At last first HPDE with my '16 R. The day started dry and cool, became wet, then dryish. At Atlantic Motorsport Park near Halifax NS. 1.6 mile 11 turn track in operation since 1974 with old and new pavement interspersed with concrete..lots of up and down, a tight little track and quite tricky.
Had fun with the paddles as I have been driving with hands at "10 and 2" rather than "9 and 3" so was fumbling to try to find them while busily turning, braking and needing to downshift. So...am working to have 9-3 a habit. Solved that problem by the 2nd session.
The car is a monster on the track...definitely big and heavy but goes like a rocket. No issues with the brakes, the PZero's were fine so long as the pressures when hot stayed at 41-42. Used the pressure indicator function on the cool down laps and the first session had 46 and 45 on the left side and 43-43 on the right, definitely greasy and much better the other sessions with hot pressures in the 41-42 range.
Had a fair bit of under steer until I got a better handle on my turn in and throttle application....and much better when I began to "find" the paddles on a regular basis.
Couldn't really "notice" the awd kicking in or out or anything with "torque vectoring.....though not really sure what I would/should notice.
Comments during the day noted the magnificent sounds downshifting on the front straight into turn one...frustration from a Couple of Porsche owners that they passed me in session one but were being passed in session three....and the fine noises accompaning the pass.
Be nice to try some Michelins but for the present there is much more for me to learn in getting to know the R....did get some "flow" on the PZero's though so they were working hard.
As always, the wet and drying sessions were the most revealing and the car really is stunning....a significant change from my Z3MCoupe with about 250hp and a high pucker factor rear suspension.
Anyone on the fence about doing a track day....I highly recommend it.
Alan

 

Glad you enjoyed it.

Couple suggestions (that I wish I got when I started first)...

1. It isn't about how fast you enter the corner, it is how much you speed can carry through while maintaining the line. It isn't intuitive, but if you enter too fast you won't be able to follow optimal line and it will take you loner to finish turn.

2. Take a slalom and winter driving course. Knowing how to control your car and how to tell when things about to hit the fan is difference between little dust and a wrecked car. Until you get intuitive feel for it don't play near the limit.

3. Don't follow other drivers while trying to learn the track - they might be doing something stupid, or something that won't work for you and your car. Your R can't do what track-tuned Miata can pull off in a tight corner, but they won't get away from you anywhere else.

4. Track days require increased maintenance. Make sure to change engine oil every 10 hours or so on the track. This approximately means that you should half your service interval if you occasionally track.

5. There is no such thing as 'fast in' or 'slow in car', there is optimal way to take corner (usually only one) and you getting the car to follow it.

 

Thanks for sharing! Surprised about the understeer, probably related to having AWD. I hope to have an HPDE next month, in a V6 RWD.

 

Understeer on turn-in wouldn't be related to AWD except as due to extra weight and higher center of gravity. Until the rear wheels start to slip it should be effectively RWD.

I'm not surprised about understeer if turn-in wasn't right. It is a heavy car.

I'm glad to hear you had fun. Every HPDE I've been to has been great. I even rejoined NASA to go out in the F-Type.

 

Understeer can be easily addressed by using appropriate (mild) brake application and steering input to shift more weight to the outside front wheel before you get back on the power. If you are running in TracDSC mode, you may have to revert to old-school trail-braking techniques.

 

To alleviate some of the push, brake a hair earlier, turn in quick and smooth. This car has quick dampers so it will "set" its weight on the outside front fast. At this point make sure once you have the car angled beyond the Apex and move your eyes to your track out point. Start unwinding the wheel and getting on the throttle. Your target is the track out point and the correct apex is just the quickest way to get there.

Also keep in mind each corner has a geometric apex and race line apex which may differ. Different cars, speeds, setups etc can influence this.

I see a lot of perceived under steer actually caused by to fast of an entry speed(trail braking works great here but takes practice) or trying to over rotate and hugging the apex instead of passing it to the track out point.

If you plan on doing a few track days a year it be worth while to get some basic telemetry and video. You will be surprised at what you see versus what you remember.

 

And just to confuse things further, some turns have 2 apexes (sharp hairpins for example).

 

LOL it's not any easy subject

 

Interesting to read the Motor Trend Randy Probst description of driving the SVR....no ' stinkin paddles ' for him.
It didn't cross my mind to let the tranny deal with up shifts and downshifts itself.
Food for thought.
Alan

 

Alan,

Thanks for the resume on your track day...sounds like you enjoyed it.

I'm surprised that you had the pressure in your tyres so high...The manual recommends cold setting to 31psi, allowing them to warm to around 37-38 when tracked.
I wonder if your understeer was a function of having the fronts being a little over inflated?

With the Torque Vectoring bB, if you under steer, the inside wheels will have small amount of brake applied and vice-versa on oversteer; So, if it's a mainly left hand corner circuit, you may find that the left hand side brakes are showing signs of being driven harder than the right hand side if you are encountering understeer.

 

Tad...some time ago I found a 2 page "track" info brochure on Jaguar.com and with a disastrous reboot of my iPad lost it. Do you have access to it...I can't find it.
You are right about tire pressure ....I felt them to be ok at 40-41....and terrible at 46 ! Cold they were 33# so your 32 to start, I'll tRey next track day.
Definitely a major contributor to the under steer, as was on the gas too soon, bad corner entry etc.
After the 1st session, with tire pressure adjusted downward and being able to "find" the paddles using 9-3 grip on the wheel, better corner entry and later power application...etc things were much improved.
Have you tried just letting it chose gears for itself ? Seems a waste ...

 

After my first track day (ever), the instructor said:
1. Should use the paddles
2. He hated the P-Zeros.


My 2nd track day was informal, and I used the paddles and had MPSS by then. Awesome!

 

The F-Type Track day brochure used to be here:
https://www.jaguar.com/Images/F-TYPE...m76-110851.pdf
...alas, it is no longer?

That said, the tyre section reads:




If you would like the e-brochure form JLR, I have it as a 2Mb PDF. PM me and I'll email it to you Arne.

 

Just read the Motor Trend 12 car "test" and tire pressures for Laguna Seca were shown as 36# hot....and it was on PZeros.
Interesting.

 

Did you receive the pdf from me?

 

Oops, yes I did and should have thanked you immediately .
It has a # of useful tips.
Again thanks,
Alan

 

That's good...My office is currently floating around the North Sea, so the internet is scratchy to say the least, and wondered if it made it across the pond!