As per title really... Been asked to go to a trackday on the 28th at blyton in lincs by one of my friends (z4 m coupe!) And there are also a fair few stripped out Ford's going (zetec s fiestas with 1.7 puma engines etc.)

I've never done one of these and my car is literally standard bar a remap and cai.

Apparantly the circuit is fairly short so favours the lightweight cars so on the day my car will lose seats and spare but which (as per topic) would people recommend to be the best addition before said track day??!!

Tough choice.

 

RARB is an amazing upgrade, id probably go with that first. if you can get coilovers and a RARB youll be onto a winner.

First thing I would do is get some good brake pads, Ferodo DS 2500, Mintex or EBC Yellow stuff use with standard discs will be a good upgrade, standard pads will die quickly.

 ARB's make a huge difference and when matched to springs as well will give a massive improvement.

 

 BUT, if you are a relative novice to track days I would just do the front pads and go and see how you get on then improve parts as you go again, my first track day was a standard Fabia VRS 2, just yellow stuff pads and on the day was by no means the slowest car but nor was I the quickest, since then I have tweaked the Golf, ARB's, coil overs, tyres, brakes and stripped it out, after all that I still only had as much fun as I did in the Fabia. 

I would LOVE to get both but paying 500 on Mon for a plastidip on the car so budget is fairly stretched at the min especially with Christmas on the horizon!

So rarb with standard suspension over uprated suspension then?

I was kind of lea ing towards that because I have noticed (especially with ASR off) that the car SERIOUSLY understeers and torque steers...and that's with week old conti sport contact 3's!

And thanks James...do you think less brake fade would outweigh greater handling though? If I could get some let off oversteer action going on I wouldnt need the brakes Hahahahahahaha

If you are wanting to enjoy the day brake fade will be a problem on standard pads.

 

 If you like a little lift off over steer, play with your tyre pressures, by the end of the day at Oulton Park I had a 9 psi difference from front to rear (rears harder) and this gave a good almost loose feel to the car, use a bit of trail braking and your away.

 

 ARB will work too but new tyres are probably not the way forward as the big blocks of rubber move and generate heat quickly reducing grip, have you got an old set of part worns or can you borrow some? I used 3mm tread tyres on the Fabia and they were good compared to the new tyres shark rider was using.

 

 You could just go, enjoy your day and see what you might need for the next visit, after all you are not timed, you are not qualified for grid positions and ultimately you win nothing, if you fetch the car home with a smile on your face and everything in tact you have had a great day, I might even book this one as there are only a few cars booked on so far, will see how things go..

It is my first trackday James and really appreciate that post.(tyre pressures etc I had no clue about!!) Also, the contis are on the front but the rears are dunlops with about 3-4mm tread.

My front discs are 6months old, so the ferrodos (if I get them!) should be alright on there shouldn't they?

Out of interest also; what size rarb would be ok? Any apart from standard obviously...but I'm looking at r32 ones as they seem to be more affordable than neuspeed/whitelines.

Btw....bit of a trek from St Helens isn't it?!!

It is my first trackday James and really appreciate that post.(tyre pressures etc I had no clue about!!) Also, the contis are on the front but the rears are dunlops with about 3-4mm tread.

My front discs are 6months old, so the ferrodos (if I get them!) should be alright on there shouldn't they?

Out of interest also; what size rarb would be ok? Any apart from standard obviously...but I'm looking at r32 ones as they seem to be more affordable than neuspeed/whitelines.

Tyre pressures are a good change and help with the feel of the car. Switch your fronts and rears so new tyres are on the back, this will help a bit.

 Discs will be fine with improved pads.

I fitted Eibach 26mm front and 24mm rear on the Golf, not sure about the Octy although the platform is similar. R32 set up will fit I think, I had a set of front struts doing nothing until last weekend they are on a Bora now. Golf 4 motion V6, 3.2 Audi TT or Audi S3 will also give you an improvement from standard Octy suspension.

 

 Blyton is about 2 hours from St Helens so not too bad, even if I just come up to watch, will see how things pan out as we are away until the 27th and might be rallying in Trawsfynnyd on the 28th. 

Depends if you want to change the front arb.

The whiteline works well on the rear.

If changing both golf R32 23mm front and neuspeed 28mm rear.

Agree with James with the brakes standard pads will fade within 2-3 laps of hard driving.

The difference on my brembos between standard pads and ds2500 was night and day.

Cheers guys for the heads up....can't help but thinking though that for traction out of corners/understeer then the new tyres would be better on the front :? However....defo ruled out the coilys for now though so going to be purchasing some pads and whiteline I think.

Btw, for those interested who may wish to take part; the confirmed so far are:

Mike Davies Lotus Elise Confirmed

Mel Hand Subaru Impreza Confirmed

Mike Belton / Mark Belton Citroen Saxo VTS Confirmed

Richard Lowe / Joshua Lowe Renault Clio Williams Confirmed

Matthew Springthorpe Honda Civic Type R EP3 Confirmed

Martin Chittenden Porcshe 944 S2 Confirmed

Steve Baker / Jeremy Griffiths BMW 318is Confirmed

Matt Emery / Richard Emery Mitsubishi Evo 6 Confirmed

Dave Broadbent Ford Fiesta ST Confirmed

Ben Lyon / Rob Lyon Ginetta G20R Confirmed

Andy Clift / Dan Williamson Honda Prelude Confirmed

Paul Simpson BMW M3 Confirmed

Graham Dale / Stuart Dale Porsche 944 Confirmed

Paul Downton Toyota GT86 Confirmed

Stewart Catley VW Bora Confirmed

Good selection of cars

Seems decent but would really hate to get lapped by a fez or a saxo!!!

Plus there are at least 4 more I know of to confirm including myself and my mate in his Beemer

Make sure the oil is topped up too...

A nice, stiff RARB will make a massive difference. Takes away the understeery pig-dog feel. For a road car that occasionally gets tracked, I'd recommend a really good ARB setup and poly bushes over coilovers. The ARBs will ensure the car handles loads better... and you can then tweak how twitchy you want the rear end. Polys will give you a much better idea of grip levels/feedback, they worked wonders on mine. So far I've poly'd the ARB bushes (awesome, surprisingly big difference), lower arm bushes (massive difference to steering feel, unsure if it's the same on a MkIV platform), and am working on subframe ones at the moment.

 

Good tyres and good brakes are also a must.

My ARB's are poly bushed but nothing else yet, as each bush dies I will replace with polybushes.

Seems decent but would really hate to get lapped by a fez or a saxo!!!

Why? 2 very light cars known for being fantastic round the bends vs a fairly stock family car? I done my first track day this year, don't get hung up on keeping up with other people, just go and have a laugh, it'll be much more enjoyable.

I would LOVE to get both but paying 500 on Mon for a plastidip on the car so budget is fairly stretched at the min especially with Christmas on the horizon!

So rarb with standard suspension over uprated suspension then?

I was kind of lea ing towards that because I have noticed (especially with ASR off) that the car SERIOUSLY understeers and torque steers...and that's with week old conti sport contact 3's!

 

what do you mean about 500 for a plastidip?

Why? 2 very light cars known for being fantastic round the bends vs a fairly stock family car? I done my first track day this year, don't get hung up on keeping up with other people, just go and have a laugh, it'll be much more enjoyable.

 

as matt says, you more than likely will get lapped by them...

don't underestimate how quick small light cars especially the saxo vts/vtr can be.

 

against them the octavia is a bit of a cruise ship and unless fairly modified won't stand a chance on a corner heavy track

 

remember its not a race.

 

the saxo driver might have 100s of lap experience.

Yeah true. At the end of the day it's not competitive and it's just a laugh. You guys are right!!

And 'OET', the car is off in for a matte red pladtidip on Monday which I'm paying 500 for.

1. Front brake pads and new (ideally uprated) fluid

2. Tuition

3. Uprate front ARB and fit a rear ARB

4. Better shocks/springs or coilovers

 

Have fun!

You just made your car heavier with all that plastic film on it  .     RARB is an easy and a cheap upgrade relatively speaking.

you should have nothing less that OE pads and decent dot4 fluid to get a few sessions on the track, even then 4 or 5 laps of Blyton will be enough each session.

Yeah true. At the end of the day it's not competitive and it's just a laugh. You guys are right!!

And 'OET', the car is off in for a matte red pladtidip on Monday which I'm paying 500 for.

 

 

what the whole car?

 

scuse my stupidity...just not heard of this before??

1. Front brake pads and new (ideally uprated) fluid

2. Tuition

3. Uprate front ARB and fit a rear ARB

4. Better shocks/springs or coilovers

 

Have fun!

I'm getting the castrol 4.1 superdot fluid but pads wise I have looked at the ferrodos but can't justify the price. Only want to be spending max of 90 on them and have seen some mintex extreme or something that look to be half decent

Would a standard tt farb be a decent starter point as they are only pennies on eBay?!

what the whole car?

 

scuse my stupidity...just not heard of this before??

Yep. The whole car....it's applied like a respray with a paint gun etc but with the benefit of not being permanent and can be removed. YouTube have some good videos.