[dradernh]

Originally Posted by mikeysosa

Howdy! I'm new to tracking and have always wanted to but never had the time due to work etc.

Originally Posted by Maynard

I considered myself a dyed in the wool car guy, but hadn't tried tracking; once I did it completely rewrote most of what I thought I knew about driving, especially that concept of 'doing something at 7/10ths or 10/10ths' - you will never look at driving your car the same way again. I'd say that first up is to go do some HPDE time to see if you like it. You will find that this is is a whole different dimension from the street-modder 'buy some more parts' mentality (not that you can't quickly go broke, but most of what you think of as 'speed parts' are either useless or worse on track). And you need to check your competition mindset at the door - it isn't about going faster, it is about driving better. If you care about who passes you, stick to stoplight drags with the high school kids (but it is kind of a thrill to be bombing down the back straight at 120 and get your doors blown off by somebody at 160, or to finally get a point by from the Ferrari - yeah, he was on his cool down lap, but it is still memorable).

The only parts that you should really consider replacing to do this will be better pads and fluid (I'm on Ferodo 200 and Motul 660). Don't go up to hot tires (200 or 100 wear ratings) until you have a few seasons under your belt, as they make it harder to learn the limits (and if you find those limits, you'll be going a lot faster, so more likely to incur some damage). The Scroth belts are also a great addition, and even if you don't like tracking they will look real cool at cars and coffee. Everything else noted above is, IMHO, premature until you know if you really love it. If you do, then break out the checkbook. It is habit forming, so you have been warned. General priority is reliability > braking > handling >experience (seat time and coaching). Power and more tire are optional, and I meet a lot of VERY experienced drivers who have no need for either. At your first HPDE notice how those well-driven Miatas and E30's are eating your lunch with about half the Hp and a third of the torque (and how badly driven some of those 600hp 'supercars' are).

And I know I'm a wonk on this, but your contact patch has nothing to do with how wide the tires are (that is a function of weight and pressure), so don't spend a mint on width (go for the light wheels first - you notice the benefits of lightness everywhere). Tires are so specialized, that a lot of good advice is way wrong if you aren't in the exact same situation as the advisor (autocross and track sessions are VERY different). Many of the semi-comp tires that get high regards are very specialized - they'll give a few hot laps, then may turn to goo after 15 minutes on a warm track, go from sticking like crazy to full skid without any audible warning, or heat cycle out into useless hockey pucks after a few events.

Maynard's is excellent practical and down-to-earth advice.

If OP gets into tracking and continues with it, I suggest it's worth re-reading this from time to time so as to avoid some of the rabbit holes associated with this hobby.