Track Day Preparation

[Nocturnal005]

I am planning to finally take my 420R to the track, aiming for this fall. I finally have enough confidence in the build and have enough miles on everything to feel pretty good about things not falling off. I'm in the SF bay area so I am interested in running Laguna Seca and Sonoma raceway.

 

I did a few searches for track prep, but I didn't see a consolidated track preparation thread. I know these cars are already pretty well suited for the track, but there are always optimizations that can be made. IE addressing brakes seems to be a common theme. Figured it may be useful to put all recommendations in one place.

 

I do have a lot of auto-x and some intermediate track day experience, so I'm looking for more the 7 specific recommendations vs general "how do I start doing track days" input. 

 

Things I'm looking for recommendations on prior to heading out: 

- brakes: feels like the weak point of the car, generally lacking bite. I understand the rears tend to heat rapidly and chew through pads as well. Pad reccs w stock brake setup?

- alignment: is there a good track alignment starting point?

- sway bar settings: upgrade front to thicker optional bar? Rear bar settings that work the best?

- tires/tire pressure starting points (888R)

- cooling: car seems to have excess cooling - does it make sense to block off part of the oil cooler?

- any other unique things I should be aware of prior to running a 7 on the track?

 

 

[CarlB]

These cars do not need much. I would bleed the brakes to get fresh fluid. Set the alignment to 3 degrees of negative camber, 3 degrees of caster, and 1/16th total toe out. Make sure you do not have any toe out in the rear. Zero toe, to a little in, is what you want in the rear.  Starting tire pressure of 20 LBS, You can probably go down a little. These are very generic and will get you started. Brake pads are a personal thing as well. They have different characteristics and I would try what you have and then read about and try something else. The cars are really good the way they come. At some point you might want to change springs and bars, but again I would recommend you go drive it the way it is. As you get familiar with the car, it will tell you what it wants. Everyone's driving style is a little different.