What is holding you back from taking your car on track?

Equipment that may be needed plus general information on track days.
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Re: What is holding you back?

Post by LaurenRX8 »

Only just seen this thread. The main thing holding me back is that my car isn't how i want it right now. After a few more tweeks i would be more than happy to take it on a track. (with some guidance of course)

Once my car is nearer to getting finished i will probably come along just to watch and get a feel of what goes on.

My boyfriend also has a ford focus ST that he is convinced would beat an RX8 on the track, i want to shut him up.
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Re: What is holding you back?

Post by Will66 »

Your boyfriend will be shut up. Best way would be to get some track tuition as well as a few mods.
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Re: What is holding you back?

Post by Bulldog »

In a cunning plan to save on brake pad wear I deliberately smashed my silver car into a tyre wall at Brands Hatch.. however its now fixed :)

I plan on doing the club agm track day at Blyton Park on Saturday

Then I am planning on getting my red car up and running and at your disposal

Red car is going to:

Donnington in July
Castle Combe in July
Goodwood in August

PM me if youd like to drive at any of these track days or want to do a trackday at another circuit / time
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Re: What is holding you back?

Post by casey »

Just bumping this thread as, having just had a great time at Cadwell Park this week with some like-minded friends, I thought this discussion should be resurrected :lol:

Thread for Cadwell can be found OVER HERE
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Re: What is holding you back?

Post by Soul »

I think the two things holding me back are cost, and the risk of damage. If I had an older '8 perhaps I'd be less bothered, but right now my car looks pretty much pristine and don't want to hurt her! :P
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Re: What is holding you back?

Post by Zarterone »

The risk is minimal ( unless you are really stupid), you more likely to have an accident on the way to a track day. Of course it could happen , so does having an accident driving on the road but you still do that, remember you can get track day insurance

I've taken three brand new cars to track days , so you could say I've put my money where my mouth is :lol:
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Re: What is holding you back?

Post by Will66 »

:whathesaid:

You have to be very unlucky or have a serious ability vs perceived ability divergence to have an accident. Plus, what's the point of car if you're not driving it?
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Re: What is holding you back?

Post by GreySilver Beast »

The last two Brands Hatch Trackdays & AGM Trackday I didn't bother with Track Insurance :!: :!:

I had it for Japfest because I was doing 4 Track Sessions with different drivers out on the Track =D>
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Re: What is holding you back?

Post by VelocityVinnie »

Yes Nigel, and you managed to crash into another vehicle without actuly being in the car.................ha!

Ive spent to much money on mine now to throw her round a track, shes happy to just sit and look nice ;)
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Re: What is holding you back?

Post by GreySilver Beast »

................but got a good excuse Vinnie :roll: am on a few drugs at the moment,making me tired :lol:
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Re: What is holding you back?

Post by VelocityVinnie »

Maybe you should be sat on the left then Nigel lol!!
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Re: What is holding you back?

Post by robt27 »

I had my first track day and was a bit worried at first, mainly worried about crashing lol.
One of the best things of the track days is you can take it at your own pace (Just move out of the way when you need to!)... I took for first few laps steadily to get used to the track then took the car to it's limits, taking the corners easier earlier on until I got used to it. Definitely my best driving experience yet and already booked another...
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Re: What is holding you back?

Post by chriswilloughby »

I want to try the Angelsey circuit this year :)
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Re: What is holding you back?

Post by olyoz »

This is the year for me. I WILL participate in a track day :)
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Re: What is holding you back?

Post by Phil Bate »

Me too - I'm all over it this year :)

I do have one question - if the worst happened and you junked your car into a barrier etc. and it was not driveable, how do you get recovered? Is it correct that breakdown providers don't cover this? I haven't checked my small print yet
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Re: What is holding you back?

Post by Shagrington »

Do the track day at Blyton with the AGM ... there are no barriers to hit.
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Re: What is holding you back?

Post by DannyJames »

I'd love to do a track day but I struggle for time and I also worry about writing my car off or causing excessive wear on tyres/brakes etc and it costing me a fortune to replace!
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Re: What is holding you back?

Post by RX8R3Rod »

Hi Danny,

At Blyton it is pretty hard to do any damage, as the run-offs are so wide. :D And Sky seem to do decent insurance cover (which personally I'd see as mandatory) for not a fortune.

But ... If you do really try hard and seriously push on (there's absolutely no pressure to, and that's part of what's so nice, but you might find you do anyway :twisted: ) you will eat pads to some degree at least and (in my experience anyway) put stress on the engine, etc. #-o

I lost a whole '1' unit of compression (e.g. from 7.5 to 6.5) in 2 track days just a couple of days apart on my previous engine last year.

Admittedly that was pushing (for me, anyway, but presumably not for the driving gods) very hard indeed and doing longish stints on track.

But nevertheless that's what happened, and my compression before that (I had my compression measured just before and after the track day(s), along with the pre and post oil changes for both track days, just to actually know rather than speculate as to what was going on with the engine) was pretty decent, so it wasn't a case of running an engine that already had rubbish compression.

I suspect if you take it a bit easier and do short stints then you won't have anything of that magnitude happening, but in my experience your concerns are entirely valid and at least worth thinking hard about.

The RX8 is not a race car and, in my experience, putting it on a track and pushing it (for me, anyway) really hard causes wear, in a way that, say, running it flat on the Autobahn doesn't. I was lucky in that I could (and did) get a new engine under warranty. :D

Having said all that, it's great fun :D
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Re: What is holding you back?

Post by casey »

In contrast to Rod's experience, I've had my car since new, have done a total of 64,000 miles, including 34 full day trackdays (plus odd airfield "fun" days, autosolos, etc). I don't hang about on track, but I never do more than 15 minute sessions with ~30 minutes between sessions. I'm very conscious that the rotary engine can suffer damage from overheating, so I do shorter sessions in hot weather and I've now fitted oil and water temp gauges to be more scientific about looking after the engine. That's proved to be useful as, on a baking hot day at Donington (Japfest 2) last year the water temp alarm went off after ~12 minutes on track. Simply easing off the pace was enough to bring the temp down, so I did a full cooling lap and came in to the garage.

I've also found it is important to check the oil level frequently during the day. With the engine running at 6-9k for 15 minutes the OMP is working overtime and oil levels can drop significantly (expect to use up to a litre on a full trackday). As oil is important to engine cooling, the higher the oil level the more it's able to keep cooling. Make sure not to overfill though - 7/8 to the mark, not to full (IMHO) to avoid possible blow back into the air intake.

I've never had the engine compression checked, but the car starts hot and cold in the same way it did when brand new. I do change the oil every 3-5k max (more often if doing a lot of trackdays).

Yes, you will eat the front pads, but tyre wear on a single trackday isn't going to be an issue (in my experience anyway).

If you've not done a trackday you are seriously missing out on one of life's great experiences, and you only live once :D. As Rod said, I'd also recommend Blyton Park for first (or only) trackday as it's got great run-offs and is relatively cheap.
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Re: What is holding you back?

Post by SeriousSam »

I'd echo what Casey says, I've only done the one trackday (AGM last year) but there were no issues at all with the car. I drove it up, hammered it for a day, and drove it back down with no issues, no noticeably excessive wear on the brakes or tyres, and as if to prove the point it even nailed the MOT 6 weeks later.

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Re: What is holding you back?

Post by Conan »

I totally disagree with Rods post.
I mean no offence to anyone.
A lot of Rods track experience should be used as a (what not to do) exasperated by an incompetent instructor.
An instructor should not sit alongside a pupil and allow them to rag a car to death for 30 mins when they should have been able to feel the brake deteriation in the passenger seat, smell the problem and hear the brakes welding themselves to the disc,s. The pupil can be forgiven for missing the signs, they are a pupil after all!
I would advise anyone thinking of track driving to listen to Casey,s advise and many of the other experienced track drivers in the club.
You should Never, Never, Never,Ever, Ever, Ever stay out for more than 15 mins. Do 2 cooling down laps if necessary.
If you are Very, Very, Very experienced and depending on conditions and how the car has been driven perhaps 20 mins.
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Re: What is holding you back?

Post by RX8R3Rod »

Hi Pete, you are entirely free to disagree entirely with my post, it's just put up as 'the other side of the story' as to what can happen.

I don't really want to get into the ins and outs of who is or isn't considered to be a competent instructor, etc as people's views, experience, perspectives and qualifications can and will differ.

The brakes thing was my fault for running too soft a pad (though somewhat harder than a standard OEM pad) when I was trying to push on, and not checking them regularly enough. As to the number of laps, I'm not sure I was generally exceeding your recommendation by much, if at all.

But regardless, things like the ones that happened to me can, I guess, if they've happened to me also happen to others, and people can also stuff their cars into barriers (though mercifully not easily at Blyton). So it's (in my view) good to at least be aware of that and make an informed decision.
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Re: What is holding you back?

Post by Happy_Snapper »

Just paid for this year's Annual track day...can't wait!!!
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Re: What is holding you back?

Post by Elonexxx »

Money and the potential of loss.

However, my motorbike is back on the road, giving me alternative transport, so I took the plunge and have booked on a track night on a kart track for my first taster! :D
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Re: What is holding you back from taking your car on track?

Post by Vulf1986 »

I'm slowly upgrading the Rex to be safe and up to standards. New brake pads and discs this week, new tyres in spring.
I've raced for years in the naughty sense that I don't condone or recommend, never on a track.
Always wanted to, and I love driving fast.
My main concern at the moment is I know my Rex will need a rebuild next year that I think my brother and myself will attempt, but as I use it for a daily driver at the moment I'm worried I'd be driving home from a track day on the back on an AA van :(
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