Track day wear and tear

[barneyb123]

Hi folks, I'm new to petrol heads so apologies if this has been posted before! Hello anyway :-)

I'm hoping to start attending track days and was looking for some advice with regards to the standard of car I should look for any any general tips or things I should be aware of! I've been thinking of getting something circa £1-2k to start with like a Mk2 MR2 Turbo, am I going to end up blowing it up after a few laps or is this kind of car I should be looking at? Also what areas of the car will get the most abuse? I expect the tyres and brakes will get a lot of wear but what else normally goes and is there anything I should be looking to fit to the car to prevent these things from happening?

[Matt UK]

At your budget an MX5 or MR2 would be a good bit of fun.

Tyres and brakes will wear as hard as you use them, same with everything else. You decide how hard you are going to drive your car.

Just check that your car is fit and healthy, fluids and consumables are as they need to be and drive at a pace you and the car are happy with. Take a break every 15 mins or so, check things over to see how the car is doing and remember you don't have to thrash the nuts off the car if you don't want to.

[Mattt]

Evo have a Track Day guide covering all the basics out this month, have a look through.

[barneyb123]

Thanks for the replys, ill have a look at evo to get abit more info, i have seen that club msv do a track day for novices / begineers, do you think its best doing a track day for novices to begin with or will i ok just to go straight in to a standard track day for all experiences.

[wackojacko]

Mattt said:

Evo have a Track Day guide covering all the basics out this month, have a look through.

very good to read up even if you're a trackday veteran.

I'd say MX5 or MR2 or an old BMW of some sort would be a good toy.

Aslong as it's been serviced properly and looked after, decent set of tyres , maybe upgraded fluid and pads and you should be fine. Usually trackdays are broken up into 20 or 30 minute sessions unless they're 'open pitlane' events but even so half hour on track at a time is plenty and should be relatively bareable for a Standard road car aslong as it's left to cool down properly after your 30min outing the engine terms should be fine.

[aww999]

I started out on trackdays with a Mk1 Mr2. I would avoid a cheap Mk2 turbo, but a non-turbo Mk2 would be a good bet I think. Not only will you get a better one for your budget, but the non-turbo lump will put less strain on the cooling system, brakes and tyres. You won't be blazing past people on the straights (but you will be going plenty quick enough to have fun!), but it would make a good car to learn in and you will soon be catching people in the bends.

Don't worry about super-sticky tyres to start with, as they are expensive and not really necessary for a beginner in my experience. I would recommend improving the brakes as much as possible, certainly new pads and fluid, as this will really help. You want the car to be as consistent as possible whilst you are learning, so you don't want to worry about how hot your brakes are this lap, while trying to learn the braking points!

[Ozzie Osmond]

All normal road cars are heavy and will destroy a set of tyres and brakes very quickly on track - you need to budget accordingly. The suspension will simply not be up to the job either so expect lots of wallowing around and generally poor handling.

Also remember no-one in a decent car is going to want to be within a million miles of you. It's no fun for Mr £40k Porsche to be hit by a clapped-out 3 series whose driver is just going to walk away and buy another heap if his car gets damaged.