GET READY...
Make sure your car is ready to cope with the extra stresses and strains before you hit the track…
We show you how to prepare your Ford for the track...
ENGINE
No matter the state of tune, whether it’s completely standard or a million-bhp monster, using your car on track is going to put extra stresses on the engine that are not usually experienced in everyday driving conditions. Therefore it’s vital that what you’ve got is running 100% correctly before you even start to think about any upgrades, so a diagnostics and health check should be your first port of call!
Regular oil and filter changes should become habit for frequent track users, as should checking the condition of cam belts, auxiliary belts, the electrical system, hoses ( coolant, boost, oil), and fuel lines, as well as regularly checking and topping up any fluid levels.
Misfires are a common cause for concern on track days, so make sure your ignition system is in top condition. Check the spark plugs are the correct heat range, HT leads aren’t broken or chaffing anywhere and are seated correctly, and check to ensure parts such as distributor caps and rotor arms aren’t worn.
With the basics covered you can start to look to improve on areas such as oil and/or fuel starvation. Thrashing the car around a track will mean the oil in the sump, and fuel in the tank, will get sloshed around all over the place, potentially resulting in the pick up drawing in air rather than oil/fuel. Clearly this can be fatal to the engine, so fitting a baffled sump and an uprated fuel system ( with either a baffled/foam-filled tank, or the use of swirl pot and lift pump) is a great move for added reliability.
Another area worth upgrading is the oil breather system. Sustained track use will cause increased crankcase pressure and this pressure needs to be released safely, which is where a good breather system comes in. Don’t expect the standard breather system to cope with track use, as in many cases it simply won’t.
You should only start to look to add power when you have the reliability side of things covered. And even then reliability remains paramount, so avoid modifications that put extra stress on components that haven’t been upgraded to cope.
INTERIOR
No styling upgrades, loud stereos, or fancy gadgets are going to help you in here! Quite the opposite in fact, as removing any unnecessary items will help reduce weight – and a lighter car is a faster car! At a basic level just give the car a good clean out. You don’t need to be carting a boot full of stuff around the track, so make sure you take out the spare wheel and jack, and any other loose bits and bobs you might have kicking around in the car. Not only will this improve performance, it also makes things safer – the last thing you want is a loose item flying around inside the car!
If you are planning on doing track days regularly you might want to think about removing some of the heavier and unwanted parts of the interior trim. This can range from simply removing the back seats, to a complete strip down and installation of lightweight bucket seats and multi-point harnesses.
Fitting a rollcage and a fire extinguisher should also be high on your list of considerations. Aside from the obvious safety benefits a rollcage will also offer performance advantages by keeping the chassis much stiffer and reducing unwanted flex in the shell. This may compromise road use, and is likely to affect insurance premiums, so be aware and check first.
COOLING
One of the biggest things to consider about using your car on track is cooling. Everything will get hot, very hot! Engine coolant, engine oil, exhaust systems, transmission fluid, brakes and brake fluid will all get much hotter during track use than normal road use, so care needs to be taken to ensure this excess heat doesn’t cause reliability issues.
To start with, go over all of the car’s standard cooling systems and make sure they are working correctly. Check things like the radiator, coolant hoses, cooling fans, and the coolant itself, and replace anything you are unsure of.
Once you are satisfied that the standard cooling systems are working as they should you can look to introduce extra cooling measures. Upgrades such as oil coolers, transmission coolers, exhaust heat wrap, bigger radiators/intercoolers, and additional ducting to the brakes will all help keep temperatures under control while on track.
On the subject of cooling, it’s worth noting that you should always complete a cool down lap before you come back into the pits. This allows things to cool down gradually while everything is still moving, but remember to stay off the racing line when on a cool down lap to avoid getting in the way of other users. When back in the pits don’t switch the engine off, and don’t put the handbrake on. Instead use some chocks to prevent the car from rolling, as using the handbrake can cause the discs to warp, and leave the engine running until you are satisfied everything has cooled down sufficiently.
TRANSMISSION
No, you don’t need to have a seven-speed sequential gearbox with flatshift function just to enjoy a trackday, but what you do need is a good solid transmission that’s not going to let you down. Therefore make sure the oil in the gearbox and diffs is of a good quality and not just the cheapest stuff you could buy online. Also ensure your clutch is in good health, any signs of slipping during road use will mean it will only last a few laps on track! If you’ve increased the power/ torque output of the engine then an uprated clutch is worthwhile; heavy duty organic clutches are fine for mildly tuned motors and occasional track use but many owners prefer to fit a four- of six-paddle clutch. These are more aggressive during road use, but can handle the abuse of track use much better.
If you do fancy upgrading things a simple quick shifter kit will help speed up gear changes and can make a notable difference on track. Upgrading stock differentials to limited-slip types will offer increased traction during cornering, and you can even choose the type of diff that will best suit your driving style to further enhance the experience.
From there you’ll be looking at more serious upgrades such as altering the ratios inside the gearbox, fitting straight- cut gear sets, or indeed fitting a full-blown sequential setup.
BRAKES
An area you simply must upgrade is the brakes! On a track day you are constantly using your brakes, and you’re using them much harder than under normal road conditions too – braking from three-figure speeds two or three times a minute is common! Most standard brakes aren’t designed to put up with anywhere near this level of abuse, so will need replacing with something that can handle it.
As a bare minimum for track use you should look to upgrade to a performance compound brake pad, ideally with suitably upgraded discs at the same time, and a swap to a decent quality brake fluid. Choosing the right brake pad is a compromise between track and road use. For example standard pads work very well from cold, making them ideal for road use, but will overheat quickly when used on track. Conversely, race pads will work very well when hot, but offer little performance from cold, making them unsuitable for road use. For occasional track use you need something like a ‘fast road’ pad that sits in between these two extremes, and there loads of compounds to choose from.
A better option than just uprated pads is to upgrade the entire disc and caliper setup, along with suitable pads, with something more powerful. Before you move on to huge aftermarket brake kits a cheaper alternative would be to look at options from other fast Ford models, such as fitting the Focus ST170 300mm setup on a Fiesta, or fitting the Focus ST’s 320mm discs and calipers to a Mondeo for example. At the same time an upgrade to braided brake lines will eliminate any vague pedal feel that can sometimes occur as a result of the standard rubber hoses expanding under hard use.
But for the ultimate in stopping power you’ll want to ditch the whole lot and fit a complete performance brake kit. These are offered with lightweight, multi-piston calipers and extra strong performance discs, ranging in sizes right up to massive 380mm discs with 8-pot calipers! They will allow you to brake hard and late, and more importantly, will allow you to do it lap after lap without fade!
SUSPENSION
Perhaps the biggest difference between a road car and a track car is the suspension. You can get away with taking a car with a standard engine, standard wheels, standard transmission, etc. on track, but you really can’t get away with having standard suspension ( or brakes for that matter!). At the very least you’ll want to fit a set of uprated lowering springs. These will help lower the centre of gravity and reduce body roll, but a more common upgrade is to fit both springs and dampers, usually of coilover type. These allow ride height adjustment to get the car sitting just right, and many also offer adjustable damping rates. Choosing the right setup for your car will depend on how often it is used on the track/road, how much adjustment you require, and your budget. Suspension kits can range from a few hundred quid through to tens of thousands of pounds, but any of which will give a huge improvement on the track over the standard setup.
It’s also worth looking at the bushes too. Most standard bushes are rubber, and are designed to have a bit of ‘give’ in them for comfort during road use, but this ‘give’ allows for unwanted movement in suspension during track use. A good set of polyurethane bushes reduces this movement and is perfect for occasional track use and road use. Hardcore users may upgrade to rose-joints that offer no movement at all, although these are generally too harsh for road use.
Talking of which, for cars that see minimal road use and spend most of their time on track it is possible to look at fitting various adjustable suspension components to help fine-tune the handling. Adjustable anti-roll bars, track control arms, top mounts, compression struts and the like will all allow you to tweak the settings to get the car handling just the way you want, but all can detract from ride quality and aren’t suitable for regular road use.
No matter what upgrades you’ve made the best money you’ll spend will be in getting everything set up. Whether that’s a simple alignment check after fitting some lowering springs, or a full corner-weighting session and finite adjustments of all the suspension components, getting a geometry check is one thing you should definitely do before heading out on track.
TYRES
The number one rule regarding tyres is make sure they are in good condition! You can use your regular road tyres on track if you wish, but remember that track use will wear them out rapidly, so make sure you’ve got enough tread left at the end of the day to drive home safely!
A better bet is to have a second set of ‘track’ wheels and tyres that you bolt on at the circuit, and then swap back to your ‘road’ wheels before hitting the road home. This allows you to fit a tyre that is better suited to track use and track conditions too, such as wets, semi-slicks or even full slick tyres.
One thing worth noting is tyre pressures will need to be set lower than for regular road use. When used on track the excessive movement and heat build up within the tyre will cause the tyre pressure to increase, therefore this needs to be taken into account when setting the pressures in the pits. Just remember to reset them again if you are using the same tyres to drive home later!
WHEELS
To start with if you’re rocking steel wheels, get them off! Steel is heavy and soft, two things you don’t want from a track wheel. Alloy wheels are a better bet, but don’t think all alloy wheels are the same – they’re definitely not. Standard production alloys will cope but do tend to be a bit heavy, and reducing the unsprung weight will help with braking, turn-in, and generally make the car nicer to drive on track.
A set of motorsport alloys will be a good upgrade, but some cast items can still be a bit on the heavy side. They will be lighter than the standard wheels, but the casting process means they still require more material to retain the required strength, adding to the overall weight.
Cast alloy wheels are the perfect entry-level wheel for track day use, but for something a little more advantageous look to bolt on a set of forged alloy wheels. The forging process involves heating the alloy to just below melting point and then working it into shape with immense amounts of pressure, rather then simply melting it and pouring it into a mould. Therefore the same strength can be achieved by using less material, keeping the weight down. However, this is reflected in the price of forged wheels.
Split-rims used to be very popular for track use, but today are equally as popular in the show scene as they are in motorsport. They came about because technology back in the day didn’t allow for a wheel any greater than 7J to be produced any other way, so a cast centre was produced and two hoops ( an inner and an outer) were made from spun aluminium to achieve the required width, and then all three parts were bolted together to form one wheel. They are still perfectly adequate for track use, but do require a fair bit of maintenance and tend to be expensive too.
If you’re feeling really flash you could look to fit a set of magnesium wheels, although these are very rare and very expensive. They are much lighter than aluminium alloys and offer the performance advantages associated with reduced weight, but magnesium wheels don’t come without their problems. They are prone to porosity and cracking, are easily damaged, and are extremely flammable and when they do catch fire are extremely difficult to extinguish! This is the reason magnesium wheels have been banned from many forms of motorsport and manufacturers have moved on to using other exotic materials such as carbon fibre, which are incredibly light, strong, and expensive!
EXTERIOR
Painting your car a bright colour or covering it in stickers may help it look like a race car, but in reality it’s not going to make any difference to your performance on track. However, exterior upgrades that affect the car’s aerodynamics will. By adding things like a splitter and bumper canards at the front, smoothing the underside with flat panels, and adding a diffuser and spoiler at the rear you can help direct the airflow under, around, and over the car, creating downforce as it does so.
Clearly this is a bit advanced for the occasional track day user, but the same principals will work for road use too.