[Accordriver]

For my birthday my girlfriend is going to take me to the "performance driving school" at Texas World Speedway. First off, if anyone has ever been there or taken the courses I would love to hear about it.

Getting down to the car, it looks like I have two options;

Rent an automatic 1.6L Mazda ($440) or mod my Accord (giving myself ~800)

So if I do mod the Accord (which I was going to do at some point over the summer) what should I do?

 

[rafael73]

Why you don't discuss that w your girlfriend? She might hold the answer for your question...

 

[Accordriver]

...how so?

 

[thisaznboi88]

Do it in your own car. That way you can understand he dynamics of your car. You have an V6 that more then enough power. Tracking your car is all about braking and tuning lines.

Upgrade your suspension to either really good coils or springs. *when I say good coil I mean no sleeve over type.* Also larger brakes will help, or if you are going to keep your current set up. Get ceramic brakes that can take the abuse and flush the lines. If you have OEM brakes and try to track it will fade so fast and you risk injury to you and others.

 

[paperboy42190]

Do it in your own car. That way you can understand he dynamics of your car. You have an V6 that more then enough power. Tracking your car is all about braking and tuning lines.

Upgrade your suspension to either really good coils or springs. *when I say good coil I mean no sleeve over type.* Also larger brakes will help, or if you are going to keep your current set up. Get ceramic brakes that can take the abuse and flush the lines. If you have OEM brakes and try to track it will fade so fast and you risk injury to you and others.

+1

I recently went on a mountain cruise with 15 other cars. When we got back down at the bottom of the mountain, my car was the only one to have smoking brakes, literally. accord brakes fail :headbash:

 

[mobiless2]

Front Sway Bar, Larger Rotors, Dual Caliper

 

[Accordriver]

Will performance pads eliminate the fade? Or will they need drilled/slotted rotors?

 

[thisaznboi88]

Will performance pads eliminate the fade? Or will they need drilled/slotted rotors?

Ceramic brakes will slow it down.

As for drilled rotors I heard they crack

Slots will be nice since it vent out the gases but you will be losing surface area.

Also bleed your brakes and use really good Dot 3 fluid. I switched to Synthetic formula fluid.

 

[thisaznboi88]

http://www.amazon.com/Super-Blue-Brake-Fluid-Liter/dp/B000JL0YMO

good stuff. But will cost you

 

[lpaudio2]

automatic 1.6 miata? Seriously AT? Ya. Id pass. Take your accord.

the miata is fun (I own a 99 1.8MT with torsen limited slip), has a perfect 50/50 balance, top down its a blast unlike anything else. However the 1.6 with automatic is quite gutless.

Take your accord. Do a few upgrades, call it good.

Isnt dot4 NOT compatible with dot3 at all, and I seem to recall that if you miss a little bit of dot 3 you have issues as they dont mix well.

I would do the sway bar (awesome improvement). I would skip coil-overs for now, get some upgraded wheels (with summer tires) for the track such as kosei, oz, or enkei rpf01. They allow a lot more air into the brakes than most stock wheels (dunno what kind you have- some worse than others), and the summer tires will make all the difference. My accord is much more responsive, controllable and faster with light rims and nice summer tires.

Enjoy the track experience.

 

[thisaznboi88]

Opps posted up the wrong one. I post up the Dot 4 not the Dot 3. Sorry. but yeah they were 13 1qt.

Also its all about braking on the track. Make sure your brakes are tough enough to handle the tracks. Or else your accord could end up like this Nismo.

http://www.caranddriver.com/feature...ts_wall_we_investigate_why_the_nismo_z_s_brakes_failed_at_lightning_lap-feature

 

[TheGandalf]

For my birthday my girlfriend is going to take me to the "performance driving school" at Texas World Speedway. First off, if anyone has ever been there or taken the courses I would love to hear about it.

Getting down to the car, it looks like I have two options;

Rent an automatic 1.6L Mazda ($440) or mod my Accord (giving myself ~800)

So if I do mod the Accord (which I was going to do at some point over the summer) what should I do?

Don't waste in a rental use that money towards your mods. You are going ro reap the benefits for much longer, and it gives you a reason to get started.
Improve your brakes and then your suspension (it won't make you any good to be able to take the curves like crazy if your brakes start fading....).

Enjoy the experience!

 

[AMAN1]

Considering that this is your DD (I'm assuming) don't go for slotted or cross-drilled rotors. Your pads will wear down quicker. Get some Brembo blanks all around, and Hawk HPF pads. However you should let suspension take precedent. In that case, Neuspeed springs and Koni shocks.

BUT this is all useless without a good set of tires. TirestirestirestirestiresTIRES!
Use all $800 on a good set of TIRES if you have to. OEM Michelins, from what I hear, will be flat-out shit at the track. Get a strong, grippy summer tire. If you have the means, go semi-slick.

But TIRES must be number one.

TIRES!

 

[kerunt]

Considering that this is your DD (I'm assuming) don't go for slotted or cross-drilled rotors. Your pads will wear down quicker. Get some Brembo blanks all around, and Hawk HPF pads. However you should let suspension take precedent. In that case, Neuspeed springs and Koni shocks.

BUT this is all useless without a good set of tires. TirestirestirestirestiresTIRES!
Use all $800 on a good set of TIRES if you have to. OEM Michelins, from what I hear, will be flat-out shit at the track. Get a strong, grippy summer tire. If you have the means, go semi-slick.

But TIRES must be number one.

TIRES!

+ 1

I recently put a set of Michelin Pilot Sport SP2 tires on my car (235/60/R18) and the grip is simply amazing. Made a world of difference in handling and braking.

 

[Baldeagle]

First of all, congratulations! I will go against the grain and say rent the Miata. How much are you willing to beat on your car for a day? The first thing they often do in these schools is have the student drive down the track and lock up the brakes. You will seriously beat the crap out of your car for hours. That's the engine (redline after redline), transmission (hard, repeated, redline shifts and excessive heat), brakes, suspension, tires, cooling system, body structure, seats...everything. Are you really prepared to do that?

The Miata may be slow, but it will be fast enough. If you rent it from the school, it will also be fully race prepped (track tires, performance brakes, fresh brake fluid, suspension, cooling, etc.) That means SAFE. A Miata is also far better balanced (and lighter) than any Accord, which means it will be more stable at high speeds and easier to control in the corners. Lastly that $440 should include insurance, so if you happen to break something, drive off the track, get chipped paint (or windshield) from rocks, or anything else, it's someone else's problem. Even after you spend the $440 on the Miata, you'll still have $360 for permanent mods to your car.

 

[Accordriver]

First of all, congratulations! I will go against the grain and say rent the Miata. How much are you willing to beat on your car for a day? The first thing they often do in these schools is have the student drive down the track and lock up the brakes. You will seriously beat the crap out of your car for hours. That's the engine (redline after redline), transmission (hard, repeated, redline shifts and excessive heat), brakes, suspension, tires, cooling system, body structure, seats...everything. Are you really prepared to do that?

The Miata may be slow, but it will be fast enough. If you rent it from the school, it will also be fully race prepped (track tires, performance brakes, fresh brake fluid, suspension, cooling, etc.) That means SAFE. A Miata is also far better balanced (and lighter) than any Accord, which means it will be more stable at high speeds and easier to control in the corners. Lastly that $440 should include insurance, so if you happen to break something, drive off the track, get chipped paint (or windshield) from rocks, or anything else, it's someone else's problem. Even after you spend the $440 on the Miata, you'll still have $360 for permanent mods to your car.

The car will most likely be replaced in the next two years, so my main concern is having fun. In the end I really want to know what option would be best to get the most out of the track. I understand where you're coming from, but in my mind cars were meant to be driven, not just rubbed with a diaper.

 

[Nimoxp]

+1

I recently went on a mountain cruise with 15 other cars. When we got back down at the bottom of the mountain, my car was the only one to have smoking brakes, literally. accord brakes fail :headbash:

Did you use down shifting techniques at all? or did you just use your breaks as normal.

 

[Nimoxp]

For my birthday my girlfriend is going to take me to the "performance driving school" at Texas World Speedway. First off, if anyone has ever been there or taken the courses I would love to hear about it.

Getting down to the car, it looks like I have two options;

Rent an automatic 1.6L Mazda ($440) or mod my Accord (giving myself ~800)

So if I do mod the Accord (which I was going to do at some point over the summer) what should I do?

I would also personally go with the miata. Those are fun cars. You said you only plan on keeping your accord for another 2 years. Do you have an idea what your next car might be? If your planning on something sporty, it will most likely have rear wheel drive and this will help you get familer with that.

Because the Miata is rear wheel drive you may get in some drift practice or at least learn how to react when the rear goes out on you. Rear wheel cars are so much fun, but also so much different then front wheel drive.

 

[AMAN1]

It'll be really tough drifting the Miata. From what I hear, it's a fun little car, but doesn't have much power at all. I doubt you'll be getting the tail out unless the track is wet.

If you're only going to keep the Accord for two years, then it's probably not even worth spending $800 in modifications. And how much would you hate it if your transmission crapped out on you just before you were about to sell?

 

[accordslacker]

miata for one reason only......... the word "rental"

enough said :banana: