Dan
28-06-10, 11:47 PM
Well, after a week of pure hell trying to get the car ready by last night she was sat on a trailor ready for a raping. As per normal trackday prep stuart checked in yesterday evening also
So, get to combe and everything appeared fine, the map that Dave at Mech Repairs put on my car is awesome lol car started sweet as a nut which was very nice to hear after the pain we had suffered trying to get it running. After some dallying with the brakes Stu got it sound tested and we were set.
Now after last years first (and only) outing the car was set a tad to hard so this year i took the settings a touch the other way and reset the front geometry to suit. on the sighting laps it was definitely alot better but abit to soft. Being lazy i left this alone as i know exactly where it needs to be now but i wanted to see the full effects of it being on the soft side.
So first session out, stuart jumps in the passenger seat and just as we roll down the pit exit and start to wind it up i spot his grin as the gearbox howls and the tb's start to growl for the first real laps. What can i say, it was sooooo much fun, the car was absolutley spot on for pure grip and speed. Its handling was as balanced as my old 1.6 8v if not even more refined as for the tight chicane we come into it at a perfect back end drift line and i thought sod it and just nailed it in third rather than braking and the car just chewed it up and spat it out. I kinda knew i did the right thing by the glee being displayed by the passenger side which then continued for quite a few laps as i had found the sweet spot of the handling and could finally relax and give the car death.
Upon entering the pits it was great to see mr Shipton (chris gsi) had trundled along to watch after reading about the day on here. and we got the first spectator analysis of the day which basically followed along the lines of "What the the f*@ have you gone and built now ffs" which was probably the biggest compliment i could of asked for :d
Session two was not quite as long, i was struggling abit for getting the tyres right as it was just so damn hot and the rubber was proper sticky icky on the tyres, but thought sod it. So this time my brother comes out for a few laps, Now to be fair he has never been on track or been in anything like what i have built, so i took the first few laps steady (ish) just to keep the tyres on the bubble but he wasnt to keen on the whole passenger side part, so i gave him one flying lap to which ended his passenger participation for the day. He was in awe of the car but having not been in that position before his nerves didnt cope to well lol lol lol
Session three, just me this time, and i had an epic time out there, again i pushed the car abit harder as it was only me in there and nothing to worry about. Again i just cant describe the on the pin point positioning of the car, the back end or front does exactly as its told, just like when we go karting, want abit of the back end out then the car just does it, for as long as i want and at what ever angle i want, if on the other hand i just want pure grip and no messing it also delivers that by the spoonful. This session mostly consisted of catching cars and passing them then catching some more, but it was mostly me finally getting a feel for the car and its limits.
Session four, well well well, this was deemed as the last of the day anyway as i had a seal in the gearbox on the way out, stuart joins me and we race off out again, and pull out directly behind a chap in his full spec mini cooper s race car out testing on full slicks, aero packages etc etc blah blah blah, we had spotted his pit crew setting the car up at various stages of the day so i knew he would leave us standing, especially considering me and stu are not the 'lightest' of people to start with lol lol but i must say we did hang on ok considering which was pleasing, Then we just played the catch and pass game with anything else, UNTIL, the outer cv on the passenger side finally waved a white flag going over what they call avon rise. Now i am actually very happy about this, as i was catching a gti6 or something and almost came in the lap before, which could of meant it may have waited until my next trackday and gone at the very beginning. So to say i was glad i stayed out to pass just one more car is an understatement :thumb:
SOOO final verdict, well from me, the cars second outing was very pleasing, power to chassis is alot better now, and the handling when adjusted a touch more is just fantastic. Its definitely a serious peice of kit we have built which does fly. I think the 5th gear lets it down, but when chris t had it on the road i could see the benefits, on the track its a nono so that may change in time. I think once i have the car niggles sorted and running again the next testing day for it should finally have the car setup spot on, at that point we may get some times in and see how it compares to previous builds, there was no point at this stage as i just didnt start with the complete confidence and knowledge of the car, although that is pretty much sorted now i reckon.
A massive thanks to those involved in the last few weeks of turmoil and at the circuit today.........Pics and footage will follow in the next days or so
So, get to combe and everything appeared fine, the map that Dave at Mech Repairs put on my car is awesome lol car started sweet as a nut which was very nice to hear after the pain we had suffered trying to get it running. After some dallying with the brakes Stu got it sound tested and we were set.
Now after last years first (and only) outing the car was set a tad to hard so this year i took the settings a touch the other way and reset the front geometry to suit. on the sighting laps it was definitely alot better but abit to soft. Being lazy i left this alone as i know exactly where it needs to be now but i wanted to see the full effects of it being on the soft side.
So first session out, stuart jumps in the passenger seat and just as we roll down the pit exit and start to wind it up i spot his grin as the gearbox howls and the tb's start to growl for the first real laps. What can i say, it was sooooo much fun, the car was absolutley spot on for pure grip and speed. Its handling was as balanced as my old 1.6 8v if not even more refined as for the tight chicane we come into it at a perfect back end drift line and i thought sod it and just nailed it in third rather than braking and the car just chewed it up and spat it out. I kinda knew i did the right thing by the glee being displayed by the passenger side which then continued for quite a few laps as i had found the sweet spot of the handling and could finally relax and give the car death.
Upon entering the pits it was great to see mr Shipton (chris gsi) had trundled along to watch after reading about the day on here. and we got the first spectator analysis of the day which basically followed along the lines of "What the the f*@ have you gone and built now ffs" which was probably the biggest compliment i could of asked for :d
Session two was not quite as long, i was struggling abit for getting the tyres right as it was just so damn hot and the rubber was proper sticky icky on the tyres, but thought sod it. So this time my brother comes out for a few laps, Now to be fair he has never been on track or been in anything like what i have built, so i took the first few laps steady (ish) just to keep the tyres on the bubble but he wasnt to keen on the whole passenger side part, so i gave him one flying lap to which ended his passenger participation for the day. He was in awe of the car but having not been in that position before his nerves didnt cope to well lol lol lol
Session three, just me this time, and i had an epic time out there, again i pushed the car abit harder as it was only me in there and nothing to worry about. Again i just cant describe the on the pin point positioning of the car, the back end or front does exactly as its told, just like when we go karting, want abit of the back end out then the car just does it, for as long as i want and at what ever angle i want, if on the other hand i just want pure grip and no messing it also delivers that by the spoonful. This session mostly consisted of catching cars and passing them then catching some more, but it was mostly me finally getting a feel for the car and its limits.
Session four, well well well, this was deemed as the last of the day anyway as i had a seal in the gearbox on the way out, stuart joins me and we race off out again, and pull out directly behind a chap in his full spec mini cooper s race car out testing on full slicks, aero packages etc etc blah blah blah, we had spotted his pit crew setting the car up at various stages of the day so i knew he would leave us standing, especially considering me and stu are not the 'lightest' of people to start with lol lol but i must say we did hang on ok considering which was pleasing, Then we just played the catch and pass game with anything else, UNTIL, the outer cv on the passenger side finally waved a white flag going over what they call avon rise. Now i am actually very happy about this, as i was catching a gti6 or something and almost came in the lap before, which could of meant it may have waited until my next trackday and gone at the very beginning. So to say i was glad i stayed out to pass just one more car is an understatement :thumb:
SOOO final verdict, well from me, the cars second outing was very pleasing, power to chassis is alot better now, and the handling when adjusted a touch more is just fantastic. Its definitely a serious peice of kit we have built which does fly. I think the 5th gear lets it down, but when chris t had it on the road i could see the benefits, on the track its a nono so that may change in time. I think once i have the car niggles sorted and running again the next testing day for it should finally have the car setup spot on, at that point we may get some times in and see how it compares to previous builds, there was no point at this stage as i just didnt start with the complete confidence and knowledge of the car, although that is pretty much sorted now i reckon.
A massive thanks to those involved in the last few weeks of turmoil and at the circuit today.........Pics and footage will follow in the next days or so