Category: Drive Faster

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Pad Knock-Back for Drivers: What is it, how to anticipate it and how to best clean up your undies!

It was August 2015 at Portland International Raceways – the second time at Portland of the year, running the chicane configuration.  It was the second year with my BMW E30 PRO3 race car and this year, was sporting a fresh engine, baller status OS Giken rear-slip LSD rear differential and a fresh exterior paint job.

On the second session of the day, I am feeling good and starting to get into a groove.  Come off turn 7 into the back-straight away, hammer down… 4th gear… 5th gear… BRAKES, hit the FIA curbing on the left, downshift, back to throttle… BRAKES!!!  I said BRAKES!!!  OH $H!%!?!?!?!  No BRAKES!!! Grass… sliding… spinning… no, please no wall!!!  Pump the brake pedal again… oh, brakes!  They work!  I’m alive!  The car isn’t destroyed!  But WTF just happened?!?!?

This is the infamous pad knock-back zone at PIR

What is it?

Pad Knock-back is when for various reasons, the brake pad loses contact with the caliper piston that presses the brake pad against the brake rotor/disc.  The contact is lost for one of two reasons (below) and the result is that the driver goes to apply the brakes and the pedal falls to the floor, with little to no brake pressure on that first application.  The brake system is moving the piston but the piston lost contact with the pad, so it’s moving air and slowing down nothing.

As soon as the the driver releases the brake pedal and pumps the pedal again, the pressure usually returns and the brakes work again.  The problem is that sometimes drivers don’t realize what has happened and don’t hit the brake pedal again, that second time around at all or in time.  And bad stuff can happen when you need to hit the brakes but they aren’t there.

How and why #1: Worn out caliper components

Caliper components live a hard life, especially on a race car.  They are called on to not only slow the car down aggressively with degressive braking but also help the car rotate with long durations of trail-braking.

All of this hot and cold and hot and cold and hot and cold… action makes seals burn up, brake fluid overheat or even boil if it contains water or air bubbles and the metal components deform and lose their snug fit amongst the other brake components.  According to this great and much more technical deep dive analysis from NASA Speed News, even a slightly deformed rotor can cause the pads to separate from the pistons and the pistons to fall deep into their bores.

The fix? Rebuild or replace your calipers at least.  For us, this quickly fixed the problem.  On that first experience, we had back in August of 2015, we bled the brakes and went out for a 1 Hour mini endurance race – the brakes felt better but were still getting knock back every lap before braking for turn 12.

Before Sunday AM qualifying, we sourced a new set of calipers from Advance Auto Fabrication (who also did all of the off season upgrade work), got them installed and presto!

Putting the finishing touches on new calipers for the weekend at Portland International Raceways

Pad nock-back was gone! Over the subsequent years and travels to various tracks we realized that PIR uniquely had the most FIA curbing of all the tracks on our schedule. If a set of calipers had more than 3 race weekends on them prior to heading to PIR, we’d slap on a new/rebuilt set of calipers.

Here is a video of a competitive race at PIR – note the use of the FIA curbing towards the end of each lap (turns 10 – 12):

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How and why #2: Driving hard on the curbing/gators

You might have fresh brake components but if you’re driving hard, eating up apexes and letting the car track out, odds are you are driving on the curbing, if the track has them.

Tracks have a variety of curbing designs but the end result is almost always the same, they cause vibrations that can and do shake up brake components – pad knock-back! This is so common that if you were to watch any pro-level sports car racing on TV or online, you’ll see brake lights light up as the cars are roaring through straight-aways. The drivers aren’t brake checking or trying to confuse a trailing opponent. They are lightly tapping the brakes to get the pistons seated back next to the pads and ultimately, make sure they have a brake pedal.

This is part of what happened to us in Portland in 2015 and just about every other time we went back. But this past June of 2017, we were at Spokane County Raceways, who does have apex and exit curbing.

Here is a pretty fast qualifying lap at Spokane County Raceways.  Note the elevation chart – it shows that it is pretty flat but if you listen closely, each of one those changes in elevation is going over a seam in the road.  Each of those bumps plus the curbing result in harsh vibrations applied to the braking system.

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We’ve been there twice before this, all have been 3-4 days of being on track and not a single issue.

Well this year, we were competing for pole and wins – nearly breaking the track record for a PRO3 car on Sunday AM qualifying. Sunday afternoon, final race of the season – qualified 2nd and was ready to make a great start and pull away.

Coming around the final turn and… GREEN FLAG! Full throttle in 3rd gear… I got a decent start and I have the inside for turn 2. Exit of turn 2 and in the lead, barely positioning myself for the outside of turn 4. Full throttle… 3rd gear… 4th gear… 5th gear… wait for it, wait for it, wat for it… BRAKES! NO BRAKES!?!? WTF is going on? I don’t want to die!

Note – Spokane is an old school track. High speed, built on a budget and in the high desert of Eastern Washington. The pavement nowadays is good. Not great, not horrible – but good. Stay on track with maybe a dropped wheel here and there, and everything is good. Go on an excursion, there will be pain. There are big rocks and boulders watching the action, waiting for a visit.

I was able to pump the brake pedal and luckily – this was the first lap of the race. We were still in traffic with faster cars so we weren’t going at full speed for that corner, which is usually a 4th gear corner.

We’ll update this post later on with the video from the race but what does pad knock-back look from a data standpoint?

An not annotated version of the pad knock-back session
Here is what is really happening on the lap

A few positions were the only thing lost in this occasion but it hammered home the lesson, always pump the brake pedal in between braking zones.

What should you do? Pump that brake!

The more I’ve been racing and steadily improving, getting closer to the front of the pack, stuff just keeps breaking or getting tweaked.  It’s a natural consequence of just pushing the equipment to the limit.  The braking system is not just the most powerful system on road racing and street cars, but it is the thing (and how it’s used) that separates the good from the great and the great from the greatest.

If you watch any form of pro-level racing, even NASCAR, you’ll see the drivers pumping that brake with their left foot because pad knock-back and other potential failures are a fact of life.  It happens all the time, so from now on, assume it will happen every time you go on track, every lap and on just about every braking zone.  PUMP THAT BRAKE!

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My track car – 1987 BMW 325is

What: My track car – 1987 BMW 325is

If I knew then what I know now:  not a lot… have a larger budget.  My track car has evolved as I feel I have needed at a rate that has been on a equal plain as my skill.  Could use a little more power now……

Check out:  Any of your local track’s and driving schools!

Early days of my track car.

My track weapon of choice is a 1987 BMW 325is. I bought it in 2007 with the idea that it would become my track car. It is what i wanted in a track car, it was in my price range, it was the color I wanted, it was well maintained by the previous owner, and all the work done on the car was at the company/shop I was working for at the time. the only thing it didn’t have was the small plastic late series bumpers. Not to sound snoody but I could look past the bumpers as that was the only bad mark I could come up with when looking at the car. At first i was also going to drive it on the road as well. Well that lasted about two weeks and a car with a bunch of good track race parts that had been wrecked in the guys driveway by a drunk driver became available. This was going to help my rack budget out very much that year. By the time
I had got my parts car home and used what i wanted and parted the rest, I was onto my car pretty cheap. And it had some good stuff at this point. The first parts push ended up with a full Ground Control coilover set, Treehouse Racing front control arm brackets, a set of SSR Comp wheels with Falken rt-215 tires ( in the day one of the top street tires), a new set of stainless brake lines, a low miles E30 M3 4.10 limited slip diff, a set of Powerflex subframe and rear trailing arm bushings, a Momo steering wheel hub adapter, and a new OEM set of euro head lights and grills and a pair of Bride sport seats. I added a set of brake pads, a steering wheel, and a pair of harnesses i had picked up a year or two before on sale. All these ended up costing about $1500. Like I said my track budget looked good that year. others have cost a bit more.

It still had some style at this point.

At this point I would say it was still a street car. It still had a back seat and carpet and a radio. I drove it like this for a couple months, but the track bug kept calling. So soon later I found a real race seat. No more reclining. This did now mean I was going to need to look into some sort of roll over protection as I had now defeated that safety measure. I did a lot of shopping and research about fit, style, cost, shipping, availability ect. The one that went in the car was made by a company called VSROne. It had the best clearance and fit in the car. It was not the cheapest option but for sure one I was OK with paying for. Remember I am not a fan of that compromised safety thing. So now the radio has half its speakers, there is no rear carpet or side panels anymore. The seat is in a fixed position. There is scaffolding in the back of the car. but looking forward from the drivers seat it could play the street car part for now……

And out goes the rear seat.

A couple events into the life there was a thirst for more cornering load. Need to find some tires. Lucky for me there is a local race series that runs a similar car to mine and they tend to go through a lot of tires. So after a little hunting I acquired some real track rubber. in this case early on it was Toyo RA1 tires. These are great tires! They last along time, they can take many heat cycles, they made a lot of sizes, they are one of the cheapest track tires around. If they were still in production I would still be on them. Anyway, now I got some rubber and the car is pretty good. Springs in the car are now a little soft, I can feel the car hitting bump stops and floating a little on the grippy tires. The car already had pretty stiff springs. It was a bit stiff for the street, but not to bad. Front springs were rated ant 375 lbs/ in and the rears 475 lbs/in. At this point I had been working on a few Pro3 cars and had learned a few things. I almost doubled the spring rate of the car. Went to 650 lbs/in front and 800 lbs/ in in the rear. This was the next level of feel I was looking for at the track. Man is it stiff. Think of driving a skate board. So in making the suspension on my car up to track use I ruined the street ride quality. Not the best street car anymore.

Gripped up at Portland.

Then there was the day I killed the carpet. Was still daily driving the car at this point when almost home from work the heater core blew a end tank and sprayed the entire left side of the carpet with coolant. For me at this point the decision was easy. Yank that smelly coolant soaked carpet out! All the rear was already gone so why not. The heater core fix itself is pretty easy, but the mess was amazing. couple issues I found with no carpet. The car is super loud, the passengers feet can get a bit warm, and I had no place to rest my foot when not on the clutch. So I built a dead pedal for it and that is all I reinstalled. Screw the passengers feet, and I can deal with a little noise, because racecar. Speaking of noise. I have had at least five different exhausts on the car. I bought it with a Dinan muffler, I killed that one looping turn 6 at Pacific Raceways in the rain. Then the custom Magnaflow cat back, this was great until I smashed it beyond repair at a PGP Time Attack on the rumble strips back when you could do that. Then I scored a IE stainless that was on the car for maybe three days, it was way to quite. I then built a Meghan racing muffler catback out of some spare parts. Didn’t look that cool but it was cheap and it worked. This was on the car until it was no longer driven everyday. It now has a pulse tuned equal length header and a flow matched exhaust built by the now closed Volvo custom shop RSI (R-Sport International) when they were developing a Pro3 race exhaust system. The sound on this is amazing but its is on the very loud side.

This is a street car still?

So now I have been tracking and driving this absurd track car that I have convinced myself is still a street car to the point that it has worn out again. The shocks are all worn and the fronts are dead. DEAD. All the rear suspension bushings, rear wheel bearings, the drive shaft, and a couple other normal maintenance items. So as you should do with any track car i went through and replaced all worn items i found again. I also took this opportunity to think about things I would want to change and the largest one I could come up with was the the shock travel. The car always felt a little held back by the shocks. The valving in them was set for a way softer spring combo, the travel was near the bottom of the shock stroke and they seemed to bottom out a lot because of this. So after much deliberation I got a set of BC Racing coilovers. you can order them valved to specific springs and come with some pretty good hardware. I got a set valved to the springs I had, and because I had springs I had them ship me a softer set (These will be used in another car). I did have to weld the strut tube to my spindle but that is something well in my comfort zone. Once installed and set and tested, I was able to get the result out of the car i was looking for. if felt way better on track, the shock adjustments are now felt, the cat doesn’t bottom on the shocks and they are running in there normal stroke range. I also again made another safety up date at this time. I removed the old race belts and my trusty Sparco race seat and installed a new set of Hans device compliant belts and a Momo head restraint seat. Also upgraded the passenger side belts from 5 pt to 6 pt. Again you can never be to safe.

Wooof!

The look of the car was also something that needed a update. Wheels and tires are getting long in the tooth so lets start with that. We are gonna put a little larger tire on it as well. So off come the old trusty 15×7 wheels and 225-50/15 tires and on go the new Roto 17×8 wheels and the same Toyo tire in a larger 235-40/17. This has created a new problem. The slightly larger size is now hitting the bumper trim and stop the tire. Bring on the fender roller. Little work there and they are in! Thats pretty up to date on the car as of this blog. Still on this seasons update list is a set of Massive Brakes big brake kit and a Diff limited slip unit rebuild. then next season the removal of the old roll bar and sunroof and the installation of a roll cage and clean up the interior wiring. Stay tuned in!

Bonus action shot!
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Walk This Way! Track Walks:

Looking out the pit-lane exit at Circut of the Americas

What: Track walks, why you like them, even if you don’t know it yet

If I knew then, What I know now:  I would have studied harder on these when I was younger.  I would be a better driver and team member overall, now as a result.

Walking the track before an event is a very important part of your race or track weekend.  It spreads across all forms of motorsports, and any amount of wheels used.  Getting your feet on the same ground you will be driving your car on will give you valuable perspective regarding placement or the vehicle, surface conditions, line options and so on.  It is a great way to get the track layout in your head prior to getting into or on your machine.  There are a couple of key things to pay attention to and try to do while on a track walk.  I will try to outline some of them to help you get the most out of your next track walk.  I will start with some of my experience from the first events I went to as a young lad in high school with my buddies.

A group of friends of mine in school were also into cars.  We would set up a couple of days a year where we would all meet up the day before an auto cross event, hang out at one of the guys cabins, and then take all of our cars to the event the next day.  Auto cross was a good introduction into motorsports as a driver for me.  The first day I went to an event was with the Porsche Club (PNW Region).  I had a little old VW Jetta that had some sticky tires on it.  We got to the event, stood through the drivers meeting, then everyone set out and walked around the course that had been set up.  A course walk at an auto cross is essential.  The track will never be the same from event to event, so getting a feel for the layout is an important first step.  Auto cross does not allow for a lot of set up and testing time, so getting the most out of your runs is key.   I learned how valuable it was.  I was able to pip my friend on our first time out, and he was driving a 911.  There were more events after that, and as I grew to understand the track walk it made perfect sense to me.

Flash forward 15 years and now we are doing track walks every week we go to the track.  I went out and rode a new Motocross track a few weeks back – I did not get a chance to walk it, but I took 4-5 laps at just above a walking pace just to feel the place out – 2 laps later I was ripping around just fine.   We will often times end our first night at the track with a track walk.  It is a great way to wind down after a work day, and also a good way to walk some miles if you did not get a chance to before!  My first race back after a couple of years of just crew work, I ended up racing at the Ridge in Shelton.  It is a place I had driven before, but it had been a while.  We took the time the night before the race to walk the track, twice actually.  It was great.  I had one of the instructors at the track walking with us and they provided great insight to where to place the car due to seems in the blacktop in braking zones.  Entry and exit lines were discussed.  Gear selection (which can depend a lot on your equipment) was discussed.  I felt a lot better after walking the track to just jump in the next day and go.  Everything was fresh in my mind again.

Elevated view of the turn 17-18 complex at Circut of the Americas

Gama asked me to do a track walk with him this weekend at Pacific Raceways in Kent.  We have a race this weekend in the Pro3 car and he will be the only driver for the team this weekend as Manu’s car had a mechanical issue we found during a post-race inspection (more on that later).  I was quick to agree, as I have had many track days there, and 2 school days at that track, but had never actually walked a full lap in all of my years.  I had been to points of the track, but not all of the way around on foot.  We will be walking the track tonight and I am going to make notes, and take pictures to share our experience with the walk!

We try to track walk every weekend.  it is good exercise, knowledge, and you will have a great feel for the layout the first time you are behind the wheel at speed.  Be prepared for a walk, and be prepared for weather as well!  Some tracks are large, and weather can be different from one side to the other.  One of the other things that will help you a lot with our track walk, is walking with someone with lots of knowledge of that track for insight.  Most racers are instructors also, so their points of view are sound usually!  Just walking the track can gain you a lot, but having someone there to compare notes and tips with is very beneficial.   Having someone that drives a similar vehicle is even better!

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Post Session/Day Checks to Prevent a Wreck!

Gama pulling data from the morning qualifying session.  We took a quick look at it before the race, but he will use the data and video after the day is over to study to find more speed!

What:  Things you should do after a session and a day/event to help you get faster, keep your car running well and safe!

If I knew then, what I know now:  I would have learned how to review and teach data early on in my driving and racing career.  No other aspect can make such a drastic change in speed of the car and driver.

Post track or race weekend activities are or at least, should be part of the process. There is are many things to think and consider after you are done with your event. The same trains of though will transfer to whatever you are using as a vehicle. There are both personal and mechanical things you want to pay close attention to after your even. As I have gotten older, and been around the race track more I have learned that there is a full circle process for every event.

Post-Session starts well before the session – get in the right mindset.  A learning mindset.

Start with your pre-event inspection, do the event, then debrief and do a post-day inspect. It is great time to learn about yourself and your equipment. A track day should be considered a learning day.

Even if you are not with an instructor, and have done many days before, you should always be learning and absorbing. I have come to some of the best revelations in the hours and days after an event that have helped me be better at driving, as well as managing cars and equipment in the pits and paddock when I am crewing for the weekend.

Track days cost money so you should want to maximize your value and smiles per mile. I will go through some of the things to consider post event, as well as some things I have learned, even recently.

Your New Post-Event Checklist:

  1. Thank the organizer and those who volunteered their time to make the day happen!
  2. Inspect and load up your stuff. This is an important step! It seems like it is busy work, and you will be tired. But being clean and organized when packing up will pay off on the other side, I promise.
  3. Wipe your car down and clean it up before loading up on a trailer or driving home.  I’ve been doing this lately with our PRO3 cars because it does a few things:
  1. It gets the tires and bugs off before they have a chance to harden up.
  2. You are close to the surface of the car, and can see if there was contact with another car, the ground, flying debris… its racing, expect something weird to come up.
  3. You also get a good chance to get it back into the trailer and if you rub against it later it does not soil you with dirt (brake dust mostly).
  4. You can take a look at all of your wheels and tires and make notes if you have cords showing, need to swap a tire side to side, or have an issue with one or more of the wheels. A wheel can crack pretty easy if it is not a forged wheel.
A couple Subaru BRZ’s on a rack after a day of students sliding around the gravel. Each day, every car is inspected from head to toe, looking for broken parts and doing maintenance as needed.
  1. Check your video and data and make sure you have everything downloaded and set up to review later. Data review is a major tool for driver education and video is a big part of that as well. Depending on what you are doing, how far along you are and what type of vehicle you are using, data and video may or may not be an option.

We went karting the other day after the Pro3 race ended, and I have been watching video from that. We were not taking it serious, but we are all skilled, and have been around racing for a long time. We were going pretty hard, and I was able to learn some things reviewing video just the video.

That being said. I went and rode a dirt bike in the wild the other day for the first time, and I had no video or date to review. I used memory. There were many lessons of that day, and I have had to recall them one at a time. I went from riding in the yard, to doing multiple laps on the full GP/enduro course with a few hours of riding. Thinking about what did and did not work for me. Tips from those I was with (which was the biggest help for me that day) and memory of the events unfolding yield a vivid memory of what you can focus on for your next event. One of the things I try to practice any time we go use rental karts is to work with traffic, both quicker and slower than myself.

I have had video from the last dozen or so times I have done, and it has helped a ton. I can manage traffic much better now without loosing much speed. Having data and knowing how to read and interpret that information will be the single biggest teacher for driving a car. Gama has been 1 second quicker at both tracks we have raced at this year from last year – and his car is the same. He has been spending lots of time reviewing data, video and training.

Gama has a lap from last year compared to a lap from his last weekend at Pacific Raceways.  The car is mostly the same, showcasing what can be done outside of changes to the car to help you better yourself.  This compares a 1:37.761 from this year to a 1:38.215 from July 2016.
  1. Review and inspect your equipment/tools. You will want to know what is what, before you unload the car for the next event. As I mentioned before, I like to get the car cleaned and then loaded before we even get back to the shop. Once we get everything back to the shop it is time to go over your notes from post session issues, as well as from clean up and loading of gear.
  2. Clean wheels and tires of tire poopies. Tire shops really appreciate not having to deal with clumps of tire when trying to balance a wheel. You can carefully check wheel and tires for issues at that time.
  3. Check your other equipment and spares situation. You may not have broken something, but someone else may have and you may have loaned something you had. Keep track so you can replace it even if it was a give away item from your spares. Making good notes on all of this stuff will save lots of time when you need to order brakes, tires, fuel and the like for your next event.
  4. Making sure the trailer is prepped for the next event; spare tires and parts, tools, tents will make load in much easier for the next event. Just this past week we found that the batter tray in Manu’s Pro3 car had been ripped out by an impact from the car being off track during the last race out. It ended up stalling the car for this past race, but we did not send him out with a 80-lb cannon ball in the trunk of the car rolling around. So win there. We are going to correct the issue, and take the chance to freshen up some of the 10 year of add-on wiring that has collected in the car. This is why we check stuff, better to be safe and sound, than risk ANY thing or anyone out at the track. Remember step one! Most of the people keeping your safe are donating their time. Don’t endanger them!
  5. Check yourself. How did you feel at the end of the day. Were you tired? Did you have a headache on the way home? What did you eat for lunch? Taking care of yourself starts at knowing how you feel after your event. It sounds silly, but just stop and think about how you feel after your event. Even as your are driving home. What did you recall. If you cannot recall much at that time, then something is up. If you have a headache on the way home. It was not the fumes. You are dehydrated. If you are starving, your meals of the day, and days prior were not properly set up. Be very honest with yourself in this regard.

You won’t always be perfect but having this checklist will help, even for the experienced and pros.

Non of use Racers on Rails are pros, and we all make errors. The idea here is to find and share as many ways, in as many aspects as we can to help minimize yours. Just this year alone, I have been working hard and am in the best shape of my life. I have been mindful of food and drink, sleep and physical effort.

Our first race weekend was the 6 hour enduro. It was cold. and wet. We had a hell of a time with the weather during the day. We went into the race a little but “whatever” and it showed. The whole day I never drank any water and barely ate. We had our first stop which was all but a calamity, and I about lost my mind on our crew for being so sloppy. We weren’t that sloppy. I was just hangry. The next day I was trashed. I had a bad headache from being dehydrated. I was a mess. I have been racing, and endurance racing for 12 years. I know better. So I re-counted the day. What happened? What did I do?

It was a cold and nasty day at the first race of the season. Ill prepared, we paid the price during the race and the next day.

I started the day with wet feet at 07:30. Never drank so much as a bottle of water all day. Did not eat much – there was no concessions at the track due to low turn out and weather. It was just so cold and gross. We, me specifically. Never even thought about it till it was much too late. Lesson learned. You can also determine if you are driving yourself tired or not as well. Driving or being on a bike can be taxing on your mind. It will happen and you wont even realize it. We have found that most of our mistakes on test and track days happen in the later half of the day. Brain capacity and function starts to slow down, like it or not. Again. We are not pros (and even the pros struggle with this stuff too)!

A long day at the track in the sun where everything is shiny and cool can really tucker you out if you are not prepared for it!

Be sure to add post event check list stuff to your weekend round up. It is important stuff. You can get the jump on cleaning and repair needs. Replacement parts have maximum amount of time to be procured. If you are busted, you know ahead of time rather than after you unload at the next event and waste your time there! It is always about the complete package in a performance and race environment. Being complete in your process is part of that package. It is a little bit of time and effort now, or a lot later. Take what you see, learn from it. We all make errors. They are learning experiences. It is big boy and girl rules out there. Make sure you arm yourself with the best equipment, and mind to make good choices. People count on you to do so. Take care, take time, and always remember to have fun!

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Building a track car – what to buy and what to upgrade when

What: Building a track car – things to consider and make sure you do when building your dream car for the track.

If I knew then what I know now: Power is almost always the last thing to focus on.  Most modern cars are plenty powerful enough.

Check out: These are some of the best bang for the buck items for your track day car:

So you want to go to the track and don’t have a car yet, but you want something of your own.  Cool, what to do now?  Here are some key variables to consider:

Overall budget

First thing your going to have to decide is how much money you want to put into this car, that you are realistically only going take on track a few times a year.  One major thing is, at the track things, can go sideways in a hurry. Always remember on any given day the track may consume the car, hopefully not you as well but we will go over that here in a bit. The main thing again is to have fun right?  If your scared of the car your driving, you may not want to build that car into a track car.

It’s better to drive a slow car, fast than to drive a fast car slow.

Something that was said to me early on in driving was “It was better to learn how to drive a slow car fast rather than be the guy that drives a fast car slow”.

Front-Wheel, Rear-Wheel or All-Wheel Drive?

Also what drive-train lay out do you want? A good rule of thumb is you should track something that has a similar layout to the car you drive all the time. This will best translate the things you learn at the track to the street. OK we have thought about the things above and some personal preferences as well, Time to choose a car.

E30 BMW 325is track car at PIR

I like to drive a slow car, fast type of a style.  Slow is also a relative term.  By modern super car standards a car like a 2002 BMW M3 would be slow with 333bhp and 3400lbs.  Think of that for a second, a Mclaren P1 has almost 1000bhp. Three times more! WOW.  That being said the BMW M3 is one of the most common cars around due to its chassis, motors, and driver feel.  Not just M3’s but most 3 series BMW’s are great track cars.  Porsche Cayman, 911’s of all years and 944’s also make good lapping cars.  Mazda makes a handful of great cars with good driver dynamics in both front and rear wheel drive. Honda’s, Toyota’s, Nissan’s, Lotus’, Ford Mustang, Gt86 cars, the list goes on and on but most (not all) of the car listed above don’t carry a large price premium to acquire.

You got your car, now what?

Once you found a car its time to take a look at it. A track car should not leak, squeak, rattle, hiss, buzz, clunk or shake. Any of these items will need to be addressed before even the first track event. You must have a reliable car to take to the track. Breaking down or oiling down the track doesn’t only ruin your day but all others as well do to lost time from cleanup and decreased track condition.

Car up on stands getting checked out before the next event.

Lets get it ready to go fast. What are the two most important systems in a car? Steering and braking. At a minimum the entire suspension and brake system should be inspected with a fine tooth comb. Replace any and all worn items. At this time depending on what is worn out an upgrade may get to pop in.

Lapping prep basics has taught me that having a set of track brake pads is the most beneficial item you can do to your car to make it last the entire day. Nothing worse than calling it a day because you used all your brake pad in two session. I would also try to do braided brake lines at this time as well. They just help with the pedal feel when you really get on it hard. I have always had great results with Performance Friction Brakes, Carbotech Brakes, Stoptech brakes, and Wilwood brakes for pads, brake lines rotors, and calipers. I could be happy with this prep level on a car. Driving a car on soft suspension and street tires with killer brakes can be a hoot!

Good pedal placement and a clean foot well can make heal toe shifting easier.

Brakes – check!  Shocks and Springs are next!

So you have done a couple days now and the brakes are good but you are gaining a thirst for G force. Whats next? Lets do some shocks and springs. I would suggest going with a coil over setup with a linear rate spring (most good kits are). Having a shock and spring combo that works together as one makes a car become so much more predictable. The build up to the adhesion limit is far less sudden in this case. Sway bars are a common upgrade as well. That being said a good coilover setup (read chassis tuning) may not require them. A lot of times I have put a stiffer sway bar on a car only to place it at full soft or in some cases remove it all together. I would stick with one step at a time on this one. Bushings are a great upgrade as well for chassis stability. Street cars are built to be quite and comfy. These rubber stockers allow some chassis parts to move a lot as to not upset the ride comfort. At the track this movement will cause the car to never feel like it really takes a set, always kinda moving around. In the past we have used Ground Control products, BC Racing products, Fortune Auto products, JRZ shocks, Motion Control Suspension and would not hesitate to use any of them for future projects.

A front E30 coilover assembly using a BC Racing shock.

The Meaty Tire Thread!

A set of good track rubber is always fun. A good set of R compound tires can up your grip game by a massive amount. The soft grippy compounds and large tread block size allows the tire to stick to the road once it gets to operating temperature. The tread blocks being as large as possible keeps the tire tread pattern from deforming or getting torn off as they pass there heat tolerance. This can have a side effect that can catch you off guard. The enhanced grip level means your speed is higher and your lateral load is higher and the then sudden loss of traction at the tire limit is much more dramatic than it would be on street tires. Most good tires do give you some warning before they will slide.

There is nothing that beats that grip though. Toyo Tires, Nitto Tires and Hankook Tires make good lasting, high grip, user friendly track tires. There are many others but keeping cost in mind these are what I shop for most of the time.  Check out Tire Rack for usually solid deals and good availability.

Nice big Toyo Tires Proxes RR track tire.

More Speed Requires More Safety – Don’t Skimp Out on Your Life

Well now the car has better brakes, an upgraded suspension, and we have some nice grippy tires. That means we are moving pretty fast now. One of the thing I have learned in my years going to the track. Safety is NOT over rated. The better the safety gear the better the chance you can walk away from a big one. Good basic safety harnesses do a great job of keeping you planted in the seat at the track. Even a set of four point belts with a stock seat can get you headed in the right direction.

Being able to stay planted in your seat with out having to hold yourself into the car allows you to have smoother, softer inputs that upset the car less in a reaction maneuver. Upgrading the seat to one with deeper sides and some better shoulder support just bring your stability in the car to the next level. A note to remember when shopping for seats. It is not recommended to run a fixed back racing shell without some type of rollover protection. In the case of a rollover a reclining seat is designed to fold/ break in a way to prevent the occupant from being crushed if the roof caves in.

Sorry if this is sounding a little dark but its the real deal. If you were in a rollover with a racing seat the seat would not fold and the roof would make contact and there is a high chance of getting crushed. A roll bar or roll cage is never a bad idea when going fast. I have run a rear roll bar and a race seat for years in my track car. Just having the piece of mind of knowing I have done the best I could with the budget I had, I felt as safe as I could be for the speeds I am driving. I am planning on installing a full cage in my car as the plan for speed increases.

I also run a set of six point harnesses, a Momo head restraint seat, and a Hans device attached to my Arai gp6 helmet. More on helmets later.

Fire is also a possibility. With increased speed comes increased stress and increased heat. There are many combustible fluids in a car: fuel, oil, brake fluid, gear oil, and that is just some fluids. A track car should at minimum have a small fire extinguisher. A complete fire suppression system plumbed into the car is best. They are not that much money in the grand total. Bimmerworld sells a kit for a few hundred dollars. When you have spent now thousands of dollars, it seems like a waste to have is burn to the ground because you didn’t want to spend a little more. Sparco, Momo, OMP, Schroth, Arai, Hans, Alpinestar, Adidas are all brands I would recommend.

A nice safe driver safety cell area.

How about that. Now we have a sweet track car. The car of our liking, the one that fits you like a glove, the one you have always wanted. It’s all leak free and reliable. It stops on a dime with the sweet brakes, it drive like its on rails with the tuned suspension, it has the grip from the sticky tires, and you have piece of mine being planted in your car with all of your protective gear keeping you safe. Now you can worry about you at the track rather than if the car can handle what your putting it through.

A super charged bmw E36 M3 track car preped by the Racer on Rails crew.

If you noticed I never got into adding power. The things above will make your car much faster than you think. Being able to hold a higher corner speed and have a shorter stopping distance will get you way better lap time results than just tossing horsepower at it. It all needs to work as a balanced package. Once you want to add power after your skills have bounded, a key item to remember is not to add to much. You don’t want to have more power than the car, tires, brakes, ect can handle. Back to the scary car thought. Its always easy to add more power to a car. So I say just roll it in rather than shoot for the moon.

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Burn 1,000 calories in an hour, lower back pain, kidneys and dehydration

What: A small addendum to the cardio training post, let’s expand on it with a real world experience that happened just a few weeks ago at Pacific Raceways.

If I knew then what I know now: Hydration, hydration, hydration – start it at least 5 days prior the first day on track and keep it up while you are on track.  Simply drinking lots of water the weekend of, is not enough.

Check out: 

1 Hour Mini Enduro’s as a Workout

Most of my racing is a sprint format, but each Saturday afternoon, there is a 1 Hour Mini-Endurance race (referred to as Enduro’s but spell check hates this word). During the May 20th 1-Hour Enduro at Pacific Raceways, I decided to start a ‘workout’ using my Apple Watch to track my heart rate and calories burned, more accurately.  In this mode, the watch samples movement, skin temperature, heart rate, etc. at least 1x per second, versus about 1x per minute, while generally going about your day.

So what happened?

First, Pacific Raceways is already a physically demanding race track – super old school, banked turns, big time elevation change and even catching air on all 4 wheels.  Before I even looked at the data, this is how I felt:

Thank Goodness for the Dead Pedal: While you probably aren’t going to be able to tell from the video, the combination of braking, lateral g-forces, camber in the road and downhill ascent of 3a and 3b complex, make it super grueling as you are carrying a good amount of speed.  I found myself hanging on for dear life, thanking my OMP seat, Schroth harnesses and most importantly – the dead pedal.  After each session I found myself thinking – “man, if it weren’t for the dead pedal – I think I would have fallen out of the seat.”

Oh dead pedal, how I love thee!

Dehydration: That day was warm but not ‘hot’ with a high of 72 degrees Fahrenheit.  I have a helmet blower system hooked up to my Stilo ST5 GT Wide Composite SA2015 Helmet with Noise Attenuating Ear Muffs (Large), of which after experiencing this – I don’t know how everyone doesn’t have one.  And we were planning to run the Cool Shirt CS-12 Club System but we forgot to pickup ice.  No worries, we went on regardless.  Well after a day of two qualifying sessions, one 20 minute race and an hour race, I felt drained and truly dehydrated – with my lips feeling chapped, which is a rare occurrence for me.  I’ve probably used chap-stick or lip balm maybe a half-dozen times in my life.  I have a rule that 7 days prior to stepping into a race car, I don’t drink any alcohol (usually wine) and that week, I bent the rules and I think that didn’t help.  While I only had a couple glasses with dinner, I could feel the difference.

Lower-Back Pain: Yeah – even this!  WTF!?!?!  I climbed out of the car with my lower back, not throbbing, but sure as crap not feeling great.  During the race I felt sharp pains and while I’ve had back issues the past few years – a combination of physical therapy, cross-training, plyometrics, stretching and chiropractor visits have my back in pretty good shape. Even still, I had back pain.  One theory, was that this was actually kidney related as it is common to have lower back pain, from your kidneys, when you’re too dehydrated and I felt it.

As an aside, the following morning I was pretty sore – especially on my right foot, calf, lower back, right shoulder, forearm and hand.  These PRO3 cars don’t have power-steering or ABS, so they are quite the analog animal to manhandle.

The data says… holy crap!

Calories burned during an auto race
This is the health data from throughout the day. You can see the spike when I logged a workout during the 1-hour endurance race. I didn’t log a workout during the earlier three sessions (two qualifying sessions and one non-points race)
Here is an hour by hour breakdown of my heart rate – note that during the 1-hour endurance race, my heart rate reached around 160-165 beats per minute.

 

Think about this – when was the last time you did a workout and burned (approximately) 1,000+ calories?  I am talking about just the logged ‘workout’ because in the previous three sessions, I didn’t have the Apple Watch Nike+ 42mm logging calories or else the full day of calories burned would have been 2,000+.  That is a TON of calories and physical effort.

Conclusion

Competitive racing is a legit, physical sport that is incredibly demanding.  We are using our hand-foot-eye coordination, reflexes, core-strength, neck-strength, arm-strength, leg-strength, cardio stamina and mental stamina, just like happens in many other ‘high intensity sports’.

If you are and an avid racer, actually competing and on a regular basis – I highly encourage you to have a regular training program and eat well at minimum to avoid injury and really, to help improve your performance.  Yes, you need to know what to do with your driver inputs to go fast but you also need to be able to physically do this, consistently and over long periods of time – especially for all those endurance racers.  If you aren’t exhausted when you get out of a race car – you’re just not driving hard/fast enough.

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Day 15 – I can’t believe this is happening

This is the last day of iRacing before the big race weekend at Portland International Raceways.  The goal today was the same – another 20+ lap sessions, with no accidents, pushing for consistent, fast but not personal best laps.  Just get into a rhythm and pound out lap, after lap, after lap – all near the limit (or at least mine).

The session started off normal, with low-1:20 lap times steadily falling and then suddenly, lap 6 – BOOM! 1:19.410 – new personal best.  

I smell blood in the water…

That lap was good but there were some small mistakes, I can do better.  So I put my head down and starting pounding away trying to repeat it and make improvements.  over the next 10 or so laps, I got close several times and even spinning at one point, but keeping it out of the wall.

I checked up, let the tires cool down, as I would in real life and went back at it.

More mid-1:19’s and suddenly… 1:19.351 – another half tenth shaved off.  But I wanted more, especially with a low fuel load, I knew I could do it.  So I pushed on but ultimately, I dropped a tire on the exit of the chicane and ended up with a 1:19.398.

Oh so close!!!

What happened?

I found that if I can slow down, just a tiny bit more, in the entrance of the ‘esses’ and turn 7 and the chicane, I was able to get the car turned faster and back on throttle and full throttle, sooner. Same lesson from before, just applying it better and better.

Check out the throttle traces of the graph below.

Slow down earlier, get the car turned and then get back on throttle.

Now seeing as that new personal best was done at the end of the session, with yes lower fuel – it was also well past the peak performance of the tires. Something I started thinking about today, as I have been preparing for the Portland race this weekend, is that I’ve noticed that many times, in a real world race, my fastest lap of the race comes in around lap 2-4.

This is when the tires, brakes and everything are at their prime conditions. I wonder what could happen if we did a low fuel run, with just 5 or so laps and fresh tires? I am thinking that the lap times would come down significantly!

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Day 14 – A day late but faster

I’m not going to lie – I had a long night of work on Sunday night and didn’t go to bed until just past 1am PST.  So when the alarm went off at 5:30am, I could barely move enough to shut the alarm down.  So I did not race at all on Monday, instead deciding to be as fresh as I could for the next morning.

And it was a good trade off – I was not only able to put together another 19 lap session with no crashes but I got a new personal best, mid-way through the session for a 1:19.476 – almost .3 faster than before.

What happened?

I’ve heard the following in various places and this is exactly what happened – whoever gets on full throttle first, without lifting, wins.  I slowed down just a touch more for Turn 7, was able to get and stay on full throttle, just a fraction of a second sooner.  This resulted in a massive drop in lap time as we approached the back-straight chicane and then, in this section, I worked on having a wider entry into the chicane, clipping both FIA rumble strips and getting on throttle as soon as I could.

All together, these two changes resulted in that almost .3 second improvement in fastest lap time!

Checkout the delta chart (second graph from the top) – you’ll see the dramatic decrease in turns 7 – 12.

Faster Average Lap Times and Average Fast Lap Times

More and more, this is what I am most excited about. Not just being able to put together one flying lap, but being able to be faster, consistently. My average lap times improved by almost .1 seconds and my average fast lap times improved by just over .2 seconds! Boom!

Specifically, it’s similar reasons as to how I improved my ultimate fastest lap – better runs into the back straight, the chicane but also, being able to get the car turned, faster and carry more speed through the ‘esses’.

Checkout the delta graph, throttle and brake pressure graphs. Getting on and staying on full throttle first, wins!

Preparing for the real world

I’m really jacked about the progress, especially with a big race coming this next weekend at Portland International Raceways, with the Chicane. This track, because we run it twice and has been one of my weaker tracks, is exactly why I chose to train with Road Atlanta as the test track. Getting on throttle, quick, for long straight aways and a chicane are what I need to improve on for this track and excited to see how this translates to on-track results.

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Day 13 – Less than 20% Unclean!

I have been working on driving more consistent… err… consistently, with some success but today, it finally all clicked and came together like never before.

I woke up, tired as usual, did my stretching, some cross-crawls (thanks Ross Bentley and Speed Secrets!) and lazy eight’s, just like I do in the real world and got on my way.  And for the first time ever, 20+ laps of just about all clean driving.  I did drop some tires and got a little sideways but I forced myself to try to save the car, slow down and collect myself, just like in the real world.  And it worked!

20+ laps of mostly clean running!

The best part? Nestled in there are five sub-1:20 lap times and I didn’t feel like I was risking life and limb to make them happen!

On average, what changed?

It was really just one segment – segment 7, which includes turns 10a, 10b, 11 and 12.  The chicane in the back straight away and all the way to start/finish.  With my next real-world race being at Portland International Raceways, this time being run with the ‘Festival Chicane’ in the annual Chicane Challenge event, getting a great run out of the chicane has been top of mind for me.

I made it my goal today to get the best dang run out of the chicane, on power and going to full throttle, without having to lift, the top priority and I think it’s worked! Here are a couple of proof points:

1. Braking earlier, settling the car, aiming towards the backside of the 10ab apex and getting on throttle faster.

The changes are small but they are making a difference.

2. No new personal best but the average fast lap, is faster!

Just barely but the trend holds true even for the fastest laps – I am braking slightly earlier, softer and getting on throttle sooner.

Comparison of yesterday’s and today’s average fastest lap. Small but there are differences in the right direction.

Today was one of the most satisfying days – not only was I able to get into a groove, I worked up a serious sweat and did not have a single incident – how it should be in the real world. I’m excited to keep this going and build momentum of sessions where I get serious laps in and while finding little nuggets of speed here and there.

When I first started a couple weeks ago, I would not have even dreamt of low 1:19 lap times. Now I believe they are not only possible but even 1:18’s are possible in the next 30 days!

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Day 12 – A New Normal

With the weather and track settings held constant, I was excited to get out and drive with more confidence that whatever improvements (or not) that happened, were of my own doing.

One thing that I still don’t love, is that I am still wrecking the car, regularly early on a session.  It feels like it just takes me a few laps (and a wreck) to get into things.  Today was no exception; an out-lap, a decent opening lap and boom.  I am in the wall.  I need to figure out how to cut that out, whether that means starting slower the first few laps, knowing that my mind and body just aren’t up to speed yet.  This might also be because it is usually between 5:15AM and 5:45AM when I heading out and have only been awake for 15 – 30 minutes.  Regardless, it needs to stop.

New Personal Record!  Wait, huh?

With very little warning or expectation, on the very next outing, second flying lap – there it is, a new personal best.  Barely but still – a 1:19.606.  Looking back at the data, we can see why this happened but at the time, I was very confused.  So much so that as I tried to repeat the feat, I kept dropping a wheel, resulting in dirty laps.

Consistency – not something you’ll find here.

Eventually, I got too sloppy and hit the wall again. A little frustrated, I decided to back off – not fixate on the fastest lap time and just get in good, quality laps in the mid to low 1:20’s and if 1:19’s happened – awesome! And you know what, that’s exactly what happened (well, after one more wreck).

Over the next 16 laps (I had to cut the session as my kiddo was up), all but three laps were nice and tidy. I was on such a roll, that I decided to pull over to the side and intentionally end the session versus being forced to end the session because I had crashed and my time was up.

I can’t say that I truly made progress in terms of a going faster, as in qualifying lap faster, because while I did improve my personal best, it wasn’t by much and I am not exactly sure how I did it. However, I feel I can confidently click off low to mid 1:20 lap times, of which even yesterday, was a tall order.

Not only can do I ‘feel’ this way – but I can quantify it.  Check out this really cool way of comparing laps that Virtual Racing School has; you can compare the ‘Average Fast Lap’ and your ‘Average Lap’, of which in both measures, I improved by about .3 seconds.  This is great because most people (including me) in the real world, if they’re looking at data, fixate on the fastest lap of the session, which usually happens once and no other lap is close, where we should be focusing on how to improve what ‘typically’ happens.

Comparison of my Average Lap from today versus yesterday.
Here is the comparison of my average fast lap today versus yesterday.

I love this analysis and VRS even creates a speed trace and accompanying channels for those averages – beautiful!  You can pretty clearly see that the reason I am on ‘average’ faster today versus yesterday is two fold:

  1. Getting on throttle sooner and staying on throttle
  2. Staying flat through the last turn (gut check time!  Even in the virtual world)
Look at the throttle trace to see the story of why the lap times dropped

I’m still exhausted from the last race weekend but jacked about the progress that is being made, little by little.