20,000 miles and 40 track days with an 818.

[Dave 53]

Just thought I'd post some of my notes after 2 1/2 years, 20,000 miles and 40 track days with my 818.

The track days are at Thunderhill, Laguna Seca, Sonoma, Buttonwillow and Willow Springs. I drive it to the track - don't always drive it home.

First track day 1/16/22 at 3,780 miles. Started with proper broom stick roll bars (one under the hood too), Arctangent oil control plate and Killer B pan. 2.0/2.5 Hybrid 265hp.
After 2nd track day - Broken shifter cable - drove home in 3rd gear. Surge pump.
After 4th - MAF sensor fail on drive home. Powerflex black rear bushings. Alignment. Cusco motor/tranny mounts. Front pads - Wilwood BP20. 4 R1R tires. Sparco seat.
After 6th - Oil change, Motul Sport.
After 7th - Cooked the oil to 290. Another oil change.
After 8th - Oil cooler. Repositioned the oil temp gauge and added warning light.
9th - MAF issues - limp mode after 2 laps. Speed Density tune 275 hp. Front pads.
11th - Oil change. Brake fluid flush.
12th - 4 RT660 tires
14th - LSD. Clutch fluid flush. Front pads.
15th - Rear wheel bearings.
16th - Tow home. Blown 5 speed 3rd gear, rebuild. Fire suppression system. Oil change. Moved brake bias to cockpit.
18th - Hit by a GT4. Knocked rear alignment out. Remarkably, no other damage. Rear RT660 tires. Alignment.
19th - Front pads.
20th - Bearing failure on drive home. Front wheel bearings.
22nd - Rear shocks.
23rd - Tow home. Pinion gear fail, rebuild. Front pads.
24th - Tow home. Pinion gear fail (probably made a mistake with rebuild), ZF Designs 6 speed close ratio transmission with cooler.
25th - Tow home. Over reved and overheated engine. M45 Engine rebuild. Water temp warning light. LED tach bar.
26th - Tow home (yes, 4 in a row). Driveshaft Shop Axles. Rear wheel bearings. 4 RT660 tires on Konig wheels. Fabricated a rack for the track wheels. Street tires on FFR wheels.
30th - Front brake rotors. Alignment.
31st - Threw a wheel weight - too out of balance to drive. Tape weights with high temp tape. Oil change.
32nd - Front wheel bearings. Power Flex Black front bushings. Springs from 350/275 to 475/350.
33rd - Alignment.
34th - Tried Wilwood PB28 pads - fail, back to BP20. Fabricated a "Laguna Pipe" to get below 90db.
35th - Cracked exhaust manifold. Replaced only the manifold. Front V730 tires. Sparco Circuit seat.
36th - Tow home. Remflex exhaust gasket fail. Replaced the whole exhaust system including equal length header, up pipe and muffler.
37th - Front pads.
38th - Oil change. Brake fluid flush. Clutch fluid flush. Rear V730 tires.
40th - Bad turbo coolant hose leak due to heat damage. Low oil pressure sensor.
20,206 miles. Still on original rear pads (not for much longer though).

Overall, the car seems pretty sorted out and is a very competent track car. But, there's always something on the to do list after every track day be it something simple like get a new water bottle to rebuild the engine! This list doesn't do justice to the amount of time or money it takes to keep a track car running and I don't keep track of either. But, I'm undeterred!

Laguna 1 8 6 23.jpg

[lance corsi]

Kudos to you Dave! You went about sorting your car in a logical method. You’ve proven that a wet sump is a good option. I’ve enjoyed your build process.