I was instructing at an Aston Martin school today, really a nice time with great weather and good people, both event organizer and the students. I really enjoy tracking my Vantage, too. This is a wonderfully neutral car that handle superbly, is very well balanced and has no nasty surprises at the limit. It reminds me a lot of a BMW E36 M3 on steroids, and that's not a bad thing as that as a hellva car at the track. A Porsche 911S is much harder to drive fast in a track event than a Vantage. Much.

My "B" student in a 2008 Vantage was really doing well and putting speed on the car until the 'Low Brake Pad' warning lot popped on his dash. That's the end of that session - we had to pit to check it out. There wasn't much left on his pads, and of course the left front pad sensor did its sacrificial job. An Aston Tech from the dealership was there and took a look - he said 'You can go all day on those, lots of material left" (there was about 1/8" inch or a little less). That may be true on the street, but to my eye - with aggressive braking that we were doing i thought it would be risky to continue to drive the track on them. Running out of brake coming off the main straight at speed is something that can get real ugly, very quickly.

My student asked me 'What do you think?" and that put me on the spot because I don't like to go contrary to the dealership tech, but I eventually did and asked him "Are you prepared for a $ 3,000 brake job if you go to metal on your pads and need to replace your rotors? Because right now all you need is $ 250 worth of brake pads." No, he was not. And I also said "Your call on going out again, but if you do you will need another instructor because I'm not getting back in your car, sorry." And I think that really told him what I thought.. He wisely parked the Vantage for the remainder of the day.

Check those brake pads and tires before you head out on track days, gentlemen! I'm not sure what the day cost since I was instructing, but it was $ 300 to $ 400 I believe, and to have it cut short on your first session is a real bummer - I felt bad for him.

 

It's amazing how fast pads can disappear, especially once you exceed the MOT (maximum operating temperature) of the pad. A dedicated track pad should hold up better.

Good call on your part.

 

$250 worth of brake pads.... I wish that were true as my pads were over $500. Nice story though. Too bad there aren't more AMOC track days up in my neck of the woods as I could use your help on the track.

 

What are you paying for pads? Pagids (Factory OEM) are about $ 250 per axle....that would make $ 500 for the set of 4, granted....

http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/As...813ccd6&000036

You're in NJ, yes? Summit Point WV is only 2.5 hours from the Delaware Memorial Bridge so it may not be that far for you? The dealer here does two schools a year, Spring and Fall, and you can have all the track time you want, the afternoon sessions are nearly empty.

I felt really bad on telling my student that - I asked around the paddock to see if anyone had a set of spare brake pads and no one did. I'll take an extra set out to the track with me next time and some tools, they go on so fast it's an easy fix in the parking lot. I think it takes longer to jack the car and remove the wheel than it does to fit pads on the Brembo's we all have, they are designed for quick changes. Was a shame for him to only get in 9 or 10 laps for the day, but its better to be safe than sorry, I think. In my younger days as instructor, back in the 90's, I'd have told him to go with it and check them every 10 laps or so. I guess seeing too many cars lose their brakes over the years has made me more conservative! There was a Mustang driver killed on T1 a few years back at that track when the lost their brakes, and a good friend of mine (SCCA racer) also lost her brakes in her BMW M3 at T1, and she heavily her damaged her car in the tree line, but wasn't hurt. You see that happen a few times and it makes you more cautious....

 

I agree wholeheartedly, and said similar to a number of people in the past. It may not be the lightest or, most powerful or whatever you want to add, but it is a very confidence inspiring car, you always feel as though you know what it is going to do and it is always predictable at the limit. You are absolutely correct that it is a car that you can get up to speed in very quickly. For a daily driver that does all of that type of stuff very well, it performs admirably on a track day.

 

Duane: I had the brakes replace by my dealer (Miller Motorcars in Greenwich, NY)... which explains everything. I'm in the auto industry and as such, am really franchised dealer loyal (to a fault). Regarding Summit Point... please let us know when the next AM drivers school will be as I'm sure there are many of us who will drive out to WV for the track session (Lime Rock is getting boring).

 

They do two a year, generally one in the Spring and the Fall, and we just did the fall one - not sure if there will be any more this year. Here's a video of the 2012 one. I don't find out as Instructor until just 2 weeks before usually. Best to call Aston Martin of Washington and ask to get on the notify list. The track in this video is the Shennadoah, which it a tighter, more technical track with a lower top speed. We usually do the Main Race Circuit for most the events. I'd like to move to VIR myself!

 

Speaking of track days...was at the track last weekend and corner of my eye I saw a DB9 entering the track. It has a huge-*** wing. The day was really hot/humid and I didn't think too much about looking for the driver in the paddock. I was a in a different group so it's not like we are on the same track during the same session.

I did find a picture here. Technically not "taken away from caliphotography.com" cos it's hotlinked but here's a pic.

You have to sign into caliphotography in order to see the rest of the pics but this guy has a serious setup with racing bucket seats too!

Anyone here?

 

That's a very clever way to install a wing and it doesn't look hideous. Wonder if the owner knows that takes off about 6 mph going down the straight? Unless he has a splitter on the front to balance it out and super firm suspension (doubtful, that car is showing some lean and not doing much turn-in at the photo) then its making him slower instead of faster.

Racing buckets? With no Cage and no 6 points? He's better with a stock seat in there at least the back of a stock seat might break if he rolls the car and puts 'er on the roof n' mangles it all up. Racing buckets don't break....

I always get a chuckle when I see cars 'set-up' for the track that really aren't.

 

I hear ya...I am a track veteran and an instructor at these events. I have seen folks with huge *** wings and wide fenders on their rides, bucket sets, bolt in cage, extinguishers and ahem a boom box. And they drive that on the streets. At the very least they wake up early to get to the track and learn a thing or two.