I wish I knew...

1. what's your tire temperature difference (outside/inside of front/rear) on track and on street? is 10F difference outside to inside on street driving to much?

2. what's your tire temperature difference front to rear? I have rear temp higher than front, ~5F, normal? how can i make them even?

thanks!

How much drop would you recommend on a set of coilovers (Ohlins Road and Track to be specific) that will see around 10 track days a year and will be daily driven the rest of the time? I'm not really concerned with how it looks, lap times and not scraping on every imperfection on the road are more important to me.

I haven't specifically set up ride height on that particular coilover. However, as with every other coilover, it's highly dependent on how well you can compensate for having a roll center that's a bit lowered (increased response time to input is a simple way to explain the effect).

Don't focus on the drop as much as getting the dampers dialed to your taste.

To me, a street car is too low if you gotta worry about scraping. Since it's a daily driven car, make the daily driver aspects primary, and tracking secondary.

Temps depend on the tire used and the rims (width) used. We're optimized for 225/235 tires on 9" rims at the moment, with a spread of 5-15F depending on run time and ambient temps. With 8" rims, outer edges are generally way hotter than the inside and centers.

Higher rear temps isn't a bad thing... I struggle with higher front temps.

10F difference street driving means you probably don't have enough camber for on-track use. Street driving, our car is "warm" on the inside, and cool center and outside. This is purely due to sidewall flex from camber; we run 0 toe front/rear.

Is 17x9 on 225 too much stretching in your opinion? Not worried about the wheel popping off the bead? 225 tires are rated with max wheel width of 8.5'', but it's almost impossible to find wheels in 8.5'' 5x100. Any suspension parts rubbing on 17x9?

What's the hotness in track tire at the moment? Rivals? RS3?

I may be guilty of running 225 on a 9", but these are with tires that are known to run wide...

My tire of choice is still the RS3.

In the Miata world, running a 15x9 with a 225 tire is a very popular setup with the track guys.

Bump. I know there's gotta be more questions :)

ok heres one. im going to tsukuba in a couple weeks. gona be my first time at a track. any tips?

Take it slow, keep the car under control. Tsukuba has walls...

Make sure you got good brake pads and fluid. Otherwise, have fun!

How softly do you grip your steering wheel?

Do you, at all, "hang on" to the steering wheel during hard cornering?

Do I need a full face helmet or will my open face helmet suffice?

I used to. I had to force myself to relax... constantly remind myself to just hold the steering wheel enough to keep in control. Eventually, it becomes natural.

That depends on the organization and track; you'll want to check with the organizer of your particular event.

I think this is why I am so bad at correcting for a spin... I grip the steering wheel and hold on for dear life when the tail end is comin round. :bonk:

I got into a (bad) habit of just letting go of the steering wheel, and catching it when the car's balance "feels right".

I really have no idea where I picked it up, but from what I'm told, it's a drifter thing?

In the s2k, If I do this, it's almost 100% guaranteed that it'll result in an overcorrection and a spin in the other direction, but with the FRS/BRZ, I can unwind and recenter at will.

What senses do you rely on when you track? Can you rate them from most important to least important?

eg., visual, feedback from steering wheel, etc.

Feedback from the chassis (seat aka butt dyno)
Feedback from the steering wheel (what I see vs what I feel vs where the wheels are pointed)
Visual (gotta see where I'm going, and be aware of what's AROUND me [not just in front])
Auditory (does anything sound off? Tires making noise? Do I hear other cars? Is anything dragging?)
Smell (do I smell anything overheating? burning?)

Don't use taste though.

chicken! we need to get you out east of the shop and get you and your car DIRTY at the lucern drylake bed!

Sounds like an invitation :happy0180:

Yikes! Never let go.

This has got to be a meme somewhere :lol:

Sometimes it's al you can do :(

A la titanic

Which SA rated helmet would you recommend in terms of weight and price?

@CSG Mike

Still sort of new to the brake pad world. Canyou shed some light for me on how to determine remaining pad life? I have a set of HP+ pads with 2 track days on them that I used on OEM tires. Frankly, they look great to me, but I want to make sure I'm not missing something a more experienced eye would catch. I can take pictures if you'd like as well.

What's your budget? This is one area where I'd spend as much as possible; you only get one chance in protecting your noggin. A lighter helmet will result in less fatigue on your neck.

Also, try on as many as you can, so that you can find one that fits your head best. It's kind of like how everyone's head is either an Arai or Shoei shape.

I go by visual inspection. Pad life remaining can be determined by pad thickness. You *CAN* run the pads to the backing on most makes, but you don't want to score the rotors by having the backing actually touch the rotor (this is indicated by a grinding sound and shuddering feel in the pedal). Street pads typically have indicators built in that will cause noise when you get low (around 2mm pad material typically). New pads are usually 10-11mm (pad material) thick, unless you run a BBK like the AP Racing BBK we run, which uses 16mm pads (for virtually the same price!).

If you take the pads off, you can see if there are signs of glazing/fading. If you post pictures, I'll be more than happy to give you my feedback.

I'd say $500 or so. I know that's not Arai SA helmet budget. Maybe a Bell or HJC? I've read that the HJC Si-12 is one of the lighest out there.

I have an HJC AR-10-II and I love it! No weight issues, neck is completely fine after a full track weekend.

Hmmm that's the range I spent on my helmet. I have a Simpson (although I fear I may have bought into the name.... due to the prowess of their marketing dept. giving the Stig a Simpson).

I did purchase before my first track day ever...

The HJC is pretty solid, and is something we can get for you.

What about the taste of victory?

There are too many fast drivers (and cars) out there for me to have sampled the sweet taste of victory, yet. I need to get faster.

Does waching Initial D help improve your driving?

Yes. Gutter technique works.

Do Aluminum Lug Nuts have problems on the track i.e. loosen up and fell off?

Quote:
Originally Posted by iLuveKetchup
Does waching Initial D help improve your driving?
Yes. Gutter technique works.

Ha ha! Lol
I need to go back and watch it some more....

My FRS is lowered on Eibach ProKits with Koni Yellows. I have some 18x7.5+48 Volk SE37 w/ some cheap Falken 225/40 rubber on them and also running 20-30mm spacers for cosmetic reasons.

Going to bring the car out for the first track event at Willow Springs this coming Saturday for the Dynamic Driving Academy 2.

1) Should I run it on the stock wheels/tires instead of my what I have now? (I don't mind burning through my current tires)

2) Should I remove the spacers for the track event/training?

Torque is torque, the holding power of Aluminum and Steel/Chromoly/whatever is all the same as long as you torque to the same amount.

The differences are in weight, and resistance to damage. Aluminum lugs are more easily damaged by overtorquing, and Titanium lugs are brittle; neither should be impacted.

That being said, we use our own CSG Aluminum lugnuts on all of our cars. They're shockingly light.

Either run your stock tires, or take your spacers off (for clearance reasons). The choice is yours :)