The track day and racing thread

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Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

A lot of people at my track have gotten their cars covered under regular insurance :shrug:

# ¿ Sep 5, 2015 01:07

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# ¿ May 12, 2024 16:06

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

I find that really thick plastic frames help. My regular glasses are a bit annoying to line up in my HJC helmet, but my rayban knockoff prescription sunglasses are perfect so I usually wear those all the time.

# ¿ Sep 25, 2015 23:19

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

Sigma X posted:

'cause it's the group that has the most "new guys" in it. They're either so focused on their instructor's instructions or "the line" that they're oblivious to what's going on around them; or they're so inexperienced on track they red mist and wanna "win". We had probably 3-5 of the first sort and at least three of the second sort at that event in DE1.

Power cars are the worst.

My favourite is being on the rear end of a power car through turns to get a point by (only on straights at my track), having them floor it on the straight and dust me, then being on their rear end again by the apex of the first turn after the straight.

# ¿ Nov 10, 2015 17:25

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

I would race if I could split it like that, but our track is all Sprint races so only partnerships make sense. I think next year I'm going to get my race license and do a rental just so I can say I've done it, then be able to hop into friends cars if they have an opening.

Also, apparently chump is coming out to my local track (AMP) [not AMP in Atlanta] next August. Curious to see how many cars come out because we're all the way out in NS.

# ¿ Nov 23, 2015 19:05

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

Well that escalated quickly.

Buddy picked up our chumpcar today. Civic si with the non-vtec d16 swapped in (Who knows why).

# ¿ Nov 29, 2015 22:40

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

Racers - what do you have for gear? I'm going to be buying a suit, boots, gloves, etc soon and I'm curious what other people use. I don't really have the option of trying anything as there are zero places local to me.

SpaceRangerJoe posted:

I had my E36 at the track the other day, and it ran pretty well all weekend. This is at a local track, Motor Sport Ranch in Cresson. This is from the last session of the day, where I spent the whole time chasing down a new GT3. I'm not a great driver, but I put together a decent string of laps. They told me I can ask for a check ride to their advanced run group whenever I want, so that's nice. Feel free to judge my driving and lack of interior.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSjl2CtiV5Y

First few laps are 1:25s, which I'm told is a pretty good time for street legal tires and the hp/weight I have. I got one 1:24 that weekend.

3:20 - only two off, still good

5:05 - a little counter steer, nbd. Never lift

6:40 - even polite on track. Someday I'm going to go off because of this. I only hope I have video going when it happens.

8:23 - crawling through a few turns now that I caught the Porsche. I don't know what I'd do with the speed in the straights the Porsche has.

Is that a 330mm or 350mm wheel? What do you think of it?

# ¿ Dec 6, 2015 19:01

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

ionn posted:

If you can't try stuff on, it will be a bit of a gamble. The different manufacturers whose gear I've tried on (mainly Sparco and OMP) have had some differences in sizing, between each other and compared to "normal clothes". Most decent places that sell them have a good idea of what sizes from what brands fit for someones actual body size, and they'll know what size adjustments to make.

I got a full FIA-approved flame-retardant kit a few years ago. Basically went with whatever was locally available and not too horribly expensive that fit. Ended up with a Sparco Sprint suit+gloves, OMP boots, and a mix of both for the underwear bits.

Underwear is easy. It's all pretty stretchy, and as long as you don't go way too small it'll work. If you are doing any kind of endurance racing where you will do multiple stints, get an extra balaclava+shirt. They get sweaty and nasty and have to come in close proximity to your face when putting them back on for the second stint. I have a Sparco balaclava with an embroidered logo just in front of my mouth, it's annoying as hell. Avoid that if possible.

The suit should be pretty loose when you're standing up, so that it doesn't get too tight over your rear end and back when in a racing seat. Would probably work just going one size up from what you would normally wear, and it shouldn't be a problem if arms/legs are a little bit too long. Also it might be worth it going for something thinner and/or more breathable. It is always way too loving hot in a race car.

Boots were the tricky part for me. I tried Sparco, AlpineStars and OMP at a sort-of-local shop. I have pretty large and overly wide feet (basically 10-10.5 in length and ~11.5 in width), and everything was really narrow. Of the various models of those three brands I tried, an OMP boot was the only one I could wear without discomfort. They're not fun to walk in, but driving is fine (and they did get a bit better after some use). Good part about having wide feet though is I can do heel-and-toe braking with just the ball of my right foot in most cars. If you have a bit more average feet it should be a lot easier, but I would strongly recommend trying out someone else's boots for some kind of size comparison before ordering anything.

Also if you want to look properly racer-cool when hanging out in the pits you need to color-match boots+suit+gloves. Where I bought the suit they had some on sale, but only blue in an appropriate size. So, I have it all in blue with white trim and an enormous white helmet, and I look like a smurf. Should have gone with black, but whatever you think looks good. Just don't get white, unless you drive for some pro team that has people that endlessly cleans everything, all the things including you will get dirty.

You didn't mention helments, so I'll assume you got that covered. That stuff gets complex, and depends a bit on what you're driving.

Thanks for the info. I have all my measurements so I've been going through various manufacturer sizing charts to see what jives. Sparco seems to be out - I'd have to get an XL to fit my waist but it would be comically oversized everywhere else. OMP and gforce seem to have sizing that would fit a little better, but it's all still sized for people with normal proportions. I was thinking either the First S (http://www.ompamerica.com/product_info.php/cPath/1_4/products_id/635) or the 545 (http://www.gforce.com/products/suits/4545.php).

Boots I think will be pretty easy, I easily fit into chucks which are pretty narrow. Velcro top closure seems like a good idea.

I'm planning to get a light colour - either blue or red. Black would look less dirty but our sprint racing involves a lot of standing around in the sun so I don't think I'd like the heatsoak.

I haven't bought a helmet yet, but I've been waiting for HJC to release their SA2015 stuff. I've worn a few of theirs and they fit well so I will probably stick with their stuff.

SpaceRangerJoe posted:

I'm not sure, it was on there when I got the car. As it sits now, I don't like it. It cuts off the top of the speedo and tach from my view. It's also kind of falling apart. I'm going to get new seat mounts soon which should be lower, so that should help. I think it's a little on the small side too, so I may go slightly larger when I replace it.

I keep forgetting the US e36s stopped having tilt steering around '96. Mine is a Canadian model so I could tilt a small wheel off track to see the gauges. On track I don't have much use for the speedo/tach though. IMO the e36 needs a small wheel, the power steering is not all that heavy and even the Z3 rack leads to crossing up in tighter corners. I find smaller wheels easier to shuffle steer/take a bite out.

# ¿ Dec 8, 2015 03:01

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

I'm a bit late, but those Honda seats are likely factory or euro/jdm aftermarket. Manufacturers do make fixed back seats with bolsters/openings for seatbelt receptacles but I've never found any sold in North America. They tend to only sell the certified seats.

If you can route a belt properly through the harness holes (or use a schroth), a fixed back seat is fine IMO. Assuming the seat you're removing doesn't have airbags.

# ¿ Jan 16, 2016 02:42

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

SlapActionJackson posted:

Here's a video that makes an excellent case for getting some instruction on-track rather than make the same elementary mistakes over and over and over again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXVxi-0SxZg

Seriously, Most DE orgs would have had him driving better than that after the first weekend - two if he's a slow learner.

e: They also would have made him fix some of the brutally unsafe equipment deficiencies going on there.

How the gently caress can someone spin out that many times. I've seen some pretty green drivers but usually they aren't dumb enough to overdrive that badly.

I'm jealous of the lack of walls/berms/ditches though. At my local track there's about 2 turns you can do that without doing $$$ damage. FRS driver made the same mistake as him (mid corner oversteer) and backed into a wall. Kinda funny how much a slow looking impact can push a subframe over.

Crustashio fucked around with this message at 13:38 on Jan 22, 2016

# ¿ Jan 22, 2016 13:35

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

The real e46 drawbacks for track use are these:
-m54 hates sustained high rpm. They require an expensive crank damper to not blow apart the oil pump
-piston oil squirters like to fail
-no cheap LSD option. Either spend $$$ on a diff, or if you're lucky find the entire rear end of an e46 m3
-chassis will tear at the rear subframe mounts if not reinforced

All that can be fixed but by the time you do that you could have bought a well prepped e36. They have their own issues but you can get some seriously cheap cars with all the good stuff installed.

And honestly, Terry fair missed the mark on the e46. The DSP cars are monsters in that class now. M54 with m50 manifold and port matching/good exhaust is putting down 240ish to the wheels. And one crazy fucker just grafted the n54 3-stage manifold to the m50 runners and got it working with megasquirt.

# ¿ Jan 23, 2016 05:05

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

Just wait for it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3yrxrcxTUc

# ¿ Mar 27, 2016 03:28

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

Ugh, wow. Terry definitely does have some knowledge but that post is just full on douchebaggery and completely unnecessary. It's full of stupid personal attacks and just convinced me not to buy their stuff ever again.

I remember when I posted about one of their camber plates rusting and a whole internet forum jumped down my throat and claimed I was winter driving it/sea air/etc. A day later I took a pic of the other side that was shiny, turns out they never plated the one that rusted.

Crustashio fucked around with this message at 19:16 on Apr 15, 2016

# ¿ Apr 15, 2016 19:14

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

DTC60s are my goto, I run those on my M3. I think next time I will look for alternatives with less initial torque (ie better modulation), but I just swapped to Porsche front calipers and it turns out there actually aren't many options for those. Whoops.

Favourite trackday tire is still the NT01.

jamal posted:

Looks like there is a good assortment from hawk. Although now that I think about it a dtc-60 might be overkill and never get up to operating temp on a fiesta on street tires. DTC-30 would possibly be a better idea.

HB725W.650 for the ST, and HB668W.567 for not-st. Change that W to something else for different compounds.

I've seen melted fiesta ST calipers. The torque vectoring absolutely destroys brakes.

# ¿ May 26, 2016 23:41

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

track day bro! posted:

I thought R888's were replaced by the new R888R

Not in north america...yet. A lot of tire manufacturers have stuff overseas that doesn't make it here. I know bridgestone had the RE-11s that never made it over here.

# ¿ May 27, 2016 22:21

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

IMO chucks or other canvas shoes with thin soles work best, and are cheap. I don't wear them for courseworking but they are great for pedal feel.

# ¿ Jul 5, 2016 02:24

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

Anyone ever order from demontweeks (or other UK sites)? Thanks to brexit the CAD->GBP is seriously favourable right now and I need some race gear. I got a quote for $1000CAD for an OMP First Evo, but the same suit is 309 pounds in the UK which works out to $540CAD. Even with shipping it's still a massive price difference.

# ¿ Aug 3, 2016 23:23

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

track day bro! posted:

I'm in the uk and Demontweeks is fine although a bit expensive. Might wanna check out http://www.jjcraceandrally.com/ which is normally cheaper than DT.

Thanks, demontweeks looks to be the same prices for the gear I'm looking at and has a non-UPS option so I'll try them.

# ¿ Aug 6, 2016 01:55

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

Solotime has pretty cheap packages.

http://www.soloperformance.com/Solotime-8-inch-Magnetic-or-Reusable-Basic-Number-Package_p_10891.html

# ¿ Sep 7, 2016 23:32

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

BlackMK4 posted:

Cheaper until you factor in crash costs

This is exactly why I stopped doing trackdays in my M3 and started building a caged racecar.

I got off lucky - jumped a small ditch and sideswiped a berm, only cosmetic damage. I've seen more than a few cars leave the track on a flat deck that are 100% totaled.

# ¿ Jan 16, 2017 00:54

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

i get great joy from driving around in my dump truck brake package in the city and confusing people

Gigi Galli posted:

At least DOT 4 brake fluid, DOT 5 if you want to be really safe and depending on how good your brakes are vented.

DO NOT MIX DOT5 WITH DOT4. DOT5.1 is what is actually compatible with the other DOT specs.

# ¿ Feb 18, 2017 00:02

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

That method works best with street pads that don't need bedding. OEM BMW pads are like this. I run DTC60 track pads and textar on the street.

# ¿ Feb 19, 2017 16:48

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

You can also buy SA-H helmets which already have inserts installed to accept HANS posts. I made the mistake of buying a regular SA2010 and had to spend extra money on nutwashers which are actually really loving hard to get separately at a reasonable price.

# ¿ May 8, 2017 01:58

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

I bought literally all my race gear from demontweeks in the UK and it was ~1800CAD (about 1300USD) with duty and shipping for the following:

-HANS Sport 2
-OMP First Evo Suit
-OMP First Evo Shoes
-OMP First Evo gloves
-Balaclava
-Socks
-FIA HANS posts

When I priced the suit locally it was $1000 for the same suit and $500 for the HANS, before tax.

A lot of guys on another forum have been ordering seats from murraymotorsport as well. Much better pricing.

On the data front, if you just want a basic overlay the garmin virb ultra 30 is pretty cool. 10hz GPS and BT support to pull data from ELM2 dongles. And all the overlay is done with their editing suite which is actually decent. I had to replace a gopro2 and it was an easy call to get the garmin over a new gopro for the same price.

# ¿ May 12, 2017 01:08

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

After 18 months, 1 garbage motor, a ridiculous amount of rust repair, and a bunch of wiring problems we are almost ready with our first from scratch build. Hit VTEC for the first time ever with the second motor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH9HenDkkUw

# ¿ May 15, 2017 03:11

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

Seat Safety Switch posted:

A Volkswagen dealership is like the perfect place to do pulls. You're definitely sure you're never going to hit anyone.

e: is that a loving routan

e: e: the TL front end looks better than I could have imagined.

Hah, my friend is a mechanic at the dealer. It's awesome, the owner is super into racing. Has mk5 with a golf R motor that makes 320hp/380ft-lb, and an older mk3 ITB car.

And it's an EL front end, :canada:

# ¿ May 16, 2017 12:25

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

jamal posted:

I could probably do something like 650 shipped on an evo, but not 540. But are you sure that's all it will be? No duty, extra delivery fees added on at the end?

I feel like it's good to have those head side bolster things on a seat though.

Their delivery price is legit. In the US doesn't the value have to be over $800 for duty? I had to pay like $450 duty on my race gear, but :canada:

. It was still far cheaper than local suppliers.

# ¿ May 24, 2017 01:00

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

NitroSpazzz posted:

Tire chat...good timing. I'm trying to decide how much rubber I want to stuff under the M3. Car should be under 2400lb (aiming for ~2200) and have 240hp. I can supposedly fit 245's with a little fender rolling but I'm not sure if that's overkill and worth the weight penalty. Wheels will be 17x8.5 to clear the brakes, only aero will be splitter and DTM flap.

Plan to run Direzza ZII for now, possibly bump up to the R7 at a later point. Track days for now but will probably do a few WRL/AER/Chump races in the future.

I'd be looking at NT01s or Maxxis RC1s. I haven't driven the RC1 but the supermiata guys have said nothing but good things about them. NT01s are god damned amazing at being an all round tire that works, starts good, gets better as it wears and is good to the cords. And from pricing I've seen the ZIIs are just as much per tire. If you want to stick with street/rain tires I'd look at the budget options. Falken Azeni RT615k+ and Nexen SUR4 are decent budget options. Lots of chumpcars running the falkens.

BlackMK4 posted:

Jesus gently caress. I didn't know the E46 carried that problem too.

It doesn't...at least not commonly. There aren't even off the shelf kits for that and people have been racing e46s for awhile. I'm curious about the failure mode on that. The E36 RTAB failure is very simple to detect visually, specific welds always tend to crack first. Wonder if the e46 starts to crack where you can't see.

Crustashio fucked around with this message at 02:57 on May 27, 2017

# ¿ May 27, 2017 02:49

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

The only issue I have with mine is trying to do the window net up on my own. But I've got a HALO seat so there's no reason to turn my head much on track.

# ¿ May 28, 2017 02:21

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

Did my first ever race on the weekend. Then a few more. First time ever really driving FWD at full pace. Need to work on basically everything but I didn't have any contact or put 4 off, so I was happy. And the car works like a loving top.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJQK4knRKIs

# ¿ May 29, 2017 23:32

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

BlackMK4 posted:

I will. Thank you, I appreciate it.

gently caress yeah. What track is that?

http://www.atlanticmotorsportpark.com/

Only roadrace track in atlantic canada. It's a bit run down now since it was built in the 70s, but it's technical and fun. Also very difficult to be consistent on.

Re: harness. If you're solo at trackdays, spend the money and get something good with an easy adjustment. I have gforce belts and they're impossible to get the lap belt tight on my own. I've sat in cars with schroth enduros are those are really easy to get tight. I've heard good stuff about their other belts too.

And do not touch the sparco 04837 6pt hans belt. Tried to install that in a friends racecar and gave up. They returned it and also got a schroth enduro.

# ¿ May 30, 2017 00:42

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

I drove in the rain once. It was awful.

# ¿ Jun 9, 2017 02:16

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

The sprint is awful, do not get steel tube seats.

# ¿ Jun 11, 2017 19:49

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

I'm not sure what Ontario has for race shops, but I know Perry Performance in laval has a ton of race seats you can try out. Just don't sit in the display models, they get mad.

TWSS posted:

The OMP champ R is the cheapest seat I find comfortable.

I have a champ in my e36 (not sure if the R is changed from that) and it's the most comfy race seat I've sat in. But i'm short and have a 36 waist/39 hips. It's tight.

# ¿ Jun 12, 2017 02:09

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

200tw street tires do not need special storage. You don't need it on blocks, most racecars just sit in trailers or garages without being on jacks and the tires are fine.

# ¿ Jun 20, 2017 01:13

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

mobby_6kl posted:

I have a possibility to get a rollbar made for my NB fairly reasonably. Supposedly the current versions have this design but should have slightly larger bend radius. It's a bit difficult to tell on the photos but the welds don't look super neat to me. Any comments? I'm not doing serious racing, just occasional trackdays, autocross, or just "spirited" street driving.

Sharp corner in the 2 downtubes (for literally no reason) = nope. Miata rollbars have been sorted for awhile, why not get a hard dog bar?

# ¿ Jun 21, 2017 00:01

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

http://blackflag.jalopnik.com/esports-commentator-claims-someone-stole-his-custom-bmw-1796585810

Some motherfuckers stole a trailer with a local racecar in it.

I'm not sure why the article is written so stupidly, but if you have an enclosed put some logos on it. 2-3 trailers have been stored in the exact same spot for years without incident, but this one got stolen a week after it got dropped at the shop.

# ¿ Jul 3, 2017 01:14

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

We always try to reinforce both feet in for getting out of shape. Even if you make the save that run is probably going to be slow and it's not worth hurting your car.

That said, I'm the rear end in a top hat that spun a borrowed Z06 at 120kph on a 75ft wide runway. Was extremely glad I managed to keep it on the asphalt because I could not afford smacking that into a runway light.

# ¿ Jul 10, 2017 04:06

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

Blaise posted:

Anybody have any actual, real-life experience with tire life on RE-71s? I know they are THE fast tire out now.

Running a 1.6 miata, so real slow. Would be moving up from AD08s. HPDE use only, some street.

Are you doing time trials? Or just lapping? There's not much point to burning off RE71s (or Rival S) if you're not trying to win.

I have heard great things about the RS4 from chump teams though.

mekilljoydammit posted:

http://imgur.com/a/KdjF5 Forgot to post these up before... random photos from walking around the paddock at Blackhawk Farms on my race weekend.

That ITS big bumper E30 is pretty sweet. The vintage cars are nice too.

Crustashio fucked around with this message at 02:41 on Jul 15, 2017

# ¿ Jul 15, 2017 02:38

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

It must be smooth US tracks because our experience with RRs was not significantly more life than R7s before dropoff. And that is takeoff R7s vs brand new RRs.

I'm halfway through my set of NT01s now, I think I'm going to try the Maxxis RC1 next because they are cheeeeeeeeap.

# ¿ Jul 17, 2017 02:36

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# ¿ May 12, 2024 16:06

Crustashio: Jul 27, 2000; ruh roh

I wear my balaclava but I cannot have it over my nose, glasses fog up like crazy no matter what I do. Should have went for a forced air helmet I think. It's also ridiculously hard to get the open eyeport to even stay on my nose while putting my helmet on.

On the helmet front, I went from an HJC CL-16 (S) to AR-10 II (S). I think the AR-10 padding is a bit tighter but both helmets fit fine.

I'm also glad I got a full containment seat because I already made use of it. Had a lapse of judgement and went for a bumpy rear end ride in the grass.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPlCcrtGLyE

Nothing a redneck frame machine couldn't fix though.

Crustashio fucked around with this message at 01:46 on Aug 1, 2017

# ¿ Aug 1, 2017 01:28

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > The track day and racing thread

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