Hello,

I will soon enter my first trackday with my Ginetta G27 and would like to have informations about what to do with tyre pressures and dampers settings.

I have 195/50-tyres and use pressures of 1.4 bar at the front and 1.2 at the rear for road use.

I have adjustable dampers and their setting can not be described as confortable. I turn the button fully anti clockwise then make a full turn clockwise + a half turn at the rear and a full turn clockwise + two "clics" at the front

(hope you understand my poor english)

Should I increase tires pressures for the track and stiffen the dampers?

Thanks for any advice

my little car weighs somewhere around 450-500kgs, and i recently dropped pressure to 15psi. At 18, the tyres still seem bulged in the middle. Not sure what that is in bar unfortunately. As for damper settings, it could be your springs as well. Springs just basically keep the up, and in the absense of an ARB they also control roll. Assuming you have no ARB, does the car roll excessively in fast corners? If you steer fast from side to side, does it wallow or feel nimble? If the car seems well postured, leave it as is, if you feel it is stiffer than necessary (ie painful over bumps etc) then consider getting softer springs. Then adjust the dampers to match, by trial and error. Unfortunately, you will need to test the changes on track to fully appreciate them, unless you have understanding local police!

[Edited on 18/4/06 by JoelP]

If i were you i'd put 22psi in your tyres, set your suspension to a couple of clicks over half way and then forget about the car for your first trackday, and just concentrate on your lines and braking points, and having a good time!
You'll have enough on your mind on the first day e.g. flags, marshell points, over taking rules etc that possibly your car settings won't be that important.
P.s. Don't forget to check oil level, brake fluid etc. throughout the day as your car may use more on a trackday.
If the trackday bug bits you could go to a race meeting for the ginetta formula, and ask some of the drivers for setup advice for future trackdays as you will find them very helpful people. Or maybe try the race series web site.
Hope this helps
Paul

Thanks for advice guys.

Car seems well postured (without ARB) so I will just adjust the tires pressures and will perhaps play a little bit with the dampers settings later during the day.

I agree I will have lots of (other) things to think about given the fact it's my first trackday but the right tires pressure and dampers a little bit "stiffer" should help.

Thanks for the advice given.

Stay on the black bit and don't crash.

Ive just done my first trackday. Tyres were 18psi. Suspension was no more than a road set up. As said above i had more on my mind than driving fast! You will be surprised how much you need to concentrate at first. i found getting the lines right and then gradually picking the speed up was no.1 priority. Once you get that right you can then try and reach the limit of the car (believe me this is not easy at first - my car handles a lot better than i can drive it!!). Once you find the limits you will then be thinking about chassis prep later.

Hope you have a great day. It is extremely addictive - even in the wet.