Track day preps

[Pulsey]

Hi guys, booked my first track day in the R for October so I'm just wondering what sort of things i should look at doing

i have only booked half a day as my R doesn't have a Oil cooler and it has touched 100 few times just on the road so i will be taking breaks when ever i notice temps starting to get into the high stage so should be hoping to drag it out over the day oil change should help bring temps down anyway

car is fairly stock just has Tein Coilovers (plus topmounts)
Front/Center/Rear Strut braces and front lower brace
rear camber bolts
engine wise has
leads and plugs and HKS panel filter with pump and 1 bar loop

this is the list i have to do so far

-Need to order a set of 185/55/14 Yoko A048Rs
-Four wheel alignment (possible caster mod? what do you think?)
-Oil Filter change nearer the time
-have a set of nismo pads in at the moment and they seem to do the job really well and bite hard but they are on the last few miles now so im thinking yellow stuff pads? and getting my discs skimmed to remove any lip on them
-going to remove the n/s headlight and make a quick air duct up with tape to supply a cold air feed to the airbox to keep temps down aswell


anything else you guys can think of that i should look at doing/getting?

i just need to sort my blooding running fault now:doh:

many thanks

 

[Spikey]

Just make sure all your fluids are up to level. check tyres are ok. cause you dont want a blow out at high speeds. check belts are still good. brakes should be up to the job too and Any other weaknesses will show up very quick as you will be putting the car under alot of stress. Oh get some strut braces if you not got them already as they will improve your cornering...
Like i said any other weaknesses will show up on the track...

 

[gtir_pimp]

definately an oil cooler and bigger radiator. are your gauges all working ok? oil pressure, oil temperature, boost, water temperature?
air fuel ratio ok? even though its almost standard doesnt mean it will be. sort the running fault out maybe depending what it is

 

[PobodY]

I'm surprised it runs that hot. - I've only ever seen mine get that high once; on the M6 going to JTS when everyone else took off and I may have had to hit 3 figures to catch them up. I don't have an oil cooler (other than the standard one on the back of the block).

Might as well do the camber mod to help with the high speed cornering seeing as you've got the top mounts.

Are those "uprated" leads? I'd keep an eye on them, they usually cause more problems so if you develop a misfire at some stage that's the first thing I'd check.

Unless you want to keep spending money, I wouldn't worry too much about anything else; just go and enjoy yourself.

 

[Pulsey]

Thanks some helpful info there it had touched 100 few times but saying that it was with all that hot weather and allot of right foot that day.

The car seems to keep itself very cool coolant wise as it has a nismo thermostat fitted and rad cap.


Do you know if there is any specs on what to set alignment at on the forum? Will have a look once I get on the pc.
Is the caster mod worth doing?


Air/fuel ratio will be tested before the day to make sure all running fine jist trying sort my running problem first. I had removed the leads as I changed the plugs for peace of mine and it seemed to help for a day but the fault is back now

 

[PobodY]

Ah - Nismo thermostat opens at a higher temperature, and the radiator cap is higher pressure (so the coolant gets hotter because of the reduced vapour pressure). That might explain why your coolant temperature are so much higher than mine.

 

[hkspulsar]

Whay fuel pump are you running?

If stock I would look at getting that changed.

And you will prob find the brakes will give you a good indication of when to cool the car down, ps dont put the hand brake on after track time!!

 

[Animaldaz]

Bit off topic. Are you going to brands? And what date have you booked? I've got some vouchers that need spending.

 

[Tim]

Is this your first track day?

Don't bother with R rated tyres, cold air feeds, etc just make sure the car is mechanically sound and go have fun.

Tyres, etc can come later once the bug has bitten.

An oil cooler will be beneficial, but i'm not sure why you need a "bigger" radiator, I have the original fitted in my car and never have problems with water temps. Rather than spending money on tyres improve the brakes, yellow stuffs should be ok, but get new disks as well.

100 degrees oil temp is perfectly normal.

 

[jamesgtir]

if its your first track day dont worry about yoko ao48s. just use road tyres.(toyo t1rs are cheap x good on track)
a oil cooler and accurate oil temp gauge is a must for any R on track, save the cash from the tyres and get the oil cooler.
brake pads ive not had any experience with nismo pads but yellow stuff bads are a waste of time on track. id recommend mintex m1144 or carbotech xp8s.
keep your brake compounds the same front and rear.
4 wheel alignment, do the caster mod and get it aligned with as much negative camber as possible at the front.
ps if your at brands give me a shout and il book it up aswell. (always good fun having a few Rs on track)

id also recommend fitting a harness as the oe seat belt isnt goin to hold you in place. (if you need to borrow one let me no)
get some water wetter and put that in the radiator.

quite alot to think about but just remember its not a race, go out and have fun

 

[fubar andy]

Basic crap to do before you go out:

• Check all fluids - replace if needed (inc clutch)
• Check all belts - replace if needed.
• Check brake pads* - replace if needed.
• Tyres - forget A048's at this stage, just stick with a road tyre.
• Tyre pressures - run them lower than you normally do on the street (e.g 25psi)
• Cooling - For the track, fit an oil cooler (13 row should be fine) - anything over 140oC then you need to cool off.
• Exhaust noise - make sure its not super loud, anything over 105db's @ 3/4 rev's and you might have an issue.
• Suspension# - Have your suspension checked/alignment set-up.
• Interior - If you can try to remove jink from your car and anything that weighs a lot, sub's, amps, spare wheel and so on, just helps the handling and the brakes not work overtime!
• Fuelling - Just to note: with your "bar loop" have you installed an aftermarket fuel pump? If not, pop one in before you go out.

* Try Yellowstuff, but you pay for what you get. However as mentioned try better comopunds like Mintex, Ferodo. Carbotech's are good but for a 1st timer/trackdayer they might not be worth it just yet.

# There is no "bible settings" for the GTiR, its what you are comfortable with.
For example I run the "campbellju castor mod", my camber is -2.0 front -1.0 rear and toe is zero (I can't remember my ride height off the top of my head).
That works fine for me and I've been happy with that for 2+ years.

As for everything else, all I can add is to take your time (seriously) don't go out like a wannabe Matt Neal or Jenson Button and if there is some free tuition then take it, you'll be surprised how helpful it will be and make the day much more enjoyable.

Have fun :thumb:

 

[Pulsey]

Thanks guy some very useful info here

Few of you have said about the fuel pump buy I am running a wabro already

I still might go for the a048 as the tyres on mine at the moment are the stock from factory 19 years ago! And the sidewaks have detached themselves from the tyre itself! I used the before and found them to work very well once up to temp and slap on the wet


The track day is as goodwood as my dads boss hires the track for his supercars and sells the tickets for either full day or half


Again thanks for all the help I will keep you updated on how it goes

 

[geoff pine]

Ah - Nismo thermostat opens at a higher temperature, and the radiator cap is higher pressure (so the coolant gets hotter because of the reduced vapour pressure). That might explain why your coolant temperature are so much higher than mine.

A nismo stat will open at a lower temp ! some thing like 8 degrees lower than standard that's why there a bit of a waste of time on a road car once the weather starts to cool down.
:lol:

 

[PobodY]

My bad... but I'm right about the radiator cap.

 

[dunnergtir]

I have noticed with my R that since I put on a full set of slicks and running or the international track at mondello my car is dumping allot of oil out the rocker cover breather :sad: . All this started on the same day first outing on the new tyres and track , mostly right hand corners with one big one flat in 3rd gear that goes on for ever :roll:

It just so happens that the rocker cover breather is on the left side of the cover on the side . I think the oil is not draining back to the sump on that corner and just pouring out ?

My rad temp reached 114deg and oil temp got to about 145 , so just stay out on track and do one or two cool down laps :-D

 

[Pulsey]

just a quick update to yesterdays work

fitted a set of A048. will order another two nearer the time as they weren't cheap

i also set about doing the castor mod as didn't look to hard and in the end only took about 30mins

and all back together i just need to drill the strut brace and refit that as i run out of time

and last i gave the car a quick four wheel alignment as it was towing out off the scale once i let it back down

set the camber to 2.0 on the front and 1.0 on the rear with 0toe all round

feels like a different car again and the front end definitely wants to pull around allot more as i have had the back end come round a few times now so its more bias to over-steer now which I'm happier with it doing

i just need to get hold of another two tiers,a oil and filter change and bleed the brakes and double check the alignment nearer the time

sorry about the crap photos the usual iphone ones:doh:

 

[Tim]

You need adjust the top mount backwards like this:

 

[Pulsey]

i have done that already i had to move two bolts to the front wholes as they where hitting the chassis

 

[MarkTurbo]

oil temp got to about 145

:shock:

Have you got an oil cooler?

 

[Pulsey]

well she is ready for tomorrow! just hoping for the rain to go away as its pissing down!

mushroom filter isnt staying, it came with the new afm today and i thought i would try it out

will upload photos and videos tomorrow night when i get back