considering i live 20 mins from summit point and have only been there once...ever

but the thing is, do i really want to take my turbo del sol out there? its my daily driver so if i **** something up, im basically screwed

then i think, i have this accord sitting in my garage that im doing nothing with right now because the engine is possibly going to die on me, its completely stock, maybe i could drive it?(after finding a replacement engine of course)

so what is your guys opinion? track the turbo sol and risk f'ing up my 'baby' or turn the accord into hpde/auto-x bitch/back up car(if i have to work on the sol for some reason)

oh, and search returned one topic with accord in the name and that was something about doing a brake conversion or some **** like that

 

i don't really know why people are sooo scared about driving there baby out on the track.


id be more scared driving the car on the freeway in rush hour traffic. you have femals puting on makeup, talking on their cell phone, and eating brakfast, and you have cars pulling into the lane of traffic.

on the track EVERYONE is focused on drivng, and pretty much driving the same exact line. you don't have to drive your car ***** to the walls, you can and i would suggest driving it well within your abilities. after all were out there to have fun. and no one is gona have fun if they wreck there car. plus you have maybe 10 20 people out on the track making sure EVERYTHING is going right. And they can warn you of whats ahead. there anit **** like this out on the regular roads.

that being said if you like you del sol take it out there, just make sure the car is gona stay cool, cause that will put a damper on your day faster then finding out you have an STD.

many people in here suggest takeing a SLOW car out to the track. that way your not focus on speed/power, but instead foucesed on driving the line. which in turn will get you fast laps.

now i don't drive a slow car on the track and never had. my last setup was a LS motor in my 93 civic hatch, not exactly a speed mongor but its quick. then i jumped up to a 185whp motor, and it does take some focus to not get cought up in the raw power, you just need to remind yourself drive the line. and you will be ok.


the accord would be kinda of a boat out there. but it defently could be fun.

 

I totally agree. The beltway is by far more scary than lapping Summit Point. I am serious when I say this. I am very afraid of getting ran over by some soccer mom in her 6400lb Hummer.


<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by slammed_93_hatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i don't really know why people are sooo scared about driving there baby out on the track.

id be more scared driving the car on the freeway in rush hour traffic. you have femals puting on makeup, talking on their cell phone, and eating brakfast, and you have cars pulling into the lane of traffic.
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One of the best things about an HPDE is that you drive the car as hard as you want to. No one is making you push it to the limits or anything, so if you're worried about damaging it, don't push it too much, and take your time learning.

As far as what car to drive, starting out with a slower car is definitely better if you're interested in becoming a better driver, as it forces you to learn certain things that you can kind of "band-aid fix" with a higher powered car. Probably the second most important aspect of any car you're HPDEing (IMO anyway) is that it won't break down on track, the MOST important aspect being safety. So if your Accord is blowing enough blue smoke to blot out the sun and stalls out when you let off the gas, it won't be a good choice.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by gots_a_sol &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">track the turbo sol and risk f'ing up my 'baby' </TD></TR></TABLE>

Here is the thing. Although the majority of us love our cars we have a different view of them. Our true love is driving/racing on track. For us the cars are a tool with which we facilitate our true love of driving.

If you view your car as an indispensible member of your family then it is probably better that you don't drive it on track. The possibility is ALWAYS there that your car will come home in a body bag. If you don't feel like you can walk away from the car after that happens then you would be better off finding something else to drive on track.

Further - if my choices were between the 2 cars you have being that you are just starting out I would pick the Accord anyway. Power is like #5 on my list of important things in track driving. You would learn more in the beginning in that stock reliable Accord.

Just remember - Slow and OEM is reliable and will afford you the best platform when starting out. Build a solid STOCK motor for it, get yourself some good brake pads, make sure the suspension is solid and come out and have fun with it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by slammed_93_hatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i don't really know why people are sooo scared about driving there baby out on the track.


id be more scared driving the car on the freeway in rush hour traffic. you have femals puting on makeup, talking on their cell phone, and eating brakfast, and you have cars pulling into the lane of traffic.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Hehehe... you haven't hit anything yet, have you?

I agree wholeheartedly... to a point. If you can't financially walk away from a car you ball up on track, it IMHO should't be out there.

You're comparing apples and oranges when you compare street and track. Insurance covers the damage if the womam putting on lipstick hits you and totals your car. You shouldn't count on insurance to cover ANY damage at an HPDE. Insurance is for the street, whether you agree with that philosophy or not. Yes, some people have been lucky and insurance covered it when they totaled their car in a tirewall, but I'd be willing to bet that that is the great exception, not the norm.

To OP - You're smart to think of this now. I've seen too many posts here where somebody takes their daily driver to the track, hits something, and then realizes that maybe they didn't think it through before they put their only mode of transportation onto the track while the still had a car payment.

My advice... Track a car you can financially walk away from. Something PAID FOR.

 

anything big or damage wise no.

and i dunno about you but around were i live alot of people don't have insurance.


again id rather driver on the track then on the highway.

like some one else said you can drive as hard as you want

 

thanks for the responses, i was looking back at how much i have in the sol vs. the accord

i have at leask 6k into the sol....i have $375 into the accord, including the cost of the car

i can stand to see the accord balled up, it was cheap and i have only put money into it for plugs, wires, cap/rotor, ill just pick up some good pads and rotors to start off with and go from there

-Joe

 

WTF do people go to their first track day thinking only about wadding up their car? Just calm down and drive within your available talent and skill. You don't go out there trying to be Schumacher on the first lap. Geeze... just take it easy and you'll be fine.
-Adam (drives only as fast as he can afford... or at least justifies being slow with that line...)

 

i worry about messing it up because it is a something that could happen

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by r2x &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
If you can't financially walk away from a car you ball up on track, it IMHO should't be out there. </TD></TR></TABLE>

i think this line of thinking is reserved for racing, not HPDE. while an HPDE should be taken seriously, it honestly isnt as risky as racing because of the various rules and limitations and whatnot, especially with a newbie forced to have an instructor.

its fine if you have this attitude that the car you brought to the track is dispensable, but i guarantee you not everyone out there on a track day feels that way and you better respect that and not act like youre driving to win a race when coming up on other ppl.

as for wear on the car, well, thats up to the confidence of the owner. i think any well maintained car is going to be fine, especially for a beginner and doesnt even require the best tires and brakes as its better for a beginner to start slow and learn the limits of the tires and brakes while the line is clear and things are slow. if you think your turbo car cant handle it, then either dial down the boost, or dont bring it at all. like i said, thats up to the owner.

if youre constantly worried about things that "could" happen, then just stay home. in fact, dont even drive your car anymore. life has too many risks to worry about. ive seen stuff happen at HPDE in front of my own eyes, but responsible driving would have prevented them all.

 

You could get hit by a bus. Struck by lightning. Get cancer. Those are things beyond your control. Driving your car on the tack, you are in control. Start out slow and work your way up. Get lots of instruction (every session, take an instructor with you.) When you aren't driving, ride with your instructors in their cars. Your first event you will be so overwhelmed with new lessons you won't have time to spin your car into a wall. Focus on fixing your bad habits, driving smoothly and looking ahead (these are harder than they sound!), not going fast and not on wadding up your car. If you're really concerned, just take the Accord. Those lessons you'll be working on your first time out apply to any and every car, so it really doesn't matter what you drive.
-Adam

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by slammed_93_hatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i don't really know why people are sooo scared about driving there baby out on the track.

id be more scared driving the car on the freeway in rush hour traffic.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Insurance covers rush hour and probably won't cover an on-track incident, that's why. My daily driver will NEVER see the asphalt of a track.

 

sent you a PM

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tyson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i think this line of thinking is reserved for racing, not HPDE. while an HPDE should be taken seriously, it honestly isnt as risky as racing because of the various rules and limitations and whatnot, especially with a newbie forced to have an instructor.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I see 1-3 HPDE cars balled up/blown up on any given track weekend. Some weekends more HPDE cars go home in pieces than race cars do.

 

I've also been to several audi/mazda club and carguys events where there have been zero (0) incidents during the weekend.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .RJ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I've also been to several audi/mazda club and carguys events where there have been zero (0) incidents during the weekend.</TD></TR></TABLE>

The point is that on any given weekend - HPDE or not you can blow up/ball up your street car.

 

Of course, but many weekends do happen without incident

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .RJ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Of course, but many weekends do happen without incident </TD></TR></TABLE>

I completely agree but I am from the mindset that it is better to assume that it can happen and plan accordingly as opposed to assuming that it probably won't happen and being upset/pissed/fucked if/when it does.

Drew - Who has a feeling you never thought you would end up on top of the T3 tires

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tyson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

i think this line of thinking is reserved for racing, not HPDE. while an HPDE should be taken seriously, it honestly isnt as risky as racing because of the various rules and limitations and whatnot, especially with a newbie forced to have an instructor.

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Hum... I think you're looking at the extreem here too. I don't intend for people to dwell on the bad that can happen on track. Just spend 3 seconds considering the possibility and whether they can live with it (financially/emotionally) if they ball up their car. I've seen it happen at HPDE... over and over and over. You never know what's going to happen out there, oil dropped, lose your brakes, deer corssing the track (a very real possibility at SPR), etc... that has nothing to do with whether the driver is driving within their limits and whether they have an instructor or not.

My point is this. If someone totals a car on the street (their fault or not) their insurance will cover it (or the person's at fault). If someone totals their car on track (road-racing or HPDE) they are entirely responsible for the cost, even if they are NOT at fault. (Unless the person at fault is feeling generous.) This is reality, like it or not.

*I* feel that someone ought to look at the risks BEFORE something happens so they go into an activity with their eyes open, not with the "it won't happen to me" attitude that seems to persist with some.

What I don't want to see is this guy (or any guy/gal) back on here with an "OMG what am I gonna do?!?!?!" post asking why he didn't think about the risks before heading to the track because he just totaled his WRX Sti with $500 a month payments over the next 5 years and the insurance company denied his claim.

(Yes, I know this particular guy is talking about a $375 accord).

My only point is to get people to consider for a minute what *could* happen. Know and accept the risks and they likely won't end up sorry they tried it and got hooked.

Diane ~ who seems to continue to have unpopular opinions, but is really OK with that.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Evil Drew M &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Drew - Who has a feeling you never thought you would end up on top of the T3 tires</TD></TR></TABLE>

In the back of my mind i knew it. But I always tried not to think about it.... in retrospect there were a lot of things that contributed to that big fuckup, which I did not recognize at the time and have no one but myself to blame. As unfortunate as it was, I learned a lot from the incident, and it was "only a saturn"

These days I come better prepared and I think I drive better I've been off track at some point almost every event this year, but I'd rather drive 4 off than attempt to save it and snap oversteer into a wall.

I try to pass what i've learned along to people that are coming up through the HPDE ranks, that grey area between HPDE 2 and HPDE 3 where your skill level and speed are bigger than your experience, and much smaller than your ego can be a dangerous place for your car's bodywork.

 

The point is that I can remember your whole "OMG!!! WTF do I do?!!!" stage after it happened. Yes it got worked out but how many months did it take you? What did your MOM say as a result?

That is what we are talking about when we say don't drive a car you aren't prepared to **** up.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Evil Drew M &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The point is that I can remember your whole "OMG!!! WTF do I do?!!!" stage after it happened. Yes it got worked out but how many months did it take you? </TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, I didnt deal with it so well at first. If the same thing happened again, I wouldnt be so worried about it - fix it and move on. It took me a few months to get the car back on the road, sourcing used tupperware bodywork was a pain in the ***, and then waiting for paint.

My parents never really cared much for the autox/track stuff, but I pay for my cars, and what I do with them and my income makes no difference. If I've fucked something up, I've never asked them to bail me out on it.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">That is what we are talking about when we say don't drive a car you aren't prepared to **** up.</TD></TR></TABLE>

It can always happen. I would not be happy if i hit something with my ITR, but I would not be in financial ruin if I did.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by gots_a_sol &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">considering i live 20 mins from summit point .....

so what is your guys opinion? track the turbo sol and risk f'ing up my 'baby' or turn the accord into hpde/auto-x bitch/back up car(if i have to work on the sol for some reason)
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You live close enough that you can drive both cars if you wanted to (duh, not at the same time ). Bring your accord out, and if you feel like it, go home and swap cars.

BTW, the audi club is having an event Oct 18ish, so come out then. It's usually cheaper than other events plus everyone there is laid back and very friendly, and lots of people who'll go out of their way to answer questions or help you out.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .RJ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> It can always happen. I would not be happy if i hit something with my ITR, but I would not be in financial ruin if I did.</TD></TR></TABLE>

THIS is exactly my point. As long as people can go out with this attitude, they're golden.