Here's my pre HPDE prep process, this is getting to be a whole day project.


Remove seats,
Install harness bar
Install race seat.
Remove stock trunklid and replace with BAW and used trunklid.
Place car on jack stands
Remove wheels
Clean and scrub stock wheels
Clean and scrub race wheels and tires
Replace OEM brake pads with race pads
Bleed brakes, replace ATE gold with ATE blue brake fluid
Install race tires and wheels
Lower car off jack stands.
Add air to deflated race tires (mainly to get jack out from under car)
Reset rebound to factory settings (KW dampers)
Check oil and coolant.
Test drive.
Bed in brakes (hard to do on a Saturday in this area)
Check hot tire pressures
Place hardtop on car.

I know I am forgetting something.

I wonder if anyone else here goes though all the same steps.

 

I do all this except clean and scrub wheels when I get to the track in the morning. Well, almost.

Few of the things you list are unnecessary:
- Changing brake fluid: Race fluid works perfectly well on the street, so why change? Bleeding is okay before or after a track event is reasonable, even though this is usually not needed though I still do it.
- Jack your car up by the sides (a few inches rearward of the mirror) to get it on and off the stands, and you won't have clearance problems with the jack.
- No need to bed in brakes unless the pads and/or rotors are new
- Useless to check hot tire pressures unless you've just completed a few hotlaps at the track, and you should do this after every session anyway
- Don't clean your wheels or the car.... makes you slower because subconsciously you will be more careful trying to minimize messing them up .

Eventually you will like leaving in the seat, harnessbar, and trunklid with wing for the street also.

I remove and clean my PRM Intake filter because it picks up junk each event. Visually inspect everything under the car. Every fourth event or so change oil, tranny, and diff fluids, front rotors, and bed new pads etc. There are a bunch of other little things to do at the track too like remove passenger seat, install fire extinguisher, hook up Hotlap timer, videocamera, adjust wing and suspension...

You are lucky you are not packing a trailer before and after each track day.

 

"Few of the things you list are unnecessary:
- Changing brake fluid: Race fluid works perfectly well on the street, so why change?"

This is my first event this year, the fluid change is annual.

- Useless to check hot tire pressures unless you've just completed a few hotlaps at the track, and you should do this after every session anyway

I know, I always seem have too much pressure the first session, I just want to minimize the air bleeding.

 

You already have a track car now you just need to find a third car (nice daily driver).

I know how you feel. I am too lazy to change tires (since I currently have 22 AutoX and 6+ HPDE left), so I just run my RA-1s on the street. All the autoX makes changing tires a real pain in the ass. I decided to just stick with RA-1 since they are pretty decent street tires after watching my buddy get heat exhaustion changing wheels after an autoX (he was throwing up, disoriented, could not keep fluid down and we had to drive his car home. He was so close to going to the hospital for an IV fluid flush). I bleed my brakes any time my car is on jacks since it only takes a few minutes. I run Valvoline Synpower brake fluid since it is fairly decent stuff and is dirt cheap.

So, just by doing this, I don't have to change tires or bleed brakes the day before an event (or at the event).

As for the race seat, the OEM seat fits me fine and holds me in place good enough. I don't track my car enough to worry about a race seat (yet anyway).

That being said, I notice that my car is not driven much on the street anymore I have even thought about getting rid of it and getting a dedicated track car. My S2000 is too nice a car to turn into a dedicated track car but if I keep it I could convert it in a few more years. In my book, once you put in race seats, a rollcage and a big ass wing on a car you might as well just strip the interior and make it a dedicated track car because it reallly is not a street car anymore at that point.

Wifey even said to me yesterday "I would really like to go for a drive in the S2000 next weekend, but we never drive it anymore".

This made me think about a bit about the utility of having a car that treads right between a track and street use. I am even thinking about just getting rid of my R compounds and running the new Azenis on both street/track and autoX. Not sure if I would contiinue to get FTD at every autoX I compete in on street tires I sort of jump back and forth about what to do but as of now I plan on:

1) keep things as they are for this season
2) decide what type of dedicated track car to get (probably will be a mid 90s Porsche 911 but could be a Miata, RX-7, 944 or even a salvage title S2000 etc.)
3) In the longer term (2-3 years) decide what to do with my S2000

I think you should get a salvage title S2000 for around 10-12k, drop the race seats, wings and cage into it, throw on some coilovers and slicks and get a trailer for it. You do enough track days to make a seperate, dedicated track car worth it. Seem too expensive? Just calculate how much it will take to fix your current car when you hit a wall. I figure it happens to us all sooner or later.

 

I still like driving my car (in the stock form) on the weekends, it's just a chore to change back and forth.

Would I need a trailer for a Salvage car? Can they be tagged and street legal?

My CRV would tow my race bikes, but barely, I don't think I could afford true race car truck and trailer yet. If I was going that route I would want something like a Radical or a old Formula Atlantic car.

Maybe I should look into a Spec Miata in the fall (after the race season)

George

 

You could make a salvage track car street legal if you wanted. Just keep the lights working etc.

The only reason to get a trailer is if you want to make it a true track car (no AC, no interierior, no lights, no passanger seatm, emissions etc).

I think having a cheap S2000 that you could track and than a streetable S2000 (also use for autoX would be cool). I guess you could autoX with both (they would probably both be in BSP or SM2). I know you don't really autoX that much so it really no big deal.

I have though about a spec Miata too. I know they are great handling cars, parts are cheap and there is a whole race series for them but I think having a bit more power would be nice.

I have been talking with a buddy of mine about going into a race car as equal partners (50/50%). So figure:

1) used S2000 $20,000
2) two extra set of wheels $600
3) rollbar $800
4) couple sets of tires (prabably just long lasting RA-1s $2000
5) Coilovers $4k
6) harness $300
7) misc $1000

Works out to ~14k per person. That amount gets much lower if you get a cheaper and/or different car. I personally am thinking about a Porsche since PCA runs some many events around here and I have PCA Instructor certification.


In any event, I think that sooner or later it becomes really clear that running your nice street car on the track just ain't worth it.

 

I purchased my "NO TITLE" S2000 for about $10k delivered about 2 years ago..... then sold about $2k worth of airbags, seats, trim pieces, etc.....

then proceeded to dump a pile in for coilovers, intake, exhaust, header, test pipe, rollcage, hardtop, race seat and harnesses, brake ducts, CE28N's, tires, rain tires on extra wheels, corner weighing, pepboys wing, shift light, oil pressure guage, SS brake lines, saner bar, etc......

if you can start with a $10k car it certiainly helps....