Track day tips?

NickXX · 29 Sep 2006 at 17:54

housemaster said:
My E46 M3's of which I have owned 2 in the past were both wet sump and it was very clear in the manual that over filling them with oil was 'likely' to cause engine damage. On 4 separate occasions I took my car back to the dealers after servicing to get them to remove excess oil. Eventually they learned to stop over filling them, and I was astonished to see their total lack of understanding of the problems of over filling M3's even though it was stated by BMW that it was no no. My wifes Golf Mk5 Golf GTI also states clearly that you should never over fill the engine oil as this may cause damage to the engine.

My 330d is always overfilled by dealers too. Very annoying :mad:

Firestar_3x · 29 Sep 2006 at 18:46

Duke said:
I met a group of MX5 owners who seemed really nice people and there was another Puma on track. Usual M3, Evos, Imprezas etc.

Managed to hit 110mph going towards Avonrise.. bit of a tank slapper as well there with the lowered suspension lol.
Gave the MX5s a good run.. was quicker than the 1.6s and just catching the 1.8 turbo which I thought was pretty good.

Photos + video over the weekend.

Such a great car on the track can't wait to get mine back on

Duke · 29 Sep 2006 at 19:40

Yeah they seemed to enjoy themselves a lot

Videos as I'm editing them (Divx codec - right click, save as)

- Oops (3.5MB)

Firestar_3x · 29 Sep 2006 at 19:44

Woops the door looks ok though

SgtTupac · 29 Sep 2006 at 20:15

What the hell am i on about.. lol

Anyways bad luck about going off

I was lucky when i come off that i went into the middle of the field!

Conanius · 29 Sep 2006 at 21:35

ouch

you got any other vids mate, appreciate seeing how it did on the track !

Amps · 29 Sep 2006 at 21:56

ouch that wont be cheap to fix.

Duke · 30 Sep 2006 at 07:16

I've got an onboard 5-6 laps video and a few trackside views but just sorting hosting out.

TripleT · 30 Sep 2006 at 15:26

Ouch mate, I was wincing watching that vid

Duke · 30 Sep 2006 at 20:18

Yeah bit of a mess but it woke me up and taught me a hell of a lot. I went out much more carefully and concentrated a lot more.. building up the speed lap by lap.

Trickle · 1 Oct 2006 at 11:25

Looks bad

Duke said:
I was heading towards tower corner with two evo's (who were racing each other) closing in. I pulled to the left side of the track, going down hammerdown but they didn't go past as I expected them too.. queue me then missing my breaking point for Tower corner and drifting off and kissing the tyre barrier

After a couple of track days you get used to 'being on track' and other cars wont phase you. You get good at seeing them in the rear view and choosing exactly the right point to get out of their way. It is daunting the first time, but I dont think any driver - even the annoying corporate ones - minds being held up for up to two corners.

I had intended posting asking what you were doing pulling over "to the left", but isnt Castle Combe the sole uk track to go round the other way? If you missed your braking point, then you know why they didnt overtake you. You out braked them!

Duke · 1 Oct 2006 at 17:33

Trickle said:
After a couple of track days you get used to 'being on track' and other cars wont phase you. You get good at seeing them in the rear view and choosing exactly the right point to get out of their way. It is daunting the first time, but I dont think any driver - even the annoying corporate ones - minds being held up for up to two corners.

I had intended posting asking what you were doing pulling over "to the left", but isnt Castle Combe the sole uk track to go round the other way? If you missed your braking point, then you know why they didnt overtake you. You out braked them!

Yeah after a few runs, I felt a lot more confident and was passing as many cars as I had to let by. I was prepared to go home after feeling a **** from doing that but after some other people came over and gave their stories etc I felt more at home, had some help bodging it and got back out there.
I don't know if the MX5 chaps had been on track before (I'm guessing they are semi-regular) but one of them spun in the same corner as I did after passing me.. thankfully for him though he kept it on the black stuff and I just had to brake hard myself to make sure we didn't touch.

You have to pull and indicate to the left side when being passed at CC. Isn't that the same for other tracks?

Tesla · 1 Oct 2006 at 18:41

SgtTupac said:
Anyways bad luck about going off I was lucky when i come off that i went into the middle of the field!

Likewise, I span off at combe once after overtaking an elise and Impreza STI in one manouvere, messed up my corner entry and then that was that and into the field in the middle!

Duke · 28 Jan 2007 at 14:48

Booked another track day (first one of the season) - 23rd March

Hope there will be better weather conditions this time!

I have uploaded my in car video onto youtube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XUsP8QzdCU. Mmm throaty zetec engine for the win