Who here has tracked their Emira?

[Blackthought_]

Anyone here track their Emira? If so, did you track the car 100% stock or did you upgrade parts? Particularly interested if you changed out the brake fluid, pads, tires, etc.

 

[bankser]

Just did an SCCA Track Night in America at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The course was the ROVAL combo of infield and banked corners. My car is completely stock with Sport/Eagle F1s. Here’s a photo of me coming out of the turn 4 chicane being stalked by a C8.
The event consisted of 3 x 20 minute sessions which allowed about 5 laps per session. The car handled fantastic and was only limited by the driver’s skill and some folks refusal to give me a point-by. Tire and brake pad wear were surprisingly low.
I’m probably going to do the next one in September but will install a K&N filter and hopefully the 3rd cat delete by then.
I thought it was a bit slow off the corners but that’s probably my fault for letting the revs drop to 3k. I’ll probably keep it in 3rd gear longer to keep the engine between 4 and 5k.

 

[bshads]

Tracked at laguna seca last week. Only mod was castrol srf. It is a high power and braking track, and as such I ground through about 70% of the oem pads in 5 sessions.

In general
Lap 1-3 car was happy
Lap 3 brakes started fading and actually felt better than the high cold bite
Lap 4 the tires started acting up (eagle f1's). Also around this time 2nd gear did not want to be shifted into.
Lap 9 the brakes would start to shudder and i'd need a cooldown

Its a fantastic street car and track experience car. Its not a track car out the gate.

For track i'd recommend different pads at a minimum and some way to get cooling to the calipers.

 

[KCDarkV]

Tracked at laguna seca last week. Only mod was castrol srf. It is a high power and braking track, and as such I ground through about 70% of the oem pads in 5 sessions.

In general
Lap 1-3 car was happy
Lap 3 brakes started fading and actually felt better than the high cold bite
Lap 4 the tires started acting up (eagle f1's). Also around this time 2nd gear did not want to be shifted into.
Lap 9 the brakes would start to shudder and i'd need a cooldown

Its a fantastic street car and track experience car. Its not a track car out the gate.

For track i'd recommend different pads at a minimum and some way to get cooling to the calipers.

Good insight. The track I went to was very flowy and did not require a lot of heartbreaking other than maybe two corners. It’s good to understand that other tracks will require more preparation.

 

[@Life411]

Great thread as I'm right in the middle of planning a private track day for 10 or 15 of us here in North Carolina. I'll plan to take my Emira out as it is - stock.

 

[tnbuilder]

What are you guys doing for track insurance? What is it costing?

 

[bshads]

Track insurance for a street car? Nah.

As long as there is no timing or an HPDE event, there is some likelihood that your regular policy will cover issues. For incidental issues, you need to be ok self-insuring that.

But, I carry an open track fixed value policy on my racecar.

 

[Six Speed Stephen]

What are you guys doing for track insurance? What is it costing?

Opentrack. For some reason my local track NJMP is way more expensive to insure than other tracks, but its about $1,200 for the day but only about $800 at most other tracks.

As long as there is no timing or an HPDE event, there is some likelihood that your regular policy will cover issues.

LOL good luck with that

 

[FlyNavy01]

I've never heard of any standard insurance policy covering ANY form of track driving. Either get dedicated track insurance or take the $100k gamble. Either way It's going to be expensive.

 

[bankser]

Great thread as I'm right in the middle of planning a private track day for 10 or 15 of us here in North Carolina. I'll plan to take my Emira out as it is - stock.

Looking forward to it!

 

[gcmak]

Hagery/RLI/Opentrack all have easy online quote capabilities. Since it's an agreed-upon value insurance, it's not as complicated as road insurance (which by the way, given the current state of insurance in the USA, I would STRONGLY suggest to not mention or show evidence to your street insurance that you're tracking the car at all).

Here's an example:

 

[bankser]

Hagery/RLI/Opentrack all have easy online quote capabilities. Since it's an agreed-upon value insurance, it's not as complicated as road insurance (which by the way, given the current state of insurance in the USA, I would STRONGLY suggest to not mention or show evidence to your street insurance that you're tracking the car at all).

Here's an example:

View attachment 50794

I was quoted $687 for a Track Night at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

 

[Six Speed Stephen]

Hagery/RLI/Opentrack all have easy online quote capabilities. Since it's an agreed-upon value insurance, it's not as complicated as road insurance (which by the way, given the current state of insurance in the USA, I would STRONGLY suggest to not mention or show evidence to your street insurance that you're tracking the car at all).

Here's an example:

View attachment 50794

Only $100k? I add the tax I paid and PPF

 

[gcmak]

Only $100k? I add the tax I paid and PPF

Haha, I gotcha and it depends on what someone's comfortable with.

 

[brainf18]

Track insurance for a street car? Nah.

As long as there is no timing or an HPDE event, there is some likelihood that your regular policy will cover issues. For incidental issues, you need to be ok self-insuring that.

But, I carry an open track fixed value policy on my racecar.

With 20+ years of HPDE / Instruction / Racing experience, I am sorry but this is really bad advice...I have seen several crashes and subsequent claims denied during track events. Insurance companies are not dumb and fully understand what HPDE weekends are and are not. Many (if not most) passenger vehicle policies state in the declaration pages (the fine print) that if a car is used for any track related event and is damaged while on a motorsports facility's property, all coverages are voided. Each insurer and policy is different so anyone who intends to track their car needs to check with their underwriter to determine what is and is not covered. If they say your covered for HPDE events at a motorsports facility, be sure get the answer in writing.

 

[slotus]

One of the reasons timing is strictly prohibited at HPDE events is to keep it "non-competitive" which in theory keeps your insurance coverage. You may end up paying a lawyer to argue that for you. Good luck even getting the full fine print of your actual coverage. I have asked for it many times and never received it. The response from the insurance company was always "why are you asking/what happened".

That said, track insurance is a ripoff. If you can't afford to eat some track damage, you likely also can't afford hundred of dollars a day on insurance. A beater track Miata may be a better solution for you (That is what I do).

 

[trackday14]

With 20+ years of HPDE / Instruction / Racing experience, I am sorry but this is really bad advice...I have seen several crashes and subsequent claims denied during track events. Insurance companies are not dumb and fully understand what HPDE weekends are and are not. Many (if not most) passenger vehicle policies state in the declaration pages (the fine print) that if a car is used for any track related event and is damaged while on a motorsports facility's property, all coverages are voided. Each insurer and policy is different so anyone who intends to track their car needs to check with their underwriter to determine what is and is not covered. If they say your covered for HPDE events at a motorsports facility, be sure get the answer in writing.

Agreed! As a former executive at a top 5 insurance company, it is highly unlikely that any damage incurred and/or caused is covered for any on-track driving.

The few times that I have purchased track event insurance, I have used Open Track. Relatively cheap for my BMW 1M, but it was about $700 for the Emira. Since I have a 1996 Miata for a dedicated track car, I do not often purchase track insurance.

 

[trackday14]

One of the reasons timing is strictly prohibited at HPDE events is to keep it "non-competitive" which in theory keeps your insurance coverage. You may end up paying a lawyer to argue that for you. Good luck even getting the full fine print of your actual coverage. I have asked for it many times and never received it. The response from the insurance company was always "why are you asking/what happened".

That said, track insurance is a ripoff. If you can't afford to eat some track damage, you likely also can't afford hundred of dollars a day on insurance. A beater track Miata may be a better solution for you (That is what I do).

Track insurance is a ripoff…until you need it. A deductible of 10% of your car’s value is a lot easier to swallow than a repair cost of more…

 

[slotus]

Track insurance is a ripoff…until you need it. A deductible of 10% of your car’s value is a lot easier to swallow than a repair cost of more…

The deductible is 10%? Ten thousand dollars of damage before it pays anything!!? No, that is just a straight ripoff. The risk/reward is not balanced. That is nearly a years worth of insurance cost to cover one hour on track. Take that money and put it in a jar for track damage and you will be better off.

 

[seriously]

The deductible is 10%? Ten thousand dollars of damage before it pays anything!!? No, that is just a straight ripoff. The risk/reward is not balanced. That is nearly a years worth of insurance cost to cover one hour on track. Take that money and put it in a jar for track damage and you will be better off.

This is why I don’t go balls to the walls at track events. I’m going to have fun pushing the car not for a PB. This is also why I avoid the shitboxes driving at 10/10ths. They could care less if they lose a bumper or more.

 

[Blackthought_]

The deductible is 10%? Ten thousand dollars of damage before it pays anything!!? No, that is just a straight ripoff. The risk/reward is not balanced. That is nearly a years worth of insurance cost to cover one hour on track. Take that money and put it in a jar for track damage and you will be better off.

I considered that too but especially on a high end vehicle like the lotus…it’s probably worth the piece of mind. imagine hitting into a wall and it’s like 30k in damage (which is likely since lotus body panels are $$$). I’d much rather pay 10% than to fork over 30k or even more. Imagine totaling it! And I get the comments around not driving 10/10ths but sometimes it’s not even your fault. Your at others drivers mercy, including oil spills, debris, etc on the track