First Trackday Prep
 

I just signed up for a track day on 3/31 at Streets of Willow. Now, the car was purchased last sunday and only hit 100 miles today. I will try to reach 1K miles before pulling onto the track. I also plan on running the factory equipment Michelins for this maiden track day.

Questions:

1. Should I change the oil before or after the track day?

2. I plan on flushing the brake fluid with a higher spec fluid the day before. Either with Motul or the Super Blue stuff. Should I be looking into changing the brake pads as well, or would the stocks last me the day and get me back home?

3. What kind of tire pressures should I run for the Michelins? Again, they have to last the day and get me back home.

4. Anything that I should be looking into or out for before and after the trackday in terms of service to the car.

Before.

Better to change the front pads with racepads.

Start at the stock setting, then adjust accordingly.

I would recommend you changing out all the fluids before, and have fun!

Changing the brake fluid is probably unnecessary unless you're an over-braker. The stock fluid should handle it since it's so new and has little water in it. The brake pads should definitely get swapped to race pads then back again after the track day. I'd leave the oil. It's new. After the track day, consider changing the oil a bit earlier because of the abuse, maybe at 5k.

Of course you can be totally anal and change everything, but I think that's just a waste of fluids and an environmental no-no.

I think changing the factory brake fluid to a DOT4 synthetic is essential for track. The stock fluid boils over VERY easily just after a few laps, that's from personal experience. Same thing with the stock brake pads, they faded after several laps. I wasn't even going 100% as far as braking is concerned.

I would change the engine oil before the track day. Reason being is that a new engine during break-in will have a lot of aluminum and junk from the manufacturing/building process that contaminates the oil. Look at some threads on here of people who sent their oil out to be analyzed around 1000 miles and the results were staggering with the amount of aluminum and junk in the oil. Way too high. I changed my oil at 1000 miles before a track day, and the car ran smoother and quieter after the oil change, definitely a noticeable difference. Just my two pennies :)

Stock fluid is NOT designed for track duty. It should be swapped out, and brake fluid is cheap anyways, even the racing stuff.

see: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25485

We can supply your pads and fluids :)

That's false, the fluid will boil and you will loose brake, and trust me that is not a good thing.

In my experience the stock brake fluid will last you a single track day, with luck. I did two with it, and couldn't make the most out of the second due to it, the brake pedal became super soft by the middle of the day and I had to start braking earlier and earlier each corner.

I'm not sure how worn out my stock pads are though (waiting for new pads and fluid to arrive in the mail).

Like @CSG Mike said, do yourself a favor and put some aftermarket brake fluid and pads. At the end of a day, it's a safety concern. Taking a chance on stock pads and fluid in a racing environment can be dangerous once your brake pedal goes to the floor. Who wants to total their new FR-S/BRZ? Not me!

Thanks for the advice guys. I was hoping that the stock pads would be sufficient as I'm trying to make the first track day as "economical" as possible. I did just drop a big chunk of change on down payment. Although I don't want to waste my time going to the track if the stock pads or fluid wont even hold up for a few laps. I'm sure you guys know exactly what I'm getting at.

What do you guys think of the new Mobil 1 oil they got at Walmart? The fuel conserving kind. Is it crap? The oil filter should last through the track day. I plan on upping the viscosity to 0w-30 for the trackday then bringing my car for the complimentary 1000mile oil change at the dealer soon after.

I haven't really driven a car like this in this fashion (a sporty compact car as fast as it will go) in a very long time, so upgrading to expensive components will be a waste right now. Just trying to relearn how to drive a car on the track for now. Expensive brakes, suspension tires etc will come later once I get aquatinted with Pearl(my FR-S).

Btw I just ordered some stoptech pads and some ate blue stuff. I hope this will be sufficient. Cheers! :) see you guys on the tracks!

If you ordered Stoptech street pads, do yourself a favor and cancel your order. You just sidestepped from the OEM pads.

Even if you're new to the track, you'll be subjecting the car to race-like conditions, and should be running race pads. You bought racing brake fluid right? :)

We have the perfect entry level race pads for beginners ;)

1. Change the oil before you go to the track. Mobil 1 is very good oil, and 0W30 is the weight I would recommend for the track

2. ATE Super Blue is a good choice and will allow you to see when you have completely replaced the stock fluid. Depending on your skill level, the length of the track and number of heavy braking zones, you might have been able to get by with stock pads. Yes they may fade some, but I drove my first few driving schools like that years ago and just had to adjust braking distances. Still, a set of race pads will be better and a safer alternative.

The stock tires are not grippy at all, and so do not stress the brakes as much as stickier rubber. Also, novice drivers can usually get by with lesser brakes because they don't always carry the same speed. Remember, you can learn a LOT of good proper driving technique at the track by driving a little slower and smoother than the maximum speed, and it is easier on components and wallets. In my experience, you can drive home with brake pads as long as 3 or 4 mm is left, and there are no other brake issues [but this is different for different pad compounds, so it may not always work].

The stock pads are quite good for low-medium speed events, but if the track has higher speeds then you will probably want race pads even if you are a novice. If you decide to go with stock pads, I would bring another set of pads as a backup just in case. If you are going to bring a race pad as a second set, then put them in and use the stock pads as a backup. Note that race pads MUST be properly broken in to work correctly. Follow the manufacturer's instructions. Some race pads need to be broken in on the track, and if this is the case with yours, then wait until you are at the track to install them.

3. Start with stock tire pressures and adjust as needed. Look at the wear on the tires after the first session, if the wear marks go onto the sidewall, increase the pressure. If not, you are probably good with the stock pressure. Also, having the tires filled with nitrogen is a great benefit as this gas is not as affected by heat, and is usually drier than common air. With nitrogen fill, you still adjust the air pressure in the tires with common air, unless you can get a nitrogen tank (unnecessary).

For a multi-day event, check the wear on the outer edge of the front tires. If it is significantly more than the outer edge of the rear tires, then rotate them for the second day, swapping fronts and rears, but keeping them on the same side of the car.

4. Here is a link to the tech form that our club uses for any car going to a track event. It may be just slightly out of date but is still in use. Some of the items on the form will be non-issue because the car is so new.

http://www.northstarbmw.org/forms/tech_inspection.pdf

At the track, be aware of your car with all of your senses, and check things out if something seems amiss. Be aware that will such a new car you may smell some odd odors that are actually of no concern, just new car stuff getting hot for the first time. If you can, find a friend who has experience with this to help you out with this if necessary.

After the event, check all of these things again, just to make sure everything came through in good condition.

I do not like the stock oil, so when it comes time to replace the oil after the event, I would use aftermarket oil (like Mobil 1 0W-20) instead of going to the dealer [my own bias here].

These cars hold up just fine on the track. I spoke to a few other 86 drivers at the track last weekend and most of them were all stock. They all held up great. Even an instructor was mentioning to me how well his stock brake pads and fluid were holding up. The tires are gonna be the weakest link. I ran 40psi cold and that just kept the tires from rolling over. No problems at all with the stock pads. I did run DOT4 just in case. Just remember to concentrate on driving the line and driving smoothly and have fun.

Be wary of "instructors". Everyone is an instructor, and there are plenty of bad ones out there. Listen to what a LOT of people have to say, and pick and choose what you believe. There's a lot of bad/false information out there.

I read that the stoptechs were a step up from the stocks as far as stopping power and durability under track conditions is concerned. Which pads do you recommend?