"oldestyoungn" (oldestyoungn)
05/22/2014 at 12:05 • Filed to: None
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"oldestyoungn" (oldestyoungn)
05/22/2014 at 12:05 • Filed to: None | 0
| 7 |
My dad's going to Barber Motorsports Park this upcoming Father's day, but we're new to this.
Previous Driving Experience
He and I will go to an autocross event on the 31st this month and we've experienced a few twisties. Is that enough training for before you hop onto a track? (Referring to Barber Motorsports Park) He will have an instructor the first few times he goes I think. (because novice classification)
Car Prep?
It's a fully stock 2014 Focus ST1. Someone said more solid brakes are recommended because the stock ones get mushy after a few laps? What else should we plan on? Will the tires get torn up? (I'm assuming yes.)
Thanks for any help you guys give. Really cool people are so willing to help out (usually). As a bonus to feeling good helping someone you can know you're helping me transition my family from treating cars like appliances to machines with personality.
Soloburrito
> oldestyoungn
05/22/2014 at 12:11 |
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If it's autocross you'll be fine. If it's a hpde where you'll be doing 20-25 min sessions on track, then you'll start to worry about cooking the brakes.
Your tires will be fine. Inflate them to what's listed in the door jam sticker.
RotaryLover
> oldestyoungn
05/22/2014 at 12:12 |
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Bring a air compressor and a tire gage. I'd up the tire pressures by 5 psi or more to make sure that the sidewall don't get squash too much in corners. Better pads are a must. The disks can stay the same. Bring some tools too.
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oldestyoungn
> RotaryLover
05/22/2014 at 12:13 |
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What kind of tools specifically?
Meatcoma
> oldestyoungn
05/22/2014 at 12:14 |
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Good questions, hopefully you get equally good answers. Sorry I can not give you any input.
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RotaryLover
> oldestyoungn
05/22/2014 at 12:36 |
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Well if you wanna change pads during the track day, I'd bring a huge breaker bar, a ratchet with the right sockets to remove the calipers and the wheels nuts, a torque wrench to properly torque the wheels and a jack. But do it if you know that you gonna track day all day. If not a small air compressor and a tire gage will be just fine.
Driver_41
> oldestyoungn
05/22/2014 at 15:24 |
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You haven't gotten many replies, so I'll chime in since I have a few under my belt now. You actually don't need to do too much to make a stock car ready for an HPDE, especially if it's your Dad's first time out to one. My recommendation is to make sure your oil, coolant, trans fluid, and any other fluid are fresh. I'll get to brakes in a second, but since this is a brand new car the fluids you have in it are probably fine. I would also bring along extra oil since you will probably consume some during high RPM driving (I know I do). I think the ST comes with summer tires, so they may not actually get as chewed up as you'd think. If they're in reasonable shape and your alignment is good, you shouldn't have to worry about tires too much. All seasons would not hold up well. You may find that upping the cold pressure helps, but remember that pressure will build as the tire heats up. I actually find that keeping my cold pressures a little low works for me.
Now, for brakes. At the minimum, I would recommend changing your fluid to a nice high temp DOT 4 fluid (I like ATE, but there are plenty of other choices). If you don't change the pads, there probably will be some noticeable fade during sessions, and they will probably wear pretty severely. You could get away with it, especially if its a one day event, but I would recommend having a spare set of pads just in case you need a fresh set to make it home. The better option is to switch to a set of track pads. There are intermediate street/track pads available, like Hawk HP+ and EBC yellows. I've tried both, and while they do work on the track without terrible fade, I find them to be way too noisy and dusty to use for a prolonged period on the street and they only last for a few days at the track. At my last event I tried a more aggressive pad (Hawk HT 10) and found that they bit harder and resisted fade better, wore less, and weren't much more annoying than HP+s on the street for the week I drove with them until I could switch back to a street pad. I haven't done any events yet this year, but I plan to use the HT10s again. Another note about brakes, if you have sliding calipers like I do, make sure you take the time to inspect and lubricate the slide pins before each event. I got lazy on that and it came back to bite me when I had a pin lock up while on track. They're also super cheap to replace if they start to wear. If you're going to have an issue at a track event, it's most likely going to be due to brakes. If you only bring the tools needed to fix one thing in the pits, make it the brakes.
Alright, now the car's ready! So what do you need to bring? I always bring some basic tools, jack, jack stands, window cleaner and paper towels, and painters' tape (Don't be that guy that completely tapes the front of the car though. It'll be ok, I promise. It's just to hold numbers on) Get a helmet that fits your dad and meets any requirements. And lastly, bring water! It's amazing how much water you will lose sitting in the sun and driving all day, and even more if something goes wrong and you find yourself wrenching. Dehydration + activity that requires lots of awareness = bad things.
If you have instruction, it doesn't matter that it's your first time. There will be people faster and slower than you no matter what. And even if you are actually are the slowest, it doesn't matter, no one cares. I have met some of the nicest, most helpful people at HPDEs. Some jerks too, but mostly everyone is just really happy to get out on track. It's awesome, you guys will love it.
Mr. YoungSequoia
> oldestyoungn
05/23/2014 at 10:49 |
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Yeah, definitely new pads. And also upgrade the brake fluid to DOT 4. Keep your stock tires but add 5psi for sidewall rigidity. Keep it as close to stock as possible for your first track day. You need to learn to feel it through the corners without all the go fast bits so you wont crash. I saw a guy with a 13 ST come to his first trackday and tried to hard. He rolled it 3 times. Other than that barber is a blast. And have fun