Does anyone track their XK8/R? Prefer to hear from stock or near stock varieties.

 

I have done it a few times in standard XKs....... A bus comes to mind

They are not good!

 

As I suspected. I would normally use my Elise but I had an encounter with a tire wall at Sears Point and have been procrastinating with the repair. My new, to me, XKR, is a distraction!

 

If you are used to an Elise then a big, heavy GT car would be downright painful!

 

My interest, which I may pursue one time, is to explore the limits of the car in a reasonably safe environment. Most of my track experience has been with Lotuses, first an Elan, then an 18, a Cortina, an Elise and most recently an Elite (the first iteration). So a 3800+# behemoth would be a significant departure! I'd probably do it at one of the local Lotus club track days, at least I'd have an acceptable licence plate for viewing as I'm being passed.

 

They roll something terrible in the corners, the brakes fade very quickly and not having an LSD does cause a few tail happy issues with the track switched off.... Dont get me wrong you can have some serious fun, just dont expect to be a contender to something better equipped especially if you are talking Elise and the such like

 

Racer,
If and when I do this, any suggestions of tire pressures for a track day? Will probably use a spare set of 18" wheels rather than scrub off the new 20s that I got with the car.

 

I always go about 5psi under standard, you need to bear in mind as you go around the track the tyres will warm up and so increase the pressure. I put about 26psi in my 18s with slicks on you also need to take in to account the ambient temperature if it is a hot day I would go a bit lower still, a cooler day a little harder...

 

Two or three times a year a friend and I go to Audi Club track events at various race tracks in California and Nevada, where we drive my friend's Audi S5 6 speed and my '72 De Tomaso Pantera, switching back and forth. The Pantera is just not suited to some of the tracks like Infineon in Sonoma, which is wet a lot of the time, and slips and slides with the slightest of moisture on the track surface. And without power steering in the Pantera, tracks like Spring Mountain, with its array of very sharp turns, is exhausting. I would love to take the XKR around, but most of these clubs do not allow convertibles on the track. I was driving up a twisty canyon road this past week with a new Camaro bird-******* me, and we had a little fun. My XKR would lose grip pretty early but that may be due to the tires which I had previously noted were pretty slippery. I guess I'll just have to buy a coupe someday soon!