HPDE Newbie Advice
 

A lot of discussion here and in the braking section refers to more advanced HPDE drivers. I like many others use our cars as a DD and track car. In April I took a HPDE 1-day course. It was amazing. Of course, I wasn't nearly as fast as many. My best speed in a straright was only 110. VDC was on and I didn't feel it interfering. That means I wasn't even near the edge.

That brings me to the point. I really love tracking. I am planning on going back on May 31 (Pacific Raceways). I will have an hour with an instructor, then I will be on my own. Yesterday I got a 25 row Z1 oil cooler kit installed. I also have SS brake lines and DOT 5.1 brake fluid. None of these mods affect my daily drive.

From here on it gets tough. I need to keep my car street-drivable. All track days at Pacific Raceways are on weekdays (generally Monday or Tuesday). That means if I swap out brake pads, I will have to work the night of the track day on swapping back; not an appealing idea to me.

Assuming my goal is not to beat any lap records, just have fun driving the track, what can I do that will improve track performance and safety without killing my car for DD?

I know it doesn't sound appealing, but it really isn't difficult to swap pads, especially after you do it a few times. I'm slow as hell, and it only took me a little over an hour to swap my wheels and pads. You also don't NEED to swap back to stock pads, you can run with something like the Carbotech's on the street if you wanted. Lots of dust from it, but at least it gives you the option of not having to swap out the night after an event. You'd probably want to swap out still once you got the time, as well as dusty, they are pretty noisy too.

I think with what you have done plus some pads, you'll be set, at least for now. Once you get better, you'll probably see weaknesses in your car that you would like to address.

Also if you have a manual (I forget if you do or not), you should get the SS clutch line as well.

tyres

+1

I drove on CarboTech's all last summer. Really dirty and somewhat noisy but livable.

Where can I order the Carbotechs? I can't seem to find anyone who has them for the 370.

ctbrakes.com

do not get xp10s, too aggrssive on street tires.

You can order them from Z1, they are a sponsor here.

cossie, do you consider Star Spec's to be street tires? I didn't have any complaints from using the XP10/XP8 combo.

I went to ctbrakes.com. They only have 1 listing for Z's. Is it sport or base?

Doing some googling on the part numbers, those are the correct parts for the sport brakes.

It's going to be track/surface dependent. Ice mode isn't a problem at smooth track with high grip pavement. As soon as I hit bumps or go into low grip surface, that's when ice mode starts to act up. I used to think modulation would cure the problem, but I have seen the car go into ice mode during mid braking. Rather than taking the chance, why go with super aggressive brake pads when he is not running for times? I just don't think it is worth it. I am ordering brakes in a few weeks, it's going to be the XP8

I love the star specs. I believe their ultimate grip is a little less than the RE11, but they feel better.

Once I am done working on the house, I will play with pad combo to see what would be ideal to use for the track users. I guess you can disable the brakes like some of the guys had mentioned, but I want that to be the last thing I do.

Fair enough. Sebring is probably the furthest thing from a smooth track, but I've yet to experience Ice Mode. If I keep the Sport brakes I'll probably switch to XP8's on the front then next time. RP2's equal XP10 right? Is there a RP version of XP8? I wonder how much longer they would last.

If my new stoptechs aren't in for my track day on the 19th, since I am temporarily running the stock sport calipers, I'm going to run Hawk DTC-70s, since they are a lot cheaper and its only for one weekend. I do love the carbotechs though.

XP10F/XP8R have been great on track for me. If you can't swap pads the same or the next day, you can easily drive with the track pads for a week or more until you have time. I left the Carbotechs in all of last summer and everything was fine save for the dust. I just washed the wheels twice a week.

Z1 doesn't list them. I bought my oil cooler from them.