What pad is on the car now? If you don't know or if it's not the original GM pads, change them.

Put good brake fluid in the car, blow out the radiator. Also change the clutch fluid.

 

The organization you are having driving school with should have a track checklist on their site. You could also check with ncracing.org They have a good track checklist on their site as well as a lot of information about tracking your car. Northern California racing Club.

I recommend that you flush your brake system. Brake fluid absorbs water over time. Hot brake fluid can boil, causing spongy brakes at best, loss of brakes at worst.

You can do some on line research on high WET boiling point brake fluids. I happen to use ATE Typ 200, a good example. Probably $25 a liter, delivered with Amazon Prime.

If you are going to flush the brakes, consider installing speed bleeders. Installation is quick and the bleeders are cheap. After that, brake flushing is easier and faster.

OEM style solid rotors on my car have gone 13 track days (900 miles on the track) plus 40,000 street miles and are good to do that again. If I ever wear them out, I will put slotted (NOT DRILLED) rotors on. You do not need anything other than stock rotors for your first track day.

I run Hawk HP Plus pads street and track. They do dust a lot and squeal at low speed on the street. I like them, they have great bite, street or track, but there are lots of good pads out there. A good track pad will most likely squeal and make dust on the street.

Whatever pads you put on, follow their recommended break in procedure.

Whatever pads you run, don't let them get thinner than about 1/2 original pad material thickness for track use. The pad material is THE INSULLATOR between red hot rotors and the brake pistons and fluid behind the pistons.

 

I haven't done an HPDE in a few years but from my experience you need to drink water constantly thru the day . It's very easy to get dehydrated and you will quickly start to loose your mental and physical skills . A good indication of how well that you are hydrated is the color of your urine , the darker yellow color = dehydration. Hope this helps & drive within your skill level .

 

Quote; " If anyone has any tips, I will greatly appreciate them! "
ramm21........ All of the above posts !! You will probably be advised to change your seat positioning for the track versus DD position, I would suggest buying some anti-sliding shelf liner (foam weave) and cut a piece that covers the bottom drivers seat (reducing sliding around). Once in the car, find your final adjusted track position, back it up some, connect/adjust seat belt 'Tightly', move seat forward again to final position. It might seem uncomfortable at first, but once your driving through some turns it will become evident as to why !! Buy some simple leather/faux driving gloves for the first time, hands will sweat, and lastly, remove 'any' loose items inside the cabin area, and then go have some fun !!.......

 

Some thoughts based on my 2 days:

1) I brought a lot of stuff (wrenches, rags, etc) and didn't use most of it - but wound up loading them to others that needed them.
2) If in a warm place check whether shorts/short sleeve shirts are allowed. At mine everything had to be long - wore some "wicking golf slacks" and bought a long-sleeve wicking shirt - the stuff really works! Bring some fresh stuff to wear on the way home.
3) Do what you can to keep thing cool - I have an FRC that came with a power-steering cooler - another fellow had none on his car and literally boiled his fluid - that made things fun in the turns! He later added a PS cooler and that's solved.
4) Tire pressures - I ran my street BFG Potenza 760's and put 35 in front and rear - after the first session both had gone up 5psi and driving was better - check your pressures after each run with a good gauge (not a "popup stick")
5) Watch the gap - at my first day the lead "escort" was really flying - some of the faster guys were gapping me and at one point I did a drive-through the pit late to let the ones behind me get by - and watch the flagger before you get back out onto the track. At my 2nd day the lead car was a lot slower - I had some guys in front who would gap me in the turns but I'd come flying up on them coming onto the straight. In these sessions no passing was allowed - only for the expert classes.
5) Forget the heel/toe stuff - practice on the street not the track - you could throw yourself into a spin or bang your rev limiter.
6) Know where the guardrail is tight to the track and where you have more room

Have fun/post pics!

 

Thanks a lot for the tips! Here is where I'm at so far-
Going to swap all fluids on Monday
Motor Oil
Trans Oil
Diff Oil
Coolant- 1/4 coolant 3/4 water mix
Brake Fluid- DOT4


I ordered Hawk Blue 9012 Racing Pads, they seemed like an entry level pad I could drive to and from the track.
I'll also buy a set of backup stock rotors when I'm doing the fluid swap. My plan is to leave the rotors I have on, and switch pads a couple of days before the event. I'm still not sure about rotors, I didn't want to buy something expensive that wasn't going to do much better than stock...


Not sure about tire pressures either, still doing more research. But it seems like its recommended to go a little higher than lower for beginners..


I also have a set of jacking pucks on the way. I'll try to jack up the car this weekend, I'm guessing I'll need to build a little ramp to have room for the jack.


I also need to buy a helmet, gloves, and a torque wrench this weekend. And also 50 gallons of water!


I think after that I should be pretty much set. This is a lot of work, hopefully the second time is much easier haha.


Oh and I have a wheel and cockpit setup in the spare room with Project CARS on PS4, so I've been lapping Mazda nightly. I use the Mustang GT with the longest gears available to simulate our C5s, and also the GT86 to simulate my instructors S2000.

 

I recommend a digital torque wrench, Craftsman has them on sale from time to time.

Buy a GOOD tire gauge like an Analog Longacre, you'll be glad you did.

For every two bottles of water, drink one sports drink.

You want your tires to gain no more than 5-6 lbs a session, lower start pressures until you hit this window.

I would find some YouTube vids of the track you are going to, find some with the camera mounted back behind the driver, watch what he does and practice looking ahead watching the vids.

 

Okay, did some more research on rotors, looks like solid ones will do just fine at the track.
What is the best way to cool rotors after a session? I've been reading that they crack during improper cooldown conditions..
And lets say I do crack one- should I replace just the one if the other 3 are pretty new? Or do the 2 front or back? Or all 4?

 

On the cool down lap don't use the brakes, or use them very little.

I ride the paddock a few times. DON'T use the parking brake when you get out.

If you come off track and someone flags you down to chat, don't sit there in the car with your foot on the brakes chatting.

Only replace one rotor, I doubt you'll crack one.

 

Mission Accomplished!
All didn't go off without issues- the brake pads I ordered got there a day after the event, so I was out there on my DD pads. The fronts came in the day after I ordered them, the rears were sitting in a UPS warehouse for a week before I got on them! I was on the phone for a few hours trying to see what the holdup was, they told me it was in "processing." For a whole week!! They wouldn't overnight it for free, so basically I was without half of my brakes the night before the event. I ran out to o'reillys and they luckily had some sort of pads in stock, so I just bought those in case I needed to swap the pads if I completely ruined the ones I had on.
On the track, the brakes would start to fade after a lap, but there was so much to focus on and so many different new aspects (like glancing at corner workers for flags), I didn't try to go fast, I tried to hit corners pretty hard, but more or less coasted on straights. Add in the instructor talking to me through an earpiece the whole time, other more experienced drivers on track with you, and that pretty much took up all of the brain power I had.
It was a little overwhelming at times, but definitely a fun experience and something I'll do again in the near future!

 

Were you able to pay any attention to your tach I had my HUD on but in daylight its pretty much worthless....

 

nope, I barely looked down. a few times I glanced at the rpms, but I did a decent job at looking at the road the whole time.
I didn't do a great job at glancing at the corner workers and their flags, that will be a point of emphasis next time out..