Track Day

[BluGT2]

I’m taking my Stinger to a track day in May at Mid-Ohio. It will be my first time. I’ve got almost 1,200 miles on it so far. Any suggestions or recommendations? I will change my oil prior to going.

 

[CaliSting]

Curious how do stock brake pads hold up on track? Those would be my biggest concern. Possibly put good brake fluid in the car too?

 

[Soca Boy]

Brakes should be ok, there’s a few videos with it stock on a track. I would say have a helmet on and try out the lap timer. Maybe add a camera to show us how you do, have fun and be safe.

 

[Terra]

I would say it's not a track car,, but give it heaps and have fun......

 

[JohnG7]

I’m taking my Stinger to a track day in May at Mid-Ohio. It will be my first time. I’ve got almost 1,200 miles on it so far. Any suggestions or recommendations? I will change my oil prior to going.

I've seen plenty of track footage (from KIA commercials), and this platform has spent a lot of time on the "ring". I'd really like to hear of your results tracking it "as is" (oh yeah, fresh oil and overall vehicle inspection).
I have found another thread where that OP tracked his, but I believe he'd made suspension changes and track wheels- he seemed to hold his own rather well.
I've found there is no limit on what we chase before getting to the track. Keep us informed of your track day, it oughta be a blast!

 

[CaliSting]

Brakes should be ok, there’s a few videos with it stock on a track. I would say have a helmet on and try out the lap timer. Maybe add a camera to show us how you do, have fun and be safe.

I haven’t found stock oem brakes and fluid that will hold up to a well driven 20 minute track session in most cars. I’d be very surprised that Kia oem pads would be up to full on track session. I guess one could just drive 75% and not push car hard in braking zones. But then you’d have well driven miatas passing you.

I’d love to see an in car of somone pushing car hard on Laguna Seca or Sonoma.

 

[CaliSting]

Oh other thing that would be critical is a harness or a seatbelt lock to better hold you in the seat. I can’t imagine driving this car without something that would hold me better than stock seatbelt. At least on tracks I drive.

I’d be very interested in how this car holds up during hot days with longer sessions. Suspect turbo motor will overheat and force sessions to go short. Watch you oil temps.

Also would be concerned about rear diff and tranny. LSD will Probably get very hot. Given no cooling those will be failure points in longer sessions.

God bless those willing to track these things as we will learn where failure points will occur. Again my guess will be brake pads, tranny , rear diff and motor overheating. I’d also be care ful with stickier tires on these cars until somone has really pushed car hard to see if it has ice breaking syndrome.

 

[IamTHEvilONE]

Digging up an older thread, but I actually went out and did this last weekend in Cayuga (Ontario).

The brake pads and rotors do overheat. You can feel them change over time, as pressing the pedal will start to get sloppy (fluid) or that you're pressing and it feels like ABS is kicking in but isn't (overheating to stick and unstick from the rotor).

General feelings:

1. Cold - doesn't stop so well at higher speeds ... this will be the first few laps depending on the course. Cayuga is a technical course, but the two open straights I had to brake earlier than I would normally expect or not go full throttle.
2. At Temp - stops better than when cold, smooth consistent feel to braking. Standard braking zone, good weight transfer rear to front.
3. Over Temp - almost felt like ABS triggers and not braking as well late in the braking zone. Brake pedal kicks back at you a little from the feedback.

As soon as you feel them start to change to over temp, it's time to come off the track and cool them off (drive at slow speeds) as you want the engine to run the coolant through the system as well. My rotors were blue hot

Key Point ... Never EVER put your parking brake on after this sorta thing. This is more of a reminder, or learning point the first time ... just habit for some. If you do, you risk gluing your pads to rotors.

A helmet may or may not be required, but this is as per the company running the lapping day (private) or session (course location). I didn't have to do it, since it was stock and wasn't in a roll cage/convertible.

The stock PS4 tires held up rather well. Fronts inflated to 38 and rears to 39 when cold. These went up to about 42-43 according to the cluster panel, but is expected when running hot. I did hit speeds of 160-170, so this is a good thing, and only a few PSI over street pressure.

Sport Mode auto up shifts at red line. So go into sport, only downshift as required and let the car upshift when needed. Sometimes I went off the throttle to avoid an upshift going into a corner since I would want to brake and downshift anyways. Once you hit the flappy paddles, it'll stay in manual mode long enough to hit the few corners ... but downshifting is a must to keep into the middle of the power band.

Everything else was pretty good as is. Needed a small about of 0W-30 synthetic to top up to the middle of the dip stick. Brake fluid is likely dot3, could probably use dot4 for extended periods of track usage. I'm already thinking of upgrading the Pads, Rotors, and fluid as a first step of just being able to run the car longer on the track.

 

[Volvowith18psi]

That is interesting that Brembos, of all pads, are acting up. I'm curious if they used a ceramic blend or a full metallic.

However, they are street pads not designed for an all day track session.

 

[eflyguy]

I did hit speeds of 160-170

Did you find the ECU limiter?

 

[IamTHEvilONE]

Did you find the ECU limiter?

I don't think so, but can't be certain. One of the semi-pro drivers there had the car up to 173 (GPS Based) and the straights on the street track in Cayuga aren't all that long ... not more than a 1/4 mile at most.

 

[IamTHEvilONE]

Did you find the ECU limiter?

Also note, I'm talking km/h ... not miles.

 

[CaliSting]

Oem street brake pads being weak point doesn’t surprise me. Even German guy from BMW involved in Stinger said the car would need track pads. Unsure why people think they can take a car with oem pads designed for street driving on track on not see significant fade. Also see similar reports from reviewers now who take car out for fast laps.

I’d be very careful with transmission and rear dif temps too. Almost worth installing temp sensors in those areas if you plan to drive track more. Automatic transmissions tend to overheat and so do rear ends. Given no additional cooling on those components and using stock fluids those could fail in longer session if they get too hot. If you have infrared temperatures gun have somone shoot rear diff and transmission as you pull in from session . I’d bet both are very hot. I think long term both would need external coolers and upgraded fluids.

I’m surprised motor didn’t get too hot. Any readings on oil temps?

 

[IamTHEvilONE]

I’m surprised motor didn’t get too hot. Any readings on oil temps?

No specific warnings. I don't think Oil Temp is in the ODBII channels, but should be since it's in the cluster menu. Engine coolant never went above 110 on the fastest laps up to temp.

 

[eflyguy]

Also note, I'm talking km/h ... not miles.

Ha! OK..

I hit THAT running to the store in my Sorento!

 

[mldavis2]

Does anyone know if the "Oil temp" reading on the dash is engine oil or transmission oil? I can't seem to find out.

 

[CaliSting]

No specific warnings. I don't think Oil Temp is in the ODBII channels, but should be since it's in the cluster menu. Engine coolant never went above 110 on the fastest laps up to temp.

Oil temps are more critical one to watch. Seems like more and more manufactures are letting oil get very hot to point where will see breakdown in ability to keep critical components protected. Would be worthwhile to pull up oil temp menu while on track or find good OBDII data logger. I also wonder how well all components stay oiled when on track in higher g turns with wet sump.

Again all learnings for us as people venture onto track.

 

[Jonathan Lasich]

Street pads may be the Achilles heel here. As mentioned in a previous post, as soon as you feel the brakes going off, pull into the pits, put it in park but leave the parking brake off and let things cool down.

What I've found in previous automatic transmission cars, leaving the transmission in sport mode and letting it shift itself usually generates less engine oil and transmission fluid heat than using the paddles. The transmission adapts to the driving, so as you are longer on the track, the shifts become more "sporty" i.e. closer to redline and crisper shifts. It may also adapt to increased fluid heat to promote cooling. The upside to that it that there is one less thing for you to focus on (shifting), allowing you to focus on more important things such as proper driving lines, braking, entry and exit points, especially for a first time track day in a particular car.

 

[CaliSting]

Street pads may be the Achilles heel here. As mentioned in a previous post, as soon as you feel the brakes going off, pull into the pits, put it in park but leave the parking brake off and let things cool down.

What I've found in previous automatic transmission cars, leaving the transmission in sport mode and letting it shift itself usually generates less engine oil and transmission fluid heat than using the paddles. The transmission adapts to the driving, so as you are longer on the track, the shifts become more "sporty" i.e. closer to redline and crisper shifts. It may also adapt to increased fluid heat to promote cooling. The upside to that it that there is one less thing for you to focus on (shifting), allowing you to focus on more important things such as proper driving lines, braking, entry and exit points, especially for a first time track day in a particular car.

Yes however I’d say you don’t want to pull into pits as soon as you feel brakes getting hot. Better to take a cool down lap or two where you aren’t on brakes as hard. Allows temps to come down prior to parking car.

Using automatic shifts compared to aggressive downshifts will definitely reduce revs and engine braking and result in lower engine and transmission temps. Will put slowing car more on brakes where stopping should be happening. All the more reason to upgrade to track pads and good fluid.

Curious anyone know what pads our brembo calipers use? Assume we must share a similar size to brembo application on other cars? Must be a better pad we could use. Something that doesn’t require lots of heat for street use but can tolerate longer track sessions.

 

[eflyguy]

I recently replaced front pads and rotors on my Sorento, didn't take very long, seems like a pad swap for a track day wouldn't be much of an inconvenience..