First track day

Powerslide · 06-23-2019, 03:16 PM

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Originally Posted by aswy6

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Originally Posted by Powerslide

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Originally Posted by aswy6

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Originally Posted by CachacoF80

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Originally Posted by aswy6

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Originally Posted by SD ///M4

Re: track insurance. My wife and I each get track insurance every time we go to the track. We're not ready to to pay thousands of dollars for something that may not even be our fault. Doesn't matter which run group you're in. Worst case, you may have to write off the entire car. Can you afford to do that?

I agree with the suggestion to do your first couple of sessions with DSC fully on but maybe go to MDM mode for the last session or two. That way you can compare the difference between the two modes. If it's too much, go back to full DSC on. With MDM on though, remember, fast hands, but don't overcorrect!

I ended up buying some track insurance since i think peace of mind in my first day is important. Looks like i am going to run six 25 minute sessions tomorrow. I have never been more exited in my life

)) Hopefully i dont have to change tires and brakes after this. (for the record, car has 30k miles and brakes look like they have more than 50% left, tires are 3 month old)

So, how did it go?

Haha so i forgot about this thread for a little bit, but it went absolutely amazing. I thought that insurance was not very neccessary on the track i went to but whatever. I tried all steering suspension settings and ended up liking sport in steering and sport plus for suspension. I can see the argument for softer suspension on the first track day but i feel like there is really no need for comfort even for a first timer. In my 4th session i overheated brakes and lost them for a bit (stock fluid). I also melted my stock brake pads and smeared them all over the rotors eventhough i was taking proper cooldown laps and sometimes even excessive cool down. This happened in last 2 sessions though. started the day with 2:20 time and brought it down to almost 2 seconds flat which ended up being a quicker time than ZR1 in my group who has done over 5 events like this lol. Its truly amazing experience and i cant wait to go back! At the end of the day i tried turning traction control completely off and quickly learnt that in some turns i cant allow myself to make a mistake and get on throttle too hard and too early because i got sideways a couple of times. I had to be very careful with a throttle and truly feel the dynamic of the car and how it throttle steers/trail brakes in turns where i thought were safe if i mess up

Glad to hear it went well! Definitely upgrade brake pads for next session - there are a couple of great You Tube videos on how to DIY.

What throttle setting were you using BTW? I like Sport in track - but wondering if Sport + better for engine cooling/longevity - or if there is much of a difference in that regard.

Also - When you went sideways a few times - were you able to countersteer and regain control?

I was doing sport+ all the time. I honestly think you should just put it in sport+ and call it a day, i dont understand sport throttle setting in this car. Yes the throttle is very responsive in sport plus but in my opinion is not going to upset the car unless you are just going to hammer it. First time i went sideways, i had MDM mode on and it saved me but i quickly learned that i cannot just let off the gas (kind of an instinct move when things go wrong). After that, next session i turned off the traction control and was taking it very easy and practicing in one of the loooong sweeping turns to really feel what the rear is doing. After that i got sideways again bit this time i just kept the foot on about 30-50% on the throttle and just corrected the steering wheel and it felt really good. I had a trouble of getting on the gas a bit too early as i always seemed to just wanting to leave the corner.

Yes - definitely have to erase the let-off-the gas instinct - I one did that on the track with traction control fully-off. I was coming out of a right hand turn and I gave it too much gas while the top of the wheel was at the 2:00 position. The car ('15 M3 - obviously non-ZCP) started to oversteer toward the right. I immediately countersteered to the left (which was correct) - but the problem was I also instinctually let my foot off the gas immediately and completely.

This weight transfer of letting off the gas put more weight on the front tires and unloaded weight off the rear axle - causing the car to immediately make a sharp turn or spin to the left (which makes sense - since my steering wheel at that moment in time was turned to the left with full weight and traction on the front wheels). I experienced first-hand "lift-off-oversteer" and since then I've been trying to "de-program" the lift-off-the-gas instinct whenever oversteer happens.

This happened a few years ago. Since then, I've upgraded to an '18 ZCP - which I understand has a much less sudden, more predictable and controllable power oversteer. When I was at the track last month - there was rain in one of the morning sessions - so I was driving in MDM mode. I began a power-oversteer in one of the corners (not intentional) - but this time - I immediately remembered NOT to lift off on the gas. Instead - I kept my foot at about the same throttle pressure (like you - maybe 30-50% throttle) and countersteered my way back to the intended line - letting off the gas only when the car was pointing in the right direction with the top of the steering wheel at about the 12:00 position

That incident from a few years ago has made me much more smooth and patient coming out of corners - but having tracked both the non-ZCP (probably with older software programming for the rear diff) and the ZCP - I can say that the ZCP is definitely a much more progressive and less sudden onset of oversteer (like you said though - even with ZCP - one can easily still induce oversteer if too heavy on the throttle).

Just wish there were more places to safely practice inducing controlled oversteer and correcting it besides the track! Guess I need to find a way to get out to the track more...

nicknaz · 06-24-2019, 02:18 PM

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Originally Posted by Powerslide

Just wish there were more places to safely practice inducing controlled oversteer and correcting it besides the track! Guess I need to find a way to get out to the track more...

hi, I'm not a huge fan of autox (too much waiting around shagging cones all days for 4min of driving) but its a good place to go DSC OFF and practice sliding the car

You could also go to drift school

jmg · 07-17-2019, 07:11 PM

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Originally Posted by nicknaz

hi, I'm not a huge fan of autox (too much waiting around shagging cones all days for 4min of driving) but its a good place to go DSC OFF and practice sliding the car

You could also go to drift school

I found a local auto-x with no track assignments and decent track time. I've never auto-x'd before but I'm looking forward to turning DSC completely off and not worrying about hitting gravel at 90mph+!

jpy1980 · 07-18-2019, 12:24 AM

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Originally Posted by jmg

I found a local auto-x with no track assignments and decent track time. I've never auto-x'd before but I'm looking forward to turning DSC completely off and not worrying about hitting gravel at 90mph+!

This is exactly what I did this past weekend at Autoclub speedway with speedventures. Did the big track and during the downtime, I did autocrpss. Having DSC off during autoX was a riot but I kept MDM on track because I’m a wimp

Was a fun day. Lots of tracking. I went through a full tank of gas in about 70 miles of track only driving

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