Originally Posted by
gomba Hi,
This is kind of an extension of the brake pad thread but I was getting a little off topic.
I'm going to take my street b14 to my first road course event. I just wanted the opinion of some of the more experienced road coursers out there on what I need to prep for the event? I already have a list made, but not sure if it's complete:
- helmet (bought)
- tires, both track and street (thinking of buying Kumho Ecsta XS..was: Dunlop DZ101)
- brake fluid (leaning towards ATE Superblue)
- new rotors for track only (cheapest out there)
- pads for track only (Leaning towards HP Blues)
How about strut settings? I'm currently on Road Magnet springs with AGX struts. What would be the ideal settings for a road course on my struts? Any other advice? Am I missing anything in my prep list? Do I need to change the oil for the track event? Do I need a thicker oil? How about gas/boost? I was thinking of running about 12 pounds of boost and for 'safety' put a few gallons of race gas in at the track. I know the car will be getting pretty hot and don't want it to detonate, especially being a July track event. Not sure if this is a valid concern.
Thanks!
Tires: Question/concerns were answered above
Brakes/Pads: Cheapest Rotor and proper compound pads (I think I am running Carbotech XP10 out front and Hawk HP + out back on willwood dynalite 11 inch setup and it works just fine). Watch out on what front pads you run as I ran HP-Plus on the front, and had zero pads in less than 3-4 hot laps.........Also, to note, I was braking from over 140+ mph all the way down to a 2nd and 50+ mph. 3 laps of this and I was down to almost the backing plate.
You do not need to run a full race compound pad out back as the back does so little in breaking and it will upset the break balance quiet significantly. Also, there is nothing out back (read: no weight over the wheels) keeping the brakes from locking if running an aggressive compound. It will be quiet hairy to say the least...............
Suspension: Crank them all the way soft and leave them. You need to form a baseline before you start adjusting ANYTHING (read: learn the vehicle FIRST!). If you start somewhere in the middle your initial baseline from what you measure all adjustments from will be fairly skewed.
Oil: Change before AND AFTER the event. I normally run something a bit thicker. Currently at 15W50 Oil from Mobil 1
Boost/Gas: Keep it running off the wastegate pressure (or as low as possible). More boost = more fuel = more boom = more heat which inevitably means a much BIGGER BOOM!!
. If you are at a fairly low boost level 93 Octane is fine (which is another good reason to keep boost at a minimum. Its overall cheaper as you are not spending $7-9/gallon on race gas).
Can you tell us more about your current setup??
My biggest concerns are this for any turbo track car
1) Heat (cooling system)
2) Heat (overheating the brake system by using incorrect compound pads)
3) Heat (Too much boost)
4) Heat (overheating the tires because you are running too much power through the front wheels)
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5) Mechanical
- Make sure you have the proper higher temp brake fluid and it has no bubbles
- Check cooling system and make sure thermostat, radiator, fans (for idling in the pit lane), water pump, etc are up to scratch
- Consumables (fluids, brakes, tires especially)
- Tools
- Spares
- A ride home incase anything does break (which is a possibility)
If I think of anything else, I will post here
Goodluck!!