Anyone taken a non-race prepped '02 to a 1 day HPD course?

[TobyB]

You don't mention springs-

as long as you've not done something goofy with them to make the car oversteer in transition,

you'll be just fine.  Likewise with brakes- as long as the "willwoodies" don't do odd f-r bias things as they

heat up and cool down, you'll be just fine.

 

Don's days aren't cheap, but with an instructor and a few goals, they are not bad value-for-money at all.

The advantage is that they aren't usually oversubscribed, either, so getting overrun by BRZs is unusual.

 

I gave up on the CCA here about 10 years ago.  They went one way, I went another.  The inspection

is a bit of a pain with an older car, but the cost is reasonable, and the club historically does a good job.

 

Once you've done a few days, Tom's Turn2 lapping days are very, very low stress...

 

t

 

[d.hitchcock]

I autocross my car all the time, and I have been tracking for several years at the Lake Garnett Grand Prix Revival, a point-by type event. My car is autocross-prepped, but not "track"-prepped like a road race car. It's always been fantastic for me.

[uai]

I'd also suggest Brake fluid but not only fresh but go for something like Endless, Motul RBF 660 or similar and a set of pads like Pagid rsh 29e. For the drums it's difficult to find proper pads/shoes.
A driving instruction won't be as hard as a full trackday but brakes and tires always were my main concerns.
Those pagid are not cheap but I can run 2-3 Trackdays on one set of pads - with normal ATE stuff it happened that I was driving home on the metal when starting on fresh pads in the morning. Also the rear drums on the rear were cooked after one trackday. The seals were melted and the shoes were gone. A set of custom built shoes made it better. 
Now I am on 272mm ventilated discs front and 255mm discs rear and have no more problems.
Same is for tires you can easily crush a set of normal tires during one trackday a sportier tire with a solid shoulder and some negative camber will help to save tire.

Edited May 20 by uai

[M3M3]

Go for it!  Guaranteed big stupid grins on your face after every session.   Way, way more fun than anything you can do on street or auto-x.

 

Any good track day organization like BMWCCA will require a tech inspection by an approved shop.  Get a copy of the tech sheet and check it yourself before taking for inspection.  Get it done early so there is time to fix any discrepancies. 

 

Pay attention to the safety stuff.   Generally must have a snell 2015 or newer helmet.   As an instructor,  I would also not get in a car that has original 50yo seatbelts....

[jgerock]

15 minutes ago, M3M3 said:

Go for it!  Guaranteed big stupid grins on your face after every session.   Way, way more fun than anything you can do on street or auto-x.

 

Any good track day organization like BMWCCA will require a tech inspection by an approved shop.  Get a copy of the tech sheet and check it yourself before taking for inspection.  Get it done early so there is time to fix any discrepancies. 

 

Pay attention to the safety stuff.   Generally must have a snell 2015 or newer helmet.   As an instructor,  I would also not get in a car that has original 50yo seatbelts....

Certainly helps to have a well qualified instructor😏.   And high temp brake fluid.

[mike472]

The BMWCCA tech sheet is a good place to start if you want to track your car.  I would add to the multitude of things already mentioned crawling under the car and checking your guibo, center bearing and tightening all bolts on guibo and allen bolts on CV joints in rear(if needed).  Front wheel bearings should be repacked with proper grease and adjusted.  Check steering box adjustment too. Adjust in small increments if you feel play in steering wheel.

I first tracked my 02 with NJ chapter in 1977.  Limerock was sort of our home track back then.  Now most school are at NJ motorsports park in Millville, NJ.

It is something you should do and as some other people mentioned here you will learn more then the guys driving their cars at 70%.  They may get the thrill of straightaway speed but you will learn about feeling the car through the steering wheel.  You won't get that close and personal with a power steering car.

[tzei]

Not knowing the track profile but I might consider a small overfill with motor oil. Flashing oil pressure light is something one want’s to avoid.

[wheelieking]

On 5/17/2024 at 8:20 AM, veronatii said:

Sounds like fun! When do you plan to go?

 

I have no plans atm.  I saw the email from BMWCCA and it triggered the idea. If a few or a group was going that would be extra incentive to get my shit together. 

[wheelieking]

21 hours ago, mike472 said:

The BMWCCA tech sheet is a good place to start if you want to track your car.  I would add to the multitude of things already mentioned crawling under the car and checking your guibo, center bearing and tightening all bolts on guibo and allen bolts on CV joints in rear(if needed).  Front wheel bearings should be repacked with proper grease and adjusted.  Check steering box adjustment too. Adjust in small increments if you feel play in steering wheel.

I first tracked my 02 with NJ chapter in 1977.  Limerock was sort of our home track back then.  Now most school are at NJ motorsports park in Millville, NJ.

It is something you should do and as some other people mentioned here you will learn more then the guys driving their cars at 70%.  They may get the thrill of straightaway speed but you will learn about feeling the car through the steering wheel.  You won't get that close and personal with a power steering car.

 

Nice, I will get that sheet and start checking things off.  All those things you mentioned I need to do regardless, but that is a great reminder.  Especially the steering box adjustment.  My car is sporty enough now that the current play is not good. 

 

 

[Preyupy]

7 hours ago, tzei said:

Not knowing the track profile but I might consider a small overfill with motor oil. Flashing oil pressure light is something one want’s to avoid.

Another advantage of learning to drive on skinny non-R compound tires.  you are not stressing systems well beyond their designed parameters.  Pull more G's and you need to address ALL systems that are affected by the increased loads. 

 

Learning to feel the car at or near the limit is what you are after,  Sticky tires just mean you are going faster when you go too far.  As an instructor I always hated when a novice showed up with a new M3 with all of the suspension mods and big tires.  Getting them to sneak up on the limit without tossing it into the kitty litter was always the hardest thing to do.  The cars are so capable these days that they can turn a very fast lap without ever being even close to the limit.  The problem is when you do find the limit there is almost no warning and when it lets go.....  you are going REALLY FAST and bad things happen.   

[wheelieking]

9 minutes ago, Preyupy said:

Another advantage of learning to drive on skinny non-R compound tires.  you are not stressing systems well beyond their designed parameters.  Pull more G's and you need to address ALL systems that are affected by the increased loads. 

 

Learning to feel the car at or near the limit is what you are after,  Sticky tires just mean you are going faster when you go too far.  As an instructor I always hated when a novice showed up with a new M3 with all of the suspension mods and big tires.  Getting them to sneak up on the limit without tossing it into the kitty litter was always the hardest thing to do.  The cars are so capable these days that they can turn a very fast lap without ever being even close to the limit.  The problem is when you do find the limit there is almost no warning and when it lets go.....  you are going REALLY FAST and bad things happen.   

 

No kidding! When I had the HPD day in the 2005 Chevy Cavalier at Pacific Raceway, I was stunned that we were pushing 110mph at the end of the straight going into turn 1. I'll never forget how the instructor basically said to point the car as if you were trying to hit the very end of the cement barrier on the inside of the corner, but because of the speed the car did that cool 4-wheel slight drift to left to miss the barrier but apex the corner, and then you keep barreling toward turn 2 at full throttle only to stand on the brakes as late as possible.  SO. MUCH. FUN.    

[RChrisB]

I would second or third the commments about bleeding and using racing brake fluid.

[d.hitchcock]

I switched from off-the-shelf DOT4 to Pentosin high-temp brake fluid. The system never appeared to be taxed in any way before the switch, but I'm running with faster run groups now. So it seemed prudent to upgrade the fluid. But I'm still using regular old brake pads -- Mintex reds or whatever they are. I used to use Hawk HP-Plus pads on my autocross bimmers. But my 02's brakes have never lacked for stopping power with "normal" pads. (e21 vented rotors and Fiver calipers on tii hubs/struts, and e21 rear brakes.)

[M3M3]

"Racing" brake fluid not needed, but GOOD NEW fluid is.

 

I run ATE Type200 in everything i own.  street cars, trucks, HPDE cars, full tilt 400+hp race cars.  zero issues.  ever.