Anyone planning to use their RX8 for track days ?

I have done about 3 with the integraR and they have been great fun.
I mean , I dont do beserk (love the car too much for that) and anyway karting gives me the racing fix - but it is nice to actually 'open her up' every now and again.

Taking her to the Nurburgring next month for a 'last goodbye' <sniff> before the RX arrives.

Anyway , back to the point - anyone going to be doing track days in their RX8 ?
We could have a forum outing to a track come september time... !

 

Ive done a few track days, though not in my own car.

My reasons against are:

I might damage it
Excessive Wear to Tyres and Brakes
Need extra insurance
Warranty may be void
Cost

All that aside Im sure it would be good fun and a good way to learn about the car.

I'll come along and have a go in yours though :D :D

 

...and i suddenly remember why i wanted to live in Europe a few years ago... lucky bastards :D hope you have a blast and TAKE SOME PICS for us sorry fellows who have only Mosport, and that's half-a-continent away...

 

Sorry Morgan, I'm with Mark W for the same reasons.

Likewise I'd love to have a go in yours even if it is Titanium

Cheers
Oilman

 

My ex-boss had his Skyline GTR driven around Dr Jonathon Palmer's circuit by the DR J himself and had to replace the brakes afterwards. That's a fully specced NISMO car too so think what would happen to our puny road spec cars!

 

Here in the states, warranty and insurance costs are moot. As long as it's not a timed event (and not a door-to-door racing event), no extra insurance is needed, and warranties cannot be voided by it.

As far as excessive wear and cost, you have to "pay to play".

As far as damage possibility, well, you take that chance driving around town. How much of a chance is debatable. I've seen very little damage to cars at such events, and what I have seen has been minor and cosmetic (except for when someone modified the car without proper consideration for the stresses of track running... kaboom!).

It really comes down to whether or not you really want to go enjoy the car in that manner. If it's not worth the costs to you, fair enough.

---jps

 

Yea, I've had my MX-5 out at Knockhill a few times and had a great time, I'll be sure to take my '8 along if I get the chance.

I haven't been out for a while, last time was a few years back, organised by people from the MX-5 owners club, lots of MX-5s there but a wide mixture of other cars too - great to see a turbo'ed MX-5 1.8 keeping up nicely with GT2s, Evos and so on.

In terms of damage, worst I had was (inevitable) brake fade, and my radiator fan mysteriously gave out on one occasion. Also had a nice slide into gravel as a passenger in a Mitsi GTO, made quite a mess of his alloys, nothing a brisk polish wouldn't fix though.

"Open" track days are a bit more of a risk, best to organise something among friends, friends-of-friends, or even forum/mailing list fellows if you can...

 

I do lots of track days in my Caterham and will no doubt take the RX8 out for a few sessions. I think its good to explore the handling (especially in the wet) just in case of emergency situations etc.

I've seen quite a few cars damaged - I did a session at Rockingham last year where a guy did major damage to his mate's Ferrari 360 (which was not insured) - but they are almost always due to people pressing on too hard.

 

I'll definately have my car on the track. Done probably a dozen now. First got started when I had my MX-5 and have been addicted since.

Got a few vids from more recent days on http://www.sixspeed.nildram.co.uk/Trackdays


Expect to see some of the '8 up there later in the year! :D


-andy-