Track day tips for a newbie?

[jnag]

Looking to see if anyone's got F8X specific tips for track days, I have some experience on track with the E46 M3 I had last year but this car is a whole different ball game

Car is a 2018 M3 DCT Comp
Basic bolt ons, crankhub & stage 2 93 tune done
I have a dedicated set of wheels for the track with fresh PS4S on them
Already checked the car over and all is fine, plan to do a brake fluid & diff fluid flush before going out & oil change right after

What mode do you keep your cars in? All handicaps on? MDM? Everything off?
I think at least for my first one or two events I'll switch back to the original map, Stage 2 93 seems like way too much for the smaller tracks I'll be at.

[jfritz27]

Originally Posted by jnag

Looking to see if anyone's got F8X specific tips for track days, I have some experience on track with the E46 M3 I had last year but this car is a whole different ball game

Car is a 2018 M3 DCT Comp
Basic bolt ons, crankhub & stage 2 93 tune done
I have a dedicated set of wheels for the track with fresh PS4S on them
Already checked the car over and all is fine, plan to do a brake fluid & diff fluid flush before going out & oil change right after

What mode do you keep your cars in? All handicaps on? MDM? Everything off?
I think at least for my first one or two events I'll switch back to the original map, Stage 2 93 seems like way too much for the smaller tracks I'll be at.

Agree with reverting back to stock power.

If you have some prior track experience and know how to be smooth with your inputs, I'd say start with MDM for a session or two, and if no oopsies and you feel comfortable (and its dry), turn TC off and see how it goes. If you're reasonably cautious and smooth, you should be fine. In stock form, if you're gentle on brakes and gas, the car shouldn't snap and is generally well behaved with TC off

[b_w.]

Track pads and fluid. I like motul rt660. I liked Pfc 08 pads on blue brakes. I find mdm is terrible. Start with all nannies on then try them off. I feel more likely to lose control with unpredictable mdm.

[jnag]

Originally Posted by b_w.

Track pads and fluid. I like motul rt660. I liked Pfc 08 pads on blue brakes. I find mdm is terrible. Start with all nannies on then try them off. I feel more likely to lose control with unpredictable mdm.

Do you think motul rt660 and track dedicated pads is a bit overkill for an amateur? I ended up going with ATE BF1200 as FCP has it under a daily/occasional track day fluid while rt660 is “track only”. I daily drive my car a lot all year and only plan on doing 3-4 track days per year. I’m sure I’ll reach my own limit long before the cars true potential, let’s be honest I’m not gonna be setting any records, but at the same time I have heard multiple times these cars have plenty of issues with brake fade etc

[b_w.]

Originally Posted by jnag

Do you think motul rt660 and track dedicated pads is a bit overkill for an amateur? I ended up going with ATE BF1200 as FCP has it under a daily/occasional track day fluid while rt660 is “track only”. I daily drive my car a lot all year and only plan on doing 3-4 track days per year. I’m sure I’ll reach my own limit long before the cars true potential, let’s be honest I’m not gonna be setting any records, but at the same time I have heard multiple times these cars have plenty of issues with brake fade etc

Swap pads in and outnfor track days. Takes about 5 mins per corner once you know what you are doing.

[M3SQRD]

1. Stock power. It’ll take you quite some time before you use 100% power/torque. It’s best to learn how to drive on track with a low power car so you develop smoothness and maximizing corner speed. A stock F8x is a high power car, it does not need more power!

2. Camber plates. Without them you’ll destroy your new tires quickly. It’ll also allow you to get the most grip out of your tires. If your car is primarily street driven, run F camber at neg 2.5-2.75 deg, R camber at neg 1.8-2.0 deg. Camber plates pay for themselves quickly by extending tire life.

3. Track pads and high temp brake fluid. Brakes and tires are the two major safety items you don’t skimp on when tracking your car. I’d recommend PFC 11 but everyone has different preferences when it comes to brake pads. PFC, Hawk, Cobalt, Carbotech to name a few good choices. Brake fluid is a tricky one because BMW DSC and ABS systems are designed for low viscosity (LV) fluid but high temp race brake fluid is normal viscosity (NV) fluid. At track temps, NV fluid thins down to close to LV fluid properties; however, at street temps there are big differences between LV and NV properties. Most of the time NV works well enough on the street but it could create an ABS or DSC issue. I’d start with a higher performing LV brake fluid like Motul LV. If you encounter brake fade, upgrade to a race brake fluid. Plenty are available.

4. Seat time, seat time and more seat time. Driver mod is the biggest one to maximize. Upgrading performance parts on the car doesn’t help if you haven’t developed the skills to exploit them.

[uncle ben]

Don’t skip the track pads. I ran two track days with oem pads and they left pad deposits on the stock rotors and made me think I warped my rotors. Swapped in some ferrodo ds 1:11’s and they cleaned up the deposits and worked awesome for our big heavy f series. Most track days will require you to have newish brake fluid (6 months old or less) so if you are gonna change the fluid, may as well swap in the good stuff. I like Castrol srf.

[b_w.]

I never noticed any issue with racing fluid on the street mind you I drive like a granny most of the time.

[MineralWhiteF80]

Originally Posted by M3SQRD

1. Stock power. It’ll take you quite some time before you use 100% power/torque. It’s best to learn how to drive on track with a low power car so you develop smoothness and maximizing corner speed. A stock F8x is a high power car, it does not need more power!

2. Camber plates. Without them you’ll destroy your new tires quickly. It’ll also allow you to get the most grip out of your tires. If your car is primarily street driven, run F camber at neg 2.5-2.75 deg, R camber at neg 1.8-2.0 deg. Camber plates pay for themselves quickly by extending tire life.

3. Track pads and high temp brake fluid. Brakes and tires are the two major safety items you don’t skimp on when tracking your car. I’d recommend PFC 11 but everyone has different preferences when it comes to brake pads. PFC, Hawk, Cobalt, Carbotech to name a few good choices. Brake fluid is a tricky one because BMW DSC and ABS systems are designed for low viscosity (LV) fluid but high temp race brake fluid is normal viscosity (NV) fluid. At track temps, NV fluid thins down to close to LV fluid properties; however, at street temps there are big differences between LV and NV properties. Most of the time NV works well enough on the street but it could create an ABS or DSC issue. I’d start with a higher performing LV brake fluid like Motul LV. If you encounter brake fade, upgrade to a race brake fluid. Plenty are available.

4. Seat time, seat time and more seat time. Driver mod is the biggest one to maximize. Upgrading performance parts on the car doesn’t help if you haven’t developed the skills to exploit them.

Exactly this--^ And since you have been on track before, you are not completely a newbie, so I'd expect you to have enough pace to absolutely warrant track pads/fluid/camber plates.

I will add: Make sure your tire pressures are appropriate. A good starting cold tire pressure for the Michelin PS4S tire is around 32 psi depending on a few environmental factors. I think the average temperature rise on a PS4S I've seen on many E9x/F8x chassis on track at a modest pace is around 7°F increase. The thing to think about is a PS4S tire has a softer sidewall than a ≥200tw track tire, so it needs a little more air pressure in it to keep it more stable and not rolling over on the sidewall. Keeping your TPMS display up on the iDrive screen is nice just to monitor tire temperature/pressure rise is helpful to see the temperature trends and which tires are getting the hottest (helps when rotating tires to extend wear more evenly).

[Redacre]

The best track day advice I ever got and I share it all the time: The most dangerous sessions are the first and the last.

The first because everyone is just figuring things out and chaos ensues.
The last because tires, brakes, etc. start failing and chaos ensues.

[D_SheerDrivingPleasure]

Originally Posted by Redacre

The last because tires, brakes, etc. start failing and chaos ensues.

Don't forget driver fatigue, especially on hot days.

[Track/S]

Originally Posted by Redacre

The best track day advice I ever got and I share it all the time: The most dangerous sessions are the first and the last.

The first because everyone is just figuring things out and chaos ensues.
The last because tires, brakes, etc. start failing and chaos ensues.

I always come in 20-25 minutes later.

[mikerunt]

When in doubt - THROTTLE OUT!