Track Roll bar options

[hks_kansei]

When I used to attend trackdays as a photographer* we'd always laugh at the guys who showed up in heavily modified cars, would put on the fireproof suit, gloves etc.

You'd ask them "what times are you aiming for today?"
"oh, it's my first ever trackday"..........

Sure enough, they'd go out, come back thinking their the next Senna, and look at the timeboard to see that they've managed to be only marginally faster than a stock version of the same car dríven by someone who knew what they were doing.



The trackday I did ages ago I went in a bog standard 2000 Ford Mondeo.
had a blast.

[madjak]

Don't discourge the enusiastic newbies. Some people will rock up with an old banger and a motorbike helmet, some will come all kitted out with the latest and greatest... last event we had someone rock up with an electric BMW SUV and we have someone running in a diesel golf. All that matters is if they have a good time and continue to be involved. Without them a lot of our series don't have the numbers to run.

My first event, I rocked up with my stock b-spec that used to be my daily that had been parked for 5 years. I changed the oil, dropped in some better front pads and added an extinguisher and stickers. I had such a blast that now I'm addicted.

[Trackphotos]

we'd always laugh at the guys who showed up in heavily modified cars, would put on the fireproof suit, gloves etc.

Based on my experience shooting at Time Attack rounds, the noobs are far, FAR more likely to write their cars off than the experienced guys. Don't knock the safety gear, even if they never expected it to be used for anything more than image ;) Once saw some dude in an R32 GTR roll his car coming onto the straight at Lakeside on his first flying lap. No cage, no bucket seat or harness, but he got to walk away without any injuries other than financial.

[StuwieP]

yeah a bit harsh to go after the guys with full safety kit.

That said, my first few track days I've done have been with the basics:

seat, harnesses, roll bar and a spare set of wheels (still on road tyres)

Why?

Learning. If i'm gonna mess up (and i did) i'd rather do it going much more slowly than I would be with semi slicks and 200kw...

and my ancient suspension held up fine, actually. ducks and rolls but still hangs on.

Check out Guran's 'little reddy' garage thread for what you can do in a standard MX5

[MattR]

I see most people who go out and throw coilovers and suspension at these cars to some track work end up making them too stiff.

Yes if your car has old suspension an upgrade would be a good thing to do, but the first couple of years I took my car out on the track with the standard and original suspension with 190000km on it and road tyres, it still went well and I had a ball, and it taught me a lot about the overall balance and handling of an MX5, as I had come from a very different track car, a 240Z running very stiff suspension, locked diff and 245/640/18 slick tyres and the fact that you sit over the back axle makes it feel very different to anything else most people have dríven.

As a light weight car, and with the track and wheelbase they are a good thing out of the box. Yes they can be improved, but most people don't understand that they need to be relatively soft in the damping and springs to work properly. These cars are relatively underpowered for the chassis and get there speed around a track from the speed they can carry through a corner.

Also, you see a lot of people go to thicker sway bars straight up. Sway bars should be used as a tool to fine tune your suspension once you have the damping and springs right, not used as the first step to make the car sit flatter.

A good example is my NA6, it is softer than most of the other cars that do the track days up here, runs BC V series coilovers (softer damping than the next series up) standard sway bars and I run R888 tyres. Being a 1600 I get passed by kids on BMX bikes down the main straight at both QR and Lakeside, however I find that around the back of both those circuits I more than hold my own, and in a lot of cases get held up by those who passed me down the straights.

An underpowered car that is set up well, as the MX5's are from the factory, will teach you a lot more about performance driving on a track than just about anything else.

[Magpie]

Again this hurts but MattR could be right! I'm back with a stock rear sway and the car is better behaved than with a larger rear sway. Sway bars, like springs are for fine tuning a setup and can vary from track to track however most of us with a DD settle with the setup and don't change springs between tracks, however may change the swaybar settings if it is adjustable.

Making changes to dampers (rebound) and tire pressures also help fine tune a setup. But having a decent alignment is the best place to start and will have more profound effect than any other change in the suspension bar a flat tire.

[MattR]

Well I hope after playing with race cars for near on 30 years and having some success at state level I would have learnt a few things.......

[angusis2fast4u]

Are the AGI bars modplate-able in QLD?

[Mr Morlock]

angus you have pages of advice here and from guys who have spent years running around race tracks. If you have questions about the AGI bar can't you get that info direct from them?

[angusis2fast4u]

angus you have pages of advice here and from guys who have spent years running around race tracks. If you have questions about the AGI bar can't you get that info direct from them?

I just thought I'd ask here before I ask A business, time is money for businesses. Also NSW company and I'm asking about a QLD regulation so I thought someone here could give a more direct answer

[Jeo]

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