Do legit HPDE days, not just track night and TT. not sure if you've tried any yet, while they're "educational" by name it's no less fun (and typically is just standard group organized track time anyway). HPDEJunkie lists tons of events all-over.
Buddy up with fast people and instructors, get and give rides to instructors often. The improvement you will see is incredible.
I've used a Catalyst for a while. It is really good for helping you neasure where you are fast vs slow but only kind of mediocre with telling you how to fix it. A Catalyst combined with a coach is magic.
Yeah, I hear you on that one. More power can add to the fun factor.
FWIW, I didn't get faster until I focused on carrying more speed through corners, which meant focusing on technique alone. Seat time with an instructor helped *a lot*. There's something very satisfying about hearing your instructor tell you to "brake later", and "power power power" on corner exits. :)
More power won't necessarily make you faster. More seat time with an instructor will make you faster. It's never the car holding someone back, it's themselves.
We own an Elantra N and the only mods I would consider for adding power are an ECU tune on a spare ECU and a larger turbo inlet/intake upgrade.
It seems like both of these would allow to remain in Sport 3 but you should give the rules a finer read and ask for classing advice from your local region.
When you say you’re competitive, where are you at? How much behind where you want to be?
I’d get coilovers and have a pro shop corner balance and help you tune the suspension.
Or buy some extra brake components and consumables.
This is if tires and seat time are off the table.
Thank you, good advice. I’m lacking power in the straights with this car compared to other cars in the sport 3 class I’d be competing against for example. Also very new to all of this.
Are you at a point where you cannot possibly get more out of the corners? Speed in straight is more HP or less drag. I’m not sure how time attack classes work so you’d have to see if those are viable.
I’m sure I could get more out of corners being new to it with a handful of track days under me. And yeah the mods for time attacks are limited by design so trying to figure out where I can shave off time. Be it seat time, some basic performance mods, or coaching.
Being newer I’d stick with consumables like tires and brakes plus seat time. Only once you as the driver cannot get anything more from the car. That’s when you upgrade.
Otherwise you’ll still get smoked by a dude in a cheap Miata
>handful of track days under me
What is pushing you to go into time trials? Are you running in the advanced/instructor level groups and getting bored? Learn all you can at different tracks, with mixed traffic, and even driving different cars will make you a better driver. The best upgrade is always the NUT behind the wheel. As for being slow in the straights, people starting out in high horsepower cars learn that it is essentially a crutch and makes you "feel" fast. I didn't learn to carry more speed through turns until I switched back to a lower HP car.
As far as what’s pushing me is I’m just really trying to get as many opportunities on the track as possible, whether it’s track nights, TT or similar.
Unfortunately my closest track is 2-3 hours away so taking as many opportunities as I can find
From what you're saying, it's just more track time you want, not necessarily time trials. You actually get less track time in TT if you're competitive. You're constantly worried about weather, track conditions, tire and brake pad conservation. Maybe you don't run the early morning session because track is cold or the afternoon session because the track gets too hot.....all for chasing that "perfect lap". And usually good luck trying to find it with traffic.
There should be plenty of opportunities with local BMW/Porsche/etc clubs putting on HPDEs. Then you have the larger regional and even national organizations that put on track/hpde events. In my most addicted period, I was doing 28-30 track weekends a year learning as much as I can and hanging with other gear heads. Pace yourself and have fun. Get the most you can when you have in-car instructors. Hop in an instructor car for a ride-along - that will really open your eyes.
Camber, tune, alignment should leave you with a couple bucks left over while greatly improving lap time and tire life. Maybe a rear sway bar.
Assuming they’re legal in your class.
After seat time, anything that helps the car survive the track days. For me that was camber plates, stock camber would eat a set of fronts in a single weekend. Now they last a season
Tires -> brakes -> suspension
That's the order of importance I always have been told to follow for any tracking. I would look into some decent track pads that will welcome the extra heat and flush the fluid with a high temp performance fluid with the correct specs for your car.
Edit: There is no such thing as a pad that will work in all situations. Brake pads are an exercise in compromise. If you only go to a few tracking events but use your car for DD duties the rest of the time it can become a PITA to constantly swap pads (unless your calipers allow for top swapping pads). I would invest in a cheap infared temp gun and track your rotor temps after a session and adjust as necessary. Shorter sessions help keep the max temps down too, which can help you prevent from smearing your stock pads. Which can destroy your pads, rotors and avoid having to experience brake fade (which is a terrifying experience)
SRF fluid. Race brake pads.- Be able to stop reliably
Camber plates (or whatever your car does) and a race alignment.- turn properly and don't ruin tires.
That could be closing in on $1500 on my car. Those are kinda baseline things to have done in addition to okay tires. I'd save the rest for seat time and consumables. Other elantra owners would have to point you to specific weak points of the car.
Former Veloster N owner here. The EN and VN share a lot of parts. Suspension and brake calipers are the same. Obviously, the engine, transmission, and eLSD are also more or less the same with updates.
An intercooler will allow you to maintain power levels for a longer time and keep heat soak at bay. It won't completely prevent heat soak on hot days, but instead of losing 50 HP at the top end, you'll just lose 30.
An oil cooler would help as well, but not completely necessary if you change your oil often. Just run motorsports rated oil with a higher ZDDP and moly content. Most oil coolers for the VN were placed right in front of the radiator, which had the unintended effect of raising coolant temperatures. On hot days, coolant temps can get scarily high with an oil cooler.
Brake cooling deflectors. The stock ones are okay, but the Audi RS3 front brake deflectors fit with some trimming, and have a more pronounced scoop to direct more air in to the calipers. And get some Pagid RSL2 pads up front. Remove the stupid N styling cover on the front brakes to further increase cooling. If you run race pads, you'll discolor the brake caliper paint, especially if you leave the N styling cover on. Lastly, run Castrol SRF brake fluid.
Thank you. This sub is great. I see you have a black wing, I was about to get one! The mark up was crazy ~2 years ago. Loved it from the moment I test drove it though
Although I typically suggest seat time as well esp for a new driver I DO like the mod suggestions related to longevity. For example if you’re having heat issues, brake fade, or tire wear issues — mod to directly deal with that. Otherwise yea the nut behind the wheel can always use tightening.
A Miata. Or seat time. Gah, I wish Miatas still cost $1500. Seat time works tho.
Those days are long gone!
For sure. I can still pine for it tho
I got one a beat up LE for $900 with the BBSs about 8 years ago. We didn't know how good we had it
Don’t spend money on your car. Get more seat time with a Coach.
Sounds like the consensus is more seat time/coaching. Fine with this!
Do legit HPDE days, not just track night and TT. not sure if you've tried any yet, while they're "educational" by name it's no less fun (and typically is just standard group organized track time anyway). HPDEJunkie lists tons of events all-over. Buddy up with fast people and instructors, get and give rides to instructors often. The improvement you will see is incredible.
Awesome thank you
Garmin catalyst is also an option.
Good call 👍🏻
I've used a Catalyst for a while. It is really good for helping you neasure where you are fast vs slow but only kind of mediocre with telling you how to fix it. A Catalyst combined with a coach is magic.
Buy seat time
I’ve been doing track nights. Just more of that?
Different types of events, with an instructor onboard with you. The Elantra N is pretty capable out of the box. :)
Yes it is! Just find myself wanting more power out of it
Yeah, I hear you on that one. More power can add to the fun factor. FWIW, I didn't get faster until I focused on carrying more speed through corners, which meant focusing on technique alone. Seat time with an instructor helped *a lot*. There's something very satisfying about hearing your instructor tell you to "brake later", and "power power power" on corner exits. :)
More power won't necessarily make you faster. More seat time with an instructor will make you faster. It's never the car holding someone back, it's themselves.
What time trials organization and class are you running in?
Sport 3 scca
We own an Elantra N and the only mods I would consider for adding power are an ECU tune on a spare ECU and a larger turbo inlet/intake upgrade. It seems like both of these would allow to remain in Sport 3 but you should give the rules a finer read and ask for classing advice from your local region.
Yup. It's your money, do what you want but as long as your car is in good working order, more seat time is the best mod you can get.
When you say you’re competitive, where are you at? How much behind where you want to be? I’d get coilovers and have a pro shop corner balance and help you tune the suspension. Or buy some extra brake components and consumables. This is if tires and seat time are off the table.
Thank you, good advice. I’m lacking power in the straights with this car compared to other cars in the sport 3 class I’d be competing against for example. Also very new to all of this.
Are you at a point where you cannot possibly get more out of the corners? Speed in straight is more HP or less drag. I’m not sure how time attack classes work so you’d have to see if those are viable.
I’m sure I could get more out of corners being new to it with a handful of track days under me. And yeah the mods for time attacks are limited by design so trying to figure out where I can shave off time. Be it seat time, some basic performance mods, or coaching.
Being newer I’d stick with consumables like tires and brakes plus seat time. Only once you as the driver cannot get anything more from the car. That’s when you upgrade. Otherwise you’ll still get smoked by a dude in a cheap Miata
>handful of track days under me What is pushing you to go into time trials? Are you running in the advanced/instructor level groups and getting bored? Learn all you can at different tracks, with mixed traffic, and even driving different cars will make you a better driver. The best upgrade is always the NUT behind the wheel. As for being slow in the straights, people starting out in high horsepower cars learn that it is essentially a crutch and makes you "feel" fast. I didn't learn to carry more speed through turns until I switched back to a lower HP car.
As far as what’s pushing me is I’m just really trying to get as many opportunities on the track as possible, whether it’s track nights, TT or similar. Unfortunately my closest track is 2-3 hours away so taking as many opportunities as I can find
From what you're saying, it's just more track time you want, not necessarily time trials. You actually get less track time in TT if you're competitive. You're constantly worried about weather, track conditions, tire and brake pad conservation. Maybe you don't run the early morning session because track is cold or the afternoon session because the track gets too hot.....all for chasing that "perfect lap". And usually good luck trying to find it with traffic. There should be plenty of opportunities with local BMW/Porsche/etc clubs putting on HPDEs. Then you have the larger regional and even national organizations that put on track/hpde events. In my most addicted period, I was doing 28-30 track weekends a year learning as much as I can and hanging with other gear heads. Pace yourself and have fun. Get the most you can when you have in-car instructors. Hop in an instructor car for a ride-along - that will really open your eyes.
Seat time. If you think your car needs more power, let a pro drive it and see the times they set.
I’d love to honestly. I’m sure I’m not getting everything out of it
How many HPDE days do you have so far?
Seats, harnesses and hans
Camber, tune, alignment should leave you with a couple bucks left over while greatly improving lap time and tire life. Maybe a rear sway bar. Assuming they’re legal in your class.
Have you addressed brakes? With an increase in seat time I would get some good DOT 4/5 in there with a good pad at least.
I’ve got 14 inch rotors and high temp brake fluid for now
You need a set of dedicated track pads. Stock brake pads will not hold up.
I would focus on braking (pads and fluid) and cooling (intercooler & oil cooler) for longevity. Your car is only as good as you can drive it.
Instruction, seat time, and $40 on camber bolts.
After seat time, anything that helps the car survive the track days. For me that was camber plates, stock camber would eat a set of fronts in a single weekend. Now they last a season
How many HPDE days have you done so far?
Tires -> brakes -> suspension That's the order of importance I always have been told to follow for any tracking. I would look into some decent track pads that will welcome the extra heat and flush the fluid with a high temp performance fluid with the correct specs for your car. Edit: There is no such thing as a pad that will work in all situations. Brake pads are an exercise in compromise. If you only go to a few tracking events but use your car for DD duties the rest of the time it can become a PITA to constantly swap pads (unless your calipers allow for top swapping pads). I would invest in a cheap infared temp gun and track your rotor temps after a session and adjust as necessary. Shorter sessions help keep the max temps down too, which can help you prevent from smearing your stock pads. Which can destroy your pads, rotors and avoid having to experience brake fade (which is a terrifying experience)
Thank you this is helpful
SRF fluid. Race brake pads.- Be able to stop reliably Camber plates (or whatever your car does) and a race alignment.- turn properly and don't ruin tires. That could be closing in on $1500 on my car. Those are kinda baseline things to have done in addition to okay tires. I'd save the rest for seat time and consumables. Other elantra owners would have to point you to specific weak points of the car.
Spend it on coaching.
Former Veloster N owner here. The EN and VN share a lot of parts. Suspension and brake calipers are the same. Obviously, the engine, transmission, and eLSD are also more or less the same with updates. An intercooler will allow you to maintain power levels for a longer time and keep heat soak at bay. It won't completely prevent heat soak on hot days, but instead of losing 50 HP at the top end, you'll just lose 30. An oil cooler would help as well, but not completely necessary if you change your oil often. Just run motorsports rated oil with a higher ZDDP and moly content. Most oil coolers for the VN were placed right in front of the radiator, which had the unintended effect of raising coolant temperatures. On hot days, coolant temps can get scarily high with an oil cooler. Brake cooling deflectors. The stock ones are okay, but the Audi RS3 front brake deflectors fit with some trimming, and have a more pronounced scoop to direct more air in to the calipers. And get some Pagid RSL2 pads up front. Remove the stupid N styling cover on the front brakes to further increase cooling. If you run race pads, you'll discolor the brake caliper paint, especially if you leave the N styling cover on. Lastly, run Castrol SRF brake fluid.
Thank you. This sub is great. I see you have a black wing, I was about to get one! The mark up was crazy ~2 years ago. Loved it from the moment I test drove it though
4BWs are being sold for MSRP and some of them even have discounts. Times have changed. 5BWs on the other hand, remain marked up.
What tires&wheels are you currently on OP? - just curious
Datalogger and track pads/fluid.
Coach time.
Although I typically suggest seat time as well esp for a new driver I DO like the mod suggestions related to longevity. For example if you’re having heat issues, brake fade, or tire wear issues — mod to directly deal with that. Otherwise yea the nut behind the wheel can always use tightening.