Thinking of the stang for track car and have some questions

[BmacIL]

I have been following some pertinent threads on this subject.

I plan to track my car for the first time later this month at Putnam Park Indiana. 1.8 miles, 10 turns. There will be one 20min session each hour, for the whole day.

Will my automatic, non-PP car survive the day? I take a casual attitude to track days, and I would be happy to let the car cool off during a session. I don't plan on pushing brake points, or find the true slide-off limit. I plan to make use of an instructor every minute that one is available.

But if my car won't survive 5 minutes without overheating, or requires 15 minutes to cool off, then I will have truly wasted my money.

I am willing to do a few small things before that day, such as water wetter, exhaust heat wrap, or 110-140 diff fluid, etc. But I don't care to bleed in new brake fluid, nor am I all that excited about changing tranny fluid after the event.

So how about it? Do I try to get away with the easy little things? Or do I need to go in with more extensive preparations?

You'll do fine as the car sits if you're not pushing your brake points and are staying at less than 8/10 there. You might experience a little fade near the end of sessions, but you'll be able to complete them w/o issues.

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[EFI]

You will end up replacing anything and everything that makes up the "track pack" or other packages so no point in wasting that money up front.

Unless you're building a pure race car to be nationally competitive you won't really need to replace the brakes and diff or maybe even the radiator. Really the only things that come in the PP that will need replacing for even a semi-serious racer will be the suspension (dampers/springs) and sways.

Those aren't really expensive and you can always sell the stock stuff to recoup some money back. So the 15" 6 piston brakes and Torsen diff are easily worth the $2500 premium. Go price a BBK and upgraded diff on their own and compare that to the PP.

I myself did exactly what most are doing here, going with the base car and only adding the PP (although no Recaros). That is by far the best bang for the buck right now. I can add some tires, sways, suspension, brake pads/lines/fluid and an oil cooler and for under $35k I can have a reliable track monster.

 

[2morrow]

Unless you're building a pure race car to be nationally competitive you won't really need to replace the brakes and diff or maybe even the radiator. Really the only things that come in the PP that will need replacing for even a semi-serious racer will be the suspension (dampers/springs) and sways.

Those aren't really expensive and you can always sell the stock stuff to recoup some money back. So the 15" 6 piston brakes and Torsen diff are easily worth the $2500 premium. Go price a BBK and upgraded diff on their own and compare that to the PP.

I myself did exactly what most are doing here, going with the base car and only adding the PP (although no Recaros). That is by far the best bang for the buck right now. I can add some tires, sways, suspension, brake pads/lines/fluid and an oil cooler and for under $35k I can have a reliable track monster.

Exactly!

 

[BTM]

Exactly!

+1 on this. Mine's not exactly under $35K anymore, but same idea and strategy. Base PP and only very track-functional upgrades.

Possible to stay on a relative budget, but it's a slippery mental slope once you commit to modding. Now I feel like I will be going fast enough to justify a 4pt roll bar and fixed racing seats with 5/6 pt harnesses. Then I'll have the safety, suspension, and durability dialed in, and feel like I should go FI to play with 600+ hp, and really give the Corvettes a hard time....

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