Project 2.Slow Mazda3

[ScottyB]

what Joey said. will you be safe with a stock safety system...most likely yes. will you be safe at even higher speeds with a track safety system...most likely yes. will you get hurt if you build some kind of hybrid, half a track safety system mixed with half your stock safety system...most likely yes.

also keep in mind that running a cage on the street is pretty frowned upon. the odds of you blasting your skull open on the bars in a minor crash on the street without a helmet on increases big time. a cage will most likely negate any curtain airbags you have as well. again, you either go with the street setup or a full track setup when it comes to safety.

it may not have been said yet but you also do not want to run 4 or 5 point belts with a reclining seat. if you roll your body can't lean off to the side to avoid a roof cave-in the way you can with a stock 3 point belt, and your risk of death/spinal injury is higher as a result.

- how does your car manage oil control. are you considering a baffled oil pan? with good track tires (200 treadwear or R comps) you will probably pull close to 1G in a continuous turn, and the effects it can have on the equipment can sneak up on you.

I'll figure this out. Yes I'm running 200 treadwear with the RE-11A's now and expect to step up to the RE-71R's when these get heat cycled out (thinking this will happen before I hit wear bars sometime in the Fall). Yes more wear on components with harsher driving.

you certainly don't need to have the car outfitted with a mess of guages but if you're going to do HPDE's regularly its in your best interest to have the basics covered, especially if you plan on doing track weekends in the middle of the summer when your oil is going to be cooking. even though your car is relatively stock and isn't heavily stressed (in terms of hp/liter) you can run the risk of oil starvation at your grip levels or overheating the oil when you're pushing it to redline for 20 minutes at a time, and if you're focused on driving you might miss your dummy light warnings on the dashboard if something does go bad. cheap insurance!

i would do oil pressure just to start. you're already doing a good job of track readying the car if you're running a good synthetic and keeping it topped off.

and hey, look at me....last year i did a track day with my almost stock 120k mile daily driven car. everything was totally fine with just some good pads and fresh oil and brake fluid. but i don't have plans to track it regularly, in fact i may never track that particular car again, so i went into the event with that level of prep in mind.

Look I don't think anyone is trying to bust your balls about this, and no one is going to tease you for running a Mazda 3 on track.

so much this. we want to help! good for you wanting to get out there and live the dream. and i have tons of respect for guys that drive the different stuff, i think its awesome (although it can be the hard way to go sometimes because you're blazing a trail nobody has gone down before).