I am planning on attending my first school this fall to work on getting my SCCA Comp License. The only problem is I have never been the driver of a car on track, I have crewed for open wheel cars at races and schools, but never for a production car. I want to go to some track days before the school so I do not look like a total idiot when at my first school. My school will be in a Formula 500 but the track days will be in my Integra since it is hard to get track time in an open wheel car. I have never been on a course before so I will be in the beginners or level 1 at the track days. But I had a few questions.

Car Details:
DC2
Never driven on street (Trailers everywhere)
290 WHP (Turbo)
COP with AEM
13k/15k (f/r spring rates)
All ES bushings (Spherical might be this winter)
ITR rear sway with lower tie
10pt drag racing cage
Steel breaded brake lines
Front Splitter (home made idea came from Kiwi's site)
Auto Zone rotors
Wheels (5 sets) 15x6(2), 15x7(2), 17x7
Half size radiator, duct so air has to go through the radiator and/or the intercooler

Brake Questions
Are Hawk HP+ pad good enough, or should I get Hawk Blues or Blacks?
Brake ducts needed or should it be ok with the correct break pads?

Tires
I was thinking street tire for first couple of times, but not sure which are the good learning tires (budget is $75 max per tire.)

Spears
What spears parts should I bring? I already have rotors, plugs, coils, fluids, front control arms, rear control arms, a transmission, axles, and wheels & tires.

Any suggests / comments are always helpful, I am still finishing up my Integra so changing major things are not out of the question. Hoping for my first track day to be sometime in July.

 

Still full sized radiator?

I have kept the HP+ pads on, but I go through about half of them in a day. I cannot speak for any other pads. Im currently looking to upgrade to a bigger caliper/rotor setup.

 

Half size radiator, but I have duct so air has to go through the radiator and/or the intercooler

(added to first post)

 

Since you already built a car and have never raced... its too late to tell you to start off bone stock, and get some track time.
I can tell you that your probably biting off more than you can chew right now with almost 300hp.

I'd suggest removing the turbo until your learning is over.
It's better to learn car control than to be fast. Speed will come with seat time.
I think in your case you'll spend more time off track than on with the kind of speed the car will be putting out. Kind of putting the wagon before the cart sort if thing.
Get rid of he half size radiator and put in something bigger. I see over heating issues.
Take a step back and rethink what you have, and where you should start.

Spears????? You mean spares.... LOL
Your only going to a track day.Not a full race weekend.
Fluids tools and maybe a set of tires. You dont need to bring the kitchen sink.
At least not right now.

Did you search for first HPDE, or first track day?
This has been covered so many times, im surprised Stinky hasn't locked your thread yet.
However be prepared for a "spraying"

 

dirty is right, this has been covered a lot before, and searching will get you more detailed information.

That being said, you're talking about getting a competition license. From your sig I'm guessing you'll be racing that Formula 500? That is going to be a STEEP learning curve from your Integra. I think renting time in a kart (shifter or single-speed) would be more useful to you. Indoor, outdoor, whatever, the kart will behave more like your F500 than the Integra will. It will also save you money on the Integra that you don't necessarily need to spend (brakes, tires, radiator, anything that breaks, etc.).

Edit: For search terms, select the RRAX subforum, and start with "turbo". You'll find a lot of threads about guys with turbo cars wondering what they should do to keep their ride alive through a weekend on track

 

just take it how it sits right now as long as; it runs good, has no leaks, alignment is good, brake pads are good, tires are great/sticky and seatbelts work.

 

Normally I'm a big fan of "as-is" but that radiator won't work for an extended track day, and a bigger one won't increase his performance or anything. If he sticks with that car, that would be the absolute minimum to change.

 

Renting a kart to me seem like just talking my F500 to an auto-x event, low speeds and millions of turns.
My Integra was a drag car for passed 5 year and I was thinking that it was easier to covert it over to a track day car then buying/renting an IT car or a SM. The reason for a production car is that it is a million times easier to get seat time on track then it is with an open wheel car. I understand that they handling and braking different but I was always told seat time is the best thing.

Thanks for your help, it is now time to buy a header and a radiator.

 

depending on how long the sessions are you might have cooling problems. One way to fix this is by changing the fan settings in the AEM.
falken rt-615's 205/50/15 from vulcantires.com for $81/each. 20 lbs. 23" OD.
dunlop direzza sport z1 star spec 195/55/15 from tirerack.com for $86/each. 19 lbs. 23.5" OD. On my first HPDE I was on falken 615's. I didn't push my car hard and the tires held up better than I anticipated.

If you have an aftermarket half size radiator that will work. I have a fluidyne on my car and did not have cooling problems at the track. sessions were 20 minutes and one 30 min. session.

 

Dont discount a kart in saying its slow... 80CC and above your looking at serious power to weight ratios that a car cant rival.
You should know first hand karts a a stepping stone to open wheels or other forms of racing.

I have karted since i was 4 years old, and there is no better platform to learn from, and keep the skills sharp.
Seat time....

 

Kart rentals are usually on either an indoor track or an outdoor track, but they are TRACKS, not an autox course with cones. Your call, but just know that the driving experience will be very different. Seat time is generally seat time, but if you're looking to race competitively, I'd guess you want to get competitive as quick as possible. You'd also learn a lot about setting up a car, something that is a little more difficult to do with a production car (or maybe just less necessary?).

 

Yes I have Fluidyne half side as well.

Every says TAG carts are the way to go.
I am not really worried about being competitive, I am just looking for something fun to do on the weekends.

So carting is better then HPDE if open wheel is the end point? or do they both have there pros and cons?

 

What school will you be doing? Glen in October? You need to determine what class you will enter the car in. You cannot just show and say this is my car, now put me in a class.

I strongly suggest that you get as many track days in ahead of your school as you can afford. I know there are slots open for this Thursday afternoon at Limerock (there is an SCCA school at Limerock this Friday with a Regional this Saturday.

I'd start with a compliant car. Check that cage.

 

Forumla 500 is the class I will be in for the school, and yes Glen will be the school.

Only reason for the Integra is I have yet to find track days that has a different run group for open wheel cars.

 

Karting is good no matter what you eventually plan to run.
It's seat time...

 

only here to comment on the thought of attaching spears to the front of the car. that would be awesome.

 

I don't think you're gonna need any spears unless you like to hunt your own lunch

 

If you want to enjoy your time at the track I would forget about a 24 year old F500. I've talked to a lot of those dirvers, but can't claim to have laid hands on one myself. I understand them to be finiky to set up and quiet a handfull to drive.

If you want to learn racing, pick a path well worn. Look where everyone else starts racing, look at your budget and look for a field. The entry level kart class with the local track or sactioning body, or something like NASA or SCCA in a production based class. With the DC you have a proven track car to start with and there is not much you have to figure out on your own about set up. I would pull the turbo motor and put in an LS drive train, get the cage legal for SCCA and NASA, then go hit the track.

OR I bet there are several ready to roll IT cars around for what it is going to cost you to run that F500 for not very long.

 

Only thing to note here: a lot of drag cages can't be made legal because of the use of ERW tubing and/or improper diameter and wall thickness. "Fixing it" would (maybe) involve cutting the whole thing out and replacing it.

<--- Found out the hard way

 

F500 are a little different then most cars the suspension is a 1in x 2in round piece of rubber. Basically buy rubber from McMaster and hole saw it. Then there is no transmission just a CVT out of a snow mobile, and all the power goes to a solid rear axle. So they are tail happy, but fun to drive.

Cutting the cage out is no big deal it only takes a weekend of so to put a cage in a car.

My brother has been looking at ITA and ITS cars but nothing that make either of us want to buy.

 

Brake pads and tires are "consumables", parts that wear out quickly with track use. Try out what you've already got, and if you're not happy with the results, try something different when you're shopping for replacements.