[BADFISH6]

I will be taking my Evo to the track for the first time next month. This will be first time tracking a car period. I have a few questions and concern and would appreciate feedback and any advise.

Tires:
I am still on stock suspension with stock Yokos at ~13k miles. As you might imagine, the tires a worn pretty badly, particularly on the outside. I plan on buying new tires and getting aligned immediately after this track event. To ensure my tires make it through the track session and I would like at add as much negative camber as possible all around so the tires are contacting primarily where there is the most tread. I do not have any alignment tools and do not plan on getting the car aligned before the track day.
My question is: Should I buy H&R camber bolts or a similar product to get an extra degree of camber, or will the stock 2 degrees be sufficient? For the rear wheels I plan on maxxing the eccentrics and attempting to at least make the toe equal side to side.

Brakes:
Still on stock brake pads and stock fluid. Next time I track it I will definitely do steel lines, higher temp fluid, and different pads, but I would prefer to wait to do it all together. Can the stock fluid and pads hold up to a track day?

Swaybars:
I have Hotchkis 32mm rear and front bars. I have both on the middle setting, stock endlinks up front and racingline endlinks in the rear. Will my stock fronts make it through the day?

Transmission:
I am concerned about overheating. I have removed my fog lights and recently changed my transmission fluid and filter, but still on the stock cooler. From what I understand this is a relatively fast track and there should be good airflow to the stock cooler. I also know there is heavily modded, stock transmission, ralliart sportback that regularly runs this track and has no problems.

I am also worried about positive crankcase pressure blowing my dipstick out. I have no reason to be worried about this because its never happened to me before, but it would just ruin my day.

I also wanted to know if Ill need to rotate my tires in between sessions or if most tracks switch direction every other session.

Thanks in advance,
Ryan

 

[DLo]

Take it slow and learn to be a better driver before equipping your car with go faster parts. Get on-track instruction it helps you become a better driver quicker so that you can really go fast. Look to upgrade your brake fluid and perhaps your pads before second session. They typically don't switch the direction of the track in between sessions, or at least I have never seen it done. I am no pro either, just telling my opinion from 6 track sessions of experience.

Also, get ready to be totally hooked! It will be hard not to spend a ton on go faster parts as opposed to learning to drive faster with less, but wait. You will notice when your driving skills improve because you will not be as modified as the next Evo driver yet be able to log lap times nearly as fast as them. Then when you do get stickier tires, better suspension, or that shot of nos you have always been dreaming about (lol, jk), you will turn quicker laps times because you took the time to improve the most important mod, the driver.

 

[blk-majik]

cool, have fun

Tires - if your replacing them anyway, do it before the track day, not after! That's the most important piece of gear on your car, and the only thing keeping you off the wall

Brakes - do a fluid flush with a high temp fluid. Pads and rotors should be fine, but the OEM brake fluid will boil and you'll have no brakes. happened to me on my first track day... scary!

Suspension: dont worry about it it's an evo. it'll be fine

Trans: I think the 2010's are a bit better than the 2008's in terms of overheating. Not an SST owner, so i cant comment too much on that.

What track are you going on? If its Road Atlanta, 100% do the brakes and tires first! That's a killer track. I went off on turn 1 once due to cold tires. Bald tires would be like that every lap! The braking zone coming into 10 will destroy the oem fluid in no time.

If you're going to Roebling instead, you can still boil the brakes pretty easily. Turn leading to the front straight is the only turn that's really hard on tires. It's a great track to learn on, though. Good run-off and technical in the right ways for a beginner.

 

[morricus]

You will boil the stock fluid, without a doubt. Flush it before the event with Motul 600. You must do this. You're stock pads will worK, depending how much life there is in them after 13k miles. They'll most likely be dead after this.....might want to get a set of Performance Friction Z pads...they're cheap and handle the abuse, but are also great daily driver pad.
The SST will most likely overheat. Unless your sessions are 15 minutes, it most certainly overheat. I tried everything to keep this from happening last year, to no avail. I did rig up a fan to the back of my stock cooler (and have fog-light delete) that helped bring the temps down much faster when I did get the slow-down on the track, but it still happened constantly. I only have about 300 whp/tq. I have the SSP cooler now and don't expect any further issues.
I have stock front bar, so can't comment on that....but you might want to change the rears to the least aggressive setting at first.
I've never had an issue with the dipstick, at all.
Regarding your tires, if you're down to the wear bars or even close, bite the bullet and get new ones before you track. You don't appreciate how important good tires are until you do a track day.

 

[TopChef]

Have fun bro! I have only done a few track days on my bike (2011 R1)... It is so addictive! I can't wait to do a track day in my X!! Post pics after...

 

[orthojoe]

If it's your first time ever, you'll be fine. Just go with an open mind and enjoy yourself. EVERYONE, including myself, thinks you need all these crazy parts/mods your first time out. Then you get a piece of humble pie. When you get better, then start doing the mods. I didn't overheat my tranny until my 3rd time out. Brake pads and fluid are the only thing I would consider my first time out. Your stock pads/fluid should be fine for a first timer, though. You WILL eventually need a cooler for the SST.

 

[SleeperEvoX]

My first track day at wsir I had upgraded brakes, lines, pads, fluid glad I did btw.
Second track day I upgraded wheel size and tires with a sway. With these mods + more experience, I shaved five seconds off my best lap time. Both track days my ssp was overheating after 3 laps even with a ams cooler upgrade. I'm putting it to bed permanently with a second cooler on the crash beam.
What track will you be at?

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[nrvous]

What track? Forgive me if I missed it, though I checked.
Certain tracks are less forgiving on brakes.

I instruct at Watkins Glen and recommend students run track pads if they can, because that track eats brakes.

Stephen

 

[KickAss]

What track? Forgive me if I missed it, though I checked.
Certain tracks are less forgiving on brakes.

I instruct at Watkins Glen and recommend students run track pads if they can, because that track eats brakes.

Stephen

:+1: If money and brake noise is not of huge concern, I recommend Raybestos ST43.....I guarantee your first braking experience will be a revelation of sorts.

 

[yardofhair]

:+1: If money and brake noise is not of huge concern, I recommend Raybestos ST43.....I guarantee your first braking experience will be a revelation of sorts.

ST43's are amazing. I run them at every event. I don't get any noise when tracking with these but to and from the track it's a bit like a freight train. Swap them for street pads if you daily drive. You'll save your rotors and people next to you won't think your car is horribly broken.

 

[BADFISH6]

Thank you to all who replied, but after I had to cancel that trackday I forgot about this thread.

I did just sign up for my "second" first trackday at Atlanta Motorsports Park. I ordered Raybestos St43 front pads and ATE superblue which will hopefully more than suffice my braking needs. I also just put starspecs on my OEM enkeis which I will run at the track.
Questions:
I am planning on running OEM rear pads(with a good bit of meat on them) with front St43's. The rears should be able to hold up to it right?

What kind of gas mileage do you get at the track?(particularly those of you who run e85) The track doesnt sell e85 and im planning on bringing my 14 gallon reservoir and 5 gallon can. With the rate that e85 drains out of my tank daily driving, im not sure that will be enough for ~ 3 hours driving time.

Thanks,
Ryan

 

[nrvous]

Brakes will be fine first time out.

Expect the tires to expand pressure with heat and start with 29-30 psi. Magic pressure on the Dunlops is 38 but you might jump 10psi as you warm them up.

8 miles per gallon on the track. Seriously.
Unless you have a surge tank you will want to have it over half full all of the time.

Stephen

 

[youlose]

I'm not sure about e-85 usage however you will want to top off after each session. The only reason I recommend that is the long sweeping turn coming to the front straight is off camber to the passenger side. I didn't have trouble but a friend of mine did with fuel pick up. I personally recommend watching videos of the track on YouTube. I have posted a few, as well as a few others have. It helped me become more familiar with the track. I rode with a friend in an Evo around the track and watched his speeds in the turns and carried that into my own sessions. Turn 1 is brutal after the front straight. The instructors are very good most have headsets to communicate with you. Before I went to Barber I watched a few hours of videos of in car and outside of the car. When I got there I felt like I knew the place. Of course its a learning experience and not a race.

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[hinduboy74]

Had my first one last week and i'm still flying high off of it. Was at Road America and just got two sessions since i ran tech in the morning so i got the day for free. Cannot wait to di it again next year. Brakes were squeaking pretty bad after session two but i need new pads for next year anyways.

I ran super blue and star specs and couldn't have asked for more

 

[BADFISH6]

Brakes will be fine first time out.

Expect the tires to expand pressure with heat and start with 29-30 psi. Magic pressure on the Dunlops is 38 but you might jump 10psi as you warm them up.

8 miles per gallon on the track. Seriously.
Unless you have a surge tank you will want to have it over half full all of the time.

Stephen

Thanks for the info.
8 mpg on regular gas or e85? Ive read about starvation problems, but I didnt think my current setup would make enough grip to run into that issue.

I'm not sure about e-85 usage however you will want to top off after each session. The only reason I recommend that is the long sweeping turn coming to the front straight is off camber to the passenger side. I didn't have trouble but a friend of mine did with fuel pick up. I personally recommend watching videos of the track on YouTube. I have posted a few, as well as a few others have. It helped me become more familiar with the track. I rode with a friend in an Evo around the track and watched his speeds in the turns and carried that into my own sessions. Turn 1 is brutal after the front straight. The instructors are very good most have headsets to communicate with you. Before I went to Barber I watched a few hours of videos of in car and outside of the car. When I got there I felt like I knew the place. Of course its a learning experience and not a race.

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Do you think Ill have enough grip to run into starvation problems on that turn? Im on OEM suspension and starspecs in OEM size.

Like I said in the other thread, I definitely will try to make it up Saturday to catch some ride along before I drive. Will also watch more videos.

What kind of gas mileage have you seen in your evo at AMP on regular gas?

Had my first one last week and i'm still flying high off of it. Was at Road America and just got two sessions since i ran tech in the morning so i got the day for free. Cannot wait to di it again next year. Brakes were squeaking pretty bad after session two but i need new pads for next year anyways.

I ran super blue and star specs and couldn't have asked for more

Awesome man. Im excited to put the star specs on the track. Havent really gotten see what they can do yet.

 

[youlose]

I would say wot for twenty min 6-8mpg. You will probably use 1/4 or more per session once up to speed in your 2,3 and 4th sessions. The car itself on stock equipment does very well with grip, its very easy to control. Do you ever go to blood mtn, or any spirited driving through the mtns? I didn't run the 245/40/18 Yoko I swapped to a 265/35/18 nitto invo. They did not run out of grip. I would read through Ryan Gates section on brake setups. I know a lot of folks like the st43. I went with ferroda 2500 all the way around on the X switched to rbf 600. I tried ferroda 2500 front and hawk rear on my nine and my balance was very off high speed braking. I am switching those prior to this event to the 2500 rears. If you don't have the chance to get with an instructor Saturday at least do the parade laps to get the layout in your head. I am a pretty good driver and be happy to have you ride around for a few laps at speed. If I can steal the keys to the X from my wife, or convince her to let you go with her. We are fitting the X with the 275/35/18 NT01 I ran on the 9 for two events. If needed there are a handful of local suppliers we use for brake fluids and brake pads, they can usually get what you need including safety gear within a few days.

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[orthojoe]

I'm not trying to be a wet blanket here, but you are thinking WAAAY too much into this for your first time out. The harsh reality is that you will not be anywhere near the limits of the car your first time. Just go and enjoy yourself.

Worry about fuel starvation once it happens. It won't happen your first time out, and likely not for a while. BTW, I go through 1/2 tank in a session at Thunderhill. 3.4mpg.

If you're not overheating your transmission, you are not even CLOSE to running hard, regardless of the track. SST will be the first 'issue' you run into once you get better. Until then, don't worry about it.

 

[BADFISH6]

I would say wot for twenty min 6-8mpg. You will probably use 1/4 or more per session once up to speed in your 2,3 and 4th sessions. The car itself on stock equipment does very well with grip, its very easy to control. Do you ever go to blood mtn, or any spirited driving through the mtns? I didn't run the 245/40/18 Yoko I swapped to a 265/35/18 nitto invo. They did not run out of grip. I would read through Ryan Gates section on brake setups. I know a lot of folks like the st43. I went with ferroda 2500 all the way around on the X switched to rbf 600. I tried ferroda 2500 front and hawk rear on my nine and my balance was very off high speed braking. I am switching those prior to this event to the 2500 rears. If you don't have the chance to get with an instructor Saturday at least do the parade laps to get the layout in your head. I am a pretty good driver and be happy to have you ride around for a few laps at speed. If I can steal the keys to the X from my wife, or convince her to let you go with her. We are fitting the X with the 275/35/18 NT01 I ran on the 9 for two events. If needed there are a handful of local suppliers we use for brake fluids and brake pads, they can usually get what you need including safety gear within a few days.

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I go up to blood mountain/wolfpen gap a couple times a year. I also have done a few autocrosses. (not that mountain driving or autocross is comparable to tracking).
Thats what I was worried about running different pads front and rear. That when braking from high speeds the car would feel unstable.
That would be great. I would love to catch a lap with you guys.
If she is driving the X, what will you be driving?

I'm not trying to be a wet blanket here, but you are thinking WAAAY too much into this for your first time out. The harsh reality is that you will not be anywhere near the limits of the car your first time. Just go and enjoy yourself.

Worry about fuel starvation once it happens. It won't happen your first time out, and likely not for a while. BTW, I go through 1/2 tank in a session at Thunderhill. 3.4mpg.

If you're not overheating your transmission, you are not even CLOSE to running hard, regardless of the track. SST will be the first 'issue' you run into once you get better. Until then, don't worry about it.

Thanks Joe. I agree completely. I have a tendency to do that with most things, just like being prepared for everything. I was never really concerned with fuel starvation problems until it was brought up. Im hoping the late November temperatures will prevent my SST from overheating.

Well I do need to worry about what Im going to do about gas. It looks like im not going to be able to bring enough e85 to last the whole day. Can't decide if I should just run 93 the whole day, or e85 until I run out then switch. The problem with that will be trying to run my tank as low as possible before switching...while on the track.

 

[youlose]

I will be driving my 9. What I meant about the mtns was I know the first time or two it does not feel comfortable but I'm sure you learned the limits quick up there. Getting out on the track I feel is similar, and the car feels right at home out there. I was not trying to cause you to over think or say you have to have this before you track, I like you asked someone who had done it before and short of saying enjoy yourself learn the line they gave me tips for tires, brakes etc. From exp. You will have an awesome time out there.

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[youlose]

Hope you had a good time out there. Was cool seeing a couple of Evos on the same track for once. We outnumbered the Subaru's lol. Hope to see you out there again soon.

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