Track day prep

[jimharrell]

Wasn't really able to find a thread on this...but any suggestions for prepping my PP2 for track day at Daytona? I find it a little crazy how the manual basically says to change all fluids before and after the track day. I figure as long as the oil (already have 5W-30) and brake fluid are full and clear, that is good, right? I don't see a reason to change transmission fluid at all. And it says to change diff fluid after 1 hr of track use or if it overheats. I can understand if it overheats because that likely changes the viscosity of it but other than that scenario, seems like a lot of work. Getting new tires beforehand so that's taken care of. Only had the car for a year without any track days yet, so brakes are likely almost brand new still being Brembo's. And when I had it aligned a year ago, camber is already set at between -1 and -1.5 all around with .1-.3 toe. I think I have everything covered there...let me know your thoughts please!

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[samd1351]

Daytona. Nice. As far as fluid changes, I ran 5 events last year. Probably at 65% of car's ability, due to my lack of ability. I'll be changing the brake fluid sometime this year. Probably won't change diff fluid. Check the road course section. A ton of good info and advice there.

 

[Hangman77]

big Question

are you driving the car there or trailering it?


You don’t have to go that crazy about fluid changes. Especially for one track day. Just make sure you haven’t been in that same engine oil for a while, otherwise go ahead and change it for the track. Your diff, trans and brake fluid will be fine.

make sure you have good tires. If you have tires less than 75% I would recommend having a fresh set for the track day. If your tires get toast early your gonna regret it, it will ruin your day.

check your brakes. If your anywhere close to the bar get new brakes on and follow proper bed in procedure.

I would recommend an alignment if you don’t have a good one already, consider a more aggressive setup for the track. Daytona is more high speed so keep that in mind.

bring an air gauge, and a portable air pump.

since your not gonna go crazy your first time out you don’t need much else to take with you.

but I would always recommend a jack, extra wheel and tire combo, extra fluids. Impact gun with correct sockets to remove lug nuts. Extra brake pads. Work gloves. Torque wrench. Some shop rags, cooler full of water

drink a bunch of water

Take any junk out of your car so it doesn’t go flying everywhere.


go fast and have fun. Tracking these cars is an absolute blast. You will get hooked

 

[EFI]

I find it a little crazy how the manual basically says to change all fluids before and after the track day

They say that to cover their butts, and to them there's no downside to recommending ridiculous intervals because they are not the ones paying for the fluids and labor.

Alot of people I know do a couple medium-high intensity events before changing the oil. The trans and the diff can go 2 seasons on the same fluid, and you should change those because they are easy to do and better fluids offer more protection, smoother shifting and can last longer between drain intervals. It really depends how hard you drive it and how hot the fluids get.

Brake fluid should be done once a year.

Everything else like pads, rotors etc. should be done based on their visible wear not mileage or hours on track.

 

[jimharrell]

big Question

are you driving the car there or trailering it?


You don’t have to go that crazy about fluid changes. Especially for one track day. Just make sure you haven’t been in that same engine oil for a while, otherwise go ahead and change it for the track. Your diff, trans and brake fluid will be fine.

make sure you have good tires. If you have tires less than 75% I would recommend having a fresh set for the track day. If your tires get toast early your gonna regret it, it will ruin your day.

check your brakes. If your anywhere close to the bar get new brakes on and follow proper bed in procedure.

I would recommend an alignment if you don’t have a good one already, consider a more aggressive setup for the track. Daytona is more high speed so keep that in mind.

bring an air gauge, and a portable air pump.

since your not gonna go crazy your first time out you don’t need much else to take with you.

but I would always recommend a jack, extra wheel and tire combo, extra fluids. Impact gun with correct sockets to remove lug nuts. Extra brake pads. Work gloves. Torque wrench. Some shop rags, cooler full of water

drink a bunch of water

Take any junk out of your car so it doesn’t go flying everywhere.


go fast and have fun. Tracking these cars is an absolute blast. You will get hooked

Driving it there, it is my daily!

Getting new tires next week so that's covered. At that time I will check the brakes. I would do an alignment but I also don't want to do one and do another one for back on the street, you know? And it's already less than -1 camber which the PP2 manual even calls for...it says -1.5 -0/+.75. My only concern would be overheating the diff but also as you said I won't be going 10/10 on my first track day that's for sure. And yep, already have a gauge and compressor as well! Last time I changed the oil was in November and currently says to change in June I think.

I read that they have you take your floor mats out? Does that sound right? But other than that, I don't keep any junk in my car as it is.

 

[jimharrell]

They say that to cover their butts, and to them there's no downside to recommending ridiculous intervals because they are not the ones paying for the fluids and labor.

Alot of people I know do a couple medium-high intensity events before changing the oil. The trans and the diff can go 2 seasons on the same fluid, and you should change those because they are easy to do and better fluids offer more protection, smoother shifting and can last longer between drain intervals. It really depends how hard you drive it and how hot the fluids get.

Brake fluid should be done once a year.

Everything else like pads, rotors etc. should be done based on their visible wear not mileage or hours on track.

That's what I figured because I'm like that is really excessive. Yeah I figured the diff fluid should be changed if it overheats as I said. Yeah I've had my car for a year so it would be time for a brake fluid change. But if it's still clear...?

 

[EFI]

That's what I figured because I'm like that is really excessive. Yeah I figured the diff fluid should be changed if it overheats as I said. Yeah I've had my car for a year so it would be time for a brake fluid change. But if it's still clear...?

By year I mean a full calendar year with a summer's worth of track events. If you haven't done any yet, and it's been purely a street car for the past year then you shouldn't need to change it especially if it looks good and the pedal is still firm.

It also depends on how brake intensive or fast the track is. I have a track by me where it's alot of high speed mini straights followed by slow corners so you're heavy on the brake pedal many times during a lap. For that kind of track, I would change the fluid to be safe.

Another track by me it's a lot of long sweeping turns with very little accelerating or braking in between, and I only really get hard on the brakes at the end of a very short straight. For that, I probably wouldn't bother to change the fluid just yet.

 

[Ewheels]

There's a really well written thread somewhere on first hpde preparation. They should really make that a sticky here... I'm trying to find it as well.

For your first time out, you won't be pushing the car that hard so don't worry yourself with all the maintenance people talk about. That'll come after you're thoroughly hooked on track driving. At the most, check your lug nuts, make sure your fluids are full, and maybe bleed the brakes. Otherwise, just go have fun.

Once you're hooked, then you can start thinking about a better alignment, maintenance intervals, ect.

 

[mikeD4V]

Daytona is high rpm and heavy on brakes at the bus stop and into turn 1. Flushing the brakes would be a good idea and will set you up for maintenance bleeding for future events this year.

Bring or borrow a torque wrench and air pressure gauge. Would suggest renting a garage. I'm partial to garage 46. The garages are inside the track so you can grid in and out easier, you will have shelter from rain and sun, and there will be other drivers there to answer any questions and borrow tools from. There is fuel and food next to the garages but also just outside the track gates. Add a few extra psi to the right side tires because of the banking. Try to stay on the lower 1/3 of the banking to let faster traffic through up top but stay off the bottom apron. Tapping the bottom apron can throw off ABS and wheel speed sensors.

Below is my best lap from last year at Daytona. It's a decent reference line for our cars. The track is a blast, try to focus on having a good time.

 

[bnightstar]

To add my 2 cents after 2 seasons of driving on track. My track is 2 km long and very hard on brakes. I do around 100 laps per season so that's like 200 km or so + another 40 or so on my other local track which is 3 km and very hard on tires (you can have your tires gone in like 30 laps there). So a total of like 280-300 track km's a season.

I change my oil based on OLM when it drop bellow 50% which comes to about once every 5000 km or so with usually around 2 30-35 laps track days.

Brake Pads: My fronts usually last 3 track days or around 90 laps on the short 2 km track which is brakes intensive. And the rears last 5 track days or 150 laps so 1 full set of pads per season give or take. OEM Ferodo DS2500.

Brake Fluid: I changed my brake fluid to Motul RBF660 as the oem one boiled after the 2nd day at the track. Bleeding brakes after every event and changing fluid every season as well.

Differential Oil: I don't have issues with my Diff temps but my car is 3.55 Trak-Loc differenctial. Plan to upgrade to Torsen eventually. Ether way I change fluid every 10 000 km or once per season.

Trans Oil: I didn't changed it the first season but in my second season the MT82 developed a whine and we noticed an oil leak. Did full trans rebuild and changed with fresh Motul DCTF. Plan to do a change of Trans Fluid once every 10 000 km same as Diff Fluid.

Tires: I run though a set of OEM PZero's,
A set of front Hankook's Evo 3 (the demanging 3km track) and 6 tires of Zestino 140TW Semi Slicks.

To sum it up my car has 24 470 km's on the oddmeter in that time I had 10 track days for a total of: 804 track km's. In that time i changed:

1. Oil 6 times.
2. Diff fluid: 2 times
3. Brake fluid: 1 full flush and unknown number of bleads.
4. Trans Fluid: 1 time
5. Trans Rebuild 1 time

Other things that broke:

I changed 4 times wheel hubs and have 1 more for a change which is waiting. I was told that getting your wheels torqued before each and every session will help with wheel hubs issues.
I upgraded to Steeda Front Swaybar and my rear swaybar bushings got broken and needed replacement now the new once are fine.


For First track day my suggestion is:

1. Change you Oil
2. Change your brakes fluid to Motul RBF600 or 660.
3. Make sure you have at least 4 mm brake pads.
4. Make sure you have good tires

If you get hooked develop a maintenance schedule based on what's in the manual and othe peoples experience but check everything all the time.

Hope this helps.

 

[bnightstar]

Below is my best lap from last year at Daytona. It's a decent reference line for our cars. The track is a blast, try to focus on having a good time.

What is your car suspension setup ? that car looks flat in the video and not a lot of body roll want the same

 

[jimharrell]

Daytona is high rpm and heavy on brakes at the bus stop and into turn 1. Flushing the brakes would be a good idea and will set you up for maintenance bleeding for future events this year.

Bring or borrow a torque wrench and air pressure gauge. Would suggest renting a garage. I'm partial to garage 46. The garages are inside the track so you can grid in and out easier, you will have shelter from rain and sun, and there will be other drivers there to answer any questions and borrow tools from. There is fuel and food next to the garages but also just outside the track gates. Add a few extra psi to the right side tires because of the banking. Try to stay on the lower 1/3 of the banking to let faster traffic through up top but stay off the bottom apron. Tapping the bottom apron can throw off ABS and wheel speed sensors.

Below is my best lap from last year at Daytona. It's a decent reference line for our cars. The track is a blast, try to focus on having a good time.

Awesome picture! For an SCCA track event, how would I go about renting? Just the day of? Like how much is that? Yeah hopefully someone will be there kind enough to let me borrow a torque wrench. Never even used one before to be honest. I have a tire guage and compressor covered though. But in 10 days getting new tires and will make sure they set that properly and then track day next month. Since it sounds like you've done the SCCA event there before(?), how early should I get there if they have the driver briefing at 4:30pm?

Yeah I will at least a couple weeks before to start with make sure brake fluid is clear and full as well as with the oil. Pedal is most definitely still firm, never noticed a decrease in braking performance as of yet. But yes, being first track event, certainly won't be going 10/10.

I've never even been at Daytona let alone drive on it so the banking will be interesting. But it should be the same idea from your awesome video? What if it is raining...?

 

[NightmareMoon]

Alignment, your tires will eat their shoulders the less camber you have. The manual alignment specs are only for street driving. Only 1.5 degrees of front camber and the tire shoulders can get so hot they chuck or even delaminate if you run hard and particularly if you overdrive them (how and when they fail depends on the tire and whatnot)

The front camber isn’t adjustable from the factory, you’d need camber bolts or camber plates to get enough camber to save your tires from an early death. Plates are preferred by far.

2.2 front camber and your tires will still eat their shoulders, but its a little better than stock. You really want 2.6 or closer to 3, which is a lot. Rear camber isnt as difficult and its adjustable stock. Something between 1.5-1.8 generally worlks well.

 

[jimharrell]

Alignment, your tires will eat their shoulders the less camber you have. The manual alignment specs are only for street driving. Only 1.5 degrees of front camber and the tire shoulders can get so hot they chuck or even delaminate if you run hard and particularly if you overdrive them (how and when they fail depends on the tire and whatnot)

The front camber isn’t adjustable from the factory, you’d need camber bolts or camber plates to get enough camber to save your tires from an early death. Plates are preferred by far.

2.2 front camber and your tires will still eat their shoulders, but its a little better than stock. You really want 2.6 or closer to 3, which is a lot. Rear camber isnt as difficult and its adjustable stock. Something between 1.5-1.8 generally worlks well.

It was listed in the PP2 manual for track alignment specifically. I believe you, I'm just saying the manual listed it for a track alignment.

 

[NightmareMoon]

It was listed in the PP2 manual for track alignment specifically. I believe you, I'm just saying the manual listed it for a track alignment.

... probably shows that because the front camber isn’t adjustable by default.

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