What are Track Days like

[almoststew1990]

I've been tempted to do a track day with my own car for a while. I enjoyed the GP at Silverstone, I like driving and I like racing games. I would be looking to have fun and get experience of driving on the edge of grip and my ability in a relatively safe environment (not actually racing people). I'd be looking at Thruxton as it is only 45 mins away or where would you recommend?

From some googling I could book through a third party who (I assume) books the track for a day with a number of slots or something that then then sell on themselves. Is this why I can't see where I join a track day on Thruxton's website? I would purchase a few laps with an instructor first (from my googling this is recommended).

Would a old, creaky and stock e46 330ci be a good car for a beginner? I have no need for the car (I cycle to work now and the car is off the road. My partner and I have a golf for all our dialy driving). It's worth 5p so I would not be upset if I binned it.

I am fine with driving 'slowly' through lack of experience but will a 330 be so slow (in terms of power) that I'll hold everyone up? (I am imaging a field of 911 GT3s go to these things!) Are people generally nice/well behaved on track days? Is it full or 17 year olds or more serious people?

If I enjoyed tracking it I would refresh the suspension and brakes and maybe remove some interior (or think about getting a different cheapo car).

Sorry that's a lot of questions!

 

[Diddums]

Screw tuition. Everyone knows that the best way to go faster is to add loads of random carbon bits to your car and then use a Karcher as a windtunnel to see how much downforce you're making.

 

[Diddums]

Soz, came too soon <3

 

[Chris1712]

If you fancy it I'm doing my first ever track day at Castle Combe, 3rd September. Thruxton was an option for me aswell but I've been to Combe more times as a spectator so I know it 1% better .

These guys have a lot of useful information:
https://bhptrackdays.co.uk

 

[Nasher]

Since you don't care about the car you'll probably have a fun time

You'll see a lot of bangers. Taking an expensive sports car is just asking for trouble unless you've had a lot of experience.

 

[Rroff]

A lot of these events do practise laps, etc. slowed down before letting people run "hot" so in that respect an instructor wouldn't be essential but I would say a good instructor can be quite eye opening especially in terms of approach due to the changing nature of the road surface itself which can sometimes mean the fastest line isn't necessarily the intuitive one, etc. the problem is getting an actually good instructor who is clued up on those kind of things :s

I haven't done a lot of track days and what I have has mostly been corporate organised stuff so a bit different but generally seems pretty mixed in terms of people and usually there will be marshals who'll try and make sure everyone is reasonably well behaved and will advise you if you are holding people up in a way that matters, etc.

 

[mk1_salami]

I do trackdays regularly. You'll be fine if you listen to the briefing.

If I can recommend one change to your car, is to change the brake fluid to fresh, high temp fluid and consider changing your pads to a more track biased compound. Have fun!

 

[SS-89]

I did spa and rented a track spec 325i (stripped out, rollcage slick tyres) it was so much fun and the tuition was really quite good made me push speed a lot more than I would have without as he would make me stretch the limits of grip.

 

[wesimmo]

Get tuition on your first couple of days, having a pro next to you will make you better hopefully. But it also gives you an experienced pair of eyes to make sure you're following etiquette, not blocking people, etc which will take the pressure off.

If you do that and don't annoy people then it's typically a very helpful group of people you find there.

As above also, brake fluid and pads, I think that's the one thing people underestimate how much you change your style on track, people expect to be flooring the loud pedal, but don't realise how late, hard and often you brake when you're 'on it'.

 

[Crizzy]

From talking to people who have done track days one of the things that comes up is cost, are they not hideously expensive?

Can this be done without spending ridiculous amounts of money? E.g.H long would a set of tyres last, how much fuel would you get through, what is track day insurance like? Are there any other considerations such as track fees etc?

Also is there a racing licence you can get, even if not mandatory?

 

[NooBish AbbZ]

From talking to people who have done track days one of the things that comes up is cost, are they not hideously expensive?

Can this be done without spending ridiculous amounts of money? E.g.H long would a set of tyres last, how much fuel would you get through, what is track day insurance like? Are there any other considerations such as track fees etc?

Also is there a racing licence you can get, even if not mandatory?

Yes track days can get expensive. Fortunately I only do bike track days, but you can spend £200 for a day at Oulton Park in July. I think car track days are more expensive to be honest as they can't get as many cars on track as bikes at once. I've done 4 track days(on my bike, 11? ish laps of the Nurburgring in various cars), not once did I change anything about my bike, ie slicks tyres, or anything like that.

Never looked into track day insurance; just....don't crash.. (easier said than done, of course)

There are racing licenses you can get, however not required for track days.

Book yourself into the novice group, or there are even novice only track days on occasion. There'll be plenty of other people there on their first track days.

Each one I've absolutely loved and would've done many more had the nearest track to me now not be an hour and a half away

 

[Crizzy]

I like the idea of working towards a goal such as a licence rather than just blitzing round a course. And surely insurance is a must, I'm surprised you'd be allowed on a track without it, what if you accidentally stacked it into an expensive piece of metal?

 

[wesimmo]

From talking to people who have done track days one of the things that comes up is cost, are they not hideously expensive?

Can this be done without spending ridiculous amounts of money? E.g.H long would a set of tyres last, how much fuel would you get through, what is track day insurance like? Are there any other considerations such as track fees etc?

Also is there a racing licence you can get, even if not mandatory?

Get a cheap MX5 or something.

Parts are cheap and it's light so you go easier on consumables, pick wheels that have a decent selection rather than some obscure size.

 

[robj20]

From talking to people who have done track days one of the things that comes up is cost, are they not hideously expensive?

Can this be done without spending ridiculous amounts of money? E.g.H long would a set of tyres last, how much fuel would you get through, what is track day insurance like? Are there any other considerations such as track fees etc?

Also is there a racing licence you can get, even if not mandatory?

Definitely not that expensive, group of my friends regularly do Oulton Park for a full day for £100.

The next costs are usually brake pads and fuel.

Track pads are a must standard posts will overheat in no time.
Oil change isn't a bad idea either, make sure your towing eyes are in.
Strip what you can out of the car, you won't need the spare wheel, glovebox full of rubbish for instance.
And remember it isn't a race you will actually get black flagged for racing.
Don't cherish the car you take on, you might be capable but there are plenty that aren't and can total your car.
I've seen a beaten up Corsa take out a Maserati, luckily the guy did have track day cover but not everyone does I've seen a few fights. But it's part of the terms you agree to that stuff can happen.

My mates use things like Fiesta MK2 with zetec engines in.
106's, mx5, couple of older M3s.
They all are dedicated track cars and not road legal anymore fully stripped out. They can and do brake, annoying when you get stuck at the track otherwise. Pretty sure RAC and the like won't help unless you pay.

 

[Diagro]

Definitely not that expensive, group of my friends regularly do Oulton Park for a full day for £100.

The next costs are usually brake pads and fuel.

Track pads are a must standard posts will overheat in no time.
Oil change isn't a bad idea either, make sure your towing eyes are in.
Strip what you can out of the car, you won't need the spare wheel, glovebox full of rubbish for instance.
And remember it isn't a race you will actually get black flagged for racing.
Don't cherish the car you take on, you might be capable but there are plenty that aren't and can total your car.
I've seen a beaten up Corsa take out a Maserati, luckily the guy did have track day cover but not everyone does I've seen a few fights. But it's part of the terms you agree to that stuff can happen.

My mates use things like Fiesta MK2 with zetec engines in.
106's, mx5, couple of older M3s.
They all are dedicated track cars and not road legal anymore fully stripped out. They can and do brake, annoying when you get stuck at the track otherwise. Pretty sure RAC and the like won't help unless you pay.

Push it to entrance. Wait for AA ;p

 

[Crizzy]

But non legal road cars surely change the game completely as you're then talking about having to use a trailer and something to pull it with?

 

[robj20]

But non legal road cars surely change the game completely as you're then talking about having to use a trailer and something to pull it with?

You can get a usable trailer for peanuts.
Non legal road cars, for since it purely means they no longer bother moting and taxing it.
For others it means poly windows, no dash, no catalytic converter that sort of thing.

 

[Crizzy]

Ah yes good point, I hadn't considered that.

Cheers for the info.

 

[DarrenM343]

Get a cheap MX5 or something.

Parts are cheap and it's light so you go easier on consumables, pick wheels that have a decent selection rather than some obscure size.

Second that.
Fast expensive road cars are very nice but for regular track use you want something cheap to run (lighter the better) that's not gong to bankrupt you if you bin it.
Did some in the past but soon got more expensive than I was willing to pay (for this hobby) and something IMO you need to do regularly to become competent. I struggled switching from road driving to track driving as I didn't do them often enough. I was also using E30 M3's which were cheap back then compared to now - glad I didn't bin either of the cars I had.

Getting older now trackdays don't appeal to me but auto-x I wouldn't mind doing (large area of tarmac with cones set around to create a circuit and it's done for competition) but shame it doesn't happen over here. Too much red tape for it to happen. A few noise complaints and that would be it. Even places like Castle Combe struggle with the neighbours. People buy a house near a race track and then complain when it's occasionally noisy.

 

[kaiowas]

Getting older now trackdays don't appeal to me but auto-x I wouldn't mind doing (large area of tarmac with cones set around to create a circuit and it's done for competition) but shame it doesn't happen over here. Too much red tape for it to happen.

Americans do autocross because they have very few proper race tracks and have to resort to driving around cones in a car park. Autocross does happen in the UK although it’s still fairly new. The sprint series that I do isn’t too different in concept to autocross although we use actual circuits (Cadwell, Croft, Snetterton, Anglesey, Blyton Park plus a couple of smaller venues). It’s aimed at track-dayers who want a little more purpose to their track time rather than being hyper-serious competition and you can have a go in pretty much anything as long as it’s not a deathtrap. It’s also a lot lighter on the car than a track day meaning lower running costs.