Nick M Posted March 3, 2003 Share Posted March 3, 2003 Having got rid of the out-laws on Friday night it meant Saturday was a day of tinkering with the car and getting it ready for the trackday on Sunday. Sadly SWMBO had other ideas and we finally got back from shopping around 3.00pm No problem, I thought - only got to swap the wheels over, fit the Fluke Motorsport lightweight discs, repack the exhaust and add a little more negative camber for the new tyres..... Most of the jobs went according to plan, but I came upon a small problem when I discovered that I didn't have a spare dust seal that sits behind the front wheel bearings (I was fitting the Cat Motorsport aluminium hubs at the same time as the new discs). It was too late on Saturday to try and find one so I gave up and went to bed. Sunday morning saw me back in the garage at 9.00am (I'd decided not to rush) and as if my magic, one of the dust seals from the old hubs just popped out So, with everything put back together and the car packed up with all the usual odds and sods I headed off to the trackday. I got there at about 12.30 only to find the group I was supposed to be in out on track. Bit disappointing, but not the end of the world. I sorted the car out, got some fuel and generally had a wander round. I decided it would be a good idea to find out where the circuit went so I blagged a ride with one of the advanced street car drivers. He had an innocuous looking maroon Corvette - nice, but apparently nothing special... Oh dear, if ever there was a case of "don't judge a book by its cover", this was it !! 480bhp and a little bit of suspension work meant that this Corvette was f**king quick (excuse my French but it really was really bl**** fast !! *AND* it can go round corners !! No really, it can !! Anyway, I didn't exactly get to see where the track went as it all passed in a bit of a blur, but it was fun all the same !! My first session of the day came along and I lined up with a couple of Porsche 914s, an MX5, Porker 944, Poxster, etc., etc. I tucked in behind the MX5 to warm the car up and quickly discovered that the set up I had dialled in, coupled with new tyres, resulted in turn in over-steer. Now, I'm not normally a fan of this but today it just seemed like fun Bloke in the MX5 must have wondered what sort of looney was following him with squeeling tyres and amusing amounts of opposite lock !! Anyway, session ended and I hadn't thrown it at the scenery so I decided to leave things as they were and have fun in the next session too ! Second session was more of the same, except I nipped past the MX5 and went gooning again ! The driver came up to me later on and asked if I was playing with him in the first session but I explained I was too busy messing around and didn't want to overtake him and get in his way He said he was a little surprised when I went past him in the second session and promptly disappeared over the horizon ! Anyway, loads more gooning and loads more people wondering what on earth this daft English bloke was up to !! Everyone else was concentrating on nice neat racing lines and I was sideways round 80% of the corners !! So, even though the day was a bit shorter than it should have been, it was still a good laugh. And at a little over GBP60 for the whole day I'm hardly going to complain at the value for money !! Not sure when the next event is, but I'll be sure to keep you all posted ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikehreynolds Posted March 3, 2003 Share Posted March 3, 2003 Sounds like you had a good day!! Hope u managed to overtake as many war hungry yanks as possible!! U get any pics of the day? Keep it sideways!! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick M Posted March 3, 2003 Author Share Posted March 3, 2003 Sorry, no piccies - forgot my camera.... Overtook a few people in the second session but to be honest I was having so much fun gooning that I just tucked in behind a couple of cars so I didn't get under their feet through the twisy bits. I think there was one Porsche Poxter owner who was a bit peed off that he couldn't shake me off though. And I wasn't really trying to be honest. Decent sticky tyres and less oversteer would have seen me past him in no time ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westfields Rock On Posted March 3, 2003 Share Posted March 3, 2003 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samcooke Posted March 3, 2003 Share Posted March 3, 2003 Nasty hooliganish behaviour. They wouldn't let you on an Easytrack day, y'know. How did the Porky 914s go? I still have a '74 two litre model (somewhere) due a rebuild and a 911S engine to bolt into it. Haven't driven it in three years but ISTR it has the worst gear shift of any car, ever, ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick M Posted March 3, 2003 Author Share Posted March 3, 2003 Well nobody came and said anything to me about it - probably because they were probably still laughing !! And are Easytrack really that anal about the way people drive ?? The porkers were, shall we say, sedate Not sure how much power the standard engine has but my guess would be "not a lot"... Nicely looked after though and they seemed to be enjoying themselves Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Albert Posted March 3, 2003 Share Posted March 3, 2003 You obviously never drove a 1970s Formula Ford with a Metso gearbox then, Sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bananaman Posted March 4, 2003 Share Posted March 4, 2003 Nick I take it that you haven't got your ACB10's/AO32's/Slicks yet. Just trying to wear out the old rubber? £60 sounds Cheap Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick M Posted March 4, 2003 Author Share Posted March 4, 2003 No, haven't lined up the slicks yet. Didn't really get a chance to scrounge some used ones at the weekend either ! The tyres that were on the car on Sunday were actually new, but they were entertainingly gripless on track. Maybe some of that was that they need scrubbing in and removing some of the tread, or maybe they're just a bit hard. Incidentally, to anyone out there with 15" wheels, I would *really* recommend that you try a set of 13" wheels as they truly transform the handling on my car - it just feels so much more nimble Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adhawkins Posted March 4, 2003 Share Posted March 4, 2003 Incidentally, to anyone out there with 15" wheels, I would *really* recommend that you try a set of 13" wheels as they truly transform the handling on my car - it just feels so much more nimble I was wondering this after reading other threads on here. Mine has 15" wheels on atm (that was how I bought it). What exactly do you mean by 'nimble'? I think there's a fair amount left on the tyres, so changing them would be a bit of a waste. Also, presumably a re-calibration of the speedo would be necessary with the change to different sized tyres? What's the current recommended combination of wheel size / tyre for general road use (with the odd track day here and there). Preferably erring on the side of endurance rather than sheer grip. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick M Posted March 4, 2003 Author Share Posted March 4, 2003 Nimble = well, just, errrr, more sort of, nicer ! It's kind of hard to quantify unless you can do a back to back comparison but with the 15" wheels fitted (weighing around 16kg each) you could *feel* the weight of them, both in terms of how much harder it was to get them spinning and because the sidewall ratio was smaller and hence the tyre behaved differently. There's a much bigger gyroscopic effect with 15" wheels. Now, put 13" wheels on and you can say goodbye to a good 5kg per corner and the car really reacts totally differently. It feels lighter, more pointy, less encumbered and, well, nicer !! I feel like I can "play" with the car with more confidence than I ever could with the bigger wheels. As for the recommended combination, this has been discussed quite a bit in the past but my personal recommendation would be 6x13 wheels with 185/60/13 tyres fitted. If you want something normal then look at Yoko A539s or Falken ZE502s (maybe even Bridgestone RE720s if they're still available). If you want sticky, but not silly, then I'd look at Yoko A021Rs - a better compromise for road use than the A032R purely because they cope with rain that much better having a clearly defined tread pattern. For all out fun and top handling I'd go for ACB10s, but they're not to everyones taste and can be a bit tiring on the road when you're not in the mood for them. Yes, you'd need to recalibrate the speedo (depends on what type of speedo you have as to how easy this is). As for "wasting" the tyres on your existing wheels, well, quite frankly, they're only tyres. Just keep them in the garage and sell them when (not if) you find 13" wheels are all you'll be using on the car in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adhawkins Posted March 4, 2003 Share Posted March 4, 2003 Speedo is a VDO jobbie, which (I think) is calibrated from the single button on the dial. Doesn't seem to be too much of a hassle. Think I'll continue to 'play' with the wheels / tyre combo I've got on there at the moment, as I imagine we're talking fairly significant amounts of dosh for 5 wheels and tyres (I currently have a spare on there, and to be honest I think I'd rather it stayed). What sort of price would you be looking at for a new set of 5 wheels (something 'nice', but don't need to be too flash)? This is what's on there atm: Also, what sort of prices are we talking for tyres? Cheers, Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick M Posted March 4, 2003 Author Share Posted March 4, 2003 I'd imagine that if you did a bit of looking around you could pick up a set of 4 wheels and tyres for a little over GBP100 / corner. You may need to factor in VAT and delivery though. Two places to look for new wheels are : Bookatrack - Johnny has 6x13 wheels and can get all manner of tyres for sensible prices or George Polley - don't have his current web-site address but he seems to do competitive wheel and tyre packages too. But also keep your peepers open for second hand wheels / tyres. I picked up a set of four 5.5x13 wheels for GBP60 !! Motorsport news, Racecar, Findit, etc. are all good places to have a look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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