1st track event which mode?
 

Coming up on my first track day. prior experience is 2 track days in a c6 grandsport. Question is should I use the basic modes either sport or track and learn how to modulate the gas coming out of the corners? Or do PTM in either dry or sport 1, mash the gas and the computer figure out how much gas to give me? Or do PTM and modulate the gas myself like normal? All advice is welcome.

Ptm sport 1

First (and only) time I tracked my 1LE I went with Competitive Mode. It was my 11th track event overall since 2007; before this, seven in a 2005 Mustang GT and three in a BMW 2 Series.

The 1LE was new to me, plus it had rained and the track wasn't completely dry until later in the day, so I just wanted to experience the car on a track and not take any chances. Competitive Mode seemed like the way to go, since you get 100% throttle and no Traction Control, but you do get StabiliTrak and eLSD Mode 4 for some sense of security.

This was at Lime Rock in CT, which is a pretty hairy track with minimal run-off and guard rails in a couple spots. Even after 50 laps or so and feeling comfortable with the car, Competitive Mode was fine, and I never felt any need to turn the nannies off.

As far as your question about mashing the gas, I think you always want to go for smooth inputs with throttle and brake.

The sticky thread above, 1LE Driving Modes/PTM Demystified, sums up all the modes in the first post, and has excellent discussion throughout the thread. :thumbsup:

For what it's worth, I had my first track day ever in the 1LE at VIR in October last year. I read the sticky thread, 1LE Driving Modes/PTM Demystified, extensively and even made sure that thread was loaded on my phone's browser for quick reference at the track.

We had perfect conditions at the track so I started out in Track PTM mode - Dry to get a feel for the car and how it responded to steering, throttle and brake input, and when and under what conditions the nannies kicked in. I found that by the end of the 1st session I wanted less nanny involvement.

For the second session, I simply bumped up the track setting to Track PTM mode - Sport 1. I was surprised how the car came out of corners much more smoothly under heavy throttle, but the nanny still wanted to get involved.

Third session, one more adjustment to Track PTM mode - Sport 2. This session really felt good, but hard acceleration out of slower corners found the nanny again and started to get frustrating by the end of the 20 minute session.

For my last session of the day I went to Track PTM mode - Race and found the sweet spot, for me at least. The car responded better to the throttle input and only once towards the start of the session did the nanny butt in. Once tires were fully up to temp and grippy I never saw the nanny again.

I guess the bottom line is slowly progress through the settings to get a good feel for the car and nannies, dialing the nanny back a bit each time based on your comfort level.

Hope your first track day is as fun as mine was!

JD

PS. I ran through the same progression for my first autocross event, where the nanny involvement is much more pronounced.

Being that you have done some track days before - start off in PTM Sport 1. You will quickly jump to Sport 2 and then Race.

The throttle works in such a way that it will kick in a nanny but it will be relatively smooth -- the downfall is that if you use it too often you will get used to it and then if you go full off and mash the throttle you will expect it to react the same way.

So, my suggestion is start busting up through the modes as the tires warm up and watch where the nanny kicks in. However, I autocross -- so the ELSD is almost always working its way around a tight corner.

First track day...



Session 1: touring mode, end of session check HOT tire pressures, adjust as needed

Session 2: sport mode,end of session, check brakes and tire pressure

Session 3: try the track modes.

For my first track day I started in sport 1 and moved up from there as I felt comfortable and felt the nannies kicking in when i didn't want them to. I ended up in ptm race by the end of the first day and liked it there.

Use Track mode with PTM and drive the car according to best principles: smooth on controls. It is a good habit to develop regardless of available TC magic.

I'd recommend starting in PTM Sport 1 and not hurrying into other choices until you learn the car and perhaps get a few more track days behind your belt experience wise. It will give you most relaxed Stabilitrack yet still intervene should the yaw angles get out of whack and provide some TC assistance for exits. It is possible to turn *very* fast laps in this setting and unless you over drive the car a whole bunch the nannies will not hurt your pace.

As far as going to Sport 2, or Race: 1le is superbly balanced and predictable, but that's not to say that you cannot spin it if you push it far enough. And in those modes Stabilitrak is OFF meaning if you exceed your, or the car's limits - it will be all up to you to recover.

So the main question here is: are you comfy sensing/feeling where the car is limit wise AND equally importantly: do you have a skill to recover should you exceed the limits.

If the answer is "not yet" to either, then having some assistance makes sense. At least in my book. Note that nannies, when used properly (paying attention to when they kick in), can be a useful tool to learn the car - while having an extra security blanket. The non productive way would be to use nannies as a crutch while willfully overdriving the car.

Moreover: some may turn everything off and feel "comfortable" but the question is how far are they pushing the car regarding its limits? If not far at all it will feel very comfy indeed as there is no reason why it wouldn't. The question, as above, is do the have sufficient skill to feel what the car is about to do (or doing already) and do they have the necessary skills to respond timely and correctly. And that could be a fine line. Have not seen a vid of Provoste spinning out :)
But there are vids of other drivers losing it and then blaming tires, understeer (funny), full moon, etc. Bottom line a car spins out only due to one reason: driver error, even if your name is Seb Vettel. Exceptions are fluid on track, or a mechanical issue.

Last word: what nannies to use et al is strictly a personal decision based on experience/skill, risk appetite, mood, etc. There is no shame in using nannies either. Most top level race cars have TC. And F1 cars had stability control just a few years ago. The decision is yours!

Have fun at your track day!!!

Ps what venue?

That's some great info. Quick question in sport or track Non ptm does the throttle still measure the yaw of the vehicle? Or is it just simply using traction control and stability control? And is there any difference in the 2 besides the shocks, steering, and sound since u can change those manually anyways?

Kinda pointless to track not using ptm..use sport 1 till you are comfortable and feel throttle restriction on corner exit. Then sport 2..

thse are very good tips and accurate statements...translates to a ZL1 as well.

Thanks Stephen, appreciate your feedback! Cheers!

Id say throttle modulation by TC on exits is a lesser point. It is not having Stabilitrack with Sport 2 is a bigger consideration imo, as that controls excessive yaw, which is important on entries and mid corner (but not only). And those phases are by far more difficult than exits. So id say dont go to Sport 2 or Race (both of which turn off Stabilitrak) until such time as you dont feel it intruding too much. If it does, it means one is over driving the car.
If one turns it off and still over drivers the car yaw wise, then a driver needs to have proper skill to make necessary corrections.

Hope this all makes sense.