I have a couple of track day questions.

[saudio]

They might be offering event insurance based on the value of my car. What value should I use for a 2005 Elise, 20,000 miles, excellent cond, tour package, aftermarket SC? Just need a reasonable ballpark.

Should I use a different tire pressure than for street use? I'm on OEM Yokos.

Thanks.

Mike

[SteveLevin]

Others can speak to the specific number, but make sure it's a number you will be happy with as a check if something happens. You are agreeing (typically) to an amount that the insurance company can give you in exchange for the car and be done.

A common mistake I've seen in 'agreed value' policies is that the owner understates the value of the car/plane/boat/whatnot. That gets you into trouble and can lead to "premature totalling" because of the math involved.

In short, the insurance company will look at their total cost.

So if

(Amount of insurance maximum payout) - (salvage/parts value)

is less than the expected cost of repair, they will hand you a check for the full insured value and take the car.

Steve

[lotusport]

Originally Posted by saudio

They might be offering event insurance based on the value of my car. What value should I use for a 2005 Elise, 20,000 miles, excellent cond, tour package, aftermarket SC? Just need a reasonable ballpark.

If it were my 2005 Elise, 35,000 miles, excellent cond, Touring, Katana SC, many mods, and if they'd buy it, I'd place a value of $35,000 on the car. Even at that, it would be very hard to walk away from it if it were a total loss. That would only take the edge off the pain.

Should I use a different tire pressure than for street use? I'm on OEM Yokos.

Start with the factory 26F/29R. Depending on the track and speeds involved, you may find those pressures a little high. I'm presuming AD07s if you don't have the Track Pack. I usually stick with the factory recommended settings and tolerate some premature wear in the center of the tread. The shoulders have never rolled over on these tires at these pressures. And they're very forgiving tires at the limit.

Make sure your front brake pads are new/near new. Ditto the brake fluid. Full tank of gas, oil just covering the high mark on the dipstick.

If this is your first track experience, especially with a supercharged car, I really hope you'll have a good instructor who is experienced with our cars. He/she will help keep you out of trouble as you learn to explore your limits. Over all, go for smooth and don't worry about speed or lap times (except to try to be as consistent and repeatable as you can). Best of luck and have fun!

[Icedog_16]

I would agree with what Steve says on the insurance issue. Just make sure that it is an Agreed Value policy and not a Stated Value policy. Essentially, a Stated Value policy is one Actual Cash Value loss settlement; and the premium amount is determined by the value you state for the vehicle.

With respect to the tire pressures, I would say that street-use pressures are probably a good starting point and you can adjust from there. I'm sure that others will have more to add, but bear in mind that what suits their driving style may not suit yours. Just my (relatively novice) $.02.

[saudio]

Originally Posted by lotusport

If it were my 2005 Elise, 35,000 miles, excellent cond, Touring, Katana SC, many mods, and if they'd buy it, I'd place a value of $35,000 on the car. Even at that, it would be very hard to walk away from it if it were a total loss. That would only take the edge off the pain.

Start with the factory 26F/29R. Depending on the track and speeds involved, you may find those pressures a little high. I'm presuming AD07s if you don't have the Track Pack. I usually stick with the factory recommended settings and tolerate some premature wear in the center of the tread. The shoulders have never rolled over on these tires at these pressures. And they're very forgiving tires at the limit.

Make sure your front brake pads are new/near new. Ditto the brake fluid. Full tank of gas, oil just covering the high mark on the dipstick.

If this is your first track experience, especially with a supercharged car, I really hope you'll have a good instructor who is experienced with our cars. He/she will help keep you out of trouble as you learn to explore your limits. Over all, go for smooth and don't worry about speed or lap times (except to try to be as consistent and repeatable as you can). Best of luck and have fun!

Thanks, and good info. I'm curious, why do the front pads need to be new? Does that mean you put front pads on before each track event?

This will be my 4th and 5th track day, and I'm planning on driving with an instructor until I learn the track. I'm pretty careful, but I'm also pretty competitive so I have to watch myself :-)

This is also going to be the first time on a cool day and a cool track. I'm guessing my car is going to perform better and the track is going to be a little more unpredictable.

[spectre]

Depending on temps I have found tire warm up to take much longer or never get to that sticky spot that works well. You can tell by sound and feel but just be aware so your not sliding in a 360 off the track...kinda like your orange car experience at spring mountain

[jeffs]

I'm sure there are plenty of people with more track experience than myself, but my suggestion for the AD07 pressures would be to shoot for a HOT pressure of 26/28 and then tinker from there...thats worked well for me, and much better than the cold pressure of 26/28. As for the brake pads, make sure to keep an eye on them over the day as I've had the OEM pads go quickly on me.

[lotusport]

Originally Posted by jeffs

I'm sure there are plenty of people with more track experience than myself, but my suggestion for the AD07 pressures would be to shoot for a HOT pressure of 26/28 and then tinker from there...thats worked well for me, and much better than the cold pressure of 26/28. As for the brake pads, make sure to keep an eye on them over the day as I've had the OEM pads go quickly on me.

At the LOG track days in 2006, the Yokohama engineers expresed a similar aim. The problem is that tire heat loading varies throughout the day with ambient conditions. If I start with cold pressures, I can adjust according to tire loading and behavior. I have both IR and contact thermometers to try to get rapid readings after a session. I'm always cautious if the outside edge of the tire is more than 20 deg F warmer than the inside of the same tire, or if the outer edge is showing signs of rolling under.

saudio, the point on the brake pads is that, as jeffs says, the stock pads can go pretty fast if they're not fairly new. No, I don't put new on for each track day, but if they're more than 1/4 worn, I'm prepared to keep an eye on them through the day and i always carry some new or slightly used pads to change 'em out if necessary.