The upcoming 2/24 is our first track experience and I was wondering besides completing the NASA pre-inspection, wearing long cotton shirts/pants & some gloves, what else should be done to the car?

03 Mini Cooper S, SCCA SM & NASA-X B class
It'll be dual driven at the event

Theres only two autocross's on the Hawk HPS pads, Powerslot rotors, and it has fresh flush with ATE Type 200 fluid.
The tires will be Azenis
The alignment specs are:(really don't want to screw with these settings)
-2.5 Camber
1/16" Toe out
Maxed caster
Rear
-1.3 Camber
0 Toe

I'm thinking that there will be less cornering force than autocross, but have no clue. With the Azenis we run a little more (AST single adjustables)dampening in the rear, the rear sway(22mm) on its mid setting, and 41# in the fronts 35# in the rears. Since this is our first event i'd rather start close and just worry about driving not tuning. So I was thinking about softening up the rear bar, leaving the dampening alone, and trying the same pressure(41#/35#hot)
Anybody want to chime in on their thoughts. The car is for autocross, and this looks like the only track event(NASA circuitcross) we'll do this year so I don't want to start changing the alignment just for one weekend.

Thanks

 

Being it's your first track I'd not worry about the car so much. Make sure it is in good mechanical shape and relax. You are going to be overwhelmed at the amount of information pushed at you very quickly. So long as the car is in good shape it will do fine. The key here is to keep your mind open and not try to set a track record your first time out.

 

Typically, on tracks (vs autoX) I increase tire pressure slightly (2-5lb depending on weather and tires)... I check the oil, bleed the brakes, and try to get a good-night's sleep.

Tracks are different animals than AutoX... there's a lot more shifting (depending on tracks) brakes generally get hammered a lot harder, and there are higher sustained Gs than parkinglots...

If you have a pyrometer, bring it, so it will make adj, tire pressures easier.
between runs, check your pad and tire wear, and make sure your fluids are where the should be (and if your rotors are marginal, check those too).

Other than that, enjoy your self as you won't get "lost" in the sea of cones, and have time to think things through (like how your going to pass...)

HTH, and Good Luck!

 

One thing you will have to unlearn from AX is trail braking. I actually had an instructor ask me if I had autocrossed after the first 2 laps of our first session. He said he could tell because I was trail braking into all the corners. Except for the slowest corners you want to brake straight and get on the gas at turn-in. If you need to adjust mid corner its via throttle steering.

But mostly relax, open your mind, and learn from your instructor.

It'll be a blast!

Alan

p.s. The only down side is AX may seem pretty boring afterwards.

 

Thanks for the tips, thats a fear we both have!

 

On avg. tires will heat up between 8&10 PSI when hot. I keep my rears about 1-2 lbs more then the fronts. When I ran those tires I started cold fronts-32psi cold rear-33psi. Best to check hot keep at 40 psi. I have my sway bar on the loosest setting at high speed it tends to slide the back end around pretty quick when you lift. JMHO Have fun you will be addicted shortly.

 

you should be fine with those settings, even the rear sway bar; your not throwing the car around as much (relatively) as you are during AX, so a stiff rear bar won't feel as twitchy as it will in an AX situation.

Alignment is fine (I run similar settings for my E30 track car), it just watch your brakes, you should be ok with the HPS's but they are a street pad and when they get out of their temp range fade can be an issue, but more importantly wear goes up a lot so just watch them between sessions (you might want to bring a spare set of front pads just in case). I'd recommend a track pad at least for the fronts if you can get them in time (Hawk HT-10's work well and are a compatible compound with the HPS's so bedding them in will be less of an issue) so you don't cook you street brakes (that and you'll be surprised with the stopping power of a track pad), but as a I said the HPS should be fine just monitor the wear (nothing sucks like having to cut the day short b/c you're out of breaks)

Tires should be fine azenis have a bunch of grip for a street tire, just mind them towards the end of a session as I've found they can get a little greasy, starting pressures will vary with ambient and track temps but shoot for mid-low 40's coming off the track (I found that they tend to pick up 5-6 psi during a session on avg)

 

Thanks for all the starting points, now we're down to counting the days until track time.