Sounds like your speaking of wtz on the forums

Mark

 

Ya know, they never checked mine, but I think they're supposed to.

 

i dunno, im fine though....

Im in the groupe 1 novice...I hear its addicting....

-Shahul

 

..

 

Hey John....I didn't know you were signed up for the 17th? (I just saw this thread) Like Shahul said I am going to be there on the 24th as the 17th was already full. Maybe you can switch? This way we could all be in the same group.

By the way, somebody else said it was addictive. It is. It is also about 50% cheaper ($/per minute) than autoX. You pay $20 for autox event, which gives you approx 5 minutes of car time, thats $4/minute. Track day will cost you $175-250 and you get about 80-100 minutes of driving, which is around $2-2.5/min. Not to mention how much more satisfaction you get.

I just came back from Pocono Raceway (with PDA) and had an amazing time. The car is super fun and easy to drive. I am not an expert track driver, by no means, but the car was faster than pretty much every car in my group. I was even suprised to see that on straights (coming out of slow corner) I would keep up with 911 4s (996).

Breaks are also fantastic. I noticed that I could break a lot later than most cars in front of me (or even later than the instuctors would initialy tell me).

One more thing, make sure you have a full (or almost full) tank of gas. You will go through it all.

 

You make a really good point about $/time. I tell that to all my friends that complain that track days are too expensive, then they turn around and sign up for 3-4 Auto-X's. I try to explain that you get WAY more driving time for your money, but they just can't seem to grasp it. The larger $$$ amount just scares them off. Oh well, I'll keep trying.

To me, track days are WAY more fun than Auto-X's. At track days you're really driving the car, while at Auto-X it's more about remembering the course and knowing how to control the car in extreme directional changes. Both are great for learning car control, but track days, to me, are just more fun.

 

First, call me Jack, all my friends do.

It seems that the 24th filled up, so I'm still scheduled on the 17th.

To those who've done this FATT thing before (Tim? Mark? anyone?)... Obviously they put you in the novice group your first time out. Is it common to get approved for the advanced group after a single novice session? How about getting approved for the "Seat Time" days? How much time & money do we need to spend before we're able to "fly solo"?

 

Is it still a win for track days after adding in the consumables costs for high speed driving? I'm thinking of things like brake pads, rotors, and fluid, which are abused pretty heavily by tracking the car, but are almost a non-concern when autoXing. I'm not arguing one way or the other, just wondering what else needs to be budgeted for a track day other than just the entry fee...

 

You guys let me know how things go because I live only a few minutes from the track. I haven't been yet because I have a new set of twin girls that are taking up most of my off time right now.

 

I agree. My biggest problem with autox is the feeling of "unfullfilness" at the end of the day. After 5 short runs, it always leaves me with wanting more. Whereas after a day at the track I am so sick of driving that I don't even feel like driving home.

Funny thing....on my way back from Summit Point, I was still in the "track mode" and i would catch myself waiting for the guy in front of me to "wave" me before I could pass him. I would also tend to hit apex on each turn.

 

Well, when you figure the cost per minute, with track days being less than half the cost, that gives you a lot of room to budget in the brake pads, etc. I go through a set of race pads about every 5 track events, depending on where I'm running. A set of R-Compounds usually last a season, although by the end they are [insert Fat Bastard accent] crap.

Also, when you factor in the fun/mile, I think track days win by a LOT!

 

It is possible to get approved for the more advaned group. It will depend whether its your first time at the track or your first time at FATT. Even if it is your first time at the track, I still think you can get bumped into the next level, but maybe not after the first session, but at the end of the day. They not only look at your driving ability, but other things such as paying attention to flags, cars behind you, attitude etc. That's a lot to think about. During my first session, I didn't even notice ANY of the flad stations

Also, in my opinion, getting to the next level (i.e. being able to drive solo) isn't necessary a good thing. Those instructors are really helpful and often have very good advice. Also, if they notice that you're doing well, they aren't really restrictive either and will let you do your own thing and comment afterwards. I stuck with the instructor the whole day last time at FATT, and also this past weekend at Pocono and will definitely use their advice in October's FATT.

 

The ratio of [time spent driving] / [time spent waiting around] is also in favor of track days. Last autox, I spent less than 5 minutes driving and I was there for 5 hours.

 

Jeez Tim do you ever stop trying to recruit for track days

-bd

 

Hi guys,
Just checking in. The silver Evo referred to in an earlier post is actually white. That was me at Summit in July working on shaking the bugs out of the car for SCCA's T2 class for 2004. If you are not a racer testing, unless you have money to burn I would not run Hoosiers on the Evo. My fronts were corded in two days. Shaved Toyo RA-1's will last a hell of a lot longer and are cheaper to boot. Get a good alignment, max negative camber up front, 0 toe and 1 degree negative rear, 0 toe should be fine. Run racing brake fluid, and race pads. Stainless steel brake lines do a lot to help the soft pedal feel in the Evo. Don't be too quick to shake your instructor. The stock Evo's limit is pretty high, so it's good to learn what to do when you exceed it. A word of advice. If you are overly aggressive, ignore flags, ignore your instructor etc. you will not advance. Have fun.
Cheers,