Tell me about track days

Yucca · 16 Jul 2020 at 21:24

Hi all

So id love to take my Cayman around a track. Obviously I enjoy driving it fast but understand it’s not safe or responsible to do it on public roads.

What are my options? I know nothing about How track days work. Are they safe? Do you get the track to yourself? Do you need special car insurance? Is it expensive? Does it kill your tyres, brakes etc?

Advice very welcome!

Rroff · 16 Jul 2020 at 21:31

Usually your insurance, unless through a specialist provider, won't cover track days and it is highly recommended you take out insurance that does for the event. Mine actually covers most UK tracks (though I'd have to check but I think there are some clauses) but expressly excludes the Nordschleife and a couple of UK tracks by name LOL.

If you do anything like a proper drive it is going to put quite some wear on the tyres and brakes (EDIT: Also other factors there like heat management to reduce wear i.e. easing it off when you are done rather than straight away stopping and parking up depending a bit the vehicle and so on).

Regulation of the track is going to depend a lot venue to venue and it isn't without risks but on general days there are a lot of rules to minimise risk.

EDIT: My experience is pretty limited and comes from work organised experience days however.

Flack88 · 16 Jul 2020 at 22:09

Track days are normally run in a 'open pit lane' format which means you pay your money and can go on and off the track as you please. There are only a specific amount of cars (20 - 30 at a guess) allowed out at any given time.

3 of the main track day organisers I can think of are Javelin, Opentrack & MSV. Check out their sites to see info on how the days work and what days the have available. There are barely any track days currently that are not sold out as everyone is getting them in after the COVID-19 situation. Donington will be closest for you I imagine, its a fairly safe track with plenty of run off if you do make a mistake, which you wont if you drive to your limits. Days can cost anywhere from £150 for a full day to £300 dependant on time of year or even more if it's a special track day. Donington also offer evening sessions at around £150 currently.

There is no insurance out on track unless you take it out with your insurance provider (if they do track insurance). Just drive steady and to your ability and you wont need it anyway.

One of the main things you will need is good brake pads (Ferodo DS1.11, Pagid RS29 etc) & fresh good brake fluid. Also road tyres will soon overheat and turn to mush on dry days so it's better to go with a more track oriented semi slick.

Just get out and try an evening session imo and see how you like it. I got the track day bug a few years back and love them.

Also dont expect to go out and be the fastest as some people sink over £20k - £100k into their track cars and some are semi-pro, professional drivers. One of the things that shocked me when I did my 1st day was how slow my driving was.

Rroff · 16 Jul 2020 at 22:13

Flack88 said:
Just drive steady and to your ability and you wont need it anyway.

Hopefully won't need it... if you have say a tyre go unexpectedly and take out someone's 500K sports car and 50 yards of barrier (if applicable) it might be a bit of an ouch.

Can't find anything applicable to the UK but here is one on the Nordschleife

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_Y2G6QioQM

sigma · 16 Jul 2020 at 22:18

It would be wise to learn about racing lines and general good etiquette as well, they’ll be explained in the briefing but usually that’s just a reminder.

You may find specific beginner events but I’m unsure if these are worth it as you may end up stuck with really poor drivers.

I think track day insurance covers your car only, so even if you drive safely it still protects you if someone hits you, as without it you may not be able to claim from them. I may be wrong though.

Rroff · 16 Jul 2020 at 22:21

sigma said:
I think track day insurance covers your car only, so even if you drive safely it still protects you if someone hits you, as without it you may not be able to claim from them. I may be wrong though.

It will depend on what you take out - from what I recall you can take out insurance that covers if you hit someone else's vehicle or property but doesn't cover your own vehicle, etc. and various other levels.

sigma · 16 Jul 2020 at 22:23

Rroff said:
It will depend on what you take out - from what I recall you can take out insurance that covers if you hit someone else's vehicle or property but doesn't cover your own vehicle, etc. and various other levels.

Any idea what the rough cost is?

sigma · 16 Jul 2020 at 22:26

Rather than going out and buying semi slicks straight away, assuming the car has good quality tyres on it already, surely the best bet is to refresh brake fluid if needed/service the car and just take it easy, doing perhaps 3 laps at a time and then a cool down lap etc. That will help to ease into it slowly and be easier on both driver and car.

Easier also meaning don’t stomp on the brakes at the last moment and swing the car in etc. Focus on being smooth and flowing.

Rroff · 16 Jul 2020 at 22:28

sigma said:
Any idea what the rough cost is?

Previously been around £70-90 a day but I'm not sure in general.

MissChief · 16 Jul 2020 at 22:34

sigma said:
Rather than going out and buying semi slicks straight away, assuming the car has good quality tyres on it already, surely the best bet is to refresh brake fluid if needed/service the car and just take it easy, doing perhaps 3 laps at a time and then a cool down lap etc. That will help to ease into it slowly and be easier on both driver and car.

Easier meaning don’t stomp on the brakes at the last moment and swing the car in etc. Focus on being smooth and flowing.

Smooth is fast and you'll make up boatloads more time by taking a few lessons that putting a set of slick tyres on, which your Suspension setup likely won't like at all.

Pistonheads did an article with the basics here: https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-features/track-day-guide-for-beginners---ph-explains/42130

Nasher · 16 Jul 2020 at 22:45

Don't just slap slicks on. Most road cars can't take it and you need a baffled sump so you don't oil starve the engine.

Rroff · 16 Jul 2020 at 22:53

Nasher said:
and you need a baffled sump so you don't oil starve the engine.

Shouldn't be a problem unless you are really hitting the circuit way past beginner kind of levels.

adam cool dude · 16 Jul 2020 at 23:21

Nasher said:
Don't just slap slicks on. Most road cars can't take it and you need a baffled sump so you don't oil starve the engine.

Surely a Cayman will have one standard? Many sportier cars will have one from factory.

Quartz · 16 Jul 2020 at 23:22

Yucca said:
Advice very welcome!

Go do it! It's something I've long wanted to do but haven't for many reasons, not least of which is I seldom have sufficient headroom to wear a crash helmet.

MissChief · 16 Jul 2020 at 23:23

I'd imagine a Cayman will be fine to track, at the loads you'll be pulling on your first track day it'll be fine.

adam cool dude · 16 Jul 2020 at 23:23

Rroff said:
It will depend on what you take out - from what I recall you can take out insurance that covers if you hit someone else's vehicle or property but doesn't cover your own vehicle, etc. and various other levels.

You sign a waiver on most track days. If you crash into someone then it's down to the owners. It is all about mentality. Shouldn't even be racing cars on track days. Just lap for yourself and nothing will happen.

Flack88 · 16 Jul 2020 at 23:33

adam cool dude said:
You sign a waiver on most track days. If you crash into someone then it's down to the owners. It is all about mentality. Shouldn't even be racing cars on track days. Just lap for yourself and nothing will happen.

Exactly this, I think people get so hung up and scared about having a crash they never end up doing one. Once you get out on track you realise there is little chance of having a crash with someone or somebody crashing into you. Been to tonnes of track days and never seen 2 cars crash into each other, not to say it never happens.

Also road tyres will be fine for 1st track day, but you will soon learn that they turn to mush after a small amount of time driving hard. Even a set of AD08RS will make a big difference. I melted a set of old crappy Toyo T1R's on my 2nd track day, it was around 24*C however. God those tyres were bad :eek:

Steeps · 16 Jul 2020 at 23:54

Book tuition as early in the day as you can. After the sighting laps I usually wait 10-15mins for the initial rush to go out then do a few easy laps following something I know will be slower to get a feel for the lines, as the day goes on find faster cars to follow to build up speed. Stick to 10-15mins at a time max to keep yourself fresh and the car. After the track day costs the next biggest cost for me was fuel, could easily burn through 2 tanks getting there, on circuit, then back home again.

paradigm · 17 Jul 2020 at 07:13

Rroff said:
Shouldn't be a problem unless you are really hitting the circuit way past beginner kind of levels.

My old Leon Cupra R would like a word with you.

My second ever trackday, certainly not a pro in terms of skill or confidence, my engine seized due to oil starvation at Donington. And that was on standard road tyres, not even something mildly track focussed like the AD08Rs I had on my MX5.

tom_nieto · 17 Jul 2020 at 07:25

Book an instructor for the morning (difficult in COVID times). You will get far far more out of this than anything else.

As far as the car goes, make sure you’ve got decent tread on the tyres and you’ve serviced it recently. I’d not want old engine oil on a track day, especially in a Porsche flat 6 (not sure what your cars vintage is, but the M97 in my 997 doesn’t have a baffled sump and every owner is paranoid about scoring and hot spots developing). Fresh brakes are also useful.

My main achievement of the day I went on was overtaking a 350Z to not be the absolute slowest car on the track. It’s not a race, but I was sloooooow and it was still amazing fun.