19th Sept. - Croft Track Day
Discussion
hobo said:
Its quite funny really, you get a hundred people who will turn up to park thier cars in a field all day on a sunday, but only about 10 interested in actually doing what thier cars are made for, going fast on a track (and its local).
Bizarre
Not really - going for a blast into the countryside and having a bit of a laff costs only petrol.
A trackday... if you go for it properly will cost you a set of tyres and a set of pads, plus the initial £150 and fuel. It could easy add up to a £500 jaunt.
Plus... I know a lot of people are, and I know a lot of people are not but still do it anyway... but my insurance company will not cover me for track days.
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have a go, but the potential for knacking the car is just too great I'm afraid.
al.
burriana500 said:
hobo said:
Its quite funny really, you get a hundred people who will turn up to park thier cars in a field all day on a sunday, but only about 10 interested in actually doing what thier cars are made for, going fast on a track (and its local).
Bizarre
Not really - going for a blast into the countryside and having a bit of a laff costs only petrol.
A trackday... if you go for it properly will cost you a set of tyres and a set of pads, plus the initial £150 and fuel. It could easy add up to a £500 jaunt.
Plus... I know a lot of people are, and I know a lot of people are not but still do it anyway... but my insurance company will not cover me for track days.
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have a go, but the potential for knacking the car is just too great I'm afraid.
al.
I think that you are being a little pescimistic there Al. TVR's are light cars with good brakes, so one track day is unlikely to bugger the pads. Likewise the tyres. I have pretty much got a seasons racing out of a single set of soft race tyres (actually not used a set of pads yet either). Road tyres will last much longer, and you possibly wouldn't be caning it quite as hard. Finally, the chances of injuring the car at a place like Croft are very small as there is nothing to hit and all of the high speed areas are well protected. I'm not saying that it can't happen, but the chances are very small.
[hypocrite mode]However, I do take my race car rather than the Honda - but that does have a lot to do with it just being more fun on the track despite a very large power disadvantage over the road car. I do realise that I am part of the reason why people are getting turned off track days in their road cars these days however
[/hypocrite mode] I'm not saying that you are wrong, just that it is very easy to get carried away with the negatives, and miss out on the positives.
As there will be a few PHers at this day- I would strongly recommend anyone who has always fancied doing a day to come along to spectate and see what it is really all about. It is sessioned so there will be plenty of people waiting to go out to chat with etc.
[safety first mode]Last point is that it is usually more than the car that gets hurt in a road smash. Insurance is pretty worthless if you hurt yourself on a hoon, especially if the injury could be long term. The place to push on is the track[/safety first mode]
Here endeth the lecture
. Rich
Edit to add the bit about spectating - it's free!
>> Edited by daydreamer on Wednesday 1st September 09:20
You can have a bit of a laugh in a Mini, but you chose to buy a Ferrari, and myself TVR.
With regards to tyres. You are going to shred them whether you are driving fast on the road or fast on the track, although obviously greater speeds are obtained on the track & therefore this happens. Ditto for pads, etc.
BUT, and its quite a big but, the track is the safest way to see what your car is capable of, i.e, speed/handling, etc, which is probably the reason for the original purchase.
Insurance. Unfortunately like yourself, my insurers do not cover track days, but this can be obtained elsewhere (for whatever value you require - not the value of the car), or you can not bother with it. Assuming you use your head then this is probably not a requirement (as most insurers do not cover gearbox damage, which is probably the most likely apart from crash).
In summary, everyone to thier own, but just seems a little odd to me that huge amounts of people do not endulge in a bit of tracking from time to time, in what are race-bred machines. After all, when you purchase these kind of cars you do expect spend a little more than the norm of tyres, etc.
p.s You could always come watch/have passenger rides
With regards to tyres. You are going to shred them whether you are driving fast on the road or fast on the track, although obviously greater speeds are obtained on the track & therefore this happens. Ditto for pads, etc.
BUT, and its quite a big but, the track is the safest way to see what your car is capable of, i.e, speed/handling, etc, which is probably the reason for the original purchase.
Insurance. Unfortunately like yourself, my insurers do not cover track days, but this can be obtained elsewhere (for whatever value you require - not the value of the car), or you can not bother with it. Assuming you use your head then this is probably not a requirement (as most insurers do not cover gearbox damage, which is probably the most likely apart from crash).
In summary, everyone to thier own, but just seems a little odd to me that huge amounts of people do not endulge in a bit of tracking from time to time, in what are race-bred machines. After all, when you purchase these kind of cars you do expect spend a little more than the norm of tyres, etc.
p.s You could always come watch/have passenger rides
Just to add my two-penny worth.
On the track:
As for tyres and brakes I would say a track day will take 500 - 1000 miles off them. Doing this in a timely manor i.e. when your tyres are ready for a change anyway costs nothing in tyre wear.
On the track:
- there's nothing coming in the other direction.
- there's no motorbikes.
- there's no curbs.
- there are people trained to help you if you have a problem.
- if you have a problem flags are waved to protect you from others.
- overtaking is strictly controlled to striates only.
- bad boys are black flagged and never get back on the track.
- spin on the track and everyone laughs at you spin on the road and you are very likely to hurt yourself and your car.
As for tyres and brakes I would say a track day will take 500 - 1000 miles off them. Doing this in a timely manor i.e. when your tyres are ready for a change anyway costs nothing in tyre wear.
OK - maybe a bit over pessimistic on the tyres and brakes front on the TVRs.
It still remains, for me anyway, the lack of insurance. I would seriously like to have a go don't get me wrong and if I was keeping the Griff I probably would... best not though now it's just had a shiny new coat of paint ready to sell eh
It still remains, for me anyway, the lack of insurance. I would seriously like to have a go don't get me wrong and if I was keeping the Griff I probably would... best not though now it's just had a shiny new coat of paint ready to sell eh
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