How hot is too hot?

[phook]

I'll be attending my first track day event tomorrow and wanted to know what to look for on my engine temperature gauge.

I have a 2000 base and the car is stock. I've been to about 5-6 autocross events so far, and have seen the temperature go a tiny bit past the '0' on the '180' numbering on the temperature gauge. That is usually on hotter days during the fun run parts of the day where I might hit about 6-7 laps in a row.

Since I will be on track for a much longer period then autocross and at higher speeds, what should I look for to know to maybe stop and cool down a bit? Temperature is expected to be about 93 tomorrow at the track.

[Racer Boy]

It may show slightly hotter than that during your sessions, if it gets much higher than that, back off for a lap and see if the temp comes down. If it keeps running hot, you can short shift; instead of 7K, shift at 6K.

Also, really take it easy on the cool-down lap, and once you get back to the paddock, leave the car running for a while. That way it'll keep the coolant circulating, and you won't get boiling in the coolant tank. The only issues I've had at the track have been when I've come in and turned the car off. Twice it's puked coolant from the cap (which I've replaced twice now).

[BoxsterSteve]

The heater core can do a pretty good imitation of a radiator to help pull heat out of the engine coolant.
As an addendum to the leaving the car running in the paddock idea... crank up the interior heat to max and turn the blower fan on full blast too.
You probably won’t want to sit in the car while doing this.

[husker boxster]

You might also want to take a little trip around the outer edges of the paddock before pulling into your pit area. That lets the brakes cool off.

[phook]

Thanks for the help and advice everyone! Greatly appreciated Man...I can't get over the butterflies. I'm really excited for this lol

[Racer Boy]

How did it go?

[phook]

It was a blast! The temperature was just a tad under the 3rd bar on the thermostat. Keeping the car on w/ the heater on full brought the temperatures back to 180 fairly quickly.

As far as the track day goes, I had a blast! The car handles very well at Auto Club Speedway's Interior configuration, but I still have a ton to learn. Since I don't know how to heel-toe downshift yet, I was having a trouble with being in the correct gear coming out of the corners. Since I rarely have to press the brake that far down while driving on the street, it's been a challenge for me to practice the technique.

At the track, I noticed that I was able to feel the gas pedal with the right side of my foot while braking, so I gave it a shot but kind of messed up due to not having the muscle memory, and the gear popped out. Anybody know of a good way to practice heel toe on this car?

Other then that, I need to learn my line better and need to remember to look up and forward! I caught myself staring down at the apex quite a few times. And during my one spin out at my last session, I felt my rear going out, and it felt so slow that I'm pretty sure I would have caught it if I kept my eyes on the track instead of worrying about where I was going to spin towards.