road courses with open track days

[jimmybling31]

any of them within driving distance of chattanooga tennessee. i have 2 cars i wanna take on one. my 74 911 and when i get my car lowered with new struts i wanna take it.

[hoss 2000 z-28]

Searching briefly I didn't find any actual road courses but I did find your local SCCA chapter! Looks like they scheduled a Membership Meeting for September 4th and they are offering Street Survival School I on September 13th (classes are $60 and you might get a discount on car insurance if you complete it).

'Nooga's SCCA Site: http://www.rivergate5speed.com/scca/index.html
Street Survival School Site: http://streetsurvival.org/

I know that's not exactly what you are looking for but it is a good start!

[jimmybling31]

Searching briefly I didn't find any actual road courses but I did find your local SCCA chapter! Looks like they scheduled a Membership Meeting for September 4th and they are offering Street Survival School I on September 13th (classes are $60 and you might get a discount on car insurance if you complete it).

'Nooga's SCCA Site: http://www.rivergate5speed.com/scca/index.html
Street Survival School Site: http://streetsurvival.org/

I know that's not exactly what you are looking for but it is a good start!

thanks. not exactly what i was looking for but yeah. i want to go to a road course so bad. i think it would be so fun.

[JAGUAR5822]

If you're talking about actual race tracks...there's a lot of money to put into prep for your Z. I believe one of the most expensive is real brakes, simple 98+ upgrade is not good enough, you need a good Baer or Wilwood kit from what I've heard. Also, you need to upgrade the power steering pump for sure, as well as possibly adding an oil cooler, power steering cooler, and tranny cooler. Also, change all your fluids to top of the line. Tires are expensive too. I'm sure there is stuff I'm forgetting as well.

If you really want to get on a race track I would recommend buying a 600cc bike. For the amount of money you'll put into the car, you can buy a good used bike for 2-3k plus 500 for gear, and another 500 for good tires, fresh fluids, and new brake pads if needed.

You could also participate in a track school where they let you use their bikes, that's the cheapest way to go, but you should be at least somewhat experienced to get all you can out of it.

[jimmybling31]

If you're talking about actual race tracks...there's a lot of money to put into prep for your Z. I believe one of the most expensive is real brakes, simple 98+ upgrade is not good enough, you need a good Baer or Wilwood kit from what I've heard. Also, you need to upgrade the power steering pump for sure, as well as possibly adding an oil cooler, power steering cooler, and tranny cooler. Also, change all your fluids to top of the line. Tires are expensive too. I'm sure there is stuff I'm forgetting as well.

If you really want to get on a race track I would recommend buying a 600cc bike. For the amount of money you'll put into the car, you can buy a good used bike for 2-3k plus 500 for gear, and another 500 for good tires, fresh fluids, and new brake pads if needed.

You could also participate in a track school where they let you use their bikes, that's the cheapest way to go, but you should be at least somewhat experienced to get all you can out of it.

well i was thinking just taking my cars around it a couple times. like what you can do at the nuringberg(sp) in europe. on normal afternoons you can drive your car around their track for 5 euros a lap. on that long of a track that's not bad. i was hoping for something like that. i know i don't have a good braking system for it. i just wanted to upgrade to 98+ so that i'd have a bit more. my 911 is pretty good for it though. it handles really nice. braking is so so but you don't need to brake too much in it anyways.

[JAGUAR5822]

I would wait for an experienced track junky to step in, but I would say if you're only doing a few laps, depending on the course you could get the 98+ swap done, steel braided lines, and an aggressive brake pad and be fine.

[jimmybling31]

I would wait for an experienced track junky to step in, but I would say if you're only doing a few laps, depending on the course you could get the 98+ swap done, steel braided lines, and an aggressive brake pad and be fine.

well that's what i have already. i also have new struts on it that are slightly stiffer in the front and same in the back. i need some new springs to lower it though.

[JAGUAR5822]

If you end up doing it, make sure you post your results or possible dash cam =) I thought of one more thing, they'll make you wear a helmet, and also make sure your car doesn't have any leaks, a bit of oil on the track can be deadly, and they'll check.

[jimmybling31]

If you end up doing it, make sure you post your results or possible dash cam =) I thought of one more thing, they'll make you wear a helmet, and also make sure your car doesn't have any leaks, a bit of oil on the track can be deadly, and they'll check.

oh i make sure i don't have any leaks. i got run off from the drag strip for having a small leak before. and i have a helmet from drag strip use.

[SpeedAddict38]

Jimmy there is a place somewhere in Chattanooga that does time runs in parking lots @ various places

[hoss 2000 z-28]

Alright, this may be what you are looking for: http://www.nasaproracing.com/hpde/index.html

The National Auto Sport Association (NASA) is a High Performance Driving Event sanctioning body and their site is full of great information. The top of the page has links to regional sites so you might be able to find a club in your area.

[jimmybling31]

Alright, this may be what you are looking for: http://www.nasaproracing.com/hpde/index.html

The National Auto Sport Association (NASA) is a High Performance Driving Event sanctioning body and their site is full of great information. The top of the page has links to regional sites so you might be able to find a club in your area.

that was great. exactly what i wanted. i am signing up for something from them already. me and my MOM are gonna do the competitive driving class. we both have dreamed of competitive driving before. i showed her that and she said she would pay for both of us. (evidently it's a birthday present, i think she just wants to go play in a fast car)

[hoss 2000 z-28]

When you get out there and do this stuff, you should start a new thread and tell us about the experience. Post pics, etc. A lot of us would like to do something like this.

[jimmybling31]

When you get out there and do this stuff, you should start a new thread and tell us about the experience. Post pics, etc. A lot of us would like to do something like this.

ok. will do. it's gonna be a while we signed up for spring 09. with a baby on the way i decided to wait a while for it. but i really can't wait to go.

[uwilluz]

www.waterfordhills.com scca rule racing, open track days. be careful though. road racing is addictive. you start out with a stock car, make improvements, get faster, then want to be competitive, follow the leader and cone chasing gets boring. then you end up buying 1 and building another scca race car.

[adam3566]

well i was thinking just taking my cars around it a couple times. like what you can do at the nuringberg(sp) in europe. on normal afternoons you can drive your car around their track for 5 euros a lap. on that long of a track that's not bad. i was hoping for something like that. i know i don't have a good braking system for it. i just wanted to upgrade to 98+ so that i'd have a bit more. my 911 is pretty good for it though. it handles really nice. braking is so so but you don't need to brake too much in it anyways.

Not quite 5 euros a lap, the nurburgring is "The cost for driving a single lap of the Nordschleife is €21 for each car or motorcycle. Multi-lap tickets can be purchased for a lower per-lap price, such as 4 laps at a cost of €70 (€17.50 per lap). Additional multi-lap prices are 8 laps for €135, 15 laps for €235, or 25 laps for €370. An annual ticket with unlimited laps, valid from January to December, can be purchased for €995."

[jimmybling31]

Not quite 5 euros a lap, the nurburgring is "The cost for driving a single lap of the Nordschleife is €21 for each car or motorcycle. Multi-lap tickets can be purchased for a lower per-lap price, such as 4 laps at a cost of €70 (€17.50 per lap). Additional multi-lap prices are 8 laps for €135, 15 laps for €235, or 25 laps for €370. An annual ticket with unlimited laps, valid from January to December, can be purchased for €995."

cool. still that's not bad at all. i would pay it. i would love to go do that, but there's nothign like that around here.

[Killer_bluebird]

The price is not bad as long as you don't have an accident. I remember reading about how much you have to pay in the event you wreck your car in the track. Since it is considered a public road traffic laws apply and some insurance companies exclude coverage for trips to the ring so check your policy and any pertaining information carefully. Here is a quote form wikipedia: "The costs can also be prohibitive with vehicle recovery, track closure penalties and armco repairs putting some unfortunates up to €15,000 out-of-pocket."

[Killer_bluebird]

I still would love to go someday though!

[EchoMirage]

some from my local autox

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r13/Ech0mirage/car/IMG_1454.jpg
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r13/Ech0mirage/car/IMG_9560.jpg
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r13/Ech0mirage/car/IMG_1455.jpg

and pouncing on some brittish biscuit
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r13/Ech0mirage/car/IMG_1483.jpg

[adam3566]

The price is not bad as long as you don't have an accident. I remember reading about how much you have to pay in the event you wreck your car in the track. Since it is considered a public road traffic laws apply and some insurance companies exclude coverage for trips to the ring so check your policy and any pertaining information carefully. Here is a quote form wikipedia: "The costs can also be prohibitive with vehicle recovery, track closure penalties and armco repairs putting some unfortunates up to €15,000 out-of-pocket."

Tracks are not considered public roads at all. And MOST if not all exclude tracking a car. Go tell your insurance agent your vette is going to be heavily or occasionally tracked, and watch your premiums sky rocket!

[Killer_bluebird]

The ring is considered a public road. But most policies and rentals companies exclude the ring or do so if there is any evidence that the driver was timing himself.

In the US all insurance companies exclude covering participation in a timed performance event. Timed being the operative word but they will cover performance schools and some will also cover open track days (so long as there is no timing equipment involved). Those companies will cover any damage in case of an incident then promptly drop you. Note that since drag racing (whether you are at a T&T or actually competing) is always timed it is always excluded and never covered.

Other cheap insurance companies will drop you if there is any indication that the insured car is used in any other way other than transportation. They will drop you if your car is modded in any way whether it is raced or not. An some like Geico Ins. will frequently check auto-X websites and if they find a policy holder involved they send them a letter and will drop them. So if you are doing a track day or a performance school look over your policy documents with a fine tooth comb especially the exclusion sections.

[ShelbyGLHS]

In Massachusetts, insurance will not cover damage on a closed course even if it is not timed.
The laws vary state to state. Sometimes if you want to play you gotta pay.
In the Northeast, check out www.comscc.com. This is a great, safe way to get out on the track.

[JAGUAR5822]

So I just noticed, and that's a funny picture with the driver t-top off to make room for your helmet I'm guessing. It's always nice to see cars driven how they were meant to be.

[mitchntx]

I would wait for an experienced track junky to step in, but I would say if you're only doing a few laps, depending on the course you could get the 98+ swap done, steel braided lines, and an aggressive brake pad and be fine.

Been open tracking a 4th gen since 98 and racing a 4th gen wheel to wheel since 05. While maybe not the most experienced, I am definitely a junky!

From a couple weekends ago ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwPErSkyoXg

Raced this guy like this for a full 1/2 hour. Came down to the chess game of who passed who and where on the final lap. I lost that game, but it was a heckuva lot of fun.

And I'm using $60 98+ 12" Wagner rotors from Autozone, $130 XP10 Carbotech pads and C5 calipers at $90 each on the front. Stock 95 rear calipers and rotors. No cooling ducts.

As you can see, the brakes were working great at the end of 30 hard minutes of track duty.

www.lawmotorsports.net