First Track Day In 10+ yrs.

[John Laverick]

Randomly booked Donington with my mate this coming Saturday in my 987 Boxster.

My last bike day was about 8 yrs ago and the last car day probably 12/13!! Has much changed that I need to know about?

[alfa-alex]

Online briefing since the start of covid is probably the biggest change!
A lot of people taking it a little too seriously is maybe the other.

Hope you have a great day!

Alex

[phazed]

You will love it in the Boxster. They do handle well on track.

Make sure the oil is kept well topped up, keep an eye on tyre pressures and make sure you have decent brake pads if this is just a one off.

I did Cadwell Park and Castle Combe last year in my 987.1 and will be doing more this year to supplement my normal track car activities. For this reason I keep a spare set of wheels with triple 8’s and a set of track day pads which I slip in for the day.

Enjoy……..

[John Laverick]

phazed said:

You will love it in the Boxster. They do handle well on track.

Make sure the oil is kept well topped up, keep an eye on tyre pressures and make sure you have decent brake pads if this is just a one off.

I did Cadwell Park and Castle Combe last year in my 987.1 and will be doing more this year to supplement my normal track car activities. For this reason I keep a spare set of wheels with triple 8’s and a set of track day pads which I slip in for the day.

Enjoy……..

I've had dedicated track cars in the past and the Boxster is a road car so I have a good idea where its limitations might be.

I did wonder whether my standard road brakes will be up to the job, its got new OEM spec. BREMBO pads in it. Will see how they get on this time around.

[phazed]

I reckon everything will be fine on it.

I drove mine fairly flat out at Cadwell Park, going out as often as possible and it was just dandy!

My few seconds claim to fame at 4.50. The camera car was taking it easy so he could film his mate in the GT3.

Staying in front of my friends TVR.

https://youtu.be/MsXWB3V7YyI

[px1980]

phazed said:

You will love it in the Boxster. They do handle well on track.

Make sure the oil is kept well topped up, keep an eye on tyre pressures and make sure you have decent brake pads if this is just a one off.

I did Cadwell Park and Castle Combe last year in my 987.1 and will be doing more this year to supplement my normal track car activities. For this reason I keep a spare set of wheels with triple 8’s and a set of track day pads which I slip in for the day.

Enjoy……..

How do you bring the track wheels to the track? Or do you store them on site?

[phazed]

Cadwell last summer.



My wife thinks it’s great to have a Motorhome to go away together. Strangely it gets used for Track Days more! Arrive the night before at about 11 pm, go to bed and wake up refreshed. Misses the traffic on the way as well.

I did treat her to a long weekend away at Anglesey before. I took the car as well of course!

[px1980]

phazed said:

Cadwell last summer.



My wife thinks it’s great to have a Motorhome to go away together. Strangely it gets used for Track Days more! Arrive the night before at about 11 pm, go to bed and wake up refreshed. Misses the traffic on the way as well.

I did treat her to a long weekend away at Anglesey before. I took the car as well of course!

Nice!
I don’t own or have room for a trailer, and I wondered if there was a magic way to bring a set of 18” track wheels in the car you drive to, on and from track but obviously no…

[phazed]

I fit a set of triple 8’s to mine. I would quite happily drive to Track as most people do on them. Change them at home, do the day, and drive back.



With my TVR before I bought a second set of wheels, I drove with triple 8’s as a daily tyre.

[px1980]

phazed said:

I fit a set of triple 8’s to mine. I would quite happily drive to Track as most people do on them. Change them at home, do the day, and drive back.



With my TVR before I bought a second set of wheels, I drove with triple 8’s as a daily tyre.

My first reaction was “but what if it’s wet, surely a tyre like this isn’t good for motorway driving in the rain”.
But then if motorway is going to be wet then so will the track and you probably want to keep the PS4S (or whatever else is your wet tyre) on when you’re deciding the night before

[phazed]

Quite true. I would do that but I wouldn’t worry about the triple 8’s on the road, they really aren’t that bad.

Saying that, I had a new set fitted and travelling up the M40 to an event, changed down into 4th to pass some cars, (In my old 5.5 TVR) and got wheel spin at about 85 mph. Quickly recovered but did the rest of the journey on very light throttle openings. At least the Porsche has traction control.

[Dynion Araf Uchaf]

phazed said:

Cadwell last summer.



My wife thinks it’s great to have a Motorhome to go away together. Strangely it gets used for Track Days more! Arrive the night before at about 11 pm, go to bed and wake up refreshed. Misses the traffic on the way as well.

I did treat her to a long weekend away at Anglesey before. I took the car as well of course!

is yours a front engined boxster then?

[phazed]

Nope. Boxster is fairly 50/50.

Also Motorhome is about 3 tonnes!

[phazed]

Thinking about it, I sometimes remove the trailer with the car on it and there is plenty of nose weight.

Mid engined I guess….

[Dynion Araf Uchaf]

hmm, I'd say that car should be reversed on to the trailer ( there's always going to be weight on the nose if there is a car on it) and that you need to be careful about your gross train weight. You'll be very close to 3.5 tonnes ( Boxster 1350kg (min but more like 1450 with fuel and spares), trailer 450-500 kg) that only leaves you 1600kg for the camper. Min kerb weight of a panel van Transit is 1700kg...

Also camper looks like the 2.4 diesel which doesn't really have enough power, but maybe its a turbo. 35-40 mph up hills is not fun ( I've been there)

[phazed]

Actually a turbo diesel, not powerful but will cruise at 60 all day long. Long hills of course………

Looking out for a 3.0 Motorhome at the moment so that will be so much better.

Out of interest, next time the trailer is loaded I will calculate the nose weight.

[Dynion Araf Uchaf]

phazed said:

Actually a turbo diesel, not powerful but will cruise at 60 all day long. Long hills of course………

Looking out for a 3.0 Motorhome at the moment so that will be so much better.

Out of interest, next time the trailer is loaded I will calculate the nose weight.

3.0 will be better for power, but still doesn't solve your gross train weight issue.
If you have a crash, the police will check overall weight, train weight, nose weight, correctly loaded, correctly strapped down and all other things. If you are overweight you are driving without insurance which could mean prison time if you are unlucky enough to be involved in a fatal accident.

[JP__FOX]

Dynion Araf Uchaf said:

3.0 will be better for power, but still doesn't solve your gross train weight issue.

Are you trying to suggest anything being towed needs to have a GTW of under 3.5T? As that is not the case.

[phazed]

All very interesting, thank you.

I will look into this today and see what actual figures I come up with!

[Dynion Araf Uchaf]

JP__FOX said:

Are you trying to suggest anything being towed needs to have a GTW of under 3.5T? As that is not the case.

no, there are two things to consider, the towing capacity of your vehicle and the licensing issues you have if you only have a normal car license. 3.5t is the max on a car license, but yes you can tow more if you've taken the appropriate tests. However I am not going into a debate on towing legalities, there are plenty of threads on PH to cover this.

I looked at the pic of the boxster on the trailer and thought 'that looks wrong' both in how it is loaded, and overall weight/towing capacity. I don't know if Phazer has an additional towing license. If he does then that helps, but you still have to be within the towing limits of your rig.