If you are about to go on a track day, what do you need to do to prep your car? I’m on track in a couple days, so I’m going to be preparing my Audi S4 and bringing you along for the ride! There’s a few things to go over, so let’s start with the engine and drivetrain.
The first and possibly most obvious thing to check is the engine oil. You are going to be stressing your engine harder than it’s possibly ever seen in it’s life, so having enough of good health oil is paramount. You’ll want to check the level, in my case my car has a readout in the infotainment display and says I’ve got plenty. You might need to check your dipstick if you have one instead, and in doing so you can also see the colour of the oil which helps you estimate the health of it. In my case I changed the oil on this in the last 6 months or so, and only a couple thousand miles ago.
You’ll also need to make sure your coolant level is topped up, and that it’s the correct colour. In my case that’s a pink/purple colour, but some may be green instead. What you don’t want is muddy brown or black. Again, you’ll be stressing your cooling system hard on track so make sure there are no leaks and you’ve got enough fluid.
Lastly for the engine, if it has them, are your spark plugs and coils in good condition? Have you had any random misfires? Are they due to be replaced or are they fine? Mine are in good nic, so I’ll be leaving them alone.
You’ll also want to consider your gearbox, especially if it’s an automatic. I’ve just flushed my DSG and replaced both the external and internal filters, so it’s in tip top shape. If you haven’t serviced your automatic transmission and it’s due one, it could be a good idea to have that done before you hit the track especially if you have a DSG.
Moving to the wheels, you’ll want to check your tyres for both tread depth and alignment and for cracking and punctures. Tread depth is easy, just use your finger in the grooves and make sure there is plenty of meat left above the bumps and you are all good. Alignment is also easy if you’ve had your tyres on your car for a little while. Check the bumps again, this time checking each of the grooves. They should all be at the same wear level and even across the tyre. If they aren’t, you’ll want a professional alignment before the track day, that will also help check the toe of your wheels which can aid stability.
When it comes to cracking and punctures, it’s easier if the wheels are off the car which I need to do anyway. Cracking is just a visual inspection, as is checking for punctures. You are looking for anything that clearly goes all the way through the tyre, little rocks that embed themselves are fine.
You’ll also want to check your tyre pressures, making sure they are at the rated pressure for the speeds you’ll be doing. You’ll probably want to bring a gauge and pump with you to the track day as you might want to adjust the pressures between laps.
The main component that you’ll be stressing, the part that’s most likely to fade or fail, are your brakes. Street pads are designed to grip when cold, but degrade with heat. They will fade pretty dramatically if you are running stock pads, so buying a set of track pads is a good idea. I’ve got these EBC Yellowstuffs that I’m going to fit, so let me walk you through the process. I’ve already got vented discs, and actually slotted and dimpled ones on the fronts, so I’m good there.
Installing the pads means jacking your car up, taking the wheel off, unbolting the caliper slide bolts, squeezing the caliper to push the piston back in, lifting it off, adding a light touch of copper anti-seize to the slider part of the bracket where the tabs of the pads will slide, then dropping the pads in and putting the caliper back on and tightening the bolts back up. Make sure all the bolts here are solid, and you might want to consider adding loctite to ensure they stay together. Repeat that for the other four wheels and you are set.
If you haven’t bled and flushed your brakes recently, you might also consider doing that now too as you really don’t want the fluid boiling in the lines and losing brake pressure. Also while you are in the wheel wells, check your suspension components. Make sure the bushings are in good shape, the control arms aren’t rusty, and your shocks aren’t leaking.
If you do nothing else, please make sure your wheel nuts are torqued down well. A torque wrench is ideal, setting them to the torque spec for your car. Mine are around 120nm, so I torqued every wheel bolt on my car.
Lastly, you really want to remove all loose and unnecessary items. You really don’t want a water bottle or a flashlight smashing you in the back of the neck under heavy braking, plus it’s extra weight and we aren’t about lugging anything we don’t need.
