FW500 Posted March 13, 2009 Posted March 13, 2009 I was giving the Westy it's first trackday today. The track was pretty wet and greasy and the first lap out was red-flagged due to somebody spinning off. The session restarted and my first out lap was pretty hairy with the back end stepping out on the exit of Quarry quite aggressively. I took the rest of the lap quite easy, but even so there was a lot of snaking action with cold 888's. I opened the throttle on the start-finish straight and as I accelerated through Folly at 100mph the back end just let go. I backed off which spat me (fortunately) into the in-field - overcorrecting in the opposite direction would probably have made a real mess of me. We scored a good 300m into the muddy field, hitting the drainage ditch at some speed which tore the exhaust clean off of the car. Somehow it missed all of the bodywork - and the passenger for that matter but it must have ended up under one of the wheels at some point - mashing the silencer. After being recovered by the excellent marshals, I managed to get the exhaust welded back on at the Wiltshire College of Motorsport which was damn good of them. The repair meant I could get back out on track before the end of the morning just in time for the dry weather and a much improved track surface. I was pretty cautious through Folly until the late stages of the day, and even then I wan't pushing much beyond 120mph at the approach to Avon Rise. All-in-all I got off very lightly with the incident and managed to enjoy the day, but there's no chance I'm going to be dialing in any more power for a quite a while! Quote
jeff oakley Posted March 14, 2009 Posted March 14, 2009 That must have been scarey to say the least, going off there at that speed. Did the boost come in and spit or was it just lack of traction. Reason I ask is I was speaking with a guy who had 500bhp cossie westfield who had crashed off twice when the turbo kicked in. Whatever the cause glad you are okay, pity had I known I would have come up to watch, I was just down the road working at home all day Quote
Tonto1 Posted March 14, 2009 Posted March 14, 2009 Check your rear toe!! A little toe in at the rear should help stability Quote
FW500 Posted March 14, 2009 Author Posted March 14, 2009 The boost came in just before the apex spinning the rear wheels. The track was just too slippery and the tyres were too cold for that much boost. In fact if I were out in the same conditions again I'd probably set the boost at less than 0.5 Bar. On the positive side I've learnt pretty quickly to give the thing a big margin of respect, because I simply didn't comprehend the thing would react quite that aggressively in all-but a straight line before going out in it. That said, when the track dried out I had the boost back up to 1Bar and it was holding traction perfectly. I could plant the throttle all through Westway in 3rd and it didn't feel like it was going to spin the wheels. Unfortunately the off really unsettled me and I didn't give the car a proper run - I think I'm going to need to grow myself some balls before the next track day! Quote
Matt Seabrook Posted March 14, 2009 Posted March 14, 2009 To be honest Neil its no shock that you ended up the wrong way. Event 130bhp in a Westfield is a handful in the wet if you boot it. With the torque you have its going to be a pig in the wet when it comes on boost. It might be an idea to get the car back in to me to recheck the geo as you have been grass cutting. Quote
speedy jon Posted March 14, 2009 Posted March 14, 2009 iv seen a few caterhams have accidents at folly in the wet. these were the caterham graduates race series so only around 130bhp max. in the wet there is a river that runs down from avon rise and then through the middle of folly and it was catching them all out. glad to here you was ok after what sounds like a big off. Quote
FW500 Posted March 14, 2009 Author Posted March 14, 2009 Cheers all. Matt - will definately bring the car back in - car felt good but is obviously a different configuration with this engine in anyway. Was finding the car was hitting the deck at about 120mph on the approach to Avon Rise where the track has a slight bump too Quote
J Chadburn Posted March 14, 2009 Posted March 14, 2009 500bhp cossi in a westfield? if thats true crazzy git!!!!!! id like to see it!!!! Quote
FW500 Posted March 14, 2009 Author Posted March 14, 2009 Can't see why it wouldn't be true? There's plenty of big powered Westy's out there. Mine is specced for 450Bhp I'm just running it at 300 or so because I have a big empty bag of talent. Quote
jeff oakley Posted March 14, 2009 Posted March 14, 2009 500bhp cossi in a westfield? if thats true crazzy git!!!!!! id like to see it!!!! I had no reason to disbelive him and the fact that he had been spat off twice would suggest however much it was it was perhaps too brutal when the turbo kicked in. Quote
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