I think this has been covered earlier, but for me, the maintenance schedule is as follows. Note that we have winter here, so our track season is May - Oct.

- New trans, diff, and full brake fluid flush at the start of the season. I'm using Motul Gear300 for the trans and diff. RT700 brake fluid. I will probably bleed the brakes mid summer.

- New air filter at the start of the season.

- Oil changes every 4000 km or so, depending on the number of track days in between changes.

- Brake pads and rotors as required.

Unless I get a CEL, I won't be changing the plugs until the recommended interval. I'll probably flush the coolant sometime this summer.

Quick and dirty guide to track prepping your car
 

What are these plugs you guys are referring to?

Sparkplugs.

We swap out engine oil at odd intervals, as we send in our oil for testing. Currently we are changing at 8k miles, and will continue to add miles to each interval until testing says otherwise. We run Motul 300V in the engine.

Transmission fluid is changed out every 10k. Testing is not performed on this fluid, as we consider it preventative maintenance.

Differnetial fluid, we have no interval, because we've been constantly changing settings on our LSD for testing, and the fluid is changed every time we reconfigure our LSD. For track driving, I'd also go with 10k.

YMMV. There is no one right use. Most people think our intervals are too long, especially for a car that sees the amount of track testing ours does (virtually every weekend).

For clarity is this mixed track/DD usage? Straight or 90% track usage? More like the average person who uses this as their only car with something like 5/95 track (or hard running)/DD miles?

Would be an awesome endorsement for following what's recommended in the owners manual if you guys are confident, the only issue you guys have really had is the DI seals correct?

It's mixed usage, but with copious amounts of track testing.

Remember, actual on-track miles are not THAT high, but the load is much higher.

Also, remember that we get our fluids tested, and are, literally, using the most expensive fluids available. If you want to run this kind of interval, DO NOT do it without gtting your fliuds tested at an appropriate lab.

take a pro driver's school FIRST !!
 

Please let a former Skip Barber school instructor and 30 year SCCA racer (including a regional championship) make a few suggestions :
1. do absolutely nothing to your car before your first NASA or SCCA track day. that's right, nothing.
2. the reason for this advice is you need to experience what your car and YOU can do, right out of the box, before you make any changes
These are fabulous track cars - STOCK !!
Let me give you a real-world example:
I have run 44 track days in my STOCK BRZ. the ONLY mod. to this car is a set of BFG G-Force Rival tires. I regularly run at Miller M.S. Park in SLC with guys who have spent $10000 + on their cars for superchargers, coil-overs, wings, aero skirts, wheels, yadda, yadda. They are all SLOWER than, or only very slightly (in the dry) faster than my STOCK car !! and I am old enough to be all of their fathers !
All of them should have spent their hard earned $$ on a pro drivers school : Skip Barber, Bondurant, etc. and learned how to drive first. Any a__hole can hammer the throttle on the straight. You become smooth, fast and a much better driver in the corners.

Fine advice, but this thread is about prepping the car...

Sorry in advance for being a ****, but why the fuck do you keep saying 4/32" tread instead of just 1/8"?!?!... My inner engineer just died a little bit.

Other than that good writeup though.

Because tread is measured in 1/32" increments...

Not even brake pads?

Even so, do people honestly say they have 16/32" of tread and not just a half inch? I believe the tolerance cutoff is 1/32" not the measurement standard... Anyway, off-topic move along.

Yes, you always say you have 'x/32' tread remaining when referring to tread depth. If you've ever seen a tread depth measurement tool, they are marked in 1/32" increments.

seriously.

Lowest common denominator isn't always faster either.

He must not be braking hard enough since my first couple times out I used the stock pads and had lots of fade as they got too hot. ;)

On a side note Mike I have AX6 pads for the rear, but my fronts are shot along with my rotors (new stock rotors already installed). I'd rather just buy new front pads for track days for now until I save up enough for the AP racing endurance kit. I'm assuming XP10 is what you'd recommend for the front on RE-11a tires with 250whp? My rear AX6 pads have lots of life left.

Fair enough, you guys keep doing whatever you do... At my work 1/64 is the smallest common increment, but I know that if I denoted a part as 8/64" instead of 1/8" I'd get slapped from here to next week :iono:

It's not doing whatever we do...it's the way tire industry measures tread depth. I work in the tire industry. It's all I've been doing for 10 years. Tread depth is measured in 32nds, always. Just the way it is and has always been.

Now, if you're measuring distance for something? Well...yeah, no sense in using 16/32, 8/16, 4/8, etc...

I would say that's the exact definition of "doing whatever you do". Tire guys use 32nds... ergo. keep doing whatever you do. :thumbsup:

http://rainiernew.wpengine.com/yurts...now_banner.jpg

I know @regandr and he only runs upgraded brake fluid and tires. He does a VERY good job of keeping up with me and @enivid, even with his nearly stock car. It is a testament to his skill and experience.

For what it's worth, I have a great pic that my wife took of three of us standing around listening to Don drop knowledge on us. We appreciate his instruction and apply little tidbits of information at every opportunity. My braking has become smoother (my biggest struggle regarding weight transfer is smooth brake release), Andy had a revelation regarding his tire pressures, and I'm not sure what Mike is doing but he sure is thinking hard in the pic!

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7690/...90cdf3b9_z.jpgIMG_4350 by zdr93523, on Flickr


And yea, we spent a lot of money on the cars, but half of the enjoyment in owning these cars is playing with them, whether it is driving or modding. At least we don't have non-functional mods.

@regandr Why don't you compete in TTD and win some tires or brakes or whatever contingency program you want to participate in? What were your times on the West track last month?
@CSG Mike What's the typical time separation between the NA Stock class and FI Super Mod cars in 86 Cup? 8 seconds is about the average from what I can surmise. So, we're not exactly throttle hammering a___holes (like GTR & 911 Turbo drivers) like it has been insinuated.

I'm not an asshole.....I don't think....

Took your original comment a different way. :D

I hear you, the internet is full of enough angry douchebags, I try not to be one when I can help it. Cheers mate!:cheers:

If you're comparing the fastest unlimited class car, vs the fastest stock car (driven by a GT Academy winner), it's about 8 seconds on a 2 minute track. It's not a lot, considering the unlimited class cars all have 30k+ in them in just modifications...

The current (soon to be fastest) "most points" car is not quite dialed in, yet.

Well, here's the dilemma. A more aggressive front pad means the front will be doing even MORE work, which means the rear pad will last even longer, because it's barely being used. Meanwhile, the front pad doing more work will soon be doing all the work (well like 95% of it) if you do a XP10/AX6 stagger, which results in faster wearing front pads.

How long did your front AX6 last you? I wouldn't recommend going more than a XP8/AX6 stagger, because the front bias will be massive if you go more than that.

I think the AX6 lasted 6 track days. The last track day was a double as I was sharing my car so it had back to back sessions. At the end of the day the front pads were very worn near the top and much less worn at the bottom. The top must have been getting really hot. The front rotors had spider web-ish looking marks all over them too. The last session the brakes felt like they were pulsing on their own, which I figured was the rotors were warped because of the heat. I'm sure the totally uneven pad wear didn't help as well. I guess that's what I get for doing double track duty, which is probably worse that 2 separate track days as the car has more time to cool off.

You definitely overheated the pads, based on the tapered wear and pulsing/shuttering. I'd recommend changing both front and rears to a race compound; the AX6 is really meant for AutoX and aggressive street applications only.

If you like the feel of the AX6, try Carbotech XP10 front/rear.

Sorry guys from Miller. I had no intention of offending you. I like you guys and did not mean to imply any of you guys were posteriors. on the contrary.
I think you missed my point. Since lap times are very important to you (that's why you run in TT) and I couldnt care less about lap times (been there and done that), I suggest that everybody who wants to go faster needs a serious school. Not a NASA school, not an SCCA school.
Anybody who wants faster times needs to learn how to drive the corners fast. That's what they teach you. Anybody can hammer it on the straights.
I understand that you want to tinker with the cars. However, Andy(?) has made so many changes that he has messed up an otherwise great car.
A good school will also teach you how to analyse what a car is doing in order to set it up.

Slight offtopic. Hmm, don't know about industry standards regarding measuring thread .. on this side of pond i am used to doing that in mm (and also have minimum thread depth specified in mm for winter/summer tyres in driving rules too). About only things that still are measured in imperial units in these metric countries are plumbing tubing sizing (including threads for them) and diameters of car wheels :)

Is the brake bleeding procedure for the twins standard furthest to closest or something weird?

Standard procedure.

You can do it in any order really, if you're thorough.

Great advise, I would love additional instruction. I wish I had a resource like yourself locally with lots of track experience in a BRZ. I would love pro driving schools, but there are not any close enough for me to bring my own car to and I can't afford the $2k a day schools. If you have other ideas on schools that one can go to, I would for sure like to know! I like winter "racecations".

Hey everyone, just looking to get opinions here.

I'm prepping my car for HPDE, track and autoX events which is the main reason I got the car.

So far here's what I have prepped before hitting out the first time.

Mishimoto oil cooler
Koyo rad - running water + Mocool
5w-40 300V - engine oil
Gear 300 - transmission oil
Gear 300 LS - diff oil
RBF660 - brake fluid
Ferrodo DS2500
Stainless brake lines
Stainless clutch line
Brake stopper
Aim Solo DL

Is there anything else I should have done to the car before hitting the track for the first time?

I wouldn't run water in your cooling system unless you're planning on changing it often. The cooling system is more than capable and you're loosing the anti-corrosion additives in the normal coolant. And if you forget about the water and temps go below freezing...new engine block.

The oil cooler is smart, but unless you're forced induction, the 40-weight oil probably isn't doing you any favors. 5W-30 is probably more appropriate.

300LS is only needed if you have a clutch-type LSD, if you have the stock Torsen diff regular Gear 300 is fine. You should be fine with it for now though, it's just convenient only needing one type when doing fluid changes.

The DS2500 are more of a hybrid pad I believe, if you're really tracking hard you may want to upgrade to a better track pad. There are any number of opinions/options on that. I use the PMU Club Racers, lots of folks use Carbotech XP10/12, etc.

I'm going to be using the stock tires would the XP10's be too aggressive?

i used xp8 front ax6 rear with upgraded fluid and was happy. today i have a stoptech bbk up front and do xp8/ax6 still. i will be getting temp info for the first time at a new track on monday (unless it's rainy) - 5/6 of my track days this year have rained...

particularly being first time out, and i don't know how aggressive you've played around on the street or elsewhere, i wouldn't think you would be needing xp10.

i have oil posts here but a consolidated post using track data and the forester oil cooler is here - http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums...topics/3739658

Just curious if you've determined what sockets you take, or do you just take a full compliment of 3/8" and 1/2" metric sockets?


I want to put together as small as possible kit for HPDE and AutoX.

You definitely don't need a full set of sockets. I think you can get away with about 5 or 6 starting at 12mm. That will let you tackle pretty much anything brake or wheel related.

Maybe a little. If you're on stock tires you can try the DS2500 for a track day or two (they'll be just fine for street/autox). I'm less familiar with the Carbotech line but if you're going to upgrade tires in the future, it doesn't hurt to have some overhead in the brakes. I'd recommend same compound front/rear.

I would at least start at 10mm, and bring a 12, 14, 17, and 19. I'd also bring at least an adjustable wrench. That covers pretty much the entire car minus the axle nuts.

I have a small tool bag always in the car with these: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005G5263I?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailp age_o09_s00"]Craftsman 8 pc. Metric Dual Ratcheting Wrench Set - Combination Wrenches - Amazon.com[/ame] (plus an adjustable wrench), air gauge, tread gauge, multi-screwdriver, and mechanic's gloves.
I also keep this in the car (originally bought to do the springs/struts): [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Kobalt-Xtreme-Access-drive-socket/dp/B008A24EES/ref=pd_sim_469_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=088CJ0804J87382A8Q 5A"]Kobalt Xtreme Access 14 pc 3/8 in drive socket set - Socket Wrenches - Amazon.com[/ame] and leave my large ratchet set at home.

I have a separate, larger "track day" tool bag where I keep a spare set of brake pads, unopened bottle of brake fluid, a quart of oil, and some random other stuff.

Not at all, but you will need a few runs to get used to the additional bite. If you street drive with them, then you'll get used to it before you autox.

I take these:

1/4
5.5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14

3/8
10 12 14

1/2
14 17 19 21 27 32

I have a few others that are not FRS/BRZ specific as well, but these will cover 99% of what you need on the car. You may want to carry multiple versions (shallow/deep), extensions, swivels, and wrenches.