Track Day.

[Martin R]

Im going to do my first track day in the fairly near future A question for you track day regulars. I wish to protect my small blue pride and joy as much as poss. Do you change the oil before the track day for a different viscosity oil? Change it before and after for your normal stuff ? Not bother at all Any ideas, comments

[Steve J]

Top it up then give it a good thrashing. Might be an idea to check the levels between stints, but mine was exactly the same level before and after.

[Mr_Belowski]

Im going to do my first track day in the fairly near future    A question for you track day regulars. I wish to protect my small blue pride and joy as much as poss. Do you change the oil before the track day for a different viscosity oil? Change it before and after for your normal stuff ? Not bother at all    Any ideas, comments

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

I asked the same question when I got mine serviced by Chris Foulds in Huddersfield (independant Lotus specialist). He said it should be fine with decent quality 'regular' oil. He suggested keeping an eye on the coolant level, make sure the car was warmed up properly, and don't hammer it constantly all day. But I'd also like to hear track day regulars' opinions cos I'm looking to do my first trackday soon

[GCCK]

Some pretty rough figures coming up. Mark A or other such luminary will be able to provide better accuracy.

 

 

Typical road use, oil gets to maybe 100C. On track, it could be up to 150C with a really hard drive (&driver). For a one-off track day, you won't kill it with standard oil. However, if the habit forms, you should think about a different spec.

 

For a start, there's no excuse for not using a proper, fully synthetic oil (PAO/Ester based) in any modern engine.

 

The higher the temperature, the thinner the oil gets, and so lubricates less well. One antidote (and the first you should do) is to change from 5W/40 for a standard engine to a higher rated oil. Mobil1 Motorsport 15W/50 or Castrol Formula RS 10W/60 would be most suitable. There are some other oils from Silkolene & Motul which are similarly good.

 

A good synthetic oil should be able to cope with those temperatures for short periods but ideally, you need a oil cooler as well to keep the oil operating within optimum viscosity range. These things can follow - most cars on the track day won't have an oil cooler.

[Sol]

Well, I was new to trackdays this year, but I have got a sort of checklist..

 

With oil, dont need to change it so long as you have it serviced as advised in the books. The engine will be under more than normal stress at high revs, so dirty oil isnt gonna do it much good. Take a small bottle with you and check every time you come in and the car has cooled down. Some people 'burn' more oil than others. Mine, to date hasnt really burnt any as far as I have noticed.

 

Tyre pressures - take a tyre pressure gauge/foot pump so you can play. Its amazing how much they can change on a track when youre battering it.

 

Coolant - take some with you and check every time you come in to make sure there actually is some left.

 

Warm up the car for a lap at least(depending on how long the track is) before you play redline ping pong, and do a warm down lap too.

 

Depending on the tyres you have, go easy on the number of laps. Most people advise 20 mins on/ 20 mins off (or 20 mins in an hour- cant remember). When tyres get hot, they just peel away the rubber and youll have very little grip left. P-zeros seem to hold up better/longer than my current Toyo T1-R(in the dry anyway).

 

When I get onto a long straight, I tend to ease off the throttle to about 4k revs, move aside and pootle. This means that all the quicker drivers can easily pass, the engine can get a bit of rest in what is effectively the boring bit(straight line, yawn), then when I see a nice gap behind me, Ill speed up a couple of hundred yards before the oncoming bend to the speed that I would have been taking and have a nice play around the bends without too much traffic..Works for me.

 

Oh, and when you stop, leave the engine running for a couple of minutes and dont use the handbrake or youll probably warp your discs. A tip Phil Smoker gave me from seloc was to leave it in gear once you do switch off so it doesnt roll away, and leave a glove or something on the gear knob to remind you..

 

Also, for first timers, if there are tutors on the day, definitely worth the £10/£15 to get you more confident and quicker..hth

[malbon]

good advice. tbh if its your first trackday then you probably won't be pushing it 'that' much in fear of spinning off/crashing.

 

make sure there's plenty of oil in and if your car burns any on the road then make sure you keep a beedy eye on the track.

[Scott_Mac]

I wouldn't bother changing it before you go... i tend to do the trackday and then change the oil afterwards.

[daz f]

What kind of tyre pressures are people recommending for track days. I know people have different opinions, but in general how much would i need to let out?

[malbon]

just see how you get on. I kept mine at 24/27 as i was too busy fighting an immobiliser/hgf/ and getting a helmet

 

When cornering very hard - and spinning i was thinking it could have been beneficial to drop 3 or maybe 4 psi to get that much needed last % grip. I dropped 2 psi on the road once and that made a hell of a difference to the skittishness.