Prepping your car for HPDE and the Road Course.

[RubyCamaro]

This is a Good news, bad news thread. Great information & very helpful, BUT..............Every time I read stuff like this I get scared off. My club guys keep saying, come on, you'll love it, you can do it. I get excited again & start planning to go to an event. Then I read stuff like this again & think about what all I need to do to get me & my car ready, all the stuff that can go wrong and.........................scared off again. My husband is terified for me to do stuff like this. As soon as I start telling him the things in this thread I need to do to get ready, he will start his fussing again too. I just don't know guys.

[STONE SS]

Originally Posted by RubyCamaro

This is a Good news, bad news thread. Great information & very helpful, BUT..............Every time I read stuff like this I get scared off. My club guys keep saying, come on, you'll love it, you can do it. I get excited again & start planning to go to an event. Then I read stuff like this again & think about what all I need to do to get me & my car ready, all the stuff that can go wrong and.........................scared off again. My husband is terified for me to do stuff like this. As soon as I start telling him the things in this thread I need to do to get ready, he will start his fussing again too. I just don't know guys.

You shouldn't let anything in this thread scare you from going to an HPDE event! To be perfectly honest more things can go wrong driving your car in normal everyday situations than it will on a track. People on a track are paying attention to what they are doing unlike people on public roads. I felt much safer on the track then I did on the drive home and since!

As far as things you need to do to prepare you can get by with changing the brake fluid to a higher temp fluid and better pads. These things are normal maintenance items anyway. I changed my fluid to Motul RBF600 within a couple months of owning my car and didn't track it until 2 years later. (Wish I had sooner!)

If it is really something you want to do then don't let anything hold you back. Most men give in to their wives wants anyway. HAHA

[SPCBA]

Originally Posted by RubyCamaro

This is a Good news, bad news thread. Great information & very helpful, BUT..............Every time I read stuff like this I get scared off. My club guys keep saying, come on, you'll love it, you can do it. I get excited again & start planning to go to an event. Then I read stuff like this again & think about what all I need to do to get me & my car ready, all the stuff that can go wrong and.........................scared off again. My husband is terified for me to do stuff like this. As soon as I start telling him the things in this thread I need to do to get ready, he will start his fussing again too. I just don't know guys.

Honestly, brake fluid and go. It's great drivers Ed, it's fun as hell, the track community is phenominal like how car shows used to be.

Get a good helmet, change the brake fluid, check tires are rated for speed and load. I would recommend brake pads that can handle heat, but most folks arent pushing car that hard in a lead follow first day situation. Take some tools like air guage and basic tool set, take a large ice chest with WATER, top off coolants and change oil before bring extra of said fluids and water. Drink water drink water drink water. Ohh and don't take naps in the bed of your truck with out some gnarly sun screen. Done that more times than I should have.

Goodluck and enjoy

[BaylorCamaro]

Originally Posted by STONE SS

You shouldn't let anything in this thread scare you from going to an HPDE event! To be perfectly honest more things can go wrong driving your car in normal everyday situations than it will on a track. People on a track are paying attention to what they are doing unlike people on public roads. I felt much safer on the track then I did on the drive home and since!

As far as things you need to do to prepare you can get by with changing the brake fluid to a higher temp fluid and better pads. These things are normal maintenance items anyway. I changed my fluid to Motul RBF600 within a couple months of owning my car and didn't track it until 2 years later. (Wish I had sooner!)

If it is really something you want to do then don't let anything hold you back. Most men give in to their wives wants anyway. HAHA

Absolutely agree, especially about the people paying more attention. Def change your brake fluid out, better pads would be good but NOT a must unless you're really going to push it hard.

One of our club members owns a Z/28 and she came out to our last track day, it was her first time and she did fine. Granted she wasn't blazing the corners and flying into braking zones but as someone that has never tracked a car that isn't surprising. Just do what you're comfortable with and you will get hooked. Trust me. Biggest money pit I have ever been involved with though!

[STONE SS]

Originally Posted by BaylorCamaro

Absolutely agree, especially about the people paying more attention. Def change your brake fluid out, better pads would be good but NOT a must unless you're really going to push it hard.

One of our club members owns a Z/28 and she came out to our last track day, it was her first time and she did fine. Granted she wasn't blazing the corners and flying into braking zones but as someone that has never tracked a car that isn't surprising. Just do what you're comfortable with and you will get hooked. Trust me. Biggest money pit I have ever been involved with though!

BaylorCamaro,

You gonna head out to TWS for the last event in May?

[BaylorCamaro]

Originally Posted by STONE SS

BaylorCamaro,

You gonna head out to TWS for the last event in May?

With The Drivers Edge? I fully intend to, I have a track day May 15, the day before registration opens for TWS. So as long I keep the Z out of a wall I should be there.

[STONE SS]

Originally Posted by BaylorCamaro

With The Drivers Edge? I fully intend to, I have a track day May 15, the day before registration opens for TWS. So as long I keep the Z out of a wall I should be there.

Oh, no I am going to do the one directly through TWS PDS. It's May 2nd & 3rd. Was hoping I would get to check out the Z. If not were you on that thread for the driveway Austin one?

[BaylorCamaro]

Originally Posted by STONE SS

Oh, no I am going to do the one directly through TWS PDS. It's May 2nd & 3rd. Was hoping I would get to check out the Z. If not were you on that thread for the driveway Austin one?

ahhh gotcha. I was considering doing it through the PDS but The Drivers Edge tracks at multiple tracks throughout Texas, including my home track MSR Houston. So it is more advantageous for me to track through them as it will allow me more exposure to their classes and eventually I'll be in the Solo group.

I was thinking about doing Driveway Austin, however the Texas World event through The Drivers Edge is the same date (May 16-17), so that's where I'll be.

If you're interested in track days my club rents out Grandsport (1 mile rack track) every quarter. The track is rented out to only our club for the entire day and we cap the cars at 15-20. This is open to all cars not just Camaro's. Our next event is March 15, $200 per driver and it's basically an open track, run as much as you want.

It's a small track but definitely worth the price, especially since you can run as much as you want.

[KaBoom1701]

Seems every time I go to a HPDE I end up loaning somebody some blue painters tape or a mallet....Then I get home and realize they never returned the tools back....Maybe I'll just start hiding my stuff. lol

[wakespeak]

Hi guys I will be at TWS with Drivers Edge the last weekend (2/28) this month. Anyone else?

[TLSTWIN]

Originally Posted by RubyCamaro

This is a Good news, bad news thread. Great information & very helpful, BUT..............Every time I read stuff like this I get scared off. My club guys keep saying, come on, you'll love it, you can do it. I get excited again & start planning to go to an event. Then I read stuff like this again & think about what all I need to do to get me & my car ready, all the stuff that can go wrong and.........................scared off again. My husband is terified for me to do stuff like this. As soon as I start telling him the things in this thread I need to do to get ready, he will start his fussing again too. I just don't know guys.

You should have a respectful fear, but not a terrifying fear. 99% of the time you'll be fine.

Brake fluid & go is NOT all you need to do ( i know SPCBA touched on more). Depending on your miles of your car, yous should check your brake pads to ensure you have enough pad life left, you have to drive home after the event as well.

Tire tread should be checked as well, each event is a little different has to how thorough they are on inspection. if you get to an event & your tires are almost gone, they won't let you on, AND THEY SHOULDN'T.

If you have a "weird sound" or a "noise" that you haven't had before, get it looked at if you can't do it yourself.

YOU DONT NEED TO FEAR THESE EVENTS, BUT YOU DO NEED TO RESPECT THEM. You a
er potentially pushing the car to the braking & traction limits based on your ability.

JUST HAVE FUN

[BaylorCamaro]

Originally Posted by TLSTWIN

Brake fluid & go is NOT all you need to do ( i know SPCBA touched on more). Depending on your miles of your car, yous should check your brake pads to ensure you have enough pad life left, you have to drive home after the event as well.

Tire tread should be checked as well, each event is a little different has to how thorough they are on inspection. if you get to an event & your tires are almost gone, they won't let you on, AND THEY SHOULDN'T.

Fair things to point out and reinforce. But I feel like any car enthusiast would know to check the life on their consumables. In OEM format the car would be OK to track, with the exception of brake fluid which I think is what most people were meaning.

[TLSTWIN]

Originally Posted by BaylorCamaro

Fair things to point out and reinforce. But I feel like any car enthusiast would know to check the life on their consumables. In OEM format the car would be OK to track, with the exception of brake fluid which I think is what most people were meaning.

Yep. completely agree, but some still run ZL1s & 1LEs with oem brake fluid. so I try not to assume people "know" what to check.

[Norm Peterson]

Originally Posted by RubyCamaro

This is a Good news, bad news thread. Great information & very helpful, BUT..............Every time I read stuff like this I get scared off. My club guys keep saying, come on, you'll love it, you can do it. I get excited again & start planning to go to an event. Then I read stuff like this again & think about what all I need to do to get me & my car ready, all the stuff that can go wrong and.........................scared off again. My husband is terified for me to do stuff like this. As soon as I start telling him the things in this thread I need to do to get ready, he will start his fussing again too. I just don't know guys.

You should never feel that you must drive above whatever speed or level of intensity is comfortable for you. Never.

I know you have at least a little experience with your car at speeds approaching 100 mph, and the county roads in TN can't all be perfectly straight lines, which ought to be reducing your anxiety (and Mike's) at least a little.


Norm