[bpang1234]

I guess I am jumping in feet first into track days with my newfound closeness to so many good tracks up here in the PNW and also in California. Here are some videos of my very first sessions which happened today at Portland International Speedway as part of Cascade Sports Car Club's HPDE and Driver Training School.

My instructor was Gordon Jones a well respected Old School racer here in the PNW who holds several records in various sanctioning bodies and platforms.

Sessions 1 & 2 were 80 MPH and 100 MPH limited respectively. My stupid dashcam updated when I was trying to WiFi into it to watch the vids while I sat during lunch and then it formatted the SD Card. So I lost those but they were slow anyways.

Session 3:


Session 4:


Cars stayed in the same lineup between 3 and 4...so you could see me hunt that Shelby GT 500 down at the end of 3 and pass him in the beginning of 4.

Any and all constructive criticism, pointers and tips are highly appreciated. Looking forward to my next track day in early August at Thunderhill with NASA. Might try running more Portland events if I can make it.

[bpang1234]

Caught the front-right brake on fire apparently...but they didn't tell me until end of session. Had to adjust my braking strategy the rest of the day...looking at picking up the 6-Piston brake upgrade, hopefully that will give me a little more overhead in terms of heat.

The thing is, I didn't experience much fade at all, so the HPS 5.0 Pads, Ate Super Blue and Phastek lines still did OK.

[Norm Peterson]

Originally Posted by bpang1234

Any and all constructive criticism, pointers and tips are highly appreciated. Looking forward to my next track day in early August at Thunderhill with NASA. Might try running more Portland events if I can make it.

Even with the 6-piston setup you really should be on better pads than HPS 5.0 for tracking, especially with the amount of power you have on tap (the "S" in HPS almost certainly stands for 'Street'). I'd start at Carbotechs in XP10 or G-locs in R10. Other people may have other suggestions, but they'll all be for higher temperature capability than the 750°F or so that's the upper end of HPS 5.0 pads.

ATE200 (the amber stuff) will probably suffice for a while, but I'd look a bit higher up the food chain here too (Motul RBF600 or better). Do bleed all four corners before your next track day. Use a clear line so you can note the color of the first fluid that comes out.


GT500 driver must have been watching you in the mirrors a bit too much, and should have had his window down.


Norm

[bpang1234]

Originally Posted by Norm Peterson

Even with the 6-piston setup you really should be on better pads than HPS 5.0 for tracking, especially with the amount of power you have on tap (the "S" in HPS almost certainly stands for 'Street'). I'd start at Carbotechs in XP10 or G-locs in R10. Other people may have other suggestions, but they'll all be for higher temperature capability than the 750°F or so that's the upper end of HPS 5.0 pads.

ATE200 (the amber stuff) will probably suffice for a while, but I'd look a bit higher up the food chain here too (Motul RBF600 or better). Do bleed all four corners before your next track day. Use a clear line so you can note the color of the first fluid that comes out.


GT500 driver must have been watching you in the mirrors a bit too much, and should have had his window down.


Norm

I was closing on him the whole day (he lined up in front and I was in the back)...he said he knew I was coming for him and I was basically the only guy that passed him the whole day.

Yeah I am gonna look into pads with this next upgrade round. I was really hoping to get away with a street-able pad with this car because I was hoping to avoid having to change pads out for track days and this is also my daily.

I have Ate Super Blue in there already and that wasn't the problem. However, I will likely do a full flush to Motul RBF600 this next round since the 6-Piston conversion will require fluid work.

[Norm Peterson]

8's and 10's in either CT or G-loc are way more streetable than HP+, mainly on the basis of causing far lower rotor wear rates in street driving. They're all going to dust, and depending on how hard your normal street braking gets (and how often), you'll get some noise. Harder stops are usually the quiet ones.

My GT is currently fitted with 10's, and I've just been leaving them in there. Then again, I'm a good bit past the days of having a daily commute, so my "daily driving" doesn't necessarily have to be every day.

Whatever ATE 'blue' you have is probably going to be the last you'll ever see. Last I knew, it had been recalled for failure to meet DOT color specs for brake fluid. ATE200 is basically the same stuff in DOT-acceptable color (I just used the 200 stuff in my wife's Subie, along with G-loc street pads).

What I noticed about the GT500 driver was that just before you did get to pass him he seemed a bit sloppy in the turns. Once you know there's somebody catching you, just focus on your own driving until you can reasonably point him by. When it's you doing the passing, try to get back into your normal mindset right away. It's satisfying to pass people, but way more embarrassing if you screw up the next corner because you were too busy mentally congratulating yourself for getting to make it happen. Not to mention that it potentially puts the other driver in a situation that he might not have anticipated.


Norm