hot lapping, track tips

ViperNuge · Oct 15, 2009

Will be racing my car Saturday during the day (hot and humid) during test n tune and then at night for the competition. Other than heat soak robbing power will it be ok to hot lap the car. Dont want to damage the auto trans or anything? Temps will be high 80's or low 90's for test n tune which is when I will be able to get a bunch of runs in. At night your only guaranteed 3 runs before the elimination rounds begin.

Other than having traction control and overdrive off any other tips?

thanks patrick

Ken04 · Oct 15, 2009

ViperNuge said:
Will be racing my car Saturday during the day (hot and humid) during test n tune and then at night for the competition. Other than heat soak robbing power will it be ok to hot lap the car. Dont want to damage the auto trans or anything? Temps will be high 80's or low 90's for test n tune which is when I will be able to get a bunch of runs in. At night your only guaranteed 3 runs before the elimination rounds begin.

Other than having traction control and overdrive off any other tips?

thanks patrick

20-30 minute sessions on a road course won't hurt it. You will probably experience some brake fade, but you'll know when that happens so you can back off a little til they cool a bit. Alot of people have a dedicated set of brake pads for the front that they swap in and out for track days. Your tranny is cooled by radiator fluid so you'll know if it starts to get warm when your temp gauge goes up, but it shouldn't. In between runs just give a pretty good visual inspection to make sure nothing got loose. Check tire pressures, fluid levels and you'll be good. Have fun ! Sounds like a blast.

Five Oh Brian · Oct 15, 2009

Patrick, I'm assuming that you're going drag racing. Hot lapping shouldn't hurt a naturally aspirated (N/A) car so much. When my '07 GT automatic was N/A, I hot lapped it without much more than a tenth of a second variation in 1/4 mile ET's. Supercharger is a different story now.

As you noted, turn off the traction control and overdrive. Out automatics are plenty strong and well-cooled, so don't worry about the trans. Just go out and have some fun!

Your car will start to run quicker in the evening as the sun goes down and the track temp drops, so be careful dialing in for eliminations so that you don't break-out by going faster than your dial-in.

ViperNuge · Oct 16, 2009

Forgot you guys on the mainland have all those cool road courses.....yes I will be drag racing. Thanks for the tip about the radiator cooling the trans. I have always owned manual tranny cars and didnt realize it worked that way. I wish our temp gauge actually showed a number. Is it beneficial in a mustang to change out the t stat to a lower temp unit? My vipertruck would run 210` stock but we all quickly learned changing out the t stat and running at 180` with a new ecm flash was way better.

patrick

ViperNuge · Oct 16, 2009

Forgot you guys on the mainland have all those cool road courses.....yes I will be drag racing. Thanks for the tip about the radiator cooling the trans. I have always owned manual tranny cars and didnt realize it worked that way. I wish our temp gauge actually showed a number. Is it beneficial in a mustang to change out the t stat to a lower temp unit? My vipertruck would run 210` stock but we all quickly learned changing out the t stat and running at 180` with a new ecm flash was way better.

patrick

NastyStang113 · Oct 16, 2009

ViperNuge said:
Forgot you guys on the mainland have all those cool road courses.....yes I will be drag racing. Thanks for the tip about the radiator cooling the trans. I have always owned manual tranny cars and didnt realize it worked that way. I wish our temp gauge actually showed a number. Is it beneficial in a mustang to change out the t stat to a lower temp unit? My vipertruck would run 210` stock but we all quickly learned changing out the t stat and running at 180` with a new ecm flash was way better.

patrick

No, the stock t stat is good. A good mod would be either an electric water pump so you can run it while the car is off. By hot lapping I'm assuming you're going to make a pass and than come back into the staging lanes. The only thing you'll be able to do is pop the hood and push the car through the lanes. Although with a N/A car I'm not sure how much it'll help if any. I try to bring a small generator and run a few fans on my car between passes and push my car through the staging lanes. I'd really like to get an ice tank to put in the spare tire mount. Like everyone else said, make sure that the TCS and overdrive is off otherwise you're going to look like a toolbox. Just spin the tires lightly if you've got street tires and avoid the waterbox. I'd try a run coming off idle and than one loading up the TC to see what kind of difference it makes.

Casey4s · Oct 16, 2009

Another inexpensive suggestion would be a manual cooling fan switch so that youy can run your radiator cooling fan wide open with the motor off between runs. Alsor if the computer doesn't see it as hot enough to engage the Hi Speed fan to help keep things cool. It's about $10 to $12 in parts at Auto parts places or Radio Shack.

I have this switch option and an electric water pump. it works really well.

ViperNuge · Oct 17, 2009

Thanks for the tips guys. I will let you know how it turns out.

I ordered the Brenspeed sct tune and jlt cai today. So this will be my first and last trip to the track in stock form. I am looking forward to better throttle response and increased hp/torque.

patrick

chad9350 · Oct 23, 2009

after run, turn heater on HI, close center vents, open pointing out OPEN windows.

Front brake ducts; after stopping, cool faster and not 'grabby' on 2nd run

Fab a little something to catch air and cool clutch...

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