Plaid, NON Track Pack on Road/Rack Course HPDE

[bls72bmw]

Team, Researched and can't find anyone posting about a Non Track Pack Plaid, or even a S, at HPDE.

Looking to hear impressions re; braking, brake fade, regen, overheating. etc etc.
I track a C4 Corvette with the Porsche Club, my pal tracks a Taycan that does well on the track.

Any info?

 

[Zcd1]

I recall an early adopter totaling his non-Track Pack Plaid during his first track outing due to what appeared to be running out of talent combined with severe brake fade...

Personally, I wouldn't even considering doing a track event in a Plaid without some sort of brake upgrade...

 

[bls72bmw]

running out of talent combined with severe brake fade...
ha, SO TRUE for any car, right?
I'm in Minnesota, Brainered, it's a nice track, but Turn 1 and 2 are Fast....
Turn 1, a banked right-hand 60-degree turn that continues to be the fastest turn on any road course in the country.
I can take that turn at 137mph in an old C4 Corvette.....I can't imagine what you could run a Plaid into it at speed, 180?

But I hear you, thanks for the reply Zcd1

 

[DayTrippin]

Don't take a Plaid on a road course without upgrading the brakes. They are basically good from one hard stop at high speeds which typically works fine on the streets.

I spent a lot of time at Brainerd. It would be suicide to run a stock Plaid there unless you keep the speeds really slow. You could still probably go really fast as long as you didn't brake to hard. It does have pretty good lateral grip. Without the track pack brakes the speed limiter is a lot lower too. WIth the track pack you get the full unlock to 200. It will let you go just a bit over that IRL.

 

[ninefiveone]

I have yet to track my non-track pack plaid yet but will track it at least once just to see how it does. My regular track car is a 911 gt3 and I’ve tracked and instructed for over 20 years.

So this isn’t first hand experience but here’s what I’m expecting/planning:

- mostly tracking the car to see what it’s cornering behavior and limits are
- will only go full speed into 1 or 2 corners per lap, going easier the other corners to preserve the brakes.
- I’ll do at least one full lap hard at the end of the track day/weekend to see how long it’ll go before brake fade and not ruin the rest of my track time with glazed/ruined pads.

 

[bkcyk]

I have yet to track my non-track pack plaid yet but will track it at least once just to see how it does. My regular track car is a 911 gt3 and I’ve tracked and instructed for over 20 years.

So this isn’t first hand experience but here’s what I’m expecting/planning:

- mostly tracking the car to see what it’s cornering behavior and limits are
- will only go full speed into 1 or 2 corners per lap, going easier the other corners to preserve the brakes.
- I’ll do at least one full lap hard at the end of the track day/weekend to see how long it’ll go before brake fade and not ruin the rest of my track time with glazed/ruined pads.

A tale of two contrasts

Sans TP, but not even stock tires, wheels and rotors.

"As expected, the comments of TRACK PACK are coming in. Yes, the Track Pack is (hopefully) solving the issue of LETHAL stock brakes (which were changed on this car). HOWEVER, the disasterous suspension remains unchanged with the track pack. The car loses every balance if it's not traveling straight under acceleration. It makes unpredictable movements. Great for the straights, but no way the Nürburgring Lap Time was set with a stock car. To all the Plaid owners: enjoy the car on the straight roads and some tracks with run off. Bumpy surfaces like the Nordschleife will send you in the wall unexpectedly."

w/ TP

 

[ninefiveone]

Clearly Misha was impressed and happy with the track pack the second time around. Why only print the commentary from his first drive?

 

[DayTrippin]

Clearly Misha was impressed and happy with the track pack the second time around. Why only print the commentary from his first drive?

It is a tale of two cars so to speak. There is a significant difference before and after the track pack, and not just with the brakes.

 

[ninefiveone]

It is a tale of two cars so to speak. There is a significant difference before and after the track pack, and not just with the brakes.

Agree but the quote you posted states otherwise.

 

[DayTrippin]

My point was you can't look at things in isolation. A lot of people are happy with the stock brakes. They probably are fine if you never push the car and maybe do one hard stop from highway speeds or even lower "illegal" speeds.

Most people are never going to engage track mode and push it to see the difference. So they are probably fine with the stock brakes and suspension tuning. After driving my car with the brakes and the changes to the track mode, I'd love to see them push the changes they did out to the stock car for the suspension tuning. I definitely don't think it is wise decision to track this car on a road course with the stock brakes unless you take it really easy.

People who haven't driven the track pack setup really don't know what they are missing (excluding the braking aspect). The car feels more planted at speed than before. It doesn't feel near as floaty once you get up around 140+. It definitely feels tauter and more controlled. I won't say it ever felt super float but maybe less precise than I'd like.

I had been on the fence a bit about buying the track pack brakes. This is one of those rare times I got much more than I thought I would. I was surprised how much the feel of the car changed in track mode and even the changing of the brake bias when not in track mode.