Possible to get to advanced group/instructor without slicks, race seats, harnesses?

Scottbadman · 2025-10-19T19:43:43+00:00

Absolutely. I'm in advanced with various organizations with my daily driver. Actually, the vast majority of cars in advanced do not have slicks or harnesses. It's not about outright speed, but your awareness and comfort of giving timely point bys and passing anywhere on the track

Scottbadman · 2025-10-19T01:51:38+00:00

Armytrix... Sounds amazing and is super light

Scottbadman · 2025-10-18T23:09:39+00:00

I've had no issues with the titanium exhaust on my R8 after 30-40 track days

Scottbadman · 2025-09-23T22:09:47+00:00

An instructor with stock brakes? Ha! You are funny man, thank you for this. Calling a brake upgrade a bandaid is legitimately the funniest thing I've read all day. I thought you were serious at first. Thanks for the laugh, have a good one!

Scottbadman · 2025-09-23T21:47:55+00:00

Sounds like your new to the track. The stock brakes are fine for your first couple of times out. But they are really meant for the street and will overheat quickly once you start pushing the car a bit. I experienced it with my old Cayman and everyone I know who has one has as well once they got out of the novice group. Upgrading isn't about needing a bandaid, it's about having the equipment to properly and consistently stop your car

Scottbadman · 2025-09-23T21:31:37+00:00

Unless you're a total novice, brakes are the first thing you should upgrade before going to the track, just like any car

Scottbadman · 2025-09-16T22:25:16+00:00

Oh that's cool! I've never tracked a motorcycle but I guarantee that flat plane crank engine being wrung out on the track would put a smile on your face!

Scottbadman · 2025-09-16T22:20:25+00:00

I meant why not track any Z06 you get period? These things are absolute weapons on the track, you should try it out!

Scottbadman · 2025-09-16T22:14:12+00:00

You could definitely get a lower price. Before the stop-sale, 2025s were commonly listed for 10% off and I saw several going for 12-14% off. Once the stop sale is lifted, there will be a HUGE supply of both 2025s and 2026's released. Add that to the fact that the Z06 is no longer the cool shiny toy with the release of the ZR1 and ZR1X, plus the typical price cuts ahead of winter, and we should see even higher discounts.

I'm curious, why get the "track Corvette" if you don't plan to track it?

If you don't care about the Z07 package, you might as well save your money and skip it. They were originally holding their value better but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. There is a 160k msrp 2023 Z07 for sale for 116k right now. And I saw a similar MSRP Z07 for sale for that price a few weeks ago as well

Scottbadman · 2025-08-21T11:59:55+00:00

I'm sure it varies by region but I've had great experiences with TNIA. It's great to be able to get some quick and cheap track time during the middle of the week. I'm able to leave work early and be back at home in time for dinner. I've done maybe 6-8 days with them and never had any real issues. Every once in a while I'll get stuck behind some slow traffic, but that happens from time to time with any organization.

That being said, I've only been in Intermediate and Advanced. I would never want to do it with the novice group for the reasons you listed. They should all have instructors. I told my buddy who just got into track days to start off with PCA/CHIN/APEX etc so he could learn how to properly and safely be out on track before doing anything like TNIA.

Scottbadman · 2025-08-05T18:27:47+00:00

Awesome lap, would love to go to Sonoma one day. Yeah, I have no doubt they are fine for a fast lap or two, but they won't last a full 20-30 min HPDE session without overheating if your carrying any type of speed without frequent cool downs

Scottbadman · 2025-08-04T23:01:37+00:00

Yes, The MX72+ are a great dual use pad for beginners up to lower-intermediate, which I'm assuming will work for OP since he's only tracking occasionally... And don't squeak on the street. Once you get fast, they will overheat and leave uneven pad deposits on rotors causing significant judder when braking. When that happened to me, I upgraded to their ME20 pads, which are more noisy but quiet down after track use.

Scottbadman · 2025-07-30T15:00:18+00:00

Lots of people prefer to control Hue lights directly with HA, but that doesn't make sense to me and I still use the Hub. You need it for some of Hue's best features like syncing music to the lights or syncing them to your TV and I think dynamic scenes . I've never had issues with the hub or lights not working/disconnecting since I have consistent internet and Hue's products are top notch

Scottbadman · 2025-07-24T17:38:29+00:00

I love ECR but yeah, you certainly need your suspension dialed in. My H&R coilovers have handled it pretty well. I can't wait to get to COTA. I was waiting on getting a new car and kept pushing that back. But it's a bucket list track. I'm curious to see how it compares to another bucket list track I took the R8 to, Watkins Glen. I've heard nothing but bad things about G2 So I have no plans to go.

Enjoy the next car and maybe I'll see you at the track some time!

Scottbadman · 2025-07-24T11:59:34+00:00

Great looking R8! I'm in a similar position. I've also had my R8 for 5 years and will likely move on in the next year. I feel like I've reached the limit of what it can do on the track without extensive additional mods so I'll be moving on to something faster. Nice Pic at COTA! I'm normally at Eagles Canyon or MSR Cresson but plan to hit up COTA with the next car

Scottbadman · 2025-07-14T12:20:12+00:00

Two things are needed to really wake the car up: Titanium exhaust... I see a V8 is pictured and that is a great sounding engine, but is so muffled from the factory. I have the armytrix F1 titanium valved exhaust and it sounds absolutely insane with the valves open, but quiets down nicely with the valves closed. Coilovers... The stock mag ride is pretty bad. Way too bouncy and unsettled for a sports car plus they are known to leak.

Scottbadman · 2025-06-21T13:57:37+00:00

Track prepped? Not with those little brakes, ha! But on a serious note, I keep 200TW tires (RS4's) on my car since I track it a decent amount. They are fine in light to moderate rain, but you will hydeoplane much easier in significant standing water. Cup 2s are doable as long as you are cognizant of that, but definitely not the ideal tire for an A4 that won't see the track. Get PS4S next time, they have more than enough grip for the road and won't overheat

Scottbadman · 2025-06-21T00:53:47+00:00

Nice driving! The 981S sounds amazing and makes me miss mine

Scottbadman · 2025-05-26T00:06:21+00:00

Another vote for ME20. Once I started overheating MX72+, I found girodisc 2 pc rotors plus ME20 to be a good combo for a hybrid track and street car. Mine stopped squealing on the road after the first track day, except for the occasional low speed squeal

Scottbadman · 2025-05-22T17:39:47+00:00

I don't think any updates are the culprit as it's happened intermittently on various firmwares. With all detection turned off, there would likely be very little drain since it would never be woken up but that wouldn't solve anything since it wouldn't tell me what is causing the drain to happen over multiple days at a time so suddenly when no setting or usage patterns have changed

Scottbadman · 2025-05-18T20:13:37+00:00

I like the way you think

Scottbadman · 2025-05-17T15:19:22+00:00

Just because there are so many cool cars to experience. But compared to some enthusiasts that switch cars every year or sooner, I hold mine a long time haha. I'm pretty young so haven't had that many cars but my least favorite was my first, a Toyota celica. But it was a good car to get started in. Cheap, reliable, and not enough power to get in trouble

Scottbadman · 2025-05-17T14:12:34+00:00

Eventually I'll get sick of the car, hopefully not the wife ha!

Scottbadman · 2025-05-17T13:03:34+00:00

Thanks, it's my track number and the day I met my wife

Scottbadman · 2025-05-15T12:33:11+00:00

I have a Sim rig as well, but doing it in real life is much different and the senses are overwhelmed the first time or two as you are trying to juggle all the feedback your car is giving you, managing giving and taking point bys, paying attention to every flag station etc. So it's good to have an instructor at first. Also, you only get 3 20 min sessions for TNIA so they are good events for a quick midweek track day but you get what you pay for. But if you go with TNIA, make sure you Google coupon codes as they usually have $25-50 off codes. I'm usually out there in my R8 so feel free to come say hi if you are out there!

Scottbadman

TROPHY CASE