FAQ: Track Event Prep Questions

[G-man]

Ok, I have made my way through the extensive materials in the FAQ on preparing for a race event. I have a 2 day track school coming up May 20-21 at Virginia International Raceway in Danville, VA. Our hosts for the event is Mazda, but they have kindly made room for my NSX since my 1999 Miata S does not yet have a roll bar in place. I have a few questions:

1) Since this is not a timed event, but a driving school, anyone know if it is a good idea to run with the top out of the NSX-T. I am concerned it will limit top speed and that the interior air pressure about 120mph may be distracting at best.

2) Is it really necessary to remove the spare tire as suggested in the FAQ? I would like to leave it in for balance and since it will be in there when I am driving normally, I figure why not. Anyone else had a problem with the tire staying put?

3) Is it really necessary to remove the floor mats and all other items not nailed down?! Come on! The floor mats! That just seems excessive. I have heard of weight reductions, but come on.

4) Should the car be serviced immediately prior to the event or immediately after it? Who should conduct the pre-race inspection and is there anything special to look out for?

5) I have 2,200 mile on my orginal factory Yoko tires. I see from the FAQ that I can expect 250+ miles for a 2 day event... COOL! But that the miles are hard and thus 4x the effect on the tires. I am cool with 1,000 miles off my tires, but is it equally hard on my oil and other parts?

I am trying to time this so that when I am done with the track event, my car will have 3,000 - 3,750 miles on it and the tires will allmost certainly be shot. This way I can take the car to be serviced, have the tires replaced and regail the group with stories, photos and videos of my whipping ass on 200+ RX-7s and Miatas.

Anyone have any comments, suggestions or clarifications for me. Thanks.

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Gordon G. Miller, III
Y2K NSX #51 Yellow/Black
[email protected] http://www.g3.com

 

[ChopsJazz]

G-Man, Your new NSX will pass tech with almost no alterations, depending on just how strictly the event coordinators adhere to their own rules. At the event I attended no one made me remove my spare tire or my floor mats, but I did have to have a fire extinguisher (I chose Halon. See FAQ) installed. Your tires will almost certainly live through the school and you may even get a few more street mileso on them. Just be sure to check the INSIDE edge of the front tires, it's the first area to show wear.
Sure, some of the rules seem pointless, but they are there for everyone's safety, not just yours.
And, I would personally run with the top on. You will probably never see anywhere close to 120 mph at your first driving school event, but I think for rigidity and safety you may want to keep it on.
And have fun and let us know how you did!

 

[Lud]

Originally posted by G-man:
1) Since this is not a timed event, but a driving school, anyone know if it is a good idea to run with the top out of the NSX-T. I am concerned it will limit top speed and that the interior air pressure about 120mph may be distracting at best.

A lot of the answers to these questions depend on the people running the event. Some will require you to keep the top on. The theory being that if you roll the car it may help protect you. Just make sure it's secured; it's expensive (and dangerous) to have it fly off on the track if you forget to turn the little levers...

Putting the top in the -T also makes it a bit more rigid which should help handling and road feel.

As far as air pressure, you'll probably need to run with your side windows down in order to be able to signal for passing so there may be less pressure than you experienced with the top off and windows up at 120.

ChopsJazz in right in general that most people won't hit 120 MPH at their first event, but VIR is a fast track. I would indeed expect you to see around 110-120 MPH if you're running on the North Course unless you drive very conservatively. And if they ever let a drivers school use the full course a stock NSX should hit around 140 on the huge straight after the oak tree turn.

2) Is it really necessary to remove the spare tire as suggested in the FAQ?

It's not necessary and I really doubt they'll make you remove it. Most people prefer to remove it to save weight and because with all the shifting around you can lose the little rubber pads and bolts holding things in place. If you check them before each day you'll probably be fine.

3) Is it really necessary to remove the floor mats and all other items not nailed down?! Come on! The floor mats! That just seems excessive. I have heard of weight reductions, but come on.

The primary reason for removing floor mats is not weight, it's to prevent them from getting bunched up under the pedals and affecting your control of the car. On the NSX this isn't a huge problem at a drivers school because they mats fit very snugly but it depends on how strick the tech session is whether they'll let you run with them or not.

4) Should the car be serviced immediately prior to the event or immediately after it?

Your car shouldn't need anything at this point. In general you want to have fairly fresh oil/filter and brake fluid before an event. Some people change their oil again right after an event but that's probably excessive. I'd just take it into consideration and maybe do your next oil change at 1500 or 2000 instead of 3000 miles.

Who should conduct the pre-race inspection and is there anything special to look out for?

Any qualified mechanic can do it. I'm always most interested in my brakes <g> Yours should be fine since the car is practically new.

5) I have 2,200 mile on my orginal factory Yoko tires. I see from the FAQ that I can expect 250+ miles for a 2 day event... COOL! But that the miles are hard and thus 4x the effect on the tires. I am cool with 1,000 miles off my tires, but is it equally hard on my oil and other parts?

I think most people who do the occasional drivers school change their oil more often before/after the schools. Also bleed brake fluid, check brake wear, etc.

 

[dollenz]

I just did 130 with the top off this last weekend and it was nice and quiet in the cockpit. Lud is right, it is safer and more rigid if you keep the top on. I have noticed a lot of difference in the stiffness of the car between having the top on or off. My advice? Keep it on when going around the track , even if they let you do it without it.

 

[nsxtasy]

Originally posted by G-man:
2) Is it really necessary to remove the spare tire as suggested in the FAQ? I would like to leave it in for balance and since it will be in there when I am driving normally, I figure why not. Anyone else had a problem with the tire staying put?

Yes. But it's not a matter of the tire staying put. I've had several problems occur as a result of leaving the tire in the car at track events and having g-forces on its weight: (a) As Lud has pointed out, I've lost the rubber bumpers on the ends of the horizontal part of the t-shaped bracket that the spare is bolted to. (b) Similarly, I lost the bolt that holds down the top part of that same bracket. (c) The wing nut on my spare tire now comes loose constantly. Even if I tighten it HARD, it will come loose and start rattling after casual street/highway driving as few as 50 miles. (It's a quiet rattle but I recognize it right away.) The only way I can keep the wing nut in place is to use Loctite every time I fasten the bolt. Obviously, the weight of the tire during track driving caused the tire to shift just enough to loosen the threads of the wing nut and/or the bracket just enough so that they can't make a solid contact any more.

Since you haven't tracked your car yet, you now have the opportunity to avoid having this happen to your car. It's easy enough to remove the spare before you go out on the track.

 

[nsxtasy]

Originally posted by ChopsJazz:
Just be sure to check the INSIDE edge of the front tires, it's the first area to show wear.

With proper inflation (if you're using the OEM tires, the recommended 33F/40R will work just fine), track driving will wear the front tires evenly across the tread. The excessive inside wear happens with street and highway driving. The car is set up with the assumption that it will experience a fair amount of hard cornering.

 

[ChopsJazz]

nsxtasy is exactly right. The worst thing you can do for front tire wear is drive in a straight line! Except you may want to inflate your tires a little higher for the track than for street use. Take a couple of hard laps and then check to see if you have significantly scrubbed any of your sidewalls. then adjust your tire pressure accordingly.

 

[David]

One of the best ways to sort out tire pressure at the track is with a hand-held pyrometer. Someone there may have one you can borrow; if so, you can come in after a couple of laps and know exactly which part of your tires is working the hardest.

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