[infinitekidM2C]

With this car i bet everyone's had to pit early for fuel lmao. Car absolutely drinks fuel like a fuelaholic.

[MooMooM2]

Originally Posted by Wolfman’s Brother

Don’t freak out if you get a tpms warning it may just be pressures too high. Don’t let it catch you off guard and certainly don’t let it ruin a session. Be ready to manage tire pressures between sessions, and ready to reset the tpms system on the car if needed. I haven’t needed to yet, others have.

Go ahead and empty out the car (glovebox, trunk, cabin, floor mats) before going to the track so you don’t have to do it there.

Be intentional about getting some food in you that morning. Bringing a small cooler with some waters won’t suck, but isn’t mandatory.

Don’t overpack tools. You’re not changing an engine between sessions.

Watch as many laps as you can ahead of time and be familiar with the proper line ahead of arriving. Do not just plan to have the instructor familiarize you on track when you get there.

I have been practicing on asseto corsa so I know the track very very well. Short track so easy to memorize. I have done 1 minute laps with an m2 and I don’t think my lines are all there and I have watched 1 minute laps and that looks fast. Its great to have the sim to practice, the uphill is very sketchy on the sim as well, if you are not straight it will shoot you to the right. Was also fun to do laps on a ferrari f40 haha and also a gt4 (it felt like cheating).

Excited to actually try it in a real car and get nowhere near 1 minute laps.

I just ordered ps4s for my stock wheels! Also ordered some stainless brake line since already doing brake oil might as well get these in. Got a tow strap as well for the front of the car. Also a go pro mount to stick on the back of the comp seats.

[Wolfman’s Brother]

Originally Posted by MooMooM2

I have been practicing on asseto corsa so I know the track very very well. Short track so easy to memorize. I have done 1 minute laps with an m2 and I don’t think my lines are all there and I have watched 1 minute laps and that looks fast. Its great to have the sim to practice, the uphill is very sketchy on the sim as well, if you are not straight it will shoot you to the right. Was also fun to do laps on a ferrari f40 haha and also a gt4 (it felt like cheating).

Excited to actually try it in a real car and get nowhere near 1 minute laps.

I just ordered ps4s for my stock wheels! Also ordered some stainless brake line since already doing brake oil might as well get these in. Got a tow strap as well for the front of the car. Also a go pro mount to stick on the back of the comp seats.

Hell yeah. Enjoy sir. It’s crazy fun.

[Maynard]

I'm also in Upstate - and I'd put in a plug for a trip out to Watkins Glen. We are also going to be at the NYST in early Sept.

These guys were great to work with for a helmet fitting, but it does involve mailing back the ones that don't fit (not sure they still do that during covid). Same for gloves, but I ran the first 3 seasons with regular mechanic gloves (no real need for Nomex gloves without a firesuit) - and best to have bright colored gloves. https://www.northstarmotorsports.com/

I do Lockton insurance every time, I think it is around $400 for a weekend. Price will vary by track and club you are running with.

Personally, I'd suggest leaving the brakes full stock and letting the dealer replace pads/rotors for you after the first or second school (if you got the maintenance pckg); then you can move up to better pads/fluid if (I mean when) you catch the bug. Stock fluid has pretty high boil points, and always better to have fluid be the weakest link so you boil your fluid rather than melt your piston seals.

I am on PS4S for the reasons OGShark noted, didn't see any suggestions for pressures. I start the day full cold (at the motel) at about 31psi, then bleed down after first session to get hot pressure of about 34-36, which comes up some once you go back out. If you have a long break over lunch you may need to add a little; I'm chicken to go out on even a warm up lap at under 30 but others say it is OK. If you get these tires above 40 they start to get pretty greasy. I've gotten advice to run way high pressures to save sidewalls, but don't think it helps either wear or grip. At end of day pump them up to about 40 for the drive home - they will cool down on the drive and you'll be too low halfway home.

The Ross Bentley 'virtual track walk' video for WGI is very helpful, and when I finally get to LRP I plan to get the one for there too.

[MooMooM2]

Originally Posted by Maynard

I'm also in Upstate - and I'd put in a plug for a trip out to Watkins Glen. We are also going to be at the NYST in early Sept.

These guys were great to work with for a helmet fitting, but it does involve mailing back the ones that don't fit (not sure they still do that during covid). Same for gloves, but I ran the first 3 seasons with regular mechanic gloves (no real need for Nomex gloves without a firesuit) - and best to have bright colored gloves. https://www.northstarmotorsports.com/

I do Lockton insurance every time, I think it is around $400 for a weekend. Price will vary by track and club you are running with.

Personally, I'd suggest leaving the brakes full stock and letting the dealer replace pads/rotors for you after the first or second school (if you got the maintenance pckg); then you can move up to better pads/fluid if (I mean when) you catch the bug. Stock fluid has pretty high boil points, and always better to have fluid be the weakest link so you boil your fluid rather than melt your piston seals.

I am on PS4S for the reasons OGShark noted, didn't see any suggestions for pressures. I start the day full cold (at the motel) at about 31psi, then bleed down after first session to get hot pressure of about 34-36, which comes up some once you go back out. If you have a long break over lunch you may need to add a little; I'm chicken to go out on even a warm up lap at under 30 but others say it is OK. If you get these tires above 40 they start to get pretty greasy. I've gotten advice to run way high pressures to save sidewalls, but don't think it helps either wear or grip. At end of day pump them up to about 40 for the drive home - they will cool down on the drive and you'll be too low halfway home.

The Ross Bentley 'virtual track walk' video for WGI is very helpful, and when I finally get to LRP I plan to get the one for there too.

I definitely want to make it out to watkins, maybe not this year but maybe next since its a bit far. There is a 2 day weekend which not in the cards this year but maybe next year.

I found insurance for $430 for the day but still don't think I am going to do it. It is kind of annoying that insurance is for 3 days so good deal for a weekend but for one day its a bit steep. We will see, I am planning to track once a month so maybe $430 is worth for the peace of mind but it adds up with tires + brakes, ect.

edit - good you mentioned lockton insurance, they just quoted me $342. I think that is reasonable and maybe worth it, $9000 deductible but hey maybe worth it. Open track is $100 but does also cover damage to the track and others. Oh I see that open track has a no liability option and makes insurance $305 which is pretty damn good.
I see that it is the only one that you can have cover others, as a newb in hpde I think I am going to opt out but I think at $305 will be worth it.

[Maynard]

Insurance or not is always a gamble, and kind of steep, but for me I don't bet what I can't lose - a few grand for a bad off is manageable, but a total write-off would not be. Also consider that track-damage coverage/costs. At WGI, they are not shy about charging you for track damage/cleanup (DK about LRP, but probably similar). I've heard some costly amounts thrown about for taking out a stretch of Armco or oiling a long section of track; and although real wrecks are rare, I've seen some nice cars totaled. On the plus side, this also means they have NASCAR/F1 level safety and flagging crews standing by, which really adds to the safety factor (and they pull the broke cars off the track fast enough that you seldom lose a whole session). Hope to see you at the Glen soon.

[nando_514]

Originally Posted by MooMooM2

I have been practicing on asseto corsa so I know the track very very well. Short track so easy to memorize. I have done 1 minute laps with an m2 and I don’t think my lines are all there and I have watched 1 minute laps and that looks fast. Its great to have the sim to practice, the uphill is very sketchy on the sim as well, if you are not straight it will shoot you to the right. Was also fun to do laps on a ferrari f40 haha and also a gt4 (it felt like cheating).

Excited to actually try it in a real car and get nowhere near 1 minute laps.

I just ordered ps4s for my stock wheels! Also ordered some stainless brake line since already doing brake oil might as well get these in. Got a tow strap as well for the front of the car. Also a go pro mount to stick on the back of the comp seats.

Glad to see you're getting out on track! I'm excited to hear about what you learn along the day!


For context-- I participate in various esport racing leagues/series, was sponsored a few years ago. I swear by the benefits of sim driving, but I'll keep this short and to the point:


Assetto is great at "making the math work." You can pull nearly identical lap times to what you'd achieve IRL around any track with the Kunos M4, or m2 from RaceDepartment. However DO NOT try to learn some deeper meaning of driving from Assetto. It will create bad habits, its a very very old model. The track is decent, but not identical, or a great model. I use it as a tool to understand what I think a good lap time will be


Now, if you want to truly learn the track, and all of it's fine nuances, I would suggest picking up iRacing. The track model in iRacing is soooooo good! Like pebble perfect! I would suggest practicing in the Global MX5 Miata and also the BMW M4 GT4. iRacing did a phenomenal job of working out the dynamism/rotation of the chassis, but what's even better is the work they've done with the MDM mode! It legit feels exactly what'd I'd expect IRL


Be sure to keep us posted after you get back!

[MooMooM2]

Originally Posted by nando_514

Glad to see you're getting out on track! I'm excited to hear about what you learn along the day!


For context-- I participate in various esport racing leagues/series, was sponsored a few years ago. I swear by the benefits of sim driving, but I'll keep this short and to the point:


Assetto is great at "making the math work." You can pull nearly identical lap times to what you'd achieve IRL around any track with the Kunos M4, or m2 from RaceDepartment. However DO NOT try to learn some deeper meaning of driving from Assetto. It will create bad habits, its a very very old model. The track is decent, but not identical, or a great model. I use it as a tool to understand what I think a good lap time will be


Now, if you want to truly learn the track, and all of it's fine nuances, I would suggest picking up iRacing. The track model in iRacing is soooooo good! Like pebble perfect! I would suggest practicing in the Global MX5 Miata and also the BMW M4 GT4. iRacing did a phenomenal job of working out the dynamism/rotation of the chassis, but what's even better is the work they've done with the MDM mode! It legit feels exactly what'd I'd expect IRL


Be sure to keep us posted after you get back!

I have tried iracing and it was fun, what I don't love about it is how the car snaps and you can't really catch a slide. I also think it looks kinda bad for a game you have to pay monthly and you have to keep buying extra stuff. That said the racing is super fun and very organized, people take it seriously, I should pick it up again even if just to play at lime rock.

I can't wait for April 16th! I am now going to also book a May date as well, also at LRP, this time with SCDA.

[MooMooM2]

less than 2 weeks till first track day. Got myself helmet (thank you for the recommendation to check out stable energies, great shop), I am glad I went in and tried helmets because I would have bought something that would have not fit well. Unfortunately seems like helmet industry is also suffering with stock issues. I ended up spending way more than I wanted to because the cheaper helmets I tried HJC helmets and they were a bad fit for me, tried different sizes and they all pinched my cheeks. Bell was awesome fit but I wanted the M8 and they did not have it with no date to receive more (I know that they are all sold out online too so I ended up going to the GP3 which is way more than I want to spend and technically a helmet designed for open cockpit but it does look very cool but smaller viewport compared to the m8. However it fits really really good and its very comfortable.

Now comes the dreaded tire pressure question. I have been reading a bunch of stuff and so many different opinions. What is the consensus here? low 30s and check later? a bit higher? a bit lower?

[Wolfman’s Brother]

Michelin PSS (and PS4S) in my experience grip up best between 35-37psi and fall off drastically over 40. This has been confirmed by Michelin rep.

I have had the best results airing down to 32 and then bleeding off excess (from 41-42 back to 35) immediately after the first session.

First session experience is a bell curve of grip as tire pressure increases to peak. I can feel the tire reach the sweet spot in pressures and then fall off as it crests 40psi.

[MooMooM2]

Originally Posted by Wolfman’s Brother

Michelin PSS (and PS4S) in my experience grip up best between 35-37psi and fall off drastically over 40. This has been confirmed by Michelin rep.

I have had the best results airing down to 32 and then bleeding off excess (from 41-42 back to 35) immediately after the first session.

I will be on ps4s so this is perfect.

another stupid question. after the first session , tires will be super hot, should I not wait until right before going back on to check the pressure and correct?

[Wolfman’s Brother]

Originally Posted by MooMooM2

I will be on ps4s so this is perfect.

another stupid question. after the first session , tires will be super hot, should I not wait until right before going back on to check the pressure and correct?

Manage pressures hot, as quickly as you can after coming back in after each session. You should be fine after the first two sessions and may not need to fool with pressures beyond that.

[tux2005]

For your first sessions you probably don't want to drop pressures too much, it'll depend on ambient temps etc but you probably want to aim for around 35-38psi hot. At the higher end you'll likely find the tires feel greasy and won't provide much grip but probably provide better wear.

You don't want pressures too low and putting stress on the sidewalls (especially curb contact), when running on low pressures it's much easier to damage the sidewall which won't be noticeable until the pressures do rise, you tap a curb and then can have failure. It's unlikely to be an issue initially but I really wouldn't recommend dropping down to 26psi or something until you know your hot pressures require you to drop to really low cold pressures.

You should always measure the tire pressures as soon as you get off track, that will give you the closest accurate hot pressures. When you come off track and your brakes stop getting lots of air flow you'll see temps rise and bring up pressures. The pressure you care about is always the hot pressure, that's the state of your tires when you're actively trying to use them and so should be optimized for that condition. If you've got pressures too high the tires will usually become greasy and provide less grip, pressures too low will have bad wear.

It's a good habit to check pressures before a session and right after a session, after the session you'll track the hot pressures (and you can adjust then to your target pressure), and before a session you can verify that you don't have a leak or something odd going on. It's also helpful to track what the cold pressures are and your resulting hot pressures so you can hopefully start future sessions with similar ambient temps with similar cold pressures. It's frustrating for you to start a session with a cold pressure which then shoots waaaaaay past your desired hot pressures and requiring pitting to let air out.

Always keep in mind that with a wet or damp track that temps & pressures will raise much slower, the water cools the tires a lot. In the wet you normally want to run higher pressures too, you want any sipes in the tires to be working their best to move water out of their path.

[MooMooM2]

understood and thanks for all that good info. Hopefully the first time will not be wet but hey it is what it is. I will definitely not go super low but I think starting at 32 as Wolfman's Brother mentioned seems like a good starting point.

Ambient temperature is not going to be very high I don't think, currently is in the 50s here so in a few weeks probably max 60.

Also makes sense why good to measure pressure right after you come of the track.

Yall are awesome, thank you for all the good help!

[Wolfman’s Brother]

Originally Posted by MooMooM2

understood and thanks for all that good info. Hopefully the first time will not be wet but hey it is what it is. I will definitely not go super low but I think starting at 32 as Wolfman's Brother mentioned seems like a good starting point.

Ambient temperature is not going to be very high I don't think, currently is in the 50s here so in a few weeks probably max 60.

Also makes sense why good to measure pressure right after you come of the track.

Yall are awesome, thank you for all the good help!

I was surprised how little lower track temps (ambient in the high 40s low 50s) impacted the pressure increase.

Even with lower temps, expect about 10psi increase over where you head out at. Don’t make the mistake I did and go out on 35 because of cooler temps. 31-32 is what I target.

Set one of the radio buttons for tire pressures so you can have those on screen during your session.

[MooMooM2]

Want to thank everyone for their suggestions, they were great and got me through my first track day at Lime Rock Park.

Was a great day, great driving, meet some nice people, my instructor was great and can't wait till the next one (will be end of June, this time at NY safety track), but not going to lie, I kind of want to see if I can squeeze another one before then because its too much fun.

The M2 comp did really well, of course its way too much car under me but I can't wait to keep putting in time to improve my driving.

[FancyBear]

Originally Posted by MooMooM2

Want to thank everyone for their suggestions, they were great and got me through my first track day at Lime Rock Park.

Was a great day, great driving, meet some nice people, my instructor was great and can't wait till the next one (will be end of June, this time at NY safety track), but not going to lie, I kind of want to see if I can squeeze another one before then because its too much fun.

The M2 comp did really well, of course its way too much car under me but I can't wait to keep putting in time to improve my driving.

Nice to meet you MooMoo, you'll def see me back for more events.

[MooMooM2]

Originally Posted by FancyBear

Nice to meet you MooMoo, you'll def see me back for more events.

nice to meet you too! Was a great day, lets do it again soon

[toned]

great thread, lots of good info - did you end up doing anything prior to the event?

I have my first track day with the m2c on June 30th at calabogie! I will prob do fluid to be on the safe side and maybe get some SS lines while I'm there

a bit of insurance for now...and I'll go from there

[MooMooM2]

Originally Posted by toned

great thread, lots of good info - did you end up doing anything prior to the event?

I have my first track day with the m2c on June 30th at calabogie! I will prob do fluid to be on the safe side and maybe get some SS lines while I'm there

a bit of insurance for now...and I'll go from there

I just did brake fluid (castrol srf, which maybe overkill since expensive but we are talking $80), since I was doing that I also did SS brake lines. Car performed very well, never felt like I needed more brakes on the stock pads but my instructor did say he could feel the brakes getting grabby? I think that is how he put it. Next day I was freaking exhausted, I am out of shape thats for sure. But since a few days after all I can think about is going back, its such a good time, not surprised people get addicted.

I also want to say that everyone was so nice and welcoming, no egos, a ton of cool cars to see, really a great day

[///393]

Originally Posted by MooMooM2

But since a few days after all I can think about is going back, its such a good time, not surprised people get addicted.

I also want to say that everyone was so nice and welcoming, no egos, a ton of cool cars to see, really a great day

If you love cars, and driving, it’s just the best. You just can’t fully explore a vehicle like this off track.

Glad to hear you had a good event and stayed safe.

[dvas]

Originally Posted by MooMooM2

Want to thank everyone for their suggestions, they were great and got me through my first track day at Lime Rock Park.

Was a great day, great driving, meet some nice people, my instructor was great and can't wait till the next one (will be end of June, this time at NY safety track), but not going to lie, I kind of want to see if I can squeeze another one before then because its too much fun.

The M2 comp did really well, of course its way too much car under me but I can't wait to keep putting in time to improve my driving.

Dude!

Glad you enjoyed the event!