steve695

Hey all.

I bought my s2000 with the 2 main things in my mind being twisty mountain roads and going to track days.

With the new "hoon" laws in effect, it is almost impossible to drive with enthusiasm anywhere. The Great Ocean Road used to be fun, but these days it is convered in police and it's more impossible than ever to get away with having any sort of thrilling drive.

Anyway, next year I want to start going to the track, and have quite a few questions. I live in Geelong so I'm looking to go to track days in Melbourne and wouldn't mind travelling even further on the occasion. I would like to try out a few different tracks.

I know that Sandown has track days: How much does it cost and how often are they on? Are you allowed to take a passenger?
I like the look of Calder Park Circuit, but I'm not sure if there are track days there, can anyone fill me in?
Winton raceway also looks like a joy, do they do track days there?

Where is the best place to start?
Do I need to get any special licenses to go to track days?
How much does it cost?

I have heard that insurance doesn't cover you on track days, this worries me the most as I have spent a lot of money on my S.
How likely is it to have a crash on a track day that results in major damage to the car?

I know it's a lot of questions and I will be very greatful for all information given. I really want to get into this.

Thanks

YLDS2K

Hey Steve, first let me start by saying, it's good to see your wanting to do track work and not hoon around public roads.

I went to Winton early this month for a 'fun day' purely because I've never been on the track before. I found it to be an amazing experience because I could really push the car and I felt I learnt the car and it's capabilities a lot more which in turn has made me a more confident driver on public roads. It only cost me $35 and they had times where you could go solo or with a passenger. I noticed right away the compound on the track was different and it is a lot more sticky which allows you to push around corners, but if you took the same corner at the same speed on normal roads you are more then likely not goong to make it.

Anyways, on the day all types of cars were welcome and I felt that most of the people were well behaved except for two blokes in particular who drove a VL turbo and a XR6 turbo decided to do a huge burnout down the main straight together, and this is highly against the rules and you will be banned.

The day I went also didn't allow lap timing and overtaking within the corners, which was no problem for me as I wasn't going to go out for the first time like a bat out of hell.

My advice to you in finding times when track days take place would be to search on the track's websites, as they will have an event calendar and pricing and requirements. I didn't need any licence maybe because it was a fun day but not sure how the licence system work for actual track days.

Insurance most certainly won't cover you but you need to be aware that there is a such thing as track insurance which guys with track dedicated cars take on. I'm sure this provides some peace of mind but I am not sure of pricing.

In regards to how likely is it to have a crash on a track day that results in major damage to the car? Well that's like asking how long is a piece of string? To avoid totaling your car I say drive within 80% of your ability and build your confidence before you think your Baracello or Schumacher.

The links below will get you on your way to finding the day and event you want to go to.

Calder park events
http://www.calderpark.com.au/events.aspx#cp-tab-3

Winton raceway events
http://www.wintonmotorraceway.com.au...ents&Itemid=41

Sandown
http://www.sandown.net.au/events/

This is a start to get you on your way and my final word is this, I hope you have spent your hard earned dollars on things that will keep you safe on the track and necessities such as helomet, coilovers, big brakes, heavy duty clutch, roll cage, good tires (semi's) brake stopper chassis bracing and novelties like exhaust, teat pipe and CAI

Good luck and I hope this helps you

PS: keep me informed if your looking for someone to accompany you as myself and a few others have expressed interest lately.

Panayiotis

If you are worried about insurance and crashing, I'd try to get onto a specific event rather than an open all comers track 'experience'. There is a higher chance you will get hit by another driver on these days than you hitting a barrier. I did a Winton test and tune day which is open to all (but they are quite strict on racecraft and will boot you off if they see you do anything wrong)a while back, the only problem was that the S2000 will be MUCH slower than some of the other cars on the track, so if you dont have much track experience being overtaken by ex touring cars etc is probably a bit too daunting. FYI, at winton you just need to buy one of their licenses for $50 and that lasts for a year. Check if you can join any cams affilated clubs, and they will generally have track days or at least point you in the right direction if you want to go to Phillip Isalnd etc.

I wouldn't give up with having fun on the roads, there are a lot of roads in Victoria which are technically challenging and the speed limits high enough for you to have a lot of fun without worrying.

steve695

Thank heaps for all that info man!

Your day at Winton sounds like great fun, and a great price. It's definitely on my list of things to do, I have looked at maps of the 3 circuitso and Winton looks like the most challenging and fun, I might start out at sandown.

As for the idiots in the xr6 and vlt, I'm certainly not looking to do anything stupid like that. I dunno why they would do that.

No overtaking in corners, that's a good rule. It sounds pretty safe. It doesn't look like there is too much to hit if you come off the track.

Yeah, I'm certainly not going to push it 100% on my first day.

Thanks for the links. As for my car, I had to have a brand new F20C installed. The one that was in it was buggered and I didn't know until a few months after I bought it and had to have it replaced.
I just bought a set of buddy club n+ coilovers and am waiting on Enkei PF01 17x9+60 wheel to arrive. I'm going to run a 245 square setup. You can no longer put roll cages in street cars, they changed the law a few months ago. My brakes are standard and I replaced my clutch with an exceedy.
I will most likely also have the exhaust, intake, sway bars and a few other little things done by the time I get my license back, then I'm keen to get straight into it.

Yeah I will keep you informed. Maybe Jamie would be keen to come as well.

YLDS2K

Oh hang on a minute...judging from what u have just said, did we meet once upon a time at the Geelong beach? With Jamie and myself?

steve695

Yeah, about 3 days before I got my s2k Would have been cool if I had it on that day.

YLDS2K

Oh I remember you, Jamie mentioned to me that you had some issues with the engine how's it all going now?

steve695

Yeah one of the pistons was damaged and it scratched the cylinder bore, so I got a new short motor from Honda and had the head from the origional engine on it, all reconditioned.
It was costly and unexpected, but when it comes down to it, well worth it. Yeah it's all going good now. It feels really tight and good, doesn't blow any smoke and runs very smoothly.

YLDS2K

Ah u got the short motor from honda? What did that cost you?

steve695

I think the motor itself was 4500, then to have it all put together and put in the car came to a total around 8 and a half