Has anyone attended an open-track day with there CL-S ?
I was going to take mine to Putnam Park in Indiana this summer and was wondering what prep I should do and was wondering if anyone had taken there's before and experienced any problems.

Thanks in advance...

 

u mean drag racing?? 1/4 mile

 

I'm assuming you're going to a circuit track. I did it 2 years ago when I was NA. It is absolutely the best time I've ever had in my car.

Make sure your oil is relatively new and full. Check the brakes and pads. Make sure you have enough tread and dial in your tire pressure. Since the car understeers like a madman, you might wanna keep the fronts around 32ish psi and the rears a little lower ~30psi. It also depends on which tires you have. Obviously Bridgestone SO3's are designed with a better sidewall than the stock Shit-elins. One bit of caution: When your steering starts to vibrate after about 30 laps, your day is over. Your front rotors have just warped

If you're just going to the 1/4 mile then just change tire pressure. Very high in the rear (40+) and low in the front (~25psi)

 

I meant circuit track. Thanks for the info. I was planning on running some different rotors just for that weekend to keep the stock OEM ones from getting destroyed.

 

Why would you bother changing 'em back to stock?

 

The BBK should be able to handle the whole day right ?

 

My advice is to trash the stock ones and take the opportunity to upgrade thereafter with either BBK or slotted/drilled.

 

Only one way to find out.

I'm pretty sure that they have the capacity but who knows. I do remember hearing that they warped the Brembos on Comptech's SC'ed CLS6 at Thunder Hill running with the NSX's. I'm pretty sure they were running a lot harder than I have the balls to do.

 

I guess we'll have to find out !!

One thing is for sure with the BBK, they won't fade after a lap or two like the stockers would.

 

Any website on the BBK's ? Thanks for all the info guys.

 

There is Wilwood, Brembo, Rotora for our cars.

Also one of our vendors had the Rotora BBK on sale couple of months ago.

 

What exactly is 'fade'? I remember I didn't have any problems w/ stopping until about the 30th lap...where the steering started to shake due to the warping.

 

look into getting the ebc BLUE stuff pads. there ment for enduro raceing. long lasting break pads with very little rotor damage. i would use them with cross drilled/slotted rotors only though. your gunna need a good amount of heat dissipation after that many laps and pads that can hold up to the temp.. good luck take pics and or videos and post them please

 

Here's Stoptech's definition:
Fade: Loss of braking efficiency from excessive thermal stress. There are three separate and distinct types of brake fade:


1. Pad fade: When the temperature at the interface between the pad and the rotor exceeds the thermal capacity of the pad, the pad loses friction capability due largely to out gassing of the binding agents in the pad compound. The brake pedal remains firm and solid but the car won't stop. The first indication is a distinctive and unpleasant smell, which should serve as a warning to back off.


2. Fluid boiling: When the fluid boils in the calipers, gas bubbles are formed. Since gasses are compressible, the brake pedal becomes soft and "mushy" and pedal travel increases. You can probably still stop the car by pumping the pedal but efficient modulation is gone. This is a gradual process with lots of warning.


3. Green fade: When the pad is first placed in service the first few heat cycles will cause the volatile elements of the material to out gas. The process is continuous throughout the service life of the pad, but it is most pronounced in the bedding in process when the outgassed materials form a slippery layer between the pad and the disk reducing the coefficient of friction to near zero. Once the pads are bedded in outgassing is so slow as to not be a problem unless the effective temperature range of the pad is exceeded.

One person that I talked to went into the amount of material in the rotor is a big factor in fade. A thick rotor has more material and the ability to absorb more heat from a braking cycle as compared to a thin rotor that can't absorb the heat and fade.

 

Thanks! You're such a wealth of information as of late!

 

Seatle

I have tracked my car a few times in stock configuration. My time on the track was somewhat limited each time as being an instructor for the bmw and porsche schools meant i had to spend more seat time with my students. I can certainly tell you in stock config the cl is a boat. With that being said i can hopefully point you in the right direction.

One, the stock pads suck. Between schools i switched to hawk hp plus pads. This helped with the fade i was experiencing at the track. Dependent upon what the track is like you might not need to change, but where i was tracking i was consistently hitting 170-180 kph on the back straight, with moderate braking at the end. Again, for the sake of 120 bucks, the hawk pads could be a quick fix.

Second, tire presures are key. The car is prone to understeer, as most would expect. I found running 35 psi front and 32 rear to help.

Anyhow shoot me a line if you want to chat, and if am late on a reply here then i hope things went well.

Psi, the cl's can beat up on bmw's in the right hands on a track. Also made a few porsche owners upset. Not bad for a stock car.......

 

Good info. I upset a couple Boxster owners during my track day as well. But hey, if you can't drive your little sports car GET OUT OF MY WAY!!! I can only imagine how much more fun my car would be with some better brakes and my supercharger!

 

I wouldn't bother going with stock brakes, If you want to you could get Legend calipers they are 2piston and then get some cross drilled rotors, Just Search this a little

Kevin

 

Brakes & tires get the most amount of punishment at road courses, so make sure both are in top notch condition.

I usually run the max psi I can in all 4 tires when I go, because it makes the sidewall stiffer and helps prevent the sidewall from rolling over. I wouldnt even bother going if you are on stock tires & suspension.

My suggestions for a fun & safe open track day:

- R compound tires (at a minimum some sticky street tires)
- Better brake pads & recent brake system flush
- Stiffer springs & firmer shocks. Swaybars would probably help also, but I wouldnt say a must.

Now, I'm sure you could get away with the stock suspension nad have lots of fun, however the stock setup has so much body roll that it will be very hard to drive through the twisties with authority. Tires are the absolute most important thing to consider. Thew stock tires will simply not cut it, so replace them at least for the day.

If you a 1st timer, get an experience person to ride along for a couple laps to show you where to brake, pass, and what the correct driving line is.