(TL;DR: I went to my first track day. My instructor wasn't much help but I had a lot of fun and learned lot. I'm getting the Miata bug. Pictures at bottom. What are some of your experiences from track days you've done? Do you prefer track days or autocross if you've done both?)
I recently went to my local race track for a HPDE event during the FARA Homestead 200 race weekend (Feb 22-23). I've driven around the NASCAR oval circuit at Homestead-Miami Speedway before but never been on the road course (I hadn't ever been on a road course, not even an autocross). I was the only dummy on track with a CVT - a fact my instructor quickly poked fun at (at least it didn't blow up though). We got a total of two hours on track in between practice and qualifying sessions for the real race going on that weekend. My car burned nearly 16 gallons of gas; I found it funny that a four banger could use so much gas so quickly!
Overall, I had a lot of fun and didn't destroy anything (although my tires and brake pads are a bit worse for wear now). I didn't want to boil my brake fluid so I went somewhat easy on the brakes most of the time and they held through the abuse (ran DOT3; I hadn't gotten the DOT4 fluid I ordered). I've never driven my car so hard and I enjoyed learning how it behaves under such conditions. The car would understeer like a pig with its factory tires but, with my current set of tires (BFG Sport Comp 2), it didn't understeer unless I went into a corner way too hot. Mid-corner throttle liftoff resulted in a smooth transition to oversteer to correct the course. A little counter steer and applying the throttle again got the car settled again. I'm happy with the way it handled but it could use some sway bars to get through the corners more quickly. I've been wanting a Miata for a while for playing on the weekends - I'm trying to figure out where I can store one. Buying a Miata is the best use of my tax refund check that I've come up with.
Registration for the novice run group was supposedly capped at 25 cars but there were about 35 cars in that run group. There was heavy traffic at times, and, as expected, I pointed a lot of faster cars by. There were a few cars much faster than mine (supercharged Camaro SS, C6 Corvette, 997 911, and a Gallardo) being driven by people that seemed to have no idea what they were doing. They were holding up traffic and eventually pointed me by since I was all over their rear bumpers in the corners (but very far away in the straights). At least now I can say that I passed a Gallardo on the race track!
Most drivers were cautions and respectful but there was a knucklehead in a Corvette passing dangerously and another in a Miata who spun three times (that I saw) at turn three. His third spin was a charm - he hit the inside wall pretty hard on the last lap of the session.My instructor was pretty helpful throughout our first session but was quiet in the rest of the sessions. He pulled his phone out a few times while we were on track and seemed like he wasn't paying much attention. I was constantly asking for feedback but didn't get much - he'd just say that I was doing very well and learning the course quickly. I spoke to the program's director about it - he didn't seem to care. Between the lame instructor and the over-registration, I don't think I'll be doing this again with the same organization. There are plenty of other organizations that do HPDE events at the track so I'll go with one of them next time I decide to do this (which would be often if it wasn't so expensive).
My rundown of the track: Heading out of the pits, you have to stay left until after turn 2 to avoid faster moving traffic. Turn 3 requires a late apex to set up for turn 4. After 4's apex, its full throttle through 5 and into the braking zone for 6 - an initially slow, opening-radius right. (There isn't much runoff area for 6; it would be a bad corner to lose your brakes because you'd be head-on into the wall at nearly 100 mph.) After turning into six, your back on the gas through 7, a right-hand sweeper, down the third straight to the braking zone for 8. Turn 8 is the slowest corner and requires a late apex to get on the gas through 9. There is some compression as you transition from the flat road course and climb onto the banked back straight. Turn ten is tricky because the transition from the NASCAR banking back onto the road course is very bumpy; getting it wrong really unsettles the car. Turn-in for ten is unstintingly late, just before hitting the cones lined up on the track. Some trail braking during turn-in for helps rotate the car to cut the corner over the curb and avoid the bumps (pic of turn 10). After getting through ten, its hard on the brakes for 11 and then back on the gas. A quick dab of brakes was all I needed for a late apex at 12 to stay left for for 13/14. I was going through the chicane pretty slowly at first until I figured out that you can go into 13 really fast for a late apex to stay right, slam on the brakes for 14 and then get back on the gas. Turn 15 is flat on the gas as you transition back onto the banking of the front straight, lifting before turn 1 and getting on the brakes for turn 2.
Anyhow, on to some pictures. I've got a gallery on Flickr but here are a few shots.
Track map:
Heading down the front straight. I picked up an extra 5-6 mph down this straight once I started getting the turn 13/14 chicane right.
Turns 3 & 4 - I was between the slow 911 and the slow Gallardo at this point. That Boss 302 seemed to be the fastest car on track along with a Viper ACR and a C7 Corvette.
Diving into turn six after passing the slow Camaro and Corvette.
Turn 8 - tightest corner on the track. Somebody needs to make a front sway bar for these cars.
Me giving a big thumbs up after the last session. I rented the helmet so the head sock was a must.
I was happy to see these cars getting a workout at the track. There were a two more McLarens and another Ferrari. The other Ferrari was in the novice run group with me - what a wonderful sound it made every time it passed me. There were also a few GT-R's, Vipers, and a C7 Corvette which was consistently in my rear view every three laps.
We had some spectators from the local Air Force base. This Globemaster made a few low passes and there was an Osprey flying around too.
Some pictures of the race...
934 911 RSR
Ginetta G-55. Yes, that's a plywood splitter on a real race car from the Ginetta Factory team which won first overall. There was another G-55 with a plywood splitter too.
Share some of your track day experiences! If you've done track days and autocross, which do you prefer?
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