New WSCC Trackday Guru

[SteveH]

28th Feb is nearly March Dan   .  A lot of us tend to pick up an early event (if the car is ready!) as a bit of a shakedown and to get back into it again after the winter, places like Oulton will generally be well above £200 from March onwards so a cheap starter is always welcome.

 

I'm looking now to try to get a good spread of dates over the year so you'll get plenty of chances if Oulton isn't an option though.

 

I will try to find another suitable Croft date as Jeff Cs is fully subscribed John.

 

Donny was mentioned as well by Fordboi, it's a great track but very tight on noise, a lot of Westies (mine included) wouldn't get in on a normal day and the "noisy" days tend to be a bit pricey.  I'd welcome everyones thoughts on that one………….

 

Anglesey and Cadwell have to be worth a trip and it would be good to get to Rockingham although there aren't many trackdays run there and again noise is an issue.

 

To Arthur and any other first-timers, keep asking the questions, I'm sure you will get plenty of good info from the regulars.

[Codders]

never done a car track day although I am a regular Bike trackdayer doing about 20 a year and a bit of club racing. have to get used to using the mirrors I guess on cars! On bikes its the guy behinds problem. put me down for a few.

[SteveH]

Yep, the overtaking rules are very different, not as much room for two of you at an apex in a car  .

 

No sessions on most car days as well which is nice, you'll soon get the hang of it.

[matt nossiter]

Very good choice having Steve as a track day Guru IMHO, knowledgeable, easy going, friendly and WILL make you drive faster if you listen to his instruction. He's not too shabby behind the wheel as well (but then he does rely on big power to get him round a track quickly ! )

His Trackaction Online days at the beginning and end of the year are always well run and as he said, a good start to the year and a perfect way to end one.

I only did 4 days last year but am aiming to do at least half a dozen if not more this year the first of which will be on the 28th Feb with TA-OL.

Having driven quite a few of the tracks in the country my vote/ nomination for a track Id like to do again this year would be Rockingham, its fairly centrally located so shouldn't be too far for most people to get to and is surprisingly good to drive (v slippery in the wet though) the only problem is we need to choose a fairly noisy day as I'm running one of the pesky bike engined cars!

[AdamR]

Thanks in advance for your efforts Steve! I've just booked myself onto Oulton for 28th Feb, see a few of you there hopefully Don't think I'll be in Westy though unfortunately.

 

I try and do about 5 or 6 a year but they tend to be in the 'off-season', when the weather is horrible and the tracks are in their best / most fun condition

[B.RAD]

I'm up for this, sounds great and another perk of being a member! I did three last year and will do many more this year, also planning on a few of the speed series rounds so any track practice will be appreciated!

[geejay]

I only managed to do 3 track days last year but would like to do more. Based near Readingand have only done some airfield track days nearby - very well run though. Would like to do more circuits but not many seem to be at weekends and taking holiday is a bit difficult .... Within "easy" distance is silverstone and thruxton .... Oulton Park is really just that bit too far but I am tempted as I do have a trailer ...... Maybe ....

[Verdun Boots]

I am a new member of the wssc.I'm a past Caterham 7 owner with some track day experience. I wanted something different so have now bought a megablade and after experiencing the performance of the bike engine am just itching to get out on track. My first problem is noise as at 8-9000rpm it measures 112dba!! Second I live in Newport in South Wales so Castle Coombe, Thruxton, Pembrey and maybe Oulton are local enough without a trailer.

Also my wssc joint member son has a Nissan Pulsar GTIR with 300bhp and would also like to join me on track.

If I can reduce the noise down on the blade (any suggestions welcome) and my son can use his car as well then we would be up for 6 or more track days this year each. Not sure if end of Feb is too early for a solution?

[Darrell O'Neill]

Shame there's nothing a little closer to the South West

[SteveH]

Darrell, Castle Combe is about as good as it gets for you I think, there are a few TDOs that run from there now so we could look for a date there if you are likely to get some interest?

 

 

VB, that's unusually noisy even for a BEC!  Most circuits measure at 3/4of max revs and the loudest regular venues will allow 105db static.  Some circuits are as low as 98db static or have driveby testing, quieter tracks include Combe, Bedford and Donington; I don't see much happening at Thruxton - I think they may be noise restricted as well.

[geejay]

http://www.motorsport-events.co.uk/ did an event at Thruxton last year - they haven't got their diary up yet for 2014 but they may do another there this year - IIRC it was low noise levels though ...

[stu999]

Verdun Boots, welcome :-)

Ref noise - if you have the standard Wedtfield 'mega' silencer, they were marginal when new, never mind with a few miles on them, so a larger diameter silence that is repackable will help no end.

Also panel resonance can hike the db reading, especially on bike engined cars. No real answer to that I'm afraid, other than experimenting with stuff like adhesive sound deadening etc...

[matt nossiter]

Verdun Boots, welcome :-)

Ref noise - if you have the standard Wedtfield 'mega' silencer, they were marginal when new, never mind with a few miles on them, so a larger diameter silence that is repackable will help no end.

Also panel resonance can hike the db reading, especially on bike engined cars. No real answer to that I'm afraid, other than experimenting with stuff like adhesive sound deadening etc...

If your running the standard foam sausage air filter a proper airbox made by Reverie, AB performance etc can help reduce induction noise. Some of the standard mega silencers were repackable (mine was) so if you don't want to go to the expense of a new silencer try repacking it with Acoustafil, seems to give good results. Even if you fit an airbox and a big diameter silencer (7") you might still struggle to get on some tracks. Anything under 100db is a waste of time with mine.

[AdamR]

if you don't want to go to the expense of a new silencer try replacing it with Acoustafil, seems to give good results.

 

Repacked mine recently, the stuff that came out looked pretty new, but it still took 2dB off Oulton's noise meter

[6carjon]

Hi Steve. Regular with track action on line in the westfield or the zx. Do about 6 per year. Favorites are oulton, anglesey and Mallory. Caldwell fun too but a long way to go. Really enjoy your approach, very chilled and treat you like sensible people not children. Cheers jon