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Hi all,

After working on the car over the last month or so it looks like I am on progress (baring anything drastically going wrong) to make my first QR sprint day on the 23rd of march in the MX-5.

In my down time i have been pouring over the forum and others looking at stuff that could help me for my fist time out.

So i thought why not come to the horses mouth so to say and ask directly if you guys have any tips or helpful hints that would help a new guy.
Even little stuff that may make a difference, or even simple stuff that you may have not done your first time out?

Thanks in advance guys, Hope to see a few of you guys out there.

Benn

If you can, do the practice session in the morning before the street sprints. It'll cost a bit more but it's well worth it. This will give you a number of 20min sessions where you can go in and out as much as you like. This'll let you settle in with the car and the track.

Get there early so you can get a pit, unpack the car tools etc. Double check wheel nuts, tyre pressure, and fluids.

For the sprints, make sure you know what group you're in and when you should be getting ready to line up.

On track, use your mirrors and make sure ypu know what's in front and behind you.



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As its your first track day, dont aim to set the lap record on your first lap. Start off slow and work towards getting quicker as the day progresses.
This way you can inch your way towards the limits of your car/grip/talent without immediately ploughing past them.
Whilst you need to exceed those limits to know where they are, the smaller the amount you exceed it by the easier it is to recover from.

What tyre pressures will you be running? What condition are your pads in?

Take a notebook and write down how the car felt and if you make changes to the car set up note these as well.

I found turning into turn 1 too early at 145k gives me massive oversteer

As the others have said take it easy in the first session and make sure you are comfortable with the car and track.

Ill be there on the 23rd too

Main thing is just remember to have fun.

Make sure there is plenty of tread on your tyres, check condition of brakes, do an oil change.

Just ease into to, QR is an easy track but on the first session just go at a steady pace and get used to it, work out the racing line etc go at your own pace.

If you havent done it before you will be in group 4 most likely, which is for new comers, or if you have only done it a few times, plus the groups go on the lap times/power of the cars so you are normally with other cars of similar times/pace.

Thanks for all the tips so far guys,
I will definitively be taking it easy, until confidence in knowledge of track and car is established?

plohl - will look into the practice sessions, sound like a good idea.

Magpie - I will be running standard road "comfort" tyres 185/65/14's for first outing, figure have a crack at it first before spending money on a set of semi's. So I will have to start having a bit of a look around to see what pressure i should start at. Does anyone have any suggestions, figure would have to be around 36ish?

Speed Freak- that will be great mate, mine will be a red NA with black hardtop, if you see me say hi mate, will be good to meet a few more mx5 guys.

Another question i had was whether it is worth getting a more aggressive wheel alignment before my first go out or like magpie said should I take notes on what the car did and didn't do and address that one at a time?

Thanks guys

Benn

Is your NA stock? A more aggressive wheel alignment would be advisable not only to help you through the corners but will help your tyres wear evenly too. I use Bridgestone RE002 tyres at the moment so they are a high performance tyre but not a track tyre, I run them at 38 hot and that seems good. I start them around 36 psi cold then drop them down a little after the first 2 sessions, after that I leave them alone. Another investment (if you wish to continue track days) is to get a good tyre pressure gauge if you dont have one already.

Ill definitely come say hi, Ill keep a look out for you when I get there.

Also, before the day, look on youtube and search qr street sprint, even if its not mx5's atleast you will get an idea of the street sprint track layout and the racing line.

On the day though, there is a drivers briefing and they go through the track layout with you, give you advice (as a group) and the new comers stay back an extra few minutes to get a few more details.

Iv done 4 track days in my mx5 now (more in other cars) and Iv had a spin in all but 1 day haha, but the good thing is with QR if your talent runs out or you push too hard, go into the corner wrong there is nothing to hit, the walls are a long way away. You just select first and keep going As long as you have fun and you and your car go home in one piece thats all that matters.

yep stock as a rock. It has a little sports exhaust but other then that no performance parts. Think i might start tires at 36 and see how that goes.

Will also have a look around for the wheel alignment, does everyone just use Automotive Plus or are there any good ones on south side? I have heard of "Accurate Suspension" but looks like it is pretty out of the way.

nice to know about the drivers brief and the "extra" bit for new comers, I assumed something like that had to occur but its good to know.

Definitely will keep an eye out for fellow mx-5's.

speed freak - what gen Mx5 are you running? Wasn't able to find your car on here.

Benn

Re: wheel alignment... go see Ken Graham at Accurate Suspension. He's only just off the freeway, so quite easy to access from north or south. Ken does plenty of MX5s and other hi-po and motorsport cars, and occassionally brings his Datto to MX5 club track days. He's not a big talker so you will need to tell him what event you are doing, and he will set up accordingly. Ask him for his opinion about tyre pressures too, although you have probably already got that nailed.

On the day, after you have done all your preps, and had your first run, find people in with similar cars/tyres/etc and ask what their setup is. Most people will share, and the day becomes a social and driving event. Also, get your times asap after each run (from Driver's briefing room), and ensure you are in the right position in the line up. If you have a good chase with someone, go and introduce yourself. You'll both be buzzing. If you get held up, stay calm. Don't feel pressured to overtake. Just ensure you are in front of them in the next line up.

Don't get too caught up in the technical aspects. Get your tyres OK-ish, watch what others are doing, and stay inside your ability zone. Don't overthink it. MX5s provide heaps of driver feedback, so listen/feel what the car is telling you, drive accordingly and you'll have fun without dramatics. Start slow and aim to improve a little each session. Focus on being aware, safe and totally in control and the speed will come as the confidence in yourself and the car increase.

Probably not the first time, but when you are ready...
Magpie's advice about a tyre pressure gauge and keeping notes is good, unless you have a phenomenal memory. Mine is hopeless, so I write something immediately after each run, before it all starts to blur together. I note down weather conditions, tyres being used, tyre pressures post-run (and any subsequent changes), suspension settings, best time, and any notes I think are important e.g. gear selections, mistakes, general feel etc. I also "feel" the tyres straight after the run for any sign of dramatic overheating. Taking notes helps you set the car up for next time, and is super helpful for events where you don't get much "practice".

Enjoy your first drive at QR. You'll find it exhilarating.

Four more things.

Take plenty of water and don't forget to drink it.
Food is usually available at QR, but choice is limited.
There is air available at QR.
No fuel at QR. Nearest servo's are about 5klm away, towards Brisbane.

Great post adidistyle, good to know Accurate Suspension is as good as reputation.

thanks for tips everyone. It has definitely reinforced what i was thinking and also shed a lot of light on stuff i was pretty hazy on.

Benn

Also how thirsty is the mx5 on the track? I have 2x20L jerry cans and will arrive at QR with around half a tank. I really have only dríven hard around mt tamborine and the usual places so don't really have a feel as to what hard driving fuel economy i should be expecting. A quick search had the boys in the states at 10 MPG (around 23L/100km).

half a tank and a jerry can in case will be plenty for the drive out there and back to brisbane. My NA6 will do a full day track day and drive out and back on just over half a tank by my gauge.

My last visit to QR was about 40 ltrs for 65 laps (car is a blue MX5 NA6). There is a BP servo just down the road from QR, it also has a very nice large (cheap) breakfast that you can enjoy because you left home early to beat the traffic.

I can post some videos on how to not take turn 1 if needed

Enjoy the day and make sure you talk to others as well as listen in context. It is no point listening to somebody tell you to brake late into the dipper if you don't have the confidence. However it is also about getting out of your comfort zone so you do need to push yourself a bit.

Best advice I ever received was to concentrate on 1 corner, get that corner down pat and then move to the next and start to string the corners together. Also a good piece of advice being circulated by Doug is to do a quick left foot brake before turn 6 (last turn before the main straight) especially for cars with stock pads just to make sure you have brakes. It is possible to do the left foot brake just before the turn coming on to the small back straight.

Again just enjoy yourself, QR, as memtioned by others is a very safe track with loads of run off. As yours is a stock MX5 it will be more prone to understeer and this put you to the outside of the track and the simple act of lifting your foot off the accelerator should be enough to transfer weight to the front and give steering back. Oversteer is a case of if in doubt power out however I'm still strugling with this concept and need to work on this aspect

cheers guys, great stuff.

Learning a lot before i get out which was my hope, and plan to learn a LOT more when i get out.

Thanks for heads up on fuel, I am actually trailing my car in and out as my mate will come and help me out with set up and so on. So if i run out of petrol i guess i am not completely stuffed.

Magpie-your blue na is a build I read page 1 to page 25. Great build, i am surprised you kept it on the road and registered for as long as you have haha. Would love to see this entrance into turn 1.
Also was pretty curious whether that left hand light cover intake thing did much to engine temp? I will be pulling out the parker/indicator light housing to get a bit more fresh air under the hood.

Benn

Benn wrote:Also was pretty curious whether that left hand light cover intake thing did much to engine temp? I will be pulling out the parker/indicator light housing to get a bit more fresh air under the hood.

It could lower the engine bay temp on yours, however my air intake is on the other side so the intake on the left hand headlight does not give much benefit (I'm too lazy to swap it out). Getting more air into the engine bay is not effective if the air cannot get out, make sure that the undertray is installed. The base of the windscreen is a known high pressure zone hence why CAI are installed there by cutting a hole in the firewall (High relative velocity = Low pressure Low relative velocity = High pressure). The base of the windscreeen is a good place to suck air into the engine bay, you just need to get it back out

If you look at an OEM bonnet seals against the firewall however with my GV bonnett it sits off the seal and I can actually see into the engine bay from the drivers seat. Since I have now swapped bonnets I'm going to look at the engine bay temp data to see what effect the bonnet change has caused (if any) to engine bay temps.

There is a risk with the parker/indicator vents being installed in such a low pressure area for air to be released through them and not allow air in! This would be dependent on how the air is managed going through the radiator. Think about the path of least resistance, air comming through the mouth of the car hits the radiator, if there is an easier way than going through the radiator that is the way the air will go. Hence the possibility of the air comming in from the front of the car could come out through these parker/indicator vents and actually increases the engine bay temp.

However, I digress.....

If you do want to remove the parker/indicator look at these from a site sponsor (http://omgpham.com/store/exterior/turn-signal-intakes-tsi).