First trackday in the Camaro!

[Candie]

Did my first track day in the Camaro. It was on a track that I am very familiar with on the motorcycle so that made it a little easier for me but still it was totally different. I have NO idea what I am doing. I do know that I will need new brake pads soon! Anyone have any tips?

[ericedelman]

Couple of tips, I'm not an expert, but I do take my car to the track.

1. Get larger front tires. You can get take-off rear wheels from another car and run the 275's up front. I destroyed a set of the 245 front tires in 300 miles on the track in one weekend. I'm personally trying to go wider than that on my car, but it did work well.

2. The Brembo brakes are very good, so are the pads. When you wear them out, try the Hawk HPS+ pads, but there's no reason not to use the Brembo's while there's still some pad left. I went 140+ at Pocono on the single infield course and had hardly any fade at all on stock brakes. Change to DOT 4 fluid and flush/bleed before you go to the track sessions.

3. Your car is heavy for a road course and will respond much better with smaller, smoother inputs of steering, braking, and throttle. It will push and plow into the corners (the larger front tires will help with this), so go in slower, and come out faster.

4. The stock engine is lugs a little under 4000 rpm, and sings from 4000 to redline. Try and maintain some rpm's throughout the course.

5. Get an instructor.

6. If you can't get a good instructor, you can drive a lot of road courses in this car in 4th gear, it has plenty of torque. Practice braking and turning into the corners without shifting at all. This can be a very helpful exercise to learn a track and gauge how slow/fast you should be going.

7. Lower the car and get heavier swaybars after you've been driving it a bit. Work on suspension and brakes first, add power last.

8. Get an instructor.

[Beauwulf]

Originally Posted by ericedelman

Couple of tips, I'm not an expert, but I do take my car to the track.

1. Get larger front tires. You can get take-off rear wheels from another car and run the 275's up front. I destroyed a set of the 245 front tires in 300 miles on the track in one weekend. I'm personally trying to go wider than that on my car, but it did work well.

2. The Brembo brakes are very good, so are the pads. When you wear them out, try the Hawk HPS+ pads, but there's no reason not to use the Brembo's while there's still some pad left. I went 140+ at Pocono on the single infield course and had hardly any fade at all on stock brakes. Change to DOT 4 fluid and flush/bleed before you go to the track sessions.

3. Your car is heavy for a road course and will respond much better with smaller, smoother inputs of steering, braking, and throttle. It will push and plow into the corners (the larger front tires will help with this), so go in slower, and come out faster.

4. The stock engine is lugs a little under 4000 rpm, and sings from 4000 to redline. Try and maintain some rpm's throughout the course.

5. Get an instructor.

6. If you can't get a good instructor, you can drive a lot of road courses in this car in 4th gear, it has plenty of torque. Practice braking and turning into the corners without shifting at all. This can be a very helpful exercise to learn a track and gauge how slow/fast you should be going.

7. Lower the car and get heavier swaybars after you've been driving it a bit. Work on suspension and brakes first, add power last.

8. Get an instructor.

I'm guessing he didn't notice yours is a V6...

The tire info was good, brakes, if you can afford to, get the Brembos. If not, the Hawk HP+ pads help.... along with drilled/slotted rotors. Braided steel brake lines and good fluid (ATP Blue or Motul 660) will help.

Lowering the car with coilover shocks (I have pedders and love them) will do wonders! A more aggressive alignment will help reduce the push. Get some decent tires too. R888s are good but you need to grab a set of 19" to fit them...

If you have an auto, Trifecta's tranny tune helps a bit as well....

I'll have more info after the 15th of August. I'm doing a track day at Sebring with all my mods.



PS... I have raced bikes since the 80s... see signature,,,

[Mojave]

Definitely, work on the suspension and make sure to lower it. The car will push those front tires if it is not lowered. Also agree on the tires. I am thinking of running a square setup when I can afford it. Pfadt has some cool camber plates that I am also considering since it looks really easy to change at the track.