The early 100 horsepower one-ton hatchback with a pair of 1.5L engines was very fast, but on urban roads where it was impossible to drive fast, Swift's advantage was manifested, and sometimes it ran faster than a high-powered car.
The car is light and small, which is a good foundation in itself. With a little basic upgrade, there will be obvious changes. Running on a small track like Mountain or Tianma, you can find happiness and achievements without spending too much money as long as you upgrade your tires, shock absorbers and brakes.
So on the second day after getting the car, Rut Jun couldn't wait to participate in Tianma's track day activities, which may be the fastest and safest way to get to know a car.
Nowadays, fewer and fewer people are interested in cars. Some people may not know whether they buy a car with a front drive or a rear drive, or even how many cylinders it has.
Even so, it is important to know your car. Once the limit is broken and there is an emergency, at least don't be too nervous and anxious. It's best to save it, and if it can't be saved, try to reduce the loss.
It is not difficult to participate in track day.
Unfortunately, in many people's cognition, participating in track day is still far away from us ordinary people. Its realization is that many people are promoting this safe and legal car playing culture. There are no special circumstances, and there are track days almost every weekend.
The first step you need to do is to find this official WeChat account. For example, just click to fill in the information and pay the money, as long as there is a track in or around your city.
There are more and more racetracks in China. There are Cezanne and Tianma in Shanghai, and Shaoxing, Wuyi, Ningbo and Jiangsu Wanchi International Racecourse are next to them.
Guangdong has five racetracks in Zhaoqing, Zhuhai, Huizhou, Qingyuan and Dongguan, as well as Beijing, Tianjin, Chengdu and Erdos, and there are about 30 racetracks of all sizes that meet the competition requirements.
There is no model restriction for registration. A supercar or a shopping cart will do. No one will stop you from driving Wuling Hong Guang, but it is the most beautiful boy in the audience.
I ran the most intimate Tianma in Shanghai, and the cost of this article is just Tianma as an example.
Tianma is a kart-like track with a total length of only 2.063 kilometers. It is the most "pocket" certified F4 track in China, with 8 left turns and 6 right turns.
The surface looks quite simple, there are not many complicated hairpin bends and fast high-speed bends, but there are actually some ups and downs and inclinations, and it is also challenging and fun to run.
▲ Schematic diagram of the track sent by the organizer, with suggested gears on it.
Some time ago, I met the preferential festival in early summer. The cost of running for two hours at a time is 700 yuan. 600 yuan is a member, 900 yuan is normal, and VIP only needs 700 yuan.
You don't have to run very fast to join the membership. You only need to pay one more year's annual fee 1500 yuan. After that, the renewal fee is only 1.200 yuan, which is very cost-effective if you run the track every month.
However, regardless of the discount for members, don't forget to buy 30 yuan's life insurance every time you run the track, or you won't be allowed to leave after paying several hundred dollars.
Please note that this insurance is for the applicant, not the car. Once a car collides, the organizer and the insurance company will not claim and repair each car.
After completing the registration and payment, remember to conduct a comprehensive inspection of the conditions of vehicles, tires, brake oil, brake shoes, engine oil and engines to ensure safety before driving.
What I did this time is very undesirable. I didn't take it back for maintenance and inspection, and I don't know how the previous owner treated it. Fortunately, Swift survived the test of a round of track safely.
By the way, no helmet is allowed in Tianma, a small track. If you drive hard, it's always safe to prepare one yourself.
Matters needing attention when getting off the track
After arriving at the racecourse on time, the first thing to do is to sign in with your driver's license and collect information, including license plate, sticker, guide and GPS timing module. Remember to return the license plate and GPS afterwards.
▲GPS timing module
Then the drivers' meeting will introduce the basic situation of the track and some matters needing attention.
Even if there is no speed limit, white line, yellow line, solid line or dotted line on the track, many people come purely to leave their cars, but the track is by no means a place for you to drive casually. Don't say that you are responsible for something and affect the safety of others.
There are some rules that must be observed-remember that the speed limit in the pit is 40KM/H, and when you get out of the pit, don't press the white line except to observe the oncoming car, or you will be fined 500 yuan. The last race was 1000 yuan.
Then observe the track indicator light, green means traffic, and red means slowing down and returning to the pit. It's not necessarily an accident on the track. It may be that the half-time break is here, and the second half will start in 15 minutes.
In addition, they suggest that the tire pressure should not be too high, and it is better to reduce it by 0.3-0.4 bar, which will increase the contact area between the tire and the road; On the other hand, after a few laps, the tire temperature and pressure will naturally rise, and the track also provides tire pressure release service.
You might as well add more oil. This is because when you brake into the corner again, the whole car bears a lot of centrifugal force. This force will push the oil to one side, resulting in insufficient lubrication on the other side. Adding more oil will help ease the situation.
In order to enjoy the track for the longest time, the flight lap should not exceed 5 laps and the cooling lap should not be less than 2 laps, so as to keep the water temperature, oil temperature and brake pad temperature of the whole vehicle in a relatively healthy state.
Otherwise, you have to run 8 or 9 laps with all your strength. When the water temperature rises, the brakes will be soft, so be sure to stop in the maintenance area for a while to cool down. Running down like this for two hours in an afternoon may take longer than a sports car stopping. What is more serious is that the temperature inside the car is too high and it burns directly.
▲ Open the cover in time to dissipate heat.
At the same time, it should be noted that the cars on the field all run together, which does not mean that there is no grouping in the competition. Flying laps and cool laps are also based on personal circumstances, and there must be express trains and slow trains on the field.
Just like others drive modified cars and performance cars such as 86/BRZ, GK5, AMG and MX-5, it is normal for me to drive an original Swift.
When you see a car coming from behind, you don't have to deliberately brake to slow down. First, turn right to signal overtaking. Just step on the brakes properly at this time. It's just a matter of stepping on the gas.
In addition to reducing the speed, the cooling ring takes the opposite route to the overspeed ring. Others run slowly in the cooling circle, and Swift has to use 80% of his strength to overtake, which is quite embarrassing.
As for walking, you need more practice. Running karts and driving simulators are good ways to practice, and the price is much cheaper than going off the track.
Or follow the master to see how they deal with the curve, but remember that their car is better and the braking point is later, otherwise others turn around and you rush into the bobo pool.
Say a few more words, don't feel that you are not good at cheating. Many people also start from the basics.
Don't feel ashamed to rush out of the track. In fact, people who drive fast and have great strength rush out more often.
▲ Scar is the honor of racing?
There are also some old drivers flying around the street, thinking that they are very skilled. In fact, the fast track is the real hero. Usually, you are stuck in traffic jam on the road not only because of how good the technology is, but also because of the right time.
The price of an affair.
Finally, most people are concerned about the cost. Registration fee and life insurance 730 yuan are indispensable. The cost of consumable materials such as tires, brake pads, brake oil and engine oil depends on your method.
If you go into every corner again and again and use up every centimeter of buffer, you can't come down without knowing it.
Running off the track on this day, the tire was flat, the brake pads were gone, the brake oil contained too much water, the oil was diluted, and the fuel tank was almost empty. The price of all replacement depends on the model and the material to be replaced.
If you have an experienced attitude, change the brake oil, brake pads and a box of oil at most, and less than 1000 yuan is enough. This trip for a few months, I think it's very worthwhile.
▲ Replace the original brake pads.
For example, if you run a mountain in Shanghai, you can only go to Changzhou, Ningbo nearby. The round-trip fare, catering, fuel and accommodation are not cheap, which is almost close to the registration fee.
How can I put it? More like sightseeing. Occasionally you split a corner or two. If there is a lot of traffic on holidays, you must follow honestly, which may not be a good driving.
The track is different.
Especially when you leave the pit and officially step into the stadium, it shows that you are concentrating on driving. No one and nothing will bother you again during this time. All you have to pay attention to now is the track and driving.
Listening to the roar coming and going in the ear, carefully watching every line, and quickly braking and downshifting before entering the corner, even if the speed is not fast, it is also heartfelt happiness.
▲ When you are tired, take someone else's car and see how it runs.
Street driving, no matter how powerful your skills are, will inevitably have too many uncontrollable factors such as scruples and legal restrictions. No matter how intense driving is, it can't be as extreme as the track.
Moreover, rushing out of the street may cause irreparable losses, and rushing out of the track is generally fine as long as safety measures are taken.
At the maintenance area, a group of people are discussing how to drive, how to change faster, how wide the tires are, how many degrees the inclination is, and how much the front and rear shock absorption K value is. It's really interesting for everyone to chat together.
▲ The happiest thing is to communicate with fellow riders on how to modify.
Not to mention street driving, even if it is a modified party, there is no such atmosphere. I don't care about posture or anything. The most important thing is technical exchange and a deeper understanding of cars and driving.
If you don't want to build your own car, or this car usually has the need to pick up and drop off your family, I'm afraid it will be too bumpy and noisy after changing.
There is also a car rental service now. It costs about 2,000 yuan to rent Ling Shuai and Swift, a complete racing car, which sounds more expensive than renting a Porsche, but this money buys a more advanced experience. Civil cars and racing cars are completely different worlds.
As long as you don't crash, you don't have to worry about the later losses and expenses after playing. Besides, other people's cars are always the fastest. You are always worried about driving your own car. What should you do if it is broken? Drive home, not drive to death.
Car rental has no such problems at all, and it's over.
Happiness is the most important.
To be honest, the moment of saving money is very painful.
However, from the moment you started, you felt that money could hardly buy my happiness. A few times, you couldn't help laughing when you were running. A few hundred dollars is nothing, so you usually save money by paying attention to your expenses.
Through this track day, I have a deeper understanding of Swift. The original factory is just a lovely little garbage. What should be strengthened in this control? What is the specific modification plan? Let's talk about it in detail in the next article.
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This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.