I am very curious as to how many people on this site take their car to the track?
If so which track and any performance data acquisition software you may use?
What is your track setup tires,brakes,suspension and such?
how long do you get out of a set of tires and brakes if you track your car?
I have not seen any post regarding this? There is a couple of tracks in the northeast I may look into.

 

Palmer is pretty intense - I was able to drive it with a small group on a day it was closed. As it was only the 3rd time I’d been on a track, it was pretty intense, but a blast.

Other times were at Gingerman in MI. Much safer track.

 

There is an older thread with some track information:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/f...-track-223216/


>>If so which track and any performance data acquisition software you may use?

I don't track data with my F-Type. However, the F-Type isn't my main track car. I've used Bluetooth dongles with RaceChrono in the past. It will only be as good as the GPS source you are using (whether that is a phone or dedicated GPS unit). It does pretty good for a budget setup.

>>What is your track setup tires,brakes,suspension and such?

I don't think we have anyone here that serious with tracking their F-Types. Most everyone just rolls with OEM brakes and whatever street tires they are using. The only owners I've heard so far complain about a lack of braking are those with the smaller brake setup (usually on the base V6's).


>>how long do you get out of a set of tires and brakes if you track your car?

Wear is too much of a variable. That will depend too much on which F-Type version, the skill of the driver (i.e. how hard he/she is pushing their car) and the track itself.

 

I had my V8S on Laguna Seca. I used Harry's Lap Timer. Awesome little app. I didn't notice any brake fade with my stock setup. Our cars are playful on the track. Super fun.

 

I wish my local track allowed me to drive top down.

I use OEM brake setup (with fresh fluid) and MP4S tires. I yet to boil brakes or have any notable fade. Have upgraded brake package. OEM pads dust A LOT, rims are almost black at the end of a track session. I usually get ~10 hours of track time out of set of tires if I go all-out. F-type is HEAVY and eats tires. Surprisingly, pads last forever. I am still on original set.

Front tires kick up a lot of junk during turns that hits flare out right behind door. I recommend masking that in addition to leading edge on the front bumper.

 

Yes, I believe all tracks should allow top down driving. The top doesn't provide any structural support in case of a roll-over, and seriously impedes visibility. Maybe there's something I'm missing?

 

Excuse they give is flying debris (and they don't mandate closed helmets). I pointed to my closed helmet, but got nowhere with that.

I think it is rule for sake of rules.

 

I used to take my XKR and my Pantera to the track several times a year, but just haven't had time in the last few years. When the F-type debuted at the LA Auto Show in November or December, 2013, I was one of the lucky forum members who got to take one home for the better part of a week. I happened to be going to the track at Buttonwillow Raceway in Bakersfield, CA during that time, and Jaguar told me to go ahead and take it, but to make sure I took pictures and sent them to Jaguar for promotional purposes. Unfortunately, the group I was with, So Cal Audi Club does not allow convertibles to participate, but I got them and the track to allow me 1 lap at lunch time when the track was closed and we had the track photographer snapping pictures. It was a blast in the V8S I was driving.

 

I try to go to the track at least once a year. My local track is Sonoma Raceway. My F-Type is not setup as a track car so it’s pretty much stock. Tires are now Michelin PS 4S, I try to keep tire pressures around 37 to 38 psi hot. I have CCB and use Castrol SRF brake fluid. Stock alignment. For data acquisition I use TrackAddict on an iPhone with a Dual XGPS160 external GPS receiver and Kiwi 3 OBD2 adapter.

I’ve also run Falken Azenis FK510 tires. They performed really well and I haven’t noticed any improvement with the PS4S. However the FK510 experienced torn tread splices after two track days, so I replaced them.

 

Nice! I always thought the F-Type wouldn’t pass the 90dB noise limit. Did you have any trouble at all? I would love to try Laguna.

 

No trouble with noise, but I knew right where they were checking the db's, and chose not to step on it too hard up that hill. There was a lotus Evora and a Mercedes GTS that were kicked off the track though. I got lucky!

 

One and done for me. I had a great time, but I'm too much of an idiot to take my daily driver to the track again. The car did very well and as the day went on, I got more and more aggressive, so I quit while I was ahead. I went through 3 tanks of gas that day (4.5 mpg, 82 miles per tank) and enjoys seeing what the car could do.The car is heavy but predictable and once you get used to the body roll, it really did grip.

I got the recommended tire pressure from the Tire Manufacturer. The brakes held up very well, but the TPMS stopped working for two days (my guess is they got too hot) and then suddenly started working again with no issues since.

Thunderhill Raceway, CA, January 2019.

 

The H&R suspension resolves most of the body roll issue.

 

I've had three lap days at Palm Beach International Raceway. Last Spring I got rained out of Daytona (I cancelled my participation in time to get money back - a low pressure front flooded the track that day). The car is impressive. The first time was at about 10K miles on the original Pirelli's. By the end of the day they were getting greasy. By then I had switched to track mode. The 2nd time (a year later - I try not to go in the very hot summer) - the Pirelli's were quite greasy. It was challenging not to engage grandma (traction control), even with smooth throttle inputs. The 3rd time was on P4S tires - what a difference.

In all instances no issues at all with fade; yes the track will eat tires on these heavy beasts. Cooling was also great. Wheels had quite a bit of dust; I have ordered a set of Porterfield pads that one day will go on. I have a good bit of racing experience; as such this car was one of the fastest on the track (a Z06 that was there had to finally let me go - perhaps his cooling overcame him). I was impressed each time - no issues. Jag did it right. There are very few factory cars you can drive on a race track without issues of any kind (especially brakes down here in South Florida).

I now have a pulley and tune, will likely try again. Daytona is still a desire, but with the tune that means I'll really be challenging these tires at that track (high speed) - so I have a little angst there. With the tune and pulley, I'll need higher octane at future track events (we think we were seeing timing pull back during some dyno pulls I did after the pulley and tune install). I'm also a little on the fence going forward since out of warranty.

 

The only "mod" you need is to take off engine cover, as it traps heat.

This is unpopular opinion around these parts, but stock tune is right up there on thermal limit. With pulley and tune you will have issues on a hot day. You already seen first signs on dyno.

 

Yes, contra many people's opinions that there are no limitations to increasing horsepower on blown cars (turbos and superchargers), there are numerous sub-systems that get impacted. Contra what everyone thinks, there is no margin above standard engineering practices in the designs - such margin costs money and ultimately would sell less product. A perfect example in these cars is the transmission. It's torque limit is one of the constraints to more power off the production line for these cars. The Z06 Vettes (2018 vintage) are another example - there GM compromised on their design inputs. As a result, after a few laps those cars 'overheat' (hit the design permissives in the ECU) on the track and start shutting down. Dial up the boost on those and you may hit the temperature restrictions with just a couple of throttle romps on the street.

I had an interesting email exchange with Chris at Velocity AP on this very topic. Not only is there really no physical room to go with a larger crank pulley, but with this nominal increase in boost (~3 psi?) we're stepping on the limits of all the different sub-parts, most notable being the intercooler capacity. For this reason, I'll not venture on a track again without some high octane race unleaded gas. With that and the temperature gauge hopefully I'll do OK.

 

UK has regs that means the roof has to be up.

It's hard work with the air con full tilt sapping up valuable horses when it's up, I'd love to have it down.

No brake fade (and I'm heavy footed), but they got really hot, and the dust, boy. Really need to utilise the cool down lap.
Looking forward to bedding in the Porterfields and trying them out with the Mich tyres. Running 5.1 fluid in the system now, not that boiling was an issue.

 

Keep in mind that in-dash temp gauge is a running average and not an actual instant reading. Also, engine coolant temperature will not tell you that you chamber temp is off the scale in time to prevent damage. More so, detonations and pining is likely the only sign you will have of things going wrong. Considering everything else going on at the same time, it is easy to overlook it while on the track.

 

I didn't know there were gauges for chamber temperature. Do you have one on your car?

 

LOL - no the water temp gauge. I'm assuming after several laps I'll heat soak my intercooler(s). Hence my protection with high octane fuel (to hopefully preclude detonation). If the ECU parameters begin to get taxed, likely I'll feel pullback on the power via the fuel going very rich. We saw that the first time I went to the dyno in OEM tune and trim. I did not know that I had a cat bad - when we hit the power band the AFR dropped to about 9:1. It was at about 5800 RPM (first pull), down to 5400 (2nd pull) and then about 5000 (3rd pull). Not long after that I started getting check engine light codes. The cat got replaced and I believe an O2 sensor. For the dyno pulls with the pulley and tune, the AFR never dropped below 12.4.

The water temperature gauge will tell me when I'm taxing the coolant; I don't care to blow a head gasket! Your'e more cataclysmic in your predictions than I. I believe the ECU will protect me long before I have issues provided I'm running good octane, monitoring my *** (feeling power pullbacks) and the water temp.