Track report: Donington Park

[Eddie1996]

Just had a track day at Donington Park on Tuesday, first track day in my 2011 Cayman S. Was very pleased with the car, performed well. My previous car was an Elise which is an out and out track car, so how did the Cayman compare? For me, I enjoyed the extra power and grunt of the Cayman, I found the car really well balanced, brakes were excellent and didn't fade, tyres also held up during whole of the track day. I know half the fun of driving is heel-and-toe with a manual, but personally I really enjoyed the PDK I have, concentrating on line and braking and letting the PDK maximise the engine - brilliant system in my opinion. I did find the turn in to corners was not as good as I might have liked. Although it gives a hard drive on public roads, I guess the base model does not give quite the stiff enough suspension you'd want on a track day. Is that fair?

 

Were a few GT4s and a GT3. I must say compared to their huge wings the wing on the Cayman look like a toy!

 

Hung out with Andrew, a guy with a GT4 with 5k miles on clock, also first time on track, also an ex-Lotus man. He was delighted with his car (naturally!). 

 

I know there must be a whole load of information about upgrades to suspension. In my Lotus I had nitron 1-way adjustable. I put a nitron sticker on the side of the car. I was as happy as Larry. But I don't know if it made much difference - the car was stiff already. As for Caymans, does anyone reading this have a suspension upgrade (something simple, cheapish)? I only mean to track my car once or twice a year, I guess, but that seems to me the one thing perhaps worth considering getting.

 

cheers 

Ed

 

 

[Lennym1984]

Was this your first track day or just the first in the Cayman? If the former, I'd probably just learn to drive it as is before spending money on modifications (I did maybe 8 or 9 track days with my old Boxster before changing anything). Regardless, the first thing I would do is have a proper alignment. Toe will impact turn in and so you may like to tweak it to suit your preference. Whilst you are at it, you should probably max out the front camber too. This will help in turns but will primarily help to manage the outside tyre wear (you may have felt the Cayman rolling onto the outside edge of the tyre in hard turns).

 

A standard Elise is a road car just like a Cayman but unlike a Cayman you are hauling around perhaps half the weight. Add in a set on Nitrons and you'll obviously have a very capable car. The standard Cayman suspension is a compromise and as you say, can feel a bit soft on track, especially once things have heated up a bit. The upside to this is that it is pretty compliant on the road.

 

For doing only one track day a year I would think hard about upgrading the suspension. What works on track won't be as much fun on public roads and if it is your only car (which I'm not sure if it is) a track focussed suspension may get tiring quite quickly. Mine is just for weekend and track days and whilst I love the setup, it is definitely compromised over the rough oxfordshire b-roads.

 

My recommendation would be to get a decent geo and decent brake fluid (as standard I find the 987 brakes prone to overheating) and then go at it. Once you have a feel for the car you can then decide which bits need upgrading first (ie. roll bars vs more camber vs new springs/shocks vs stiffer mounts etc etc)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Windymiller]

Looking good Eddie 👍🏻
 

I’ll experience Donny as a driver for my first time in late May - can’t wait 🏎🤪

[Eddie1996]

On 01/04/2021 at 13:21, Lennym1984 said:

Was this your first track day or just the first in the Cayman? If the former, I'd probably just learn to drive it as is before spending money on modifications (I did maybe 8 or 9 track days with my old Boxster before changing anything). Regardless, the first thing I would do is have a proper alignment. Toe will impact turn in and so you may like to tweak it to suit your preference. Whilst you are at it, you should probably max out the front camber too. This will help in turns but will primarily help to manage the outside tyre wear (you may have felt the Cayman rolling onto the outside edge of the tyre in hard turns).

 

A standard Elise is a road car just like a Cayman but unlike a Cayman you are hauling around perhaps half the weight. Add in a set on Nitrons and you'll obviously have a very capable car. The standard Cayman suspension is a compromise and as you say, can feel a bit soft on track, especially once things have heated up a bit. The upside to this is that it is pretty compliant on the road.

 

For doing only one track day a year I would think hard about upgrading the suspension. What works on track won't be as much fun on public roads and if it is your only car (which I'm not sure if it is) a track focussed suspension may get tiring quite quickly. Mine is just for weekend and track days and whilst I love the setup, it is definitely compromised over the rough oxfordshire b-roads.

 

My recommendation would be to get a decent geo and decent brake fluid (as standard I find the 987 brakes prone to overheating) and then go at it. Once you have a feel for the car you can then decide which bits need upgrading first (ie. roll bars vs more camber vs new springs/shocks vs stiffer mounts etc etc)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers, Lenny. Food for thought there.