FAQ for tracking beginners?

[Woodengun]

Anyone know of a general faq or a beginner's guide website for tracking your car? Preferably BMW/M biased lol.

Things like - definitions of basic terms...oversteer, understeer, throttle steering, trail braking etc.

Basic guides to setting up your car - tires, why wider? Why do you need to change brake fluid? Why stainless steel brake lines?

What is an overcoil? Other options?

Add/change strut bars?

Do those "aero" kits actually help? That is, are they wind tunnel or real world tested for performance or are they just for aesthetics?

Many more questions from this tracking noob. My google fu is low today. I only got hits related to finding out where your car is in the production cycle and hits on how to make your own "lojack" system to track your vehicle...

[Gearhead999s]

Originally Posted by Woodengun

Anyone know of a general faq or a beginner's guide website for tracking your car? Preferably BMW/M biased lol.

Things like - definitions of basic terms...oversteer, understeer, throttle steering, trail braking etc.

Basic guides to setting up your car - tires, why wider? Why do you need to change brake fluid? Why stainless steel brake lines?

What is an overcoil? Other options?

Add/change strut bars?

Do those "aero" kits actually help? That is, are they wind tunnel or real world tested for performance or are they just for aesthetics?

Many more questions from this tracking noob. My google fu is low today. I only got hits related to finding out where your car is in the production cycle and hits on how to make your own "lojack" system to track your vehicle...

If your just starting to track with your F8X avoid the temptation to modify the car very much from stock and concentrate on your driving skills as the the car is very good right out of the box.My thoughts on what you should do.

!)More track oriented brake pads & fluid.No need to change the lines.

2)More Trackable tires and there are many different ways to attack this depending on your budget.

[FTS]

Start here: http://www.bentleypublishers.com/aut...g-faster-.html

[Woodengun]

Initial plans are to keep car stock.

Brake pads, wheel set with track tires and camber plates are up if I love tracking the car - essentially guaranteed as long as I dont crash it first time out lol.

Thanks for the book link. I've ordered a copy.

[m3z]

Originally Posted by Gearhead999s

If your just starting to track with your F8X avoid the temptation to modify the car very much from stock and concentrate on your driving skills as the the car is very good right out of the box.My thoughts on what you should do.

!)More track oriented brake pads & fluid.No need to change the lines.

2)More Trackable tires and there are many different ways to attack this depending on your budget.

May I ask why u suggest leaving the lines alone? Is the f8x brake lines good enough? Thanks

[Gearhead999s]

Originally Posted by m3z

May I ask why u suggest leaving the lines alone? Is the f8x brake lines good enough? Thanks

Even on the BMW street based race cars that I raced we never had any brake issues due to the stock brake hoses and they are usually more resistant to road debris damage than aftermarket hoses where the fitting break long before the hose tears.I had issues with this on my C5 Z06 when I thought it was a good idea to install upgraded lines and had an issue on My E92 M3 with a BBK with a broken fitting caused by a sloppy technician.

[JNoSol]

Originally Posted by Woodengun

Initial plans are to keep car stock.

Brake pads, wheel set with track tires and camber plates are up if I love tracking the car - essentially guaranteed as long as I dont crash it first time out lol.

Thanks for the book link. I've ordered a copy.

If this is your first time tracking, leave the car bone stock. Just ensure you have plenty of tread left on your PSS. Your instructor will help you manage your brakes and tires (a good one should). Engine braking technique, cool down lap, etc.

The more you mod your car the first time, the more you're covering up for your driving mistakes. The F8x is a very capable track car stock. If you learn how to drive the F8x stock fast, you'll get even faster with mods.

Drive the car on the track stock and appreciate the work the BMW M engineers have done to this car. Sometimes mod doesn't make you go any faster being new to the car.

Once you understand its flaws on the track and will track the car 3-4 times per year before looking into front camber plates, square wheels and tires, and race pads/fluid. Once you graduate from that, go with full race coilover and race compound tires. (don't cheap out on coilover, not many brands out there that can make your car drive better than the stock M suspension)

Don't waste your money on aero parts yet. You're not approaching any corners at speed that needs aero parts on your first year. If you do, avoid carbon lip. You'll shatter them, rocks hitting it and running over rumble strips. The BMW M performance parts are well designed and aero tested, so stick with that for "function." That's the reason why the M performance lip isn't carbon, because it's track functional. Lightweight lip are also durable for track use.

[Woodengun]

Originally Posted by FTS

Start here: http://www.bentleypublishers.com/aut...g-faster-.html

Thank you, FTS!

I am around 40 pages into the book and I think the book has helped me immensely. It does a really good job of explaining why a driver wants to follow a certain line, when you accelerate and why you press the throttle a certain amount at certain locations of course....etc etc. The explanations of why race car drivers do what they do is very very helpful.

[smh_amg_m4gts]

Debating on whether I should clear bra my car before tracking...any advice?

[Blksnowflake]

Originally Posted by stunnaM3

Debating on whether I should clear bra my car before tracking...any advice?

Yes, definitely.


If you're going to track your car and are relatively new, it would be a really good idea to take a driving(track oriented) class. They will spend time explaining everything, oversteer/understeer, throttle braking, threshold braking, trail braking, engine braking...all the "brakings"...as well as neg/positive camber, fwd vs awd vs rwd, drifting, wet weather dynamics, etc...

I spent a week at one of these schools and learned an encyclopaedia of knowledge, and I'm still a newbie.