Taking a G35 Coupe 6MT to a Speedway this week!! Super excited to get a chance to unleash that beast and not go to jail.

I would have preferred a more technical track to have some drifting fun and generally enjoy the turns but no such luck.

Has anybody done this before? Drive a G35 on a track I mean. Any tips? Tire pressure? Fluids? Definitely gonna make sure there is nothing in the trunk for sure. With bikes you have to take of mirrors and tape lights. What about cars?

Things I thinking about doing:

-Lower tire pressure
-remove any loose items from car
-Fresh oil change before and after
-Bring extra gas? (Keep gas tank just under half full?)
-Pray to the crash gods?

Anything else?

 

What you should do is: call the track and ask what their rules are (or look on their website) and make sure your maintenance is up to date.

 

Good idea! I wonder what that car will top out at? 150MPH? Then what? stupid track is so straight, I'm thinking I'll be in 4th gear the entire time! SMH

 

obvious one - might need to find a helmet if you don't have one... a lot of tracks require that.
Make sure you have engine coolant handy or that your levels are correct, biggest day wrecker is an overheated engine.

 

I would bring extra brake pads and brake fluid. It's easy to boil your fluid from braking at constant, high speeds. And if you're driving it home afterward, you may need new pads...

Have you done this before? If not, some track instruction would be beneficial.

Good luck and have fun!

 

Yeah, helmets are required. I'm 6 feet. I'm hoping the helmet does not touch the roof. I already hit my head on a G35 roof before when I hit a dip in the road at high speed.

Good point about engine temperature control. I'll keep an eye on the gauges too.

 

Never done this in a car. I ride bikes. Been to Louden NH Race track before. Pads eh? I hear they wear quick. Will I have trouble finding them before Friday?

Thanks for the tips!

 

Who has been on the track with their cars?

 

you've never worn your helmet in the car?

 

Are you only driving on an oval or also some infield corners? Doubt you'll be able to full throttle it all the way on street tires with no aero.

Your tire can gain like up to 10 psi when it heats up, so don't inflate it too much. Just keep your tank at full. As a beginner you won't notice the weight difference. Some people take out the spare, some people leave it in. It's supposed to help in case of a rear impact. Again, if you're not racing and are a beginner driver, the weight won't matter.

Also, if you try to intentionally drift at a grip road course event, they will usually throw you off of the track.

Yeah, non-racing brake pads can die pretty quickly on the track. You should check and make sure you have pretty decent amount of pad left before you go out each time, but if you're just doing an oval i don't think you'll abuse your brakes too much, It's pretty scary doing any sort of braking at like 130+mph on the bank.

new oil is good, differential oil change somewhat recently is good, DOT 4 brake fluid flush within the last year or two at most is good. Again, if there's no infield corners, you probably won't abuse your brake fluid and won't boil it. Decent tread on your tires, especially the outside shoulders. Alignment. make sure your wheel lug nuts are torqued to specs. (90 ft-lb i believe). bring fluid, bring snacks. bring something to do in between sessions.

Read the rules of whatever group you are running with. You don't really need to tape lights usually, sometimes they want it though.

 

I've been to a road course once with my G35. I removed all floormats, truck mat, spare tire, and anything else that can move on the inside. I made sure the fluids were topped off and that it had no leaks. I switched from OEM to Hawk HPS pads and fresh brake fluid. (these held up great BTW) My car had about 6k miles on the trans and diff oils, about 2500 miles on the oil.

I kept my tank full and managed 10mpg on track. The closest gas station to the track I was at was about a 20min drive, I knew the car would really go through fuel and I didn't want to run out.

I am 6' tall and my head hit the roof with the helmet on. I have seen a mod on this forum to make the seat lower more, but I didn't do it before the track day, I just sat into the seat a little more.

 

Might want to get out there with a hose and a soft brush or rag and clean down the front of your radiator too. Over time, the front of your radiator can get pretty plugged up with dead bugs and road grime. It's good to occasionally clean that out and also straighten out any bent fins so that you get good airflow through the whole radiator. Make sure that when you spray the radiator, you try to spray it from the backside towards the front of the car, that way any debris gets pushed out of the radiator rather than deeper into it. Don't use any cleaning solutions or solvents on your radiator that aren't specifically formulated for that purpose, as some can damage the radiator material. Be careful to not bend the fins when cleaning it, by being mindful of the amount of pressure you apply when cleaning it and the direction in which you move your cleaning device (don't go perpendicular to the fins or you'll bend them).

If you don't replace your pads before you race, you should at least inspect them to make sure everything moves OK and maybe clean and lube up the pins a bit so everything operates smoothly and isn't all gummed up with brake dust.

Also make sure your engine intake air filter is clean.

I would definitely bleed/flush your brakes and go with new synthetic fluid.

Make sure all your lug nuts are on tight and torqued to spec. Bring a torque wrench with you to the track to check them before you start.

Clean the inside of all your windows before you go so you don't have any visual impedance while racing and bring more window cleaning supplies to the track with you so that you can clean the outside window surfaces once you get to the track and also so you can clean any dead bugs, etc. from the windshield after you race so it's clean for the ride home.

Might want to think about using some driving gloves in case you get nervous and your hands sweat while racing that way you still have a good grip on the wheel despite the perspiration.

 

So the car I'm driving has fresh Evo V12 tires and the brakes have about 1000 miles on them. The track is mostly straight and sweepers so I think we should be fine. What is the first sign of brake pad failure? Squeaking? I'm going to make sure the guys change the oil and service the cooling system.

Pictures and videos coming soon!!

*trying to calm down* lol

 

which track is it? Usually for road cars the speedways add an infield section, unless they don't have them. The infields are usually a bunch of stop-and-go turns, which is fairly punishing to the brakes.

You should really be eye-balling the brake pad thickness before every session until you get an idea how your pads will hold up. Google for images if you're not sure what you're looking for. They are generally pretty easy to see on the G, don't really need to take off your wheels as long as your calipers are working well. Pads start at like 10-13mm thickness. You don't really want to be too low (like <3mm) before a session. You can be surprised how much pad you use when you start getting a good pace, I was. Also, unless you've topped off your brake fluid reservoir since you've installed your brake pads, your car should throw the low brake fluid thing before your pads are completely toast. The abs light, vdc, and slip light will all come on.

Enjoy your time at the track! Leave your ego at home! I think the people who don't have fun and never go back to the track are the people with big heads that get disheartened when the miatas and e30's blow them by.

 

Depeneding how many runs you do be prepared for Brake Fade.( Especially Non-Brembo) Also just follow the rules of the track,