mr.ralliart

Hey guys, I will go this Saturday to a track day, this will be my first one and I want to ask you all of you who have experience on the track to give me some advice.

My current mods are:
Injen CAI
RRM UDP
OBX header/downpipe
2.25" custom piping
DIY Solid motor mounts

And I want to buy the two front tires, heard great things about the Ventus R-S2.

All kind of advice is welcome, from tire pressure, letting the car idle after each round, full tank, type of gas, high octane liquid, etc.

Canada_Comp

iTrader: (1)

Ventus R-S2's are okay... there are better ones, defintely don't get anything by good year or michelin. I would say go for RT615's.

warm-up lap is exactly that, warm up the tires and get the oil flowing, remember the course too.
drifting is NOT the fastest way around the corner
pur the tire pressures at a pressure so they won't roll on the sidewall.
type of gas.. regular will do, go to premium if you want. no additional additives are needed
put more camber in the front if you can, 2 degrees, but you don't have coilovers so i wouldn't bother, just remember that the outside of the tires will wear faster than the inside without that camber.
don't ride your brakes, otherwise you'll get brake fade faster.
cool-down lap is exactly that, cool down the brakes and engine. try to do the lap without touching your brakes.
when you come in to the pits after your cool down lap, let the engine idle with the hood open for a few minutes before shuting it down

Canada_Comp

iTrader: (1)

check your fluid levels before you go out, bring extra oil just incase

mr.ralliart

Thanks for the advice my friend.

I forgot to mention that tomorrow I'll install the Tein S springs, my mechanic told me to put the camber negative, would you recommend doing it knowing that I just have springs?

So, warm up lap should be at the pace of the cool down?

What tire pressure should I use? 39 in the front and 38 in the back sounds ok?

Canada_Comp

iTrader: (1)

no problem.
yes definitely put some negative camber in the front. as much as you can get up to -2 degrees. if you can get -2 degrees that would be awesome. rear if you can get -1 degree that would also be good.
as for toe, 0 toe in the front, and 0 in the rear if you can get it. I used 36 and 36 for my pressures on 205/50R15 tires which have a reinforced side wall.

mr.ralliart

I'm sorry, what's toe?

Would you recommend 36 on the 16 rims?

Canada_Comp

iTrader: (1)

http://www.ozebiz.com.au/racetech/theory/image57.gif
toe is the relative inwards or outwards pointing of the tires. check the image above.

if they are the stock 205/50R16 tires, then try 38 and see how it goes.

mr.ralliart

Good, thanks again

Protostar1

iTrader: (4)

If this is your first trackday, do not modify any stock aspects of the car. The stock alignments provide for the greatest net of safety should user error occur (and it will ). Go stock camber, toe, tire pressure, fuel, everything. Get used to your car as is. The only exception I can recommend is brake fluid, Mitsu OEM fluid is absolute ****. Be nice to the car and sloooooowly ramp up speed and braking to carefully approach your limit. You will have a guaranteed good day if you take it easy and aren't worried about something you tinkered with going wrong. Good luck buddy and have a good time!

With regards to the tires, I might be wrong, but I thought the Nitto NT-05 undercut the Falken RT-615s in price and waaaay outperform them. There are tons of tires threads and the best street comp tires are Dunlop Direzza Star Specs, Potenza RT01Rs, Nitto NT05s, and a pricey type of Advan Neova (I cant remember the numerical name), try searching for those. I am about to buy a set of 265 NT05s for my Evo as a point of reference. Good luck!

(BTW Tein S-techs are show and shine springs not go springs)

Canada_Comp

iTrader: (1)

mm.. yeah.. i forgot to ask.. is it your first time tracking? like no prior experience racing like autocross?
if it is, do what Protostar1 says and keep the stock alignment. with 0 rear toe, the rear will be harder to control and unless you know how to catch it you'll probably end up in the gravel pit if not the wall.

and I havn't used too many tires but I have used R-S2 and feel that RT615's are better, but i never liked RE-01R, or anything made by goodyear or michelin

snakoil

iTrader: (1)

after a few laps and your cool down lap, never put the e-brake when getting into the pit.
If the brake discs are still hot enough, they will either bent with the constant pressure of ebrake or the pads will stick to the discs and you won't be able to remove the ebrake.

bring one of those little inflating tool to change your tire pressure. I used to have flaken 512 and 36 was good but with my new Maxys I need to keep it around 39-40...hell I keep those at 36 for daily driving otherwise it feels worst than my winter tires.

and also remember, the time at the pit stop is not as much for your car than for you. The adrenaline gets up a lot when on the track and sometime you need take a brake and breathe otherwise you'll start loosing concentration and do stupid mistakes and try to bypass them by going faster.

Last thing, the engine can rev up to 6.5 RPM...don't be afraid to go near it as this is how you will get the best of your engine and car

Smike

iTrader: (8)

All good - but RT615s get greasy after a few laps. And get all 4 tires. It is important to match the grip at all 4 corners.

The current top choice is the Dunlop Z1 Star Specs and we are waiting for more info on the Nitto NT05's.

Biggest thing is BRAKES - DOT4 fluid and track able pads are a must.

Gas - whatever you are setup for (87-93), full tank, cool down lap and I like to idle for 2-3 mins after that.

You have a RA here that has tracked Otter - he has a good idea of what is needed.

mr.ralliart

Thanks to all of you guys. Yeah, it will be my first time and I will follow your advice.

I will go today to change to the DOT4 and to check the prices of the track able pads.

Just 2 questions:
1. Is it better to take the engine up to 6,500 rpm? Because I read that getting to 6,000 or 6,200 is the best thing for it since after that the HP decreases?
2. Tein S-techs springs are not that good?

snakoil

iTrader: (1)

I just meant to not be shy on revving it, I saw people being afraid of going higher than 4k RPM on track.

Canada_Comp

iTrader: (1)

i can take mine above redline, the rev limiter doesn't kick in until about 7200, I shift at redline though, just don't try to downshift when you are AT red line though.. one time I was about to do that but i caught myself before I started shifting.