Trackday thread.

lovegroova

Cadwell video from yesterday if you're struggling to sleep!

YouTube - Cadwell 25 March 2011

simon555

Good video

There might be a few pictures on Northloop as a few from there were on the same day. Thread link is Northloop. You need to be a member to view but I can sort that as I am one of the admin / mod team.

Worth joining as well as they offer some good discounts for trackdays throughout the year

lovegroova

Thanks, I'll take a look later.

richard plumb

this seems more of an events day, so let me know if I should spin it off into a thread..

Considering (in about 6 months) selling my Z4 and just having the one car. Work is changing so more working from home should allow us to juggle the one car effectively.

The wife's A3 is comfortable and practical, but not much fun (actually no fun at all). So inevitably I'll get the itch for a cheap, fun runabout. As it doesn't need to be a daily driver, I'm wondering about doubling it up as a trackday car.

So I'd like some advice. Is it practical to run a roadcar on trackdays? Is it practical to get a trackday car and use it now and again on roads? or are there just too many compromises and costs and it'd be simpler to do one or the other?

and how about suggestions for a good car? After driving one on a track, I'd love an exige, but budget probably won't stretch. It might stretch to an older elise, or perhaps an MX5? what other things will need considering?

edit: just seen earlier in the thread. Used to have an '03 WRX, they'd be fairly cheap now - or a bugeye. E36 is interesting - any reason the E46 isn't as good? just fatter? And older E46 would be cheap and be usable as a runabout

lovegroova

MX-5 or old 3er are probably the best bets. You may find an MX-5 a bit underpowered, though that doesn't mean it's no fun. Old Elises are a good shout and aren't too much money. I struggle to see the appeal of 4WD cars as trackday machines really.

Caterfields are the best track days cars really, but are less good on road of course.

Much depends on your budget of course - any ideas on that?

My S2000 is a road car which does a few track days and does the job very well, especially with some better brake fluid, discs and pads (which are expensive). It also has adjustable coilovers which means ride/handling can be adjusted according to what you're doing.

alexs2

It's certainly possible to get a car that you intend primarily for trackdays and use it as an occasional road car,providing it's road legal,but whether you'd do so regularly is another matter,as when you've adapted a car for the track with suspension and brake mods,plus a cage and so on,it can be a pretty noisy and harsh thing.

Conversely,road cars on the track often find themselves running out of brakes,tyres and handling,plus any engine issues are likely to come up pretty soon.

lovegroova

Exactly - you need to decide whereabouts on the x-axis of "road car" to "trackday weapon" you want your car to sit.

The more you go for road car, the worse it will be on the track, and the more you go for track car, the worse it will be on the road.

My car is very much biased towards the "road car" end of things, as that's where I spend 99% of my time.

alexs2

That's a good bit of advice....that Escort I owned was a good example too.

It had come straight off the tarmac and gravel rally circuit,had a brilliant suspension and brake system and went like stink,but for all that it was a very demanding road car.

richard plumb

I'm guessing that if you have it more towards the 'track' part of the equation, then it'd be hard on the roads but if you do limited miles like just the odd sunday drive, it might be fine?

and my Z4 and my wife's A3 are not exactly sofas on wheels. (can't believe her 'family car' is so rock hard)

AVF Jay

Honestly the best bet is to pick up a mk1 mx5 that's already sorted, supercharged or turbo'd with roll bar etc.

For what that would cost you you'd struggle to find anything better.

You could pick up a really really sorted mk1 for about 4 grand.

Rust is a killer on mx-5s though, and avoid pre 91 models incase they suffer from the dread wobble, as they have a short nose crank.