I just did my first track day last week and had a great time. I just have a few questions to ask based on what my instructor told me.

My instructor advised me not to trail-brake. She said I should get all my braking done in a straight line and get on the throttle before turn-in. I had the impression that it was okay to trail brake, as long as you're smooth but quick off the brakes and on the throttle. Is it okay to do this?

I've seen plenty of track junkies suggest that people get R-compounds. My instructor mentioned that one of the biggest mistakes she made was using R-compounds by her third track event. She suggested I stick with street tires for awhile because they're much less forgiving. Basically, she's saying R-compounds might cover up my mistakes. What's your view on this? Thanks in advance!

 

a couple things...

Trail Braking is something that is not necessary for every car in every corner. Therefore I wouldn't advise you against doing it necessarily, but be careful how often you are using it because it might actually be faster to go deeper into the corner under straight braking and then give the car a nice shove rather than trail braking but turning in a little earlier and getting the car to rotate down to the apex that way. My best guess is that you're basically a newb so she said just don't do it for now.


On tires, race tires can be driven much much harder before they give up. I would say it really depends on your skill level as to when would be a good time to switch. If you're getting to the point where you can destroy street tires or they really overheat in a few laps then there are a couple things to consider... 1) you're overdriving the tires, 2) you're actually sliding the car because it's a little faster. IMO, something like an A032R is a good compromise for several reasons. The first is you don't have to listen to that damn wailing of street tires. The second is that the hard compound doesn't have too much more grip initially than say an S02, however the shoulders are very broad and can take lots of abuse so they won't go away as much as a street tire would.

I'm sure some others here have some advice...

 

Trail braking may get you into trouble if you're a newbie. I'm guessing that's why the instructor said not to. Also, most newbies aren't going fast enough and/or braking late enough to need to trail brake.

I stayed on street tires (S02's) for 2 1/2 years before switching to R compounds. IMO, you learn car control much better on street tires because they give you more warning as you approach their limit and they're easier to catch if you start to lose it. Switching tires will improve your lap times but not your skill level. What you should be concerned about is improving your driving ability and not your lap times.

 

I've found that most schools and instructors start people out with the 'all braking in a straight line' method, for safety. The tricky part is figuring out when you have enough skill and experience to start switching to using trail braking more and more. Some schools/instructors aren't used to dealing with students in that phase of learning.

I think Strike said it very well about R-compound tires: faster, but not as good for learning, and potentially more dangerous.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Tedster
[B]I've found that most schools and instructors start people out with the 'all braking in a straight line' method, for safety. The tricky part is figuring out when you have enough skill and experience to start switching to using trail braking more and more. Some schools/instructors aren't used to dealing with students in that phase of learning.

 

Thanks a lot for the input guys!

 

Another question:

I replaced my stock brake pads with Carbotech Panther Plus (front and rear) for a track event last week. These are supposedly street/track pads and they worked very well. However, on the street, is my car supposed to sound like a bus when stopping? They are noisy as hell even when I'm not braking. I applied a good amount of anti-seize (recommended by others) on the shims, which I thought was supposed to reduce the noise. Should I just swap the P+'s out for the stock pads or is there any other way to get rid of the noise?

 

Stock pads perform better for daily use than track/street or track pads, so get full track pads for the track (why compromise performance on the track and safety/performance on the road?) and swap them out before and after the event. You can also drive to and from the track with them, though better to swap them at the track.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by S2Thizzle
[B]Another question:

I replaced my stock brake pads with Carbotech Panther Plus (front and rear) for a track event last week.

 

So there is friction between the pad and rotor even when the brakes aren't applied?