prepping VTR for track work

[Riko360]

alright all just wondering if some people with track experience could give me some info on how to prep my vtr for some track work. it will be starting pretty minor (ists this weekend) but i also have another track day coming up in the next couple of months. as it stands my VTR is standard at the moment and the brakes are shocking (are they all really bad?) it has nexen n2000 tyres on it which to be fair arent too bad for a budget tyre.

any advice will be good.

cheers all

[swampy]

Fresh brake fluid.
And decent tyres will help.
You can have the best brakes going but if the tyres have no grip it wont help.

All dpends on budget
braided lines
better pads, 1144 or equivalant
then you move on to suspension and start improveing that

service the car useing a good quality correct grade oil
check water levels etc
all things that should be done prior to any track day

[Riko360]

thanks swampy. i have 5.1 to put in the brakes, what size are the nipples? how much are braided lines (i have ltd internet access at work) what are 1144? i ahve been considering using that standard set up for donny (ists) this weekend but im not sure if the brakes will be up to it as they feel pretty rubbish standard let alone out on track for 15-20 mins in sure they will boil.

with regard to correct oil does the vtr take semi synthetic 10/40?

one more thing my temp runs at almost 3/4 all the time so surely this isnt going to help once track time starts!? is there any way to lower it?

[swampy]

Braided lines are £45 a set of four ,deliverd from me with any color covers
yes a quality oil that grade is fine
1144 are mintex fast road pads so suitable for the odd track day

[Mochachino]

Yeeeeeee

Full service
Mintex m1144 pads will be good green stuff pads would be good on track though.
Grp N discs off kam are ok or a big brake upgrade
Decent tyres is a must, someone on here had a nasty track experience couse of cheap tyres.
Then id work on the chassis, all mounts, bushes, springs & dampers, braces, torsion bars, ARBS.
Strip it out, buckets n cage it, if it dosent do anything other than track.

Fully synthetic oil is better, that oil will be fine.
A thorough service including draining refilling and bleeding the coolant system might cure your high running temp.

[Riko360]

thanks for the info. im not looking at turning the car into a full time track car tbh, but it is going to get used for track over the summer.

what would be the first things to change? i hear on here you can fit 206 2.0diesel calipers or 206 gti 138 brakes to a saxo with no problems they are bigger as well arent they?

[Mochachino]

if your taking brakes off another car then you can use

GTI6 calipers but need to grind down the carriers on them
other direct fit brakes are
206 gti
Belingo Van
206 gti 180
306 xsi

First things for me would be:

Tyres
Brakes
Springs & shocks (lowered)

After that, id do exhaust, induction, 4-1 manifold.

Then, all the mounts and bushes.

[Riko360]

nice one. what are the prices roughly for the various brakes? and which ones are best? i presume the 180's are quite good.

[Mochachino]

Originally Posted by Riko360

nice one. what are the prices roughly for the various brakes? and which ones are best? i presume the 180's are quite good.

yeh the 180's are huge lol

depends really

the 266mm option such as belingo can cost around £100ish

180 u can sumtimes find a proper bargain of like £200

[Karl]

I'd look @ Uprating the brakes,
getting better tyres,
then look at a suspension kit.

[SaxoAlex]

Tbh, i think a vtr on track would be no fun.

Kinda slow :/ even alex_vts said his cammed vts was the slowest thing on there.

Not wishing to put you down, but before you spend shed loads on your car, go and watch a track day and have a look at the kinda cars which turn up... its no fun being passed all the time

[Mochachino]

Originally Posted by SaxoAlex

Tbh, i think a vtr on track would be no fun.

Kinda slow :/ even alex_vts said his cammed vts was the slowest thing on there.

Not wishing to put you down, but before you spend shed loads on your car, go and watch a track day and have a look at the kinda cars which turn up... its no fun being passed all the time

Its not about being the fastest car there though. It isnt a race . Its about having fun n driving etc not full on racing.

ages ago someone wanted to go on track with their 1.1 n got a load of abuse for saying so. alex_vts also said then that its the fun involved, and that just couse its a 1.1 n not the fastest car there dosent mean u aint gonna have a load of fun etc along them sort of lines.

[Karl]

Originally Posted by SaxoAlex

Tbh, i think a vtr on track would be no fun.

Kinda slow :/ even alex_vts said his cammed vts was the slowest thing on there.

Not wishing to put you down, but before you spend shed loads on your car, go and watch a track day and have a look at the kinda cars which turn up... its no fun being passed all the time

Thats the sillyest thing I've read,
All cars can turn up to a track day mate.
it's not a race,
you're there for your own fun and experience.

I cannot drive a VTS / GTi to its full potential, so why would I want something quicker for the track?

[Mochachino]

Originally Posted by Karl

Thats the sillyest thing I've read,
All cars can turn up to a track day mate.
it's not a race,
you're there for your own fun and experience.

I cannot drive a VTS / GTi to its full potential, so why would I want something quicker for the track?

thanks for backing me up. Really is a stupid thing to say lol

[pptom]

Don't bother with upping your brake size, just spend the money on some decent pads, I'd go with Pagid blues if I could afford them - think they are about £130.
bigger brake disks, pads and calipers mean lots more unsprung weight: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsprung_weight
which could ruin the handling of a lightweight car like the saxo.
I'd be willing to bet that 95% of the people who have upped their brake size have never tried any 'proper' brake pads first. By all means put on some braided lines and dot 5.1 but Its worth noting that alot of small production based racing cars use single pot pistons with pads like pagid blues and performance friction 97's which will both perform well from cold and mindblowing when hot, as for those who advocate 4 pots for an 850Kg car! they are alright for looks i suppose.
Also worth noting that standard disks and calipers with high spec pads will far and away outbreak a car fitted with GTi 180 disks and calipers with standard pads, plus if you increase the caliper size you also have to increase the master cylinder size so your costings must have to include new calipers, a new master cylinder, new performance disks, new performance pads, lines and fluid = big bucks for a negligable gain in my opinion

[swampy]

Pagid rs4 blue are the dogs,far better than mintex 1144 or ferodo ds whatevers.
But the price of the pagids put alot of people off even trying them but once they do they never go back.
Greenstuff are worse than standerd pads and the best place for them is on the makers shelf!

[JamesRm]

Originally Posted by db_sax

yeh the 180's are huge lol

depends really

the 266mm option such as belingo can cost around £100ish

180 u can sumtimes find a proper bargain of like £200

If the berlingo ones are 266mm what are standard vtr ones? i have never really looked into it.

[KamRacing]

Originally Posted by SaxoAlex

Tbh, i think a vtr on track would be no fun.

Kinda slow :/ even alex_vts said his cammed vts was the slowest thing on there.

Not wishing to put you down, but before you spend shed loads on your car, go and watch a track day and have a look at the kinda cars which turn up... its no fun being passed all the time

track days are not a race and the aim is to have fun.

Based on that the VTR / VTS is well up to the job and with some well chosen mods can hold its own

Personally if you are just starting out make sure the car is mechanically sound and just get out there. Part of the thing i love about modding cars is making gradual improvements over time and feeling the difference out on track.

Then sitting down and thinking about what would be the next big step in making is faster etc

[Mochachino]

Originally Posted by SaXo_vtr123

If the berlingo ones are 266mm what are standard vtr ones? i have never really looked into it.

247?

24 sumthing irc

[JamesRm]

With a good suspension setup and brakes, and a few engine mods, a VTR will be very fast on a twisty track.

And you cant expect to compete with caterhams, porsches, ferraris etc