Diablo On Race Track

I have booked in for a day to take my Diablo VT on a race track along with other fast cars and wamted to know if anyone can offer any advice on what to do to the car prior, or if the car can run on a higher octane fuel than 98? Any advice will help

watch your temperature, and your brakes

Check and inspect the car the night before, personally torque each lug nut, check oil, etc etc. Start of slowly until you get your bearings, check and adjust your tire pressure after each session. If it starts to feel greesy bring it in. Do not let your ego control make you endanger yourself or your car by trying to keep up with someone like a lotus. lol. I'm being serious about that last one, I always have to fight the urge. Always keep an eye on temps, if you feel any changes in your brake pedal and it starts getting really soft, or extremely hard and not as responsive, bring it in... Use common sense, and take all that unecessary stuff out, like your radar that could hit you in the head, stuff that could slide around or distract you. Do not play music, etc etc. You don't need higher octane fuel, and you will probably have to refuel before the end of the day!

 

Have a really great time! bring your camera.

 

Whats the website for the track?

Diablo sucks on track! Brakes are horrific... and when the back end goes..... it goes!

Allan for once is being incredibly understated.

 

Your brakes are going to fade FAST!! And when they do, you will not stop all that weight very easy. Couple that with horrendous under steer that changes to over steer so fast, you can't catch the rear coming around. And yes, cooling is an issue as well.

 

Also because your car is a VT if you spin and go backwards for a significant distance you can explode your viscous coupling.

 

The Diablo was never a track car. If you do decide to do it, and plan on actually driving it some what hard, I would highly suggest you have the suspension set up up with at least front and rear camber and toe set properly, and invest in some race grade brake pads if not all new brakes.

 

If you want a track Diablo, go buy an SVR. It's made for the track and a whole lot safer.

Diablo sucks on track! Brakes are horrific... and when the back end goes..... it goes!

 

Yep - absolutely spot on.

 

I've done 3 trackdays in my Diablo SV - 2 at Spa Francorchamps and 1 at Le Mans Bugatti circuit.

 

What sort of track are you taking it too? ( I found Le mans was ultimately more enjoyable than Spa because it's slower - whereas Spa is just lots of high speed corners and straights - a massive adrenaline rush in a Diablo!)

 

It's true a Diablo is not a track car and I probably won't take mine on one again, but only due to 'been there done that...'

 

That said: I strongly recommend you take it to the track. Providing you are sensible and don't take any liberties with the car, don't overestimate the cars (or your own) limits, keep out of everybody's way - you should have a fantastic time - and will give you a great insight to how the car behaves which you couldn't get from driving on a public road.

 

Upgrades I can recommend are all due to brakes ( though they will still be shot after a handfull of laps!):

 

I used EBC yellowstuff pads and SP braided hoses - as mentioned make sure your tyres are in good order.

 

Have fun!

 

 

Zack

Check and see if you fit in the car with a helmet. I don't. Have fun, take pics and watch the brakes.

Fresh brake fluid, DOT4, is a must (SuperBlue or SuperAmber are good as is Motul600) and make sure you have sufficient brake pads remaining.

 

If you spin, both feet in (clutch and brake).

 

The car is fun on the track.

Fresh brake fluid, DOT4, is a must (SuperBlue or SuperAmber are good as is Motul600) and make sure you have sufficient brake pads remaining.

 

If you spin, both feet in (clutch and brake).

 

The car is fun on the track.

 

forgot the pic!

 

What made you choose to take the SE to the track instead of the SV?

What made you choose to take the SE to the track instead of the SV?

I think the SE is more of a trackcar than the SV. SE was initially developed for racing, then it was decided to make it a roadcar

A couple of the SV at Spa:

 

 

 

 

.....and facing the wrong way after the exit of La Source hairpin - like Alan says: When the backend goes, it goes!:

 

 

 

 

I think the SE is more of a trackcar than the SV. SE was initially developed for racing, then it was decided to make it a roadcar

The SE sucks more! Its brakes are worse!

Maybe no good on the track, but looks a helluva lot better than that Enzo

The SE sucks more! Its brakes are worse!

Yes, you would need the optional McLaren F1 brakes

The SE sucks more! Its brakes are worse!

 

Ehhhh! WRONG Allan

 

The SV brakes are FAR MORE DANGEROUS....simply because when the tire pressure gets too high the Kelsey Hayes ABS 'puter freaks out and 'forgets' to engage the rear calipers so all you have are the fronts trying to stop you. And there is absolutely no warning, it just happens. I had this happen at 170MPH on the Autostrada where the brakes were not even being used for several minutes. And I had this happen on the track in Dijon (France) after several hot laps.

 

The SE30 brakes are just fine, they are quite predictable. I use Hawk pads and DOT4 fluid. Biggest issue prior to using DOT4 was boiling the fluid (soft pedal). I should mention I have run tubing from the front to the rear calipers so they get decent air flow.

 

-J

What made you choose to take the SE30 to the track instead of the SV?

 

 

1. The SV is quite a bit heavier.

 

2. The SV's ABS system is unpredictable (see reply above)

 

-J

Ehhhh! WRONG Allan

 

The SV brakes are FAR MORE DANGEROUS....simply because when the tire pressure gets too high the Kelsey Hayes ABS 'puter freaks out and 'forgets' to engage the rear calipers so all you have are the fronts trying to stop you. And there is absolutely no warning, it just happens. I had this happen at 170MPH on the Autostrada where the brakes were not even being used for several minutes. And I had this happen on the track in Dijon (France) after several hot laps.

 

The SE30 brakes are just fine, they are quite predictable. I use Hawk pads and DOT4 fluid. Biggest issue prior to using DOT4 was boiling the fluid (soft pedal). I should mention I have run tubing from the front to the rear calipers so they get decent air flow.

 

-J

I never had a problem with my ABS freaking out, and the small calipers of the SE were horrendous.. But hey..in the end.. SE, Sv etc... they all suck on track..

Check and inspect the car the night before, personally torque each lug nut, check oil, etc etc. Start of slowly until you get your bearings, check and adjust your tire pressure after each session. If it starts to feel greesy bring it in. Do not let your ego control make you endanger yourself or your car by trying to keep up with someone like a lotus. lol. I'm being serious about that last one, I always have to fight the urge. Always keep an eye on temps, if you feel any changes in your brake pedal and it starts getting really soft, or extremely hard and not as responsive, bring it in... Use common sense, and take all that unecessary stuff out, like your radar that could hit you in the head, stuff that could slide around or distract you. Do not play music, etc etc. You don't need higher octane fuel, and you will probably have to refuel before the end of the day!

 

Have a really great time! bring your camera.

 

Whats the website for the track?

Thanks for all the advice, I will take it all on board. The track is phillip island in Australia. Its where the moto gp is held every year. try googling it and tell me what you think.

 

Thanks

 

Allan for once is being incredibly understated.

 

Your brakes are going to fade FAST!! And when they do, you will not stop all that weight very easy. Couple that with horrendous under steer that changes to over steer so fast, you can't catch the rear coming around. And yes, cooling is an issue as well.

 

Also because your car is a VT if you spin and go backwards for a significant distance you can explode your viscous coupling.

 

The Diablo was never a track car. If you do decide to do it, and plan on actually driving it some what hard, I would highly suggest you have the suspension set up up with at least front and rear camber and toe set properly, and invest in some race grade brake pads if not all new brakes.

 

If you want a track Diablo, go buy an SVR. It's made for the track and a whole lot safer.

Thanks, I have replaced the brake pads and fluid with dot4

I used green stuff ebc pads and motul 600 racing brake fluid. I took my car to the track and ran it all day and the brakes never faded. They never worked all that well but at least they were consistent. Trying to get the car stopped at the end of the front straight away was an exhilirating experience. As far as on the track my water temp never got hot, but the oil temp would creep up to the red, and I would have to either pull off or slow down. Also, my car had pretty severe understeer, that limited your corner speed, but it never oversteered. I was running stickier rear tires than fronts, so that is maybe why. All that being said, I had a blast and would have definately taken it back to the track.

I never had a problem with my ABS freaking out, and the small calipers of the SE were horrendous.. But hey..in the end.. SE, Sv etc... they all suck on track..

 

Glad to hear you never had any issues with the ABS.

 

You basically only get it if you are agressively tracking the car (lots of turns and speed) or if you are doing sustained high speed (above 130mph) driving --for 15 minutes or more.

 

On the autostrada we were crusing along for quite some time at 160+ and when I went to "tap" the brakes the car became very unstable (at the time I did not know why). Then later on the track at Dijon is where we figured it out (factory support was there, it was during one of the SVR race weekends, this is back in '97, I had one of the first 98 SV's off the line).

 

-J

Thanks for all the advice, I will take it all on board. The track is phillip island in Australia. Its where the moto gp is held every year. try googling it and tell me what you think.

 

Thanks

 

Hey when are you planning to Track your car at Phillip Island? is it the 20th Feb, If so I will see you there with My 02 Murci

 

Thanks for all the advice, I will take it all on board. The track is phillip island in Australia. Its where the moto gp is held every year. try googling it and tell me what you think.

 

Thanks

 

Hey when are you planning to Track your car at Phillip Island? is it the 20th Feb, If so I will see you there with My 02 Murci

 

 

Yeah thats right , great stuff looking forward to seeing you their

Well guys, the day turned out to be fun. The brakes did not fade however they wern't the best, as for the understeer that was the greatest problem, it didnt help having just road tyres on it . The track is suited to the diablo as their were longer stretches of road and fast corners. All in all I was expecting it to let me down with all your comments, but in the end no brake fade,no temp warnings considering it was a really hot day, no spinouts and no other problems just raw power and fun. For a 96 model car it performed extremely well against other modern performance cars with all their technology. Cant wait for the next track day. Kipper(harry) sorry i didnt get a chance to catch up with you, send me a pm and maybe we can catch up .