Anyone track/drift their daily?

[YamahaR86]

Originally Posted by Boomerang

I drift monthly, drive daily.


If you track/drift be prepared to repair.


Learners day should be harmless and controlled so if I was you, have a go!

Thanks! Part of the reason I'd like to go to learner's day (has instructor ride along) and how to drift is to learn how to handle when a car goes sideways and how to control it, especially during bad weather.



I'd like to build a dedicated track car down the line if it excites me.

[strat61caster]

Yes.

Don't try to be a hero and set a lap record, go with a group with good reputation and good instructors, listen to them, be humble and odds are you'll have a great time. Get insurance if you can't afford to lose the car and walk away with whatever is in your metaphorical pockets.

Riding along in another car with a great driver and then having a great driver drive my car at autox was eye opening, I was totally under driving even though I was capable of making the tires make a lot of noise and putting down competent HPDE lap times (~1.55 around Laguna with just pads and Z2SS). I haven't been back to the track in years and find autox more exciting chucking the car into every element as fast as I have the balls for, and I enjoy the competition even if I sometimes take it too seriously.

HPDE and drift will have increased parts wear, with a '13 expect to have to replace a few coil packs if you go for more than a day or two. Bring an OBD2 scanner so you know what's happening if you get a check engine light.

[NoHaveMSG]

If you get into doing it regularly I would start having UOA's done on your car. It will go a long way in determining oil change intervals as well as the state of your engine.

[Boomerang]

Originally Posted by YamahaR86

Thanks! Part of the reason I'd like to go to learner's day (has instructor ride along) and how to drift is to learn how to handle when a car goes sideways and how to control it, especially during bad weather.



I'd like to build a dedicated track car down the line if it excites me.

You got the right idea about improving your handling/driving skills, the Germans do it as part of their learning process and most are pretty good drivers.


You need to have some spare coin if you want to play on the track often..


Let us know how you go, pics!!

[gcranston]

Add one more voice to the chorus. BRZ was my daily from 2016 until November last year. 20 track days in that time. Two kids means I picked up a BMW wagon for every day and drive the BRZ on weekends. This should let me put a roll bar, seats, and harnesses in it since I no longer need the back seat.



I carried track insurance while I still had a loan on the car, but now it's paid off and I have a little more comfort on track, so I'll put that money in the tire fund.

[treedodger]

Learning to drift is really helpful before going to the track. It will make it much easier for you to catch a slide before you go off track and break stuff. Not much to hit at most drift skidpads, so limited risk of crashing into something hard.

I daily and track my 2013 BRZ. At a 100k miles and 25 trackdays, 3 drift days and 4 autocrosses, no problems other than a couple blown coilpacks.

But freak accidents can happen at the track that can total your car w/out warning (like the car in front of you blowing its motor and dumping oil on the track, just before a dangerous corner......this happened to a friend).
Best to get track insurance if you can't afford to write off your car.

Originally Posted by YamahaR86

Thanks! Part of the reason I'd like to go to learner's day (has instructor ride along) and how to drift is to learn how to handle when a car goes sideways and how to control it, especially during bad weather.



I'd like to build a dedicated track car down the line if it excites me.

[deca]

My 86 is my summer daily, and I hit an autox along with two track days last summer. Hoping to do more this year.

I'd say there's no reason to be afraid of tracking your car, but definitely do your homework going into it. Just know what sort of issues to keep an eye out for and you shouldn't have any bad surprises.

I'm investing in an oil cooler for the coming season because I was consistently running hard enough that I needed to let the car cool down to stay in a temp range I was comfortable with. A lot of people seem to get a fair amount of track driving in before they start pushing the car into those temperatures though, so a lot of your experience will boil down to confidence level I think. I'd definitely recommend having something to monitor your oil temperature more accurately than the stock gauges, I use an OpenFlash Tablet but there should be cheaper options if you aren't planning on going that route for tuning. In addition to watching temperatures, you'll want to change your oil before an event if you haven't done so recently and potentially consider going to a slightly heavier weight. There's a LOT of discussion on that topic to dig into on these forums and elsewhere.

I think that you should definitely try tracking if you're interested in it. Go with a group that has a good reputation and you'll have a blast. You won't be forced to run the car any harder than you're comfortable with, the organizers should do a good job grouping you together with others running at a similar speed so you don't need to worry too much about passing either.

These cars were pretty much designed to be run as trackable dailies, I had a lot of fun at my first autox event but running hard on the track is an absolute joy.

[Lynxis]

My BRZ was my year round daily driver until I sent it into a barrier on track in the fall of 2018. I've cooled off on track time since then, mostly because I'm still paying for that accident today. At least I wasn't injured and I didn't lose the car as a result but this year is also going to be thin on-track as I'm focusing on paying off the car and completing repairs. Still need to have the frame bent back and the bumper needs a repaint at least. I've still got a damaged hood and door as well although those are purely cosmetic so I'm not rushing to fix them.

[lonborghini]

Yes, i drift my daily daily every Winter.

[Silky]

Nice try insurance man....