California ST Owners Track Day Planning Thread

[meFiSTo]

I want to go up to Laguna Seca in May.

NCRC has a Friday May 6 and a Monday May 16
Speed Ventures has a Fri-Sat-Sun on May 20-22.

I'm okay with all the dates but Monday May 16th.


[MENTION=1146]Joszer[/MENTION] I believe the 10 dollar get fee is a track specific fee, not an organizational fee. The speedventures May 20-22 says there is no gate fee for laguna seca. I've been to Willow Springs for multiple events over the years to participate/watch put on by different organizations, pretty sure the track is asking 10 bucks per person just to get on the property.

I can't say that it would happen for sure, but it would be fun to see other Fiestas squealing around a road course. That May 20-22 weekend with Speed Ventures looks interesting. I could do the Saturday event and hit Thunderhill with NCRC on the way home on Monday. It depends a little on my work situation, but it's possible I'll have A LOT of time on my hands this spring. LOL.

You kids are lucky to have so many awesome venues and so many dry weekends (side benefit of your ever-present drought) to get out to the track.

I don't think a track entry fee would be a deal breaker for me LOL. Even up here, a track day to Portland or The Ridge winds up costing me at least $650 -- considering an overnight stay, gas to and from the track, gas at the track, then tack on fluids, any required qualified shop "nut and bolt" paperwork that a club might require, track day insurance (if available), etc. There's also pads and tires, etc., but those are just the cost of keeping the lights on for doing this stuff. For a road trip to CA, sigh, much more, but it would be worth it, considering I'm an old fart and not likely to be doing this indefinitely.

Aside: I was born and raised in San Jose, CA. We moved up here in 1996 when my daughter was about 15 months. In 2004, I purchased an SVT Focus and started attending HPDEs with that car -- modding it for track prep along the way. Ever since then, I've wanted to road trip to NorCal to do some track days. Sadly, I never got a chance to do that when I was living in the Bay Area. I wasn't even aware you could do that kind of thing. Maybe i would have taken my first generation MR2 or the 1976 280Z I inherited from my dad, if I'd known.

 

[Brick]

[MENTION=283]meFiSTo[/MENTION] that would be a pretty epic 3-4 day weekend! It would be cool to meet you, I love what you have done to your fiesta. Great thing about Laguna Seca is you can camp at the track, as the campgrounds at the track are owned by the county and opened to random stays as far as i remember.

 

[meFiSTo]

[MENTION=283]meFiSTo[/MENTION] that would be a pretty epic 3-4 day weekend! It would be cool to meet you, I love what you have done to your fiesta. Great thing about Laguna Seca is you can camp at the track, as the campgrounds at the track are owned by the county and opened to random stays as far as i remember.

We do have a decent dome tent and the stuff needed to survive a few nights camping, but at this stage, I'm much more likely to find a nice warm motel within an hour of the track. My daughter is the camper now. She just flew down to SoCal this weekend to visit/camp around the Joshua Tree park area with her boyfriend.

 

[Joszer]

Just signed up for Laguna Seca on 1/30/16 through NCRC, point by group. Hope to see some of you there!

 

[Perfblue15]

Just signed up for Laguna Seca on 1/30/16 through NCRC, point by group. Hope to see some of you there!

Nice! As much as I want to drive Laguna Seca it's just to far from me. One day i will maie it up there to carve the corkscrew. Best of luck on your track day. I'm pretty sure around February I'm going to gear up to go the track again. I told myself I will not race until I have a fixed back racing seat and harnesses. With the big turbo the car is way to fast for anything less.

 

[LeonardSkeonard]

I will also be at Laguna Seca on 1/30/16 with Joszer. Hopefully it stays dry this time around

 

[RAAMaudio]

I will be at an event or two or three in SoCal, NoCal, perhaps AZ and NV in the coming months and hope to meet as many of you as I can

 

[juliog]

Doing Buttonwillow on Jan 31st, and Streets of Willow on Feb 13th.

 

[Brick]

[MENTION=1146]Joszer[/MENTION] and [MENTION=1536]LeonardSkeonard[/MENTION] , good luck this weekend and have a good time! we expect some great pics and vids

I'm looking at my calendar and list of tracks.... here's what im currently thinking
Mar Buttonwillow or Chuckwalla
April 23-24 Spring Mountain in Nevada
May for Laguna Seca

 

[RAAMaudio]

I most highly recommend to not use a fixed back seat and harness unless the car has a proper roll bar.

Some already will not all allow it and I believe all sanctioning bodies should not allow just a race seat and harness with or without a harness bar.
I have read all the rules for different class of racing many times over quite a few years, setup quite a few track/street and some pure race cars including building two cages so pretty familiar with all this.

Instead it would be best to have the stock seats and the 4 point Schroth made to fit this car Quick Fit or better yet the Pro model that works with a Hans or other neck support device, which I plan to do.

These are the only DOT approved harness and are designed to prevent submarining in a frontal crash but allow us to slip down in a roll over. I have used Schroth 3 and then later 4 point harnesses in many street/track and even autocross cars but always used 6 point Racetechs in my race cars.

I understand the cars being very fast makes us even more concerned with safety, as it should, we just have to do it the right way the best we can and take our chances, which is always the case on track no matter how fast the car is. I am quite concerned with this and will have the Pro harness (pending results of checking all rules and or getting clarification from any org I want to attend their events) and a Hans type device, race suite, carbon ex underwear, gloves, shoes, very low weight and strong full face helmet as well as a Halatron fire bottle I can reach easily. I am also considering a retainer strap for my left arm

These cars are very strong as designed and not likely to have the roof crushed in unless by the rare chance it fly's and lands on a concrete barrier pretty directly, etc.....

Most sincerely,
Rick

 

[Perfblue15]

I most highly recommend to not use a fixed back seat and harness unless the car has a proper roll bar.

Some already will not all allow it and I believe all sanctioning bodies should not allow just a race seat and harness with or without a harness bar.
I have read all the rules for different class of racing many times over quite a few years, setup quite a few track/street and some pure race cars including building two cages so pretty familiar with all this.

Instead it would be best to have the stock seats and the 4 point Schroth made to fit this car Quick Fit or better yet the Pro model that works with a Hans or other neck support device, which I plan to do.

These are the only DOT approved harness and are designed to prevent submarining in a frontal crash but allow us to slip down in a roll over. I have used Schroth 3 and then later 4 point harnesses in many street/track and even autocross cars but always used 6 point Racetechs in my race cars.

I understand the cars being very fast makes us even more concerned with safety, as it should, we just have to do it the right way the best we can and take our chances, which is always the case on track no matter how fast the car is. I am quite concerned with this and will have the Pro harness (pending results of checking all rules and or getting clarification from any org I want to attend their events) and a Hans type device, race suite, carbon ex underwear, gloves, shoes, very low weight and strong full face helmet as well as a Halatron fire bottle I can reach easily. I am also considering a retainer strap for my left arm

These cars are very strong as designed and not likely to have the roof crushed in unless by the rare chance it fly's and lands on a concrete barrier pretty directly, etc.....

Most sincerely,
Rick

What should I do then ? My car has base seats and I have no intentions of buying recaros or caging the car. I was thinking a proper harness bar and a fixed back corbuea seat. After my last track day at willow, the gforces hurt me so bad I was in bed for a weak with sciatica issues. So I have to find a solution.

 

[RAAMaudio]

I would not buy a Corbuea seat, I am not that impressed with them and could of been sponsored at one time and turned it down, there are much better seats. Perhaps now they make a decent one but I have removed and sold some that came in cars I bought and put in Racetech seats.

I have also removed a brand new Sparko head restraint seat and put in a head restraint Racetech in it's place, much better fit and build quality.

Best to find a good condition used higher end seat.

You will also need seat rails and sliders if you need to adjust it so in the end not as much weight saved as it would seem but support is obviously an issue that you must address and it alone is a safety item of no little importance. Terribly sorry for the pain you went through, I have a friend with it that has been through some very serious spells of it.

A roll bar could be designed that is properly done to be safe, most bolt in ones are more dangerous than not running one, and pretty easy to take out but it would be quite expensive to have done. I have looked into it but there is so much to sort out I just did not have the time to tackle it and I have the tools to build one but they are in another state in storage so it might not ever happen.

I would try this first as they are very effective, Schroth Quick Fit harness, stock seat, see how it goes as it may be all you need

I set this up with the Quick Fit for Ford Fiesta, black, black shoulder pads, $276, of course you can pick your own colors and an optional harness grip to make adjustment easier.

https://www.hmsmotorsport.com/products/schroth-tuning

I will order a pair of the Pro versions as plan to have neck restraints and both seats as required in some orgs and I will have passengers at times.

 

[ogsigh]

I feel u bud same seats same back prob havent been down for a week yet from driving but I dont have a big turbo to help me hit willow that hard lol