New team running a MK4 Golf 2.slow, need some advice (Page 2 of 2)

Sounds like you got the basics and I totally get it on data points.  I might being showing my bias here as well as we have not had anything to benchmark since we retired our first car (not many U-bodies, '47 Plymouths or flathead-powered Cameros to compare lap times to). 

Overall the lap time is well below total time on track as a valid metric of performance as it takes (at most paces) about 28-32 laps at 10-seconds faster a lap to make up for a single drive-through black flag penalty or several multples of that for an (infamous for that platform) mid-race wheel bearing swap even with spare loaded knuckles.

And for the guy asking on tires, as others have said one of three common 200TW tires will make more a difference to lap times than anything but the driver mod.  They also tend to last longer in (almost) all situations and I would have to assume a three-wheeler in the corners like most Golfs and Jettas we have seen would need a heat tolerant tire (most 400+ tire tend chunk badly at race pace) more than say a Humber Super Snipe.

I highly recommend not even looking at lap times during your first race, certainly not tracking them inside the car at all. That's an unnecessary external pressure. Seat time improves lap time naturally; it's the one thing in endurance racing that will sort itself for beginners and therefore shouldn't be a concern.

IMHO, your first race's priorities should be:

(1) Pass Tech (Sounds like you're on your way there).

(2) Pay attention to what's going on. There's a steep learning curve. Some teams figure it out quickly, some don't. The observant ones who ask questions tend to do well, long term.

(3) Focus on no black flags. That's really Goal #1. Black-flag offenses are black-flag offenses because they can all potentially get people hurt and (less importantly) ruin your car. If you're competitively minded, black flags remove time you could be clocking laps. If you're financially minded, black flags remove track time that you've paid for.

(4) Any kind of driver coaching should focus on mechanical sympathy: check gauges on the straights every lap, observe the rev limiter, know what to do when the GIANT oil pressure light and ear-splitting buzzer comes on. You wouldn't believe how many people come into the Penalty Box having gone full send because "Someone on the team said I could take that corner in fourth gear." Driver ability varies greatly and too much information is often a hindrance.

(5) Get everyone on the team cycled through the car early in the race. My team went with 25-minute stints to get everyone acclimated and not overwork anyone. Lemons is A LOT to experience if you're a novice. High Plains is probably the least-dense field, but there's still a lot to track mentally.

(6) Make efficient but unhurried driver changes and fuel stops. Like lap time, this will get quicker naturally as you do it more.

Not really a competition strategy, but also make sure everyone on your team knows (a) how to get out of the car quickly, (b) where ALL of the major controls are (ignition, killswitch, fire-suppression, warning lights), and (c) what number the car is. You think I'm kidding on the last one, but write it on the dashboard unequivocally: "YOU ARE CAR #112."

Outstanding advice from all, and all has been noted, thank you.

We have a set of the Hankook Ventus RS-4s on the way based on retail availability and this forums advice. We will rally the team and attempt to make as many HPR practice sessions as possible.

What I'm hearing is we need to get used to a crowded track/traffic, how to behave in that circumstance, and how to process it all at speed.

Half-Fast Racing has more than 15 races on 2001/2002 New Beetles, which is the same Mk 4 platform as the Golf & Jetta. Had heard of the wheel bearing issues for Mk 4s, so bought a couple of sets of bearings and hubs before our first race to take with us in the parts box, but have never had a wheel bearing fail.  6 races on our first Beetle, the same on the replacement Beetle, and the other Beetle now has 4 races on it.  I guess we've been lucky, or maybe we're just so slow we don't stress them much.  We do check them before and during each race but haven't had to replace them yet.

On the other hand, we have gone through at least two sets of CV axles on each car.  As someone on here said, check the axles when you buy them. Autozone, O'Reilly's, and Advance Auto have all sold me incorrect axleshafts that were listed as correct for my engine/transmission/year.  The lengths are slightly different for the 2.0/1.8/diesel/auto/5 spd/6 spd (in the Turbo S). After the second time I had to take new axles back, I started pulling the old ones first and laying them on the checkout counter next to the new ones to inspect exact length before paying. Since they aren't expensive, we now keep a spare driver & passenger side CV axle for each of our cars in the parts trailer.

3 inch dryer ducting works well for brake/hub cooling.  We run it from the fog light openings (3 inch diameter). It is flexible enough to route around the suspension parts.

I ran Hella 500s floods as cornering lights on that track at night and they were fine.  You need to angle them about 30-45 degrees.  That track has great markings for braking, turn in, apex and turn out.

We showed up to HPR with a bunch of amazon flood lights we had laying around... looked bright testing driving around the neighborhood but once we were out there they were useless. Luckily someone had some Hellas for sale at the track and those saved our butts. They do an excellent job marking corners and with some good projection (actual brightness is less important) and allowed us to just focus on corner markers and other cars. Partly due to cooler temps, our fastest times were actually at night.

Awesome to hear the RS4s helped! 

One thing to note for the 24 is that the track will install reflectors on the inside of the turns which helps out immensely.  Navigating will be easier during the race than in any pre-race testing.

Speaking of reflectors .. run a strip of reflective tape around the circumference of your car. Makes you more visible and gives a down-range driver more info if you spin out.

First off, I'd like to say that this is a great thread, with so much valuable info! I learned a lot just reading through it.

Our team - Team Slowtus - runs a Ford Focus, which also has hub bearing issues. We (also) haven't had any hub bearings issues yet, but I bought pretty good bearings on RockAuto, and I feel validated by many of the comments on here because I also bring spare CV axles and new bearings pressed into a spare set of knuckles, just in case.

Something else I found helpful: if at all possible, have a spare set of wheels and tires ready to go. In our last race, we had the lower control arm/knuckle bolt give out and it destroyed the wheel - not the tire, the actual wheel hoop got completely shredded. Luckily we had a spare set of wheels and tires that we use for "practice" that we used to finish the race. I found 4 decent Falkens that had a little wear on Facebook marketplace from someone who did a couple of autocross sessions and didn't like them.

Good luck at HPD!

Congratulations!! Do you bring spare wheel bearings with you? As long as you bring them, you'll never need to use them... at least how it works for us lol.

Re " large square holes that feed directly into the wheel house" just make sure they're directed to the center of the rotors and/or wheel bearings. The wheel well already has plenty of turbulent high pressure air.