Trackdays - Page 2

GR8 Ride · 12-13-2001, 10:10 PM

Well Rob, I can only assume you're pulling my leg massively on that one..... ;-)

I'd love nothing more than the opportunity to drive for a living...as such, I do what I can...

Pat

Marita · 12-14-2001, 02:14 AM

man i want to do that...professional racing!!!

thats my dream...hopefully i can fullfil it...

straight_6 · 12-15-2001, 12:32 PM

I drive for living, on the streets thought. I have done 4 BMW driving schools its a whole weekend thing and a couple on lapping days. Its a rush at Mosport its a very fast track, I have only had one close call, when I boiled my brake fluid braking off the back striaght, Try going 185-190 hitting your brakes for the corner and having your brake pedel go to the floor.
I took the corner 20-30km faster then I should have. Tons of under steer but I made it though. I still love it.

***Bliss*** · 12-15-2001, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by straight_6
I drive for living, on the streets thought. I have done 4 BMW driving schools its a whole weekend thing and a couple on lapping days. Its a rush at Mosport its a very fast track, I have only had one close call, when I boiled my brake fluid braking off the back striaght, Try going 185-190 hitting your brakes for the corner and having your brake pedel go to the floor.
I took the corner 20-30km faster then I should have. Tons of under steer but I made it though. I still love it.

Scary thought

M3Pilot · 12-15-2001, 01:30 PM

Oh dear no brake

I going to get some Castrol SRF brake fliud which is the best you can get ,and help to stop that from happening.

straight_6 · 12-15-2001, 06:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by M3Pilot
Oh dear no brake I going to get some Castrol SRF brake fliud which is the best you can get ,and help to stop that from happening.

I was using fluid called "blue dot" i think that is what it is called.
It is racing brake fluid and I still boiled it!

M3Pilot · 12-15-2001, 08:44 PM

Castrol SRF has a high dry boiling point and much higher wet boiling point than any other brake fluid out there.
I not slagging off your driving skills but a lot of it can be down to how you brake.
But if you still get fade the only way is bigger brakes.

GR8 Ride · 12-16-2001, 11:36 AM

Ok, a couple of things to consider in braking performance.

Most decent, DOT 5.1 (not DOT 5) brake fluid will work well; Castrol SRF, AP Racing etc, etc.

When fluid heats up, it tends to heat up brake lines as well. One of the first "no-brainer upgrades" should be stainless steel brake lines. This helps to keep the lines from over-heating, expanding, and subsequently causing brake fade.

Secondly, your choice in pads will affect braking performance more than anything else. If you're remotely serious about tracking your car, and still want to drive it on the streets, I'd suggest getting two sets of pads; one track, one street.

For the track, Hawk HT-8 / HT-10 are quite aggressive, though they need to warm up before they are 100% effective.

PF97s are pretty aggressive, and don't need much warm up time.

PFZ's aren't a bad compromise pad, they don't need much warm up time, they aren't bad on the track, and they're quiet and dust free on the street. They won't have the braking performance of the Hawk's or the PF97s however.

Track pads will be noisy on the street, and dust like an SOB. Unless you want everyone looking at your while you're driving down the street squealing at every stop, it's best to run a dedicated track pad and a street pad.

PF 97's, Hawks all tend to be a little expensive, so it's a good idea to save some money by using Pagid, or stock BMW pads on the street.

Pat

straight_6 · 12-16-2001, 04:23 PM

I have asked around to see if this problem i am having is me or my brakes. I have hawk pads, the kind that don't eat your rotors i think they are the blues.
I have steel braided lines, M5 master cylinder and brembo sloted rotors. In the spring I am putting on Porsche calipers and 11.5" rotors. Now i don't have the cooling duct in the front of my car, that is another thing i am going to try in the spring.
I have talked to one of the main motor sport guys at BMW in Ajax at the annual test drive thing they do. He said to use standard BMW brake fluid. He also said they used it in there E30 M3 years ago, they had the front rotors glowing and the fluid did not brake down.
Does anyone think it might be my tires? They never lock up but they may not be gripping as good as they should. They are yoko A520 on stock rims. This september was the first time i had boiled my fluid. I wonder if my driving has become more agressive and i am using the brakes more because of higher speeds, i know that i am out driving the perfomance of the tires, and that is causing me to brake longer before a turn cuase i know the tires can,t grip at the speed i could enter it at.

FC in TO · 12-17-2001, 11:33 PM

track? oh yes.

Have been joining BMW's driving schools at 3 or 4 different tracks since 99. I also joined lapping days/driver trainings hosted by private parties or motorsport organizations.

330iGuy · 12-23-2001, 11:00 PM

Doing driving schools, open tracks, and time trials at the rate of 2 or 3 per month since October of last year. Got 40+ track days on my 330i. ^_^

addbhp · 01-22-2002, 12:10 AM

The only way to learn is to have your car at the track, controlled environment, and no on coming traffic.

My only suggestion, if you've never done it, get some instruction at a school, ala BMW club of Canada. One nice thing is they take you up the learning curve at your pace. And don't forget the autocrosses, great way to learn car control at safe speeds.

Myself, I've done five or schools with the BMW club at Mosport, Shannonville, and Mt. Trembant in a 89 CRX si, and my 91 318is, and 3 years of Autocrosses. Have since moved on to Solo 1. For more information on this type of racing see www.soloontario.com.

GR8 Ride · 01-22-2002, 08:39 AM

I wouldn't trust what the stock BMW mechanics say about brake fluid. They're going to spout the company line over and over again, without putting any thought or reason into it.

Yeah, DOT3 or DOT4 was THE sh!t 20 years ago....guess what, it's easy to boil it off now.

DOT 5.1 or DOT 6, from any decent vendor will be a much better choice. With DOT 6, you *may* want to look at flushing your system once or twice a year, as it doesn't have the lifespan of DOT 5.1.

If your tires aren't locking up, then you're not having a problem with grip. If your pedal is going to the floor, then that's the classic sign of brake fade. Which means it's basically one of three things. Brake fluid, which ATE Super Blue isn't bad, it's not the greatest. Castrol SRF or AP Racing 5.1 is better. Hawk Blues aren't a bad set of pads, but they're not extremely aggressive either (such as the HT-10). Those should really not present any problem, unless you're over using them.

Which brings us to the final issue in overheating brakes, the driver. If you're constantly fading your brakes (particularly coming into turn 8 at Mosport), then I'd suggest it's your braking technique. If you're braking extremely late, and extremely hard, you may simply be demanding too much of your stock braking setup, and the big brake kit could be a no-brainer for you.

The other thing that might affect something like this is how quickly you're stabbing at the brakes. If you're smooth, brake fade tends to be less of an issue than if you jump on the brakes hard. The pads do need *some* time to warm up...

The other thing is, you might just be braking too much. 8 is a fairly fast turn, and if your car is setup properly, can easily be done at 160 km/h and up.

Pat