Any advice for a first track day?

[ecc]

After being rescheduled once already, a friend and I are taking our cars down to Abingdon for a gentle track day tomorrow. Got the Lotus out of where it lives (proper car storage nearby) this morning, and gave it a once-over to check tyre pressures, oil, fluids, etc. All seems to be in order. Runs like a top.

Wanted to give it a bit of a leg stretch, partly because I don't particularly like to engage in too much spirited driving on public roads (licence is something I'd like to keep clean, and the roads in Herefordshire seem to have been plastered with mud from all the harvesting during the past few months), and partly to give it a good shakedown and make a laundry list of things that I'd like to get sorted during the winter. Not much on the list at the moment: roof seals and the right headlight is starting to suffer from, er, "erectile disfuction". But a few hours behind the wheel should highlight other areas that might need some attention.

Not planning much action other than taking things at a very modest pace, although the weather is looking a bit grim and certainly not even close to ideal for pushing it. Treating it like an opportunity to enjoy some slightly faster driving than I would normally do and a chance to get to grips with car, rather than an exercise in seeing how quickly I can make it move.

So two questions:

- First, any general track day advice for a novice? I'd normally have opted for some time with an instructor, but with you-know-what going on at the moment, they're not allowing instructors in cars for social distancing reasons. They will be on hand for advice though. And fully-insured for track use, so should the worst happen, at least I'll be able to get the car home or to a car hospital.

- Second, any Elan-specific advice? Things like how long to stay out for before giving the car a rest, warm-up and cool-down matters, quirky performance such as dramatic understeer or a tendancy to get squirrely under hard braking at speed that wouldn't be apparent on a road but which might appear when driving a little faster than normal around corners, etc? Buy an Elise?

Thanks!

[dapinky]

Hmmmm, where to start (or stop!).

I'll keep my advice simple and straightforward - try to keep everything as smooth as possible - the right line through a corner will always be quicker than the wrong line taken at a faster speed.

Expect the brakes to fade a bit after each lap.... so allow extra time for braking before the corners (unless you have higher tech brake pads than standard).

If you are tempted to lift off the accelerator mid corner, expect to end up facing the wrong way due to "lift-off understeer' - usually more apparent with better tyres on the front than the rear, or wrong tyre pressures.... can be a little disconcerting if unexpected, but easily avoided by entering the corner slower and building up speed each lap.

When you come off the track, park on flat ground and keep the engine running at idle until it is a little cooler (keep the oil circulating through the hot turbo)... do NOT apply the handbrake until the rear discs have cooled down, it leads to 'hot spots' on the discs.

Lastly - enjoy yourself! It can get addictive - but don't try to beat anyone else (or any other car!)... if you aim to improve your own performance (not necessarily speed or time) on each lap you will enjoy it...... there is always room for improvement - don't worry too much if you have a bad lap or corner.... a little improvement each time makes for a much better time at the end of the day.

[sideways]

Remember to breathe...

Be prepared for a relatively sleepless night with the adrenaline still working its magic. If the adrenaline is NOT still pumping, at least a little, then you either have nerves of steel or you have been going too slow.

Enjoy.

[MPx]

First - well done, you'll have a blast, so many never do it! You're not making it easy on yourself with a December outing as your first go, particularly with rain and sleet forecast. But in fact you'll be better off in the Elan in such conditions than you would be in an Elise. In the Elan I was faster than an Exige 240 Cup at Castle Combe on one of the monsoon days whereas I'd expect to be lapped by one in dry weather. Conversely I was a moving chicane in the Esprit on old rubber in the cold/wet as I had no grip at all. Getting heat into the tyres may be an issue for you, but if you can't it just means grip will be lower and you'll have to drive accordingly - or you could try lowering the pressures a little. As such its unlikely that you'll be able to do really hard stops in the heavy breaking areas and smoothness in all areas will be rewarded with the fastest progress. If there's a beginners group, then hopefully they'll have cones out to help with breaking points and importantly turn in points and apexes all of which (and particularly the latter two) are way later than any road driver would normally consider.

If you're trying, I'd suggest that you will be needing more of a break than the car will. Are you open pit lane or "groups"? Days are often run in 3 groups with a 20 min slot per hour. 20 min doesn't sound much but is a long time if you're trying. Combe runs on shorter 15 min/8 lap sessions which I find ideal. If its open pit lane then set yourself a target - say a number of laps and come in then whatever to take a break and regroup. If you stay out too long, you'll get tired and your driving standards will deteriorate. If there's a queue to get on track, factor the queue time into your rest periods or you wont get what you've paid for.

Enjoy...

[alan e]

My advice is just go and enjoy yourself and have a car in one peace at the end of the day.

[steve matthews]

My advice is just go and enjoy yourself and have a car in one peace at the end of the day.

Your prize for the day is a car in one piece. There will always be someone faster then you. Tire pressures for 16" wheels
with cool temps. start at 32 front 30 rear. Remember to breath and not white knuckle the steering wheel(grab to hard).
The Elan will out perform you your just along for the ride.

Forgot to mention BRAKE STRAIGHT if you don't have a straight make one.

[ecc]

All good advice - thank you! Will drive like an old lady on her way to the garden centre unless conditions improve, in which case I'll drive like a slightly less old lady.

Shall report back. If I don't, something went horribly wrong and I hereby leave the shattered wreck of the Elan to you lot for parts. Hopefully you can get blood out of fabric seats pretty easily.

[ecc]

I'm sorry to say neither I nor the car died at Abingdon, so that's one less Elan to strip for spare parts.

An interesting day. Was very wet and cold. First track day ever, and wasn't sure what to expect and was rather anxious. Thought it'd be full of twenty-somethings in "hot hatches" driving aggressively, but in fact turned out to be a bunch of mature car enthusiasts driving spiritedly but respectfully around the circuit. Had a couple of friendly pit lane neighbours on either side who were great for chatting to and getting advice from (one in a Caterham, one in an Audi TTS), and the staff at the event (organised by Motorsport Events) were extremely good - they knew it was my first one, and spent lots of time explaining what I had to do, where I needed to be, and making it all very stress-free. And they emphasised that I needn't worry about being "slow".

So, the Lotus. Hmmm. The first session with the three guided laps with no overtaking was brisk, but the car kept up. Then fifteen minutes or so of open track. The Elan wasn't happy in the wet (well, more on that later), and it was a case of trying my best to get to grips with the layout of the track, although spent much of the time indicating right to let traffic past. Left the track and went back to the pits rather disheartened when the end of session flag was waved, because the Lotus seemed to be slipping all over the place.

Open track all day, so could come and go as I pleased. Second session (still wet and freezing) was better, but the Lotus felt like it was still lacking grip compared to everything else out there, so took it at a rather gentle pace. Didn't want to be "that person" who went through the cones. On one lap towards the end, I pushed it a little harder and ended up locking the front wheels under hard braking, but let off and the car regained its composure.

(Note that on a road, I don't drive hard at all. So this is all new to me.)

I was there with a friend who's a rather experienced driver, and I asked her to take me out as a passenger in the Elan so I could see if there was something "wrong" with the car. She hurtled around the track twice as fast as I'd have ever dreamed of, and had a blast. To me, the car felt like it was sliding all over the place; it wasn't. She explained that the car was doing exactly what she wanted it to do, and handling just as she expected; predictable, lots of "feedback", and very controllable; the "sliding" sensation is merely the car saying, "Hey, I can see you're driving a little harder than normal, so I'm going to let you do that, but just remember I'm here and you might need to think about understeer or oversteer". Nothing wrong with it whatsoever!

Then went out with her in the passenger seat, and she provided some much-needed coaching. A dramatic improvement. Harder acceleration applied earlier coming out of corners just past the apex, progressive braking on the approach to corners to shift the weight of the car onto the front wheels and give it more grip, and - most importantly - explaining that the car might feel like it's sliding, but it's actually not sliding much at all; the lateral sensations and body roll are very unnerving to a beginner, but in reality they're ever so slight, and in the Lotus there's so much space between feeling like you're sliding and actually losing control. Far more space, in fact, than I'd ever need. And a few sessions as a passenger with her in her car, hammering around at heart-stopping speeds in an Abarth 595, were fantastic while she explained what was going on.

The afternoon stayed wet for a while, but my pace increased and my trust in the car increased. Started to get used to "track" driving rather than "road" driving. And then the last two hours were dry, and the Elan came alive. Was grinning from ear to ear pushing the Elan much harder around, and it was so predictable and nippy. My nerves gave out long before the Lotus even came close to doing something I hadn't asked it to do, and my pace was ever so much quicker. Didn't push it hard in the straights (was wary of whipping a thirty year old car - it deserves to be treated kindly), but the chicanes and twisty sections were a blast and the Lotus guzzled the tight corners like nothing I've ever experienced. Never once felt like I was unsafe or the car would snap from under me.

Overall, a stunningly enjoyable day. Seeing what the Elan could do - and I'm not sure I even came close to any of its limits - was amazing, the staff were brilliant, and the other drivers were a super friendly bunch who were a delight to drive with.

Highly recommended for anybody who hasn't yet taken their Elan to a track!

[steve matthews]

And I thought having the dog with me picked up chicks. Never thought about the car.
Glad you enjoyed, it can become rather addictive.

[Dave Eds]

The Elan M100 also performs well on the wet grass in field after you've lost it on standing water coming out of a chicane wearing road legal track tyres and pushing it in pouring rain. It'll out perform any driver.....

When's your next track day now that you're hooked......

[ecc]

Next one will be booked very soon. May not be in the Lotus - got another project in the works too, and I'm reluctant to abuse the Elan because it's a nice car, but it'll be seeing the track again in the future for sure. In terms of value for money for an entertaining day out, it's hard to beat though.

Did enjoy seeing the odd car driving past me in the pits with grass and twigs poking out. Abingdon looked like a great layout with plenty of spare tarmac and grass should things get too lively. Little to damage except one's pride.

[MPx]

Glad you enjoyed it Emma, so many never experience what you have. Full credit to your friend though, she showed you the way which is invaluable as hard to believe just from the words of others until you experience it. With normal good maintenance the car is more than capable of taking in a couple of track days a year without any detriment - indeed I believe gives it a chance to breath properly which does it good. They're intended to be driven. Enjoy....