Well it’s taken over a year to get here but finally did my first track day yesterday!
Here’s all my prep:
I did a full Novice Day at Brands Hatch and it was awesome! Could not fault the day from start to finish. The car was brilliant… So well balanced. Big shout out to Bofiracing in Cambridgeshire who advised me on the best tyres and geometry setup based on my mods and novice experience. Absolutely spot on!
I had an instructor for one session that was super helpful on getting the best out of the car. Just by being a passenger he could tell my tyre pressure was too high. And sure enough he was right! Dropped the hot tyres to 30psi and that helped massively with reducing the rolling when cornering hard.
The only negative for the car is it feels twitchy under hard breaking. Not sure if that can be fixed with bracing. That’s my next mod so guess I’ll find out!
Other than that it was amazing! So pleased with the car Was able to keep up with the Caterham 7s on the bends! Even the instructor said the car is really well setup which is great to hear.
It’s a bit hard to explain but the car just feels a little unbalanced. Its not pulling to the side so i know the brakes are ok on each wheel. I have only got racing pads on the front and the guy at Bofiracing did say the fronts will end up working even harder (certainly smelt like it!) and did suggest I fit rear ones too. So thinking about it, maybe that is the cause?
My take. If one caliper is getting hotter than the other it will be twitchy. The hot brake will underperform at light braking and then come back to near full efficiency on hard braking. I’ve seen it shown to me on the rolling road at MOT time.
The guy at Bofi sounds like he’s trying to sell you more pads.
Front brakes will work harder than rears anyway, roughly 60-70% of the braking comes from the front.
Having racing pads means only that they will brake for longer (and last longer on track) and not overheat as quickly as road pads would so standard rear pads will brake just the same as race rear pads, they’ll just wear down quicker because they are softer.
Unless your rear pads are seriously worn, I don’t believe that may contribute to your twitchiness.
Well the Bofi guy only gave advice so defo not trying to sell me anything I buy and install all parts myself.
One brake working harder than another - could be something in that. I’ve rebuilt one front caliper and replaced one rear caliper. The others seemed fine but maybe not so.
My NC is very sensitive to road surface irregularities and camber during heavy braking. If the road is straight, level and smooth, then no issues.
It is entirely possible to keep up with lesser powered Caterfields on the track. Against a well driven MX-5, they have less of an advantage during braking and cornering, compared to other heavier cars. You can also usually start catching them on long straights as the speeds begin to creep past 80-90mph.
However, higher-powered Caterfields tend to disappear from view when accelerating out of corners and have enough power to overcome their aerodynamic disadvantage on the straights.
Still, for road and track-days, nothing beats an MX-5 for VFM, ease of use and reliability.
personally i just stick road pads in the back and put a set of PBS Track pads in the front, its seen me right on all my track days, i was able to do 10+ laps at Cadwell giving it the berries and it was fine, the weak link was me who was drenched in sweat after 10 laps & had to stop for a rest
Was able to keep up with the Caterham 7s on the bends! Even the instructor said the car is really well setup which is great to hear.
I buy and install all parts myself.
