to trackday or not to trackday?

[sooby]

howdy folks,

I'm considering using my daily driver in an upcoming trackday, but have reservations due to past experiences with mechanical reliability. I've been out on the track before for open days and really enjoyed it, even in it's limited form.

Over the last few years I've had issues with hoses springing leaks on three separate times & in three separate places, which ended up costing $$$ to fix (thanks to hose under the intercooler being hard to access... ) so am dubious about surviving a trackday without something letting go.

I maintain the car really well, but as its now 15 years old & getting long in the tooth so I guess things are just more likely to fail - such is life!

Can't really afford a car out of action tho, especially due to huge mechanical bills but I REALLY want to get out on the track! Decisions, decisions!

What do you guys think? How do you decide if ya car is up to a track day? Do you budget for mechanical issues as just part of a trackday?

I'm keen to hear your experiences

thanks!

[Munkvy]

What is the car?

Generally a cars ability to survive a track day (in my experience) comes down to a few things - namely, mechanical condition of the car, mechanical sympathy of the driver and the danger level of the track.

[Drunkenmonkey]

I took both my, 89 gt legacy and 98 gtb legacy on the track and had no issues, the 89 ticked over 300,000kms on the way to the track to

[funkytown]

 Munkvy said:

What is the car?

Generally a cars ability to survive a track day (in my experience) comes down to a few things - namely, mechanical condition of the car, mechanical sympathy of the driver and the danger level of the track.

also the maintenance of the car, and preparatory work pre-track event getting it ready..

Then you're sympathy on the day

[sooby]

 Munkvy said:

What is the car?

Generally a cars ability to survive a track day (in my experience) comes down to a few things - namely, mechanical condition of the car, mechanical sympathy of the driver and the danger level of the track.

car is GC8 WRX sedan

As much as I enjoy trackwork, I don't live on the redline so put me down for mechanical sympathetic!

[MercuryFree]

I generally make sure I have enough spare $$$ available to get the car towed / transported home if it decides to let go on me.

I have a quick look over the tyres/brakes/engine bay after each 'run' to see if anything has decided to throw a wobbly.

If you can't afford to not have access to the car if it does go boom, it's probably not a good idea...the problem is you often can't tell if the car is about to go at random. It's good fun though so risk/reward really does come into play.

You get people who do 10 trackdays in a row with no issues and then you have people whose engines let go on the first lap of their first one...lottery! Mechanical sympathy is important as mentioned. I've done 5 trackdays and 2(3?) autocrosses and not had any failures, but I am relatively gentle, although recently become quite aggressive with my braking zones, lol.

[sooby]

 funkytown said:

also the maintenance of the car, and preparatory work pre-track event getting it ready..

hrmm, service is due before trackday - what do you recommend as prep? Bleed & top up brakes?

[Munkvy]

 funkytown']

[quote name='Munkvy said:

What is the car?

Generally a cars ability to survive a track day (in my experience) comes down to a few things - namely, mechanical condition of the car, mechanical sympathy of the driver and the danger level of the track.

/quote]

also the maintenance of the car, and preparatory work pre-track event getting it ready..

Then you're sympathy on the day

When I say mechanical condition I do mean how well it has been maintained and prepped...

However the main problem with Subaru's seems to be they are inherently weak in many ways - so quite easy to drive them past the limits of the mechnical components. That's where that sympathy comes into it!

[MercuryFree]

 sooby']

[quote name='funkytown said:

also the maintenance of the car, and preparatory work pre-track event getting it ready..

/quote]

hrmm, service is due before trackday - what do you recommend as prep? Bleed & top up brakes?

New oil and filter if it's getting old, brake fluid if it's old / been round the track a bit, check brake pad thickness and your discs for cracks, check gearbox fluid, powersteering fluid, clutch fluid, coolant and replace / topup if old/low. Check tyre wear/pressures/alignment.

Pretty much, as much 'normal' maintenance as the car needs/you want to commit to

[sooby]

 MercuryFree said:

New oil and filter if it's getting old, brake fluid if it's old / been round the track a bit, check brake pad thickness and your discs for cracks, check gearbox fluid, powersteering fluid, clutch fluid, coolant and replace / topup if old/low. Check tyre wear/pressures/alignment.

Pretty much, as much 'normal' maintenance as the car needs/you want to commit to

thanks for that list - helps heaps!

sounds like it won't cost moonbeams to do that on top of a standard service.

Is brake glaze likely to be burnt of while on the track, or better to fix prior?

[funkytown]

new oil and filter regardless. overfill 500ml and take 1l+ to the track with you. Empty catch can if you have one.

Clean air filter and check / clear any ecu codes (fix any that present obviously).

Check water levels.

flush brake fluid for some rbf600 or rbf660. inspect rotors and pads, replace if below 50% for track day (low pad can induce warped rotors as you cant rid of enough heat).

remove any bits of interior that might fly round, remove spare wheel.

Check for any oil or PS leaks before you go to the track day - fix up as required.

Check tires (you want close to 38psi+ on road tires for track day) about 26-28 for semis or slicks. Alignment isnt an issue if your out on road tires.

[funkytown]

at the track day - limit sessions to 3ish hot laps at a time.

dont use brakes on the cool down lap.

in the pits push car forward a meter or so every 5mins for 1/2h. (stops hot spots on your brakes)

leave about 20mins / 1/2h between sessions to allow things to cool off.

discontinue the track day if car is cutting or misbehaving. Check oil level regularly. Check water temps to make sure its not overheating.

Good as gold

[GC8E2DD]

Short shift. Everywhere.

[funkytown]

oh also like sam says ^...

dont eat the rev limiter. 7k is more than plenty on a stocker.

dont lean on the gear stick in the corners - you root the forks as i did when i was a newbie

dont hammer the shifts in, be gentle and smoooth and the box will last. Dont launch it.

lastly - it may seem foreign but go hard at the corners and stand on the brakes, then get off them. if you get off the power early and gradually brake into corners - this is what overheats them and they fade.

[sooby]

cheers guys - legend!

[sl8r]

And in my experience it does also depend on your mods. Mine when relatively standard seemed to handle the track days pretty well, once the mods started thats when niggles and dead motor (coincedence perhaps) happened.

But above info all good.

[MercuryFree]

 funkytown said:

Alignment isnt an issue if your out on road tires.

I mentioned alignment in the context of if it's been bad for a while, you may have camber worn an inside of a tyre which is a bit dodgy out on track

So more accurately "effects of poor alignment" as opposed to "get alignment checked just cos"

[sooby]

 sl8r said:

And in my experience it does also depend on your mods. Mine when relatively standard seemed to handle the track days pretty well, once the mods started thats when niggles and dead motor (coincedence perhaps) happened.

But above info all good.

From what I can see the only mod is a 3" exhaust. Fingers crossed this is one benefit to staying stock!

[AdamOst]

 funkytown said:

at the track day - limit sessions to 3ish hot laps at a time.

12 lap stint at the end of the day at hamptons was the end of my rotors >_< were fine beforehand, major brake shudder afterwards.

Is it really only recommended to do 3 hot laps? or just an extra precaution. The open days ive attended have usually been 5 hot + 1 cool down/warmup lap. Cars basically stock.

[funkytown]

what you find adam is that the longevity of your car goes down exponentially for each extra lap you do as a general principle. For the odd track day and factory cars ive always heard rule of thumb was 3 hot laps or about 5 including in and out to help make it last.

Whats happening is that on a factory car is you cant control heat - its your worst enemy. Your oil super heats and loses its good oil properties and potential for bearings to lock on the crank - nekk minit - BEB. What also happens is factory brakes and pads (particulary) overheat and they fade really badly (it does depend on who the user is abusing them) - nekk minit you overshoot a corner.

we'll assume factory cars run factory TMIC's. go out on 16psi and log your IAT temps - i bet by lap three they are through the roof. High intake temps increases the onset of det - nekk minit BEB.

i think you get the picture?

consistent lots of 3 hot laps out over many happy track days vs 5 hotlaps and the chances of it going bang prematurely - i know what id chose. Unless you're mega rich in which case rape it to hearts content.

[AdamOst]

Yeah sounds good, granted 7 of the trackdays i did were in a 4age trueno which are basically bulletproof so i never had any worries, and the two in the rex have been in winter. I found the brakes held out fine in the suby, but as you say engine/oil temps might be a bit more of a worry, specially as I don't have any gauges or anything currently to monitor it. Should have a basic data logging setup next time to at least give me a bit or warning.

The worst thing though is 'racing' your mates there, as 3 laps goes by too fast and the last thing you want to do is back off for a lap haha.

[funkytown]

and thats quite pertinent. 'factory' cars generally dont have gauges installed so you cant see whats really happening. The second point is that the factory ecu will get to safe limits and go beyond those continueing to operate much to your motors detriment. A link or other ecu you can be set to shut down or limit the motor where there are problems or limits are reached.

It can adjust for IATs and a host of other really important things, like shutting down on certain water / oil temps / boost. AFR's are usually a look better too.

from what i've seen non turbo cars take infinitely more rape on the track than a subbie does, in fact almost any car does actually

[Guest]

 funkytown said:

what you find adam is that the longevity of your car goes down exponentially for each extra lap you do as a general principle. For the odd track day and factory cars ive always heard rule of thumb was 3 hot laps or about 5 including in and out to help make it last.

i tottally agree with this, I have seen plenty of subarus do this, go hard for 3 laps then take it easy for a lap or two and go for it again.