First time track advice?

[ice445]

Brake late and hard. Driving like you're on the street and braking early and progressively will cook them much faster.

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[free]

Advice will vary slightly on what track you are going to be on. Streets is smaller and tighter turns meaning you will be carrying less speed through out your lap, theoretically making it safer, if you go off track on streets of willow you will likely be going 60-70mph depending on which turn and how hard you push, most likely will just get the car a bit dirty. Big willow is a much faster track, making it a bit more dangerous, but in both cases your safety is 90-95% in your hands.

As someone else said, drive within your limits, you will be in a beginner class, pay attention during the drivers meeting, they will teach you what the flags mean, and most importantly what the passing rules are. If you are on streets of willow miatas and s2ks will eat you up but you will have the advantage on the front and back straight. If they are behind you close the whole way through the track, let them pass, dont try and make up for it on the straights, having someone behind you as a beginner ads unnecessary pressure.

If you are going sometime soon, it is very hot out there, I was at streets last week and temp was 108 by 11am, meaning the track surface would be significantly hotter, that puts a lot more stress on the tires, car and you.

There isn't much for driving tips I can give, just get out there and learn, pay attention to when and where on the track you are shifting, shift smooth, brake smooth, accelerate smooth. anything you do that upsets the balance of the car, try to correct on the next lap. Download HotLap app on your phone and get a good quality windshield mount, it records and displays your lap times as well as a lot of good data of each lap. The app also records video but its a bit funky, a helmet mounted go pro can be a great tool for improving lap times, helmet mounted you will be able to see your steering input, shifting as well as the track itself, combine video with lap data from the app and you will be able to see exactly where and when you are doing good and areas of improvement.

Nut and bolt the car, make sure anything aftermarket especially if you installed it, is torqued and good to go. An alignment before is a great idea as well. A fresh oil change before is something I live by, too cheap and easy to skip and fresh oil is the best oil. Make sure coolant and brake fluid is good, take an extra quart of oil just in case. Get a good and easy to read tire pressure gauge, you will be adjusting often especially as a beginner. Also the factory tire inflator is great to bring along to re air your tires before you leave the track. A change of clothes makes wrapping the day up much better, especially when its 100+ out. Bring a chair. Make sure your helmet and seatbelts are in spec with whatever the event requires, ask the organizer about this.

CLEAN TF OUT OF YOUR CAR, everything comes out the car that doesnt absolutely need to be in there, the tiniest piece of paper or plastic bottle or whatever could ruin a lap and in some cases cause a wreck, (one guy had a ratchet under his seat that made its way to the pedals and caused him to get confused and go off track).

Fuel: If you run pump gas you will be fine, there is plenty of gas stations near the track, if you run E85 depending on how far you are from the track you may not have enough to get home after the event, and there are not many stations near Willow, I always take 10 gallons of E85 with me so I fill up right at the end of the event to get home without stopping. Take at least a gallon of water, and preferably lunch with you. There is a diner on the track and subway, dominos and mcdonalds about 10 mins from the track.

Have a learning attitude, ask questions, go on ride alongs. Don't have an ego, you will be slow. Most Mustangs are not hop in and kill it track cars, the learning curve is much steeper when you are trying to push 3600+ lbs around corners vs if you were in a miata or something of the sorts. But if you pay attention, and learn the car and yourself as a driver, you will get faster and faster. Have fun and be safe, check out the gift shop at lunch, the t shirts are super comfy. And if you have any more questions or are looking for any more track days send me PM here or DM on IG @apexstangs Good luck brother!

 

[Norm Peterson]

Might be going to willow springs next week in CA. Any tips for a newbie?

Drive within YOUR comfort zone. Not where anybody else's driving is, or where they might think yours should be.

Do as little shifting as possible. There's going to be plenty of new stuff to learn. Let optimized shifting come later.


Norm

 

[Vettel-ish]

Cant stress enough....know the track before you go. If it takes you have the day to know where your going its time lost. Watch you tube videos. If you can draw the track from memory.. your good.

Slow in fast out... very hard to do. focus on that. Keep you out of trouble and makes you smoother.

 

[Vettel-ish]

https://www.amazon.com/TrackArmour-...d=1625236458&sprefix=track+arm,aps,165&sr=8-1

good stuff. might save you a chip.

 

[331GT]

Have a learning attitude, ask questions, go on ride alongs. Don't have an ego, you will be slow. Most Mustangs are not hop in and kill it track cars, the learning curve is much steeper when you are trying to push 3600+ lbs around corners vs if you were in a miata or something of the sorts. But if you pay attention, and learn the car and yourself as a driver, you will get faster and faster. Have fun and be safe, check out the gift shop at lunch, the t shirts are super comfy. And if you have any more questions or are looking for any more track days send me PM here or DM on IG @apexstangs Good luck brother!

this. ive had my 95 on road america and my 19 at blackhawk farms in South Beloit, IL with my dad's club, chicago Alfa Romeo owners club. just this year i had a guy who could really drive in a 2.0 Alfa Spider that was all over me every corner. i would walk away like nothing on the straights but he was a better driver by far and had far less weight. it's tempting to get in the mindset of "well i have a higher performance car, i should be so much faster..." resisting this urge for me was big. simply told myself im new, he's not, he knows his limits and his vehicle's, and theyre both different than that of me and my car. let them pass and remain relaxed.

also, at this same track, my buddy came for an HPDE event in his '10 camaro ss. did great until he cooked his brakes and went straight off and missed a tree by less than 16 inches. i saw the go-pro footage, it was close. consensus seems to be that since he didnt use DOT 4 he may have overheated his brake fluid? not sure, im certainly inexperienced to say the least, others can confirm whether this is an accurate possibility or not. but cant hurt to look into it. hopefully others here who know far more than me will have input.

Have fun

 

[DrZed]

Might be going to willow springs next week in CA. Any tips for a newbie?

... end your day at 3 pm, regardless of how you feel.
It is enormous work both physically and mentally and mistakes happen when you get tired.

Have lots of water to drink, and eat a lunch that won't fill you up and make you lazy but gives you energy.

Drive at 5-7 out of 10. Resist the urge to battle and if you find yourself "driving your mirrors" and getting jacked up like it is a race (easy to do) let the person pass.

Let faster cars pass and watch their line, braking and acceleration. Learn from everybody.

ENJOY!

 

[nbjeeptj]

Sit way closer to the steering wheel than you would for street driving. This will help more than you can imagine for less fatigue in your arms.

 

[ZM5.0]

It’s going to be streets of willow.. and it’s also going to be 110 degrees out there next Friday

 

[free]

It’s going to be streets of willow.. and it’s also going to be 110 degrees out there next Friday

Nice! SOW is a great track for getting your feet wet and yeah thats hot! I forgot to mention something that is one of my biggest issues. Get a good nights sleep! You will likely be waking up super early, and track day excitement makes it hard to sleep, also I'm usually fixing some crap on my car at 1am you dont want to rely on coffee or energy drinks. Being well rested will help you stay sharp. Have everything prepped and ready to go night before so you aren't forgetting things last minute in the morning.

 

[ZM5.0]

Nice! SOW is a great track for getting your feet wet and yeah thats hot! I forgot to mention something that is one of my biggest issues. Get a good nights sleep! You will likely be waking up super early, and track day excitement makes it hard to sleep, also I'm usually fixing some crap on my car at 1am you dont want to rely on coffee or energy drinks. Being well rested will help you stay sharp. Have everything prepped and ready to go night before so you aren't forgetting things last minute in the morning.

Yea I’m still 50/50 on going cause I’ll probably have to miss two days of work. I’ve been really wanting to go though. Also I feel like I’ve seen your car around before..

 

[mikethedude]

I agree 100% with what TundraOnKings said. Watch your Transmission Temperature and your Diff Temperature. Open your hood during brakes for cooling and when you are done with your session, don't just drive home. Let your brakes cool for at least 20 minutes. You won't have brakes if you just continue off home after you did the track.

 

[Norm Peterson]

On brake cooling after each session . . . spend a few minutes driving slowly around paddock and the access roads using as little braking as possible. Any airflow beats getting none just being parked.


Norm

 

[Hye Power]

It’s going to be streets of willow.. and it’s also going to be 110 degrees out there next Friday

Even thought streets of willow is a slower track than big willow i would also say its an uglier track to go off at. Our race last weekend there ended at noon and 3rd session when i came back in looked like i had 5 gallons of water dumped on me, it gets hot out there, drink plenty of liquids and take some form of shade with you, the place doesnt offer much in the form of shade. If taking an ezup, take something to secure the ezup to the ground. The winds can pick up without notice and blow the ezup into peoples cars or even onto the track. Most important have fun and be safe.

 

[TeeLew]

Drive within YOUR comfort zone. Not where anybody else's driving is, or where they might think yours should be.

Do as little shifting as possible. There's going to be plenty of new stuff to learn. Let optimized shifting come later.


Norm

This is really important. Have fun, but about 80% pace is the sweet spot.

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