First track day. Comments / Feedback? (AMA)

[Holmes]

First Track day at Road Atlanta. Only stayed for the 1st day. It was a lot to soak-in.
Car: 2019 Mustang GT Premium, 401a, safe-n-smart, PP1, Mag-ride, MT82. All stock.
Before the event, Did change out the brake fluid, rear axle fluid, Trans fluid and oil change to 5w30. Motor craft full synthetic on the oil and Motul high performance on the rest. Everything stayed in normal operating spec. No over heating issue with the rear axle.
1. G-meter from the day is below. I have no reference point. How hard was I pushing it?
2. Top speed was 132mph on the back straight at Road Atlanta. Again no reference point. Fast for a stock car? Too fast for safety for first time at track event? No idea.
3. CQuartz UK ceramic coating did the trick. Wasn’t too dirty afterwards. A few rubber marks came right off. No rock chips.
4. Burned less than 1/2 quart of oil as near as I can tell. Didn’t have to fill.
5. Burned a whole tank of gas.
6. Lowered cold (warm) tire temp to 30lbs. Was getting 35/36 at the end of each session. Probably could have let out a bit more.
7. Tire wear wasn’t too bad. Will certainly do another track day or two before changing out.
8. Did whole day in Sport+ mode at instructors recommendation.
9. A few times I got everything just right going through and coming out of the the Esses and it felt like the car was magically reaching down and gripping the road, like it totally connected. Very cool feeling. Very happy with the performance.
10. Didn’t use 90% of the gear I brought. Only needed/used: tire pressure gauge, camping chair, cooler, drinks, snacks, clip board, white towels to cover seats in between session to keep them cool, sun screen, paper towels. Would have needed quart of oil by the end of the 2nd day. Made a friend and shared a easy-up canopy tent. So, didn’t have to use mine. No tools needed.
11. Interesting groups of folks in attendance. Basically 3 or 4 categories. But that is another post.
12. At least 2 Porsche GT3’s on the track so new that they still had on the temporary dealer tags.
13. Paddock was very full. Lots of folks with trailers, campers, etc.

Comments? Questions? AMA

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[samd1351]

So, I'm heading to my first track day in a couple of weeks, if it ever quits raining.

1) What was one thing that was over-hyped that turned out to be a non-issue?

2) Now that you've been, what's one or two things you would have done different?

3) Did you get track insurance, if so how much was it, and did you feel it was necessary?

4) Have you had any track experience before?

5) How much time was there between your poat run briefing and your next run on the track?

A lot of questions, sorry. Just trying to get myself ready.

Oh, one more. Did you have to bring tape dor a number?

 

[Holmes]

So, I'm heading to my first track day in a couple of weeks, if it ever quits raining.

1) What was one thing that was over-hyped that turned out to be a non-issue?
Can’t really think of anything from the event organizer that was “over hyped”. From reading the forums, YouTube, etc. you might think that you need a lot of tools, gear, etc. You don’t. Go light.

2) Now that you've been, what's one or two things you would have done different?
Gotten more sleep the might before. Be prepared to be a good communicator with your instructor. You might get paired with someone much older, younger, different back ground, etc. If you don’t like their style be prepared to discuss an alternate approach. For instance, my instructor talked a lot. Like he wanted to make me into a formula one racier by the end of the day. Got kinda distracting after a while. In retrospect, I wish that I had asked him to be quieter for a session and just let me drive (apart from correcting anything dangerous), then have a debrief after we were off the track, instead of all the constant “coaching”.
By the next track day I will purchase a 4 or 5 point harness for the seats and a HANS device. They showed us some crash videos and I was instantly sold on the merits of these two simple upgrades. For your first time with an instructor,you won’t be going too fast or doing anything too crazy. I thought i was going pretty fast until my wife showed me a video of of one of the turns. Picture my 460hp GT with 4 Miatas behind, eating my lunch through an ‘S curve.

3) Did you get track insurance, if so how much was it, and did you feel it was necessary?
Yes. Got $50,000 coverage for around $350 covering 2 days. Hard to say if it is worth it. Didn’t see any accidents but you never know. If you can afford it, I’d go ahead and get it. More peace of mind for your first time out.

4) Have you had any track experience before?
Did the 2 hour Porsche Experience Center a couple of years ago and did a half day private track session with instructor at Atlanta Motorsports Park in my last Porsche. Other than that, did a Autocross weekend about 30 years ago in an RX7.

5) How much time was there between your poat run briefing and your next run on the track?
Chin track days had three sessions that rotated throughout the day with an hour for lunch when the track was cold. Go basically we were on for 30 minutes, then off for an hour. After our morning warm-up, we had a class room session for an hour, then started the rotation.

A lot of questions, sorry. Just trying to get myself ready.

Oh, one more. Did you have to bring tape dor a number?

I spent $10 on a set of 6 inch vinyl numbers on Amazon. The track organizer published all the assigned car numbers in advance so, I put them on each side window before I left home. If you don’t have numbers or tape they will write your number on your window with a white marker that washes off with soap or a little alcohol.

 

[samd1351]

Thanks for info. Hopefully the weather will cooperate for a nice day for first time. Will follow up with details after.

 

[Taylor1234]

Check rear brake pads. This car automatically throws a lot of rear brake when the car is getting pushed into corners. Most of us run in Track mode, then hold the “traction control switch” for 8 seconds to completely turn it off. If you dont, you’ll ruin your rear brake pads.

 

[Ewheels]

Check rear brake pads. This car automatically throws a lot of rear brake when the car is getting pushed into corners. Most of us run in Track mode, then hold the “traction control switch” for 8 seconds to completely turn it off. If you dont, you’ll ruin your rear brake pads.

Comments like these should not be posted in "First track day" threads. You hear this everywhere, all the time, about every car. Will turning the traction control and stability control off get you faster laps? Yes, for EXPERIENCED drivers. For those of us learning car control and how our cars react to various situations, just leave everything on. As you get faster and push the limits, sure, you'll eat brake pads; but pads are cheap relative to losing control of your car and wrecking.

Not to single out your post, but the first few track days should be about safe learning, even if that means buying some brake pads.

 

[Taylor1234]

I can agree with that. It was more of something to check after his first track day. I would not recommend that prior to, but I feel he should know this. Id hate for him to think everything went fine, then have no rear brakes mid way through his next event.

 

[HeelToeHero]

Comments like these should not be posted in "First track day" threads. You hear this everywhere, all the time, about every car. Will turning the traction control and stability control off get you faster laps? Yes, for EXPERIENCED drivers. For those of us learning car control and how our cars react to various situations, just leave everything on. As you get faster and push the limits, sure, you'll eat brake pads; but pads are cheap relative to losing control of your car and wrecking.

Not to single out your post, but the first few track days should be about safe learning, even if that means buying some brake pads.

Exactly you're probably over driving the car if you're getting traction control and stability control stepping in.

 

[johnson.ba]

Exactly you're probably over driving the car if you're getting traction control and stability control stepping in.

Which is exactly the type of thing first time track drivers will do

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