Dynion's 100 hour track day challenge
Discussion
Approximately 6 months ago, I enquired on a thread in this forum as to whether it was possible to do 100 hours on track in 1 car in one year across 20 track days.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Well, I’m 6 months into this challenge so I thought I’d give an update. (If there is any interest I’ll continue to update).
The reasons to complete this challenge is based on the 10,000 hours principle of practice required by world champion athletes. I am not the latter, but in 25 years of racing have probably spent less than 500 hours on track. So to increase that by 20% in one year should benefit my own track driving – or at least that is the plan.
First of course is what car to choose. It had to be FWD and NA (as my race car is FWD and NA), it also had to be relatively small in order to fit in my garage, so that ruled out Civic’s, Megane’s etc. I toyed with the idea of using something unusual and went a long way down the road of importing a Nismo Note S, however due to homologation issues these can’t be used on the road in the UK.
After looking at a few ‘well thumbed’ Clio 1*2’s I decided I quite fancied its little brother the Renault Sport Twingo RS. 1600 cc NA and 133 hp. And small. Perfect!
Now to find one – I CBA to drive to the few that were localish ( 20-40 miles away) and did not want to pay dealer prices as I knew I’d need to spend a few hundred £’s on track prep, so I decided to go the auction root and used ‘flipping cars’ to procure a Twingo. Literally I saw the car on the website at 7.30pm one evening, signed up, paid my deposit, placed a bid and by 9.30 the following morning the car was mine! All £1800 of it.
A week later and it was on my driveway, and first impressions were good. New tyres, clean body work, no rust and it all seemed to work. Brakes were worn, oil looked like treacle (so much so that I immediately changed it). Gearbox was a bit stiff and the SRS light was on (fixed by jiggling the wire under passenger seat). The locking wheel nut was missing and in bleeding the brake fluid I managed to bust the bleed nipple, requiring a new set of front calipers (luckily there was one set for sale on ebay for £58.)
Over the following weekend, I set about giving the car a complete service, new air filter, spark plugs, DOT 5 brake fluid, gear box oil, cam belt inspection (ok), and new pads and discs all round. And then sent it off for its MOT (a pass but with an advisory on the lower wishbone) We were now good to go.
Costs so far £3229, about the same price as one at a dealer (and this includes all fees, insurances, parts, MOT etc etc)
I've now done 7 of the intended 20 track days. So if there's any interest I'll starting posting up how I've got on.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Well, I’m 6 months into this challenge so I thought I’d give an update. (If there is any interest I’ll continue to update).
The reasons to complete this challenge is based on the 10,000 hours principle of practice required by world champion athletes. I am not the latter, but in 25 years of racing have probably spent less than 500 hours on track. So to increase that by 20% in one year should benefit my own track driving – or at least that is the plan.
First of course is what car to choose. It had to be FWD and NA (as my race car is FWD and NA), it also had to be relatively small in order to fit in my garage, so that ruled out Civic’s, Megane’s etc. I toyed with the idea of using something unusual and went a long way down the road of importing a Nismo Note S, however due to homologation issues these can’t be used on the road in the UK.
After looking at a few ‘well thumbed’ Clio 1*2’s I decided I quite fancied its little brother the Renault Sport Twingo RS. 1600 cc NA and 133 hp. And small. Perfect!
Now to find one – I CBA to drive to the few that were localish ( 20-40 miles away) and did not want to pay dealer prices as I knew I’d need to spend a few hundred £’s on track prep, so I decided to go the auction root and used ‘flipping cars’ to procure a Twingo. Literally I saw the car on the website at 7.30pm one evening, signed up, paid my deposit, placed a bid and by 9.30 the following morning the car was mine! All £1800 of it.
A week later and it was on my driveway, and first impressions were good. New tyres, clean body work, no rust and it all seemed to work. Brakes were worn, oil looked like treacle (so much so that I immediately changed it). Gearbox was a bit stiff and the SRS light was on (fixed by jiggling the wire under passenger seat). The locking wheel nut was missing and in bleeding the brake fluid I managed to bust the bleed nipple, requiring a new set of front calipers (luckily there was one set for sale on ebay for £58.)
Over the following weekend, I set about giving the car a complete service, new air filter, spark plugs, DOT 5 brake fluid, gear box oil, cam belt inspection (ok), and new pads and discs all round. And then sent it off for its MOT (a pass but with an advisory on the lower wishbone) We were now good to go.
Costs so far £3229, about the same price as one at a dealer (and this includes all fees, insurances, parts, MOT etc etc)
I've now done 7 of the intended 20 track days. So if there's any interest I'll starting posting up how I've got on.
Day 1 – Castle Combe, 30 degrees! July 8th.
200.8 miles completed, 2h 48 mins on track. Average lap time about 1m32s
The car was very good, and after an initial session just seeing what it could take, I pushed it as hard as possible for the rest of the day, with the only problem being severe brake judder which I put down to the ‘slots’ in the EBC discs acting as a cheese grater to the green stuff pads. When I measured the pads at home a week later they had on average 1- 1.5mm (from a start point of 10mm). I used approx. £97 of fuel.
Castle Combe’s track regulation of covered arms, is no fun in a tin top when it’s 30 degrees. Especially as I had the heater blower on to take some temperature out of the engine bay.
Once back home I siphoned all the oil out of the engine to replace it, and could see that it had not used a drop of oil – 4.8 litres went in 5 litres came out, well impressed!
Tyre wear was also good, approx. 5mm of tread on the front from a start point of 7 (Hankook S1 Evo) and rears were unmarked.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASSg4MMv5aw&t=...
Day 2 – Silverstone National, Jul 24th, 33 degrees.
It’s still not fun wearing a jumper in a car in the middle of the summer. Less so when you realise at the end of the day that you don’t have to! FFS!
226.1 miles completed, 3h 05 mins on track. Ave lap time approx. 1m19.
Brakes ok, no judder, using genuine Renault pads. Measured at approx. 4-5mm after a days lappery which I calculate to have been around 135 laps! So standard pads might be the way forward. Tremendous opportunity to practice lines, turn in points, improve corner speeds although I never got more than 100mph out of the car at any point on the circuit. Also there appeared to be a ‘whoosh’ noise when changing gear. I think this is the clutch slave cylinder having not been bled properly – (it works off the brake fluid). If anyone knows how to bleed the clutch slave I am all ears.
Tyres ok, still about 4 mm left
Fuel used approx. £104.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZeEm91euEA
200.8 miles completed, 2h 48 mins on track. Average lap time about 1m32s
The car was very good, and after an initial session just seeing what it could take, I pushed it as hard as possible for the rest of the day, with the only problem being severe brake judder which I put down to the ‘slots’ in the EBC discs acting as a cheese grater to the green stuff pads. When I measured the pads at home a week later they had on average 1- 1.5mm (from a start point of 10mm). I used approx. £97 of fuel.
Castle Combe’s track regulation of covered arms, is no fun in a tin top when it’s 30 degrees. Especially as I had the heater blower on to take some temperature out of the engine bay.
Once back home I siphoned all the oil out of the engine to replace it, and could see that it had not used a drop of oil – 4.8 litres went in 5 litres came out, well impressed!
Tyre wear was also good, approx. 5mm of tread on the front from a start point of 7 (Hankook S1 Evo) and rears were unmarked.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASSg4MMv5aw&t=...
Day 2 – Silverstone National, Jul 24th, 33 degrees.
It’s still not fun wearing a jumper in a car in the middle of the summer. Less so when you realise at the end of the day that you don’t have to! FFS!
226.1 miles completed, 3h 05 mins on track. Ave lap time approx. 1m19.
Brakes ok, no judder, using genuine Renault pads. Measured at approx. 4-5mm after a days lappery which I calculate to have been around 135 laps! So standard pads might be the way forward. Tremendous opportunity to practice lines, turn in points, improve corner speeds although I never got more than 100mph out of the car at any point on the circuit. Also there appeared to be a ‘whoosh’ noise when changing gear. I think this is the clutch slave cylinder having not been bled properly – (it works off the brake fluid). If anyone knows how to bleed the clutch slave I am all ears.
Tyres ok, still about 4 mm left
Fuel used approx. £104.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZeEm91euEA
Day 3 – Abingdon Airfield Sept 6th, 20 degrees.
Hmm, not a great day, only 85 miles completed and approx. 1h27m on track. A couple of things, I did almost no prep on the car other than a check of oil level and tyre pressures, this came to bite me on the butt as the discs had warped, worse than before, making it very difficult to drive and shaking the car to bits. Also the track is very abrasive and I managed to root a left front tyre. So left early.
Fuel used £35
New discs required
Oil change required. (still not using any though)
Hmm, not a great day, only 85 miles completed and approx. 1h27m on track. A couple of things, I did almost no prep on the car other than a check of oil level and tyre pressures, this came to bite me on the butt as the discs had warped, worse than before, making it very difficult to drive and shaking the car to bits. Also the track is very abrasive and I managed to root a left front tyre. So left early.
Fuel used £35
New discs required
Oil change required. (still not using any though)
Day 4 – Silverstone GP, Oct 10th, 12 degrees.
Love this track! First time I’ve driven it in the dry, and first time in about 10 years.
215 miles completed, 2hr 53 mins. Approx lap time 2m53
Maggots, Becketts tremendous fun although interestingly my top speed on the National parts of the circuit was up about 7 mph going into Copse for example from when I was there in the summer. (approx. 105mph) So I can only assume that colder air really does make a difference. Also although up against Mclaren’s and Porsches the little Twingo was not out of place on this track nor the slowest.
Burned through the rest of the front pads, so swapped into the part worn pads that came with the car and that I have kept as spares. (Rear’s were still like new) Also finished off the front tyres so had to put them on the rear in order to keep going. Played around with tyre pressures as the side walls were going ‘blue’ so pumped a bit more wind into them. Normally I was running 27 cold, so bumped the fronts up to 32, with the rears at 35 cold. This made a marginal difference.
Only thing of note was that the replacement pads disintegrated in about 10 laps causing me to leave for home with still an hour and a half to go (I reckon 300 miles might have been possible). Also there was a grinding noise when braking and the steering didn’t feel right. Driving home to South Oxfordshire with no front pads, (it was literally the backing plate) was interesting! And usefully the low brake pad warning light didn’t come on until I got onto my drive way!
Fuel used £115, with new pads required and I might change the oil again as I hadn’t yet changed the oil filter (v difficult to do due to access) And also because I forgot to get one!) Also two new tyres required, a bottom arm and track rod end!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCZOo1NBpDA
Love this track! First time I’ve driven it in the dry, and first time in about 10 years.
215 miles completed, 2hr 53 mins. Approx lap time 2m53
Maggots, Becketts tremendous fun although interestingly my top speed on the National parts of the circuit was up about 7 mph going into Copse for example from when I was there in the summer. (approx. 105mph) So I can only assume that colder air really does make a difference. Also although up against Mclaren’s and Porsches the little Twingo was not out of place on this track nor the slowest.
Burned through the rest of the front pads, so swapped into the part worn pads that came with the car and that I have kept as spares. (Rear’s were still like new) Also finished off the front tyres so had to put them on the rear in order to keep going. Played around with tyre pressures as the side walls were going ‘blue’ so pumped a bit more wind into them. Normally I was running 27 cold, so bumped the fronts up to 32, with the rears at 35 cold. This made a marginal difference.
Only thing of note was that the replacement pads disintegrated in about 10 laps causing me to leave for home with still an hour and a half to go (I reckon 300 miles might have been possible). Also there was a grinding noise when braking and the steering didn’t feel right. Driving home to South Oxfordshire with no front pads, (it was literally the backing plate) was interesting! And usefully the low brake pad warning light didn’t come on until I got onto my drive way!
Fuel used £115, with new pads required and I might change the oil again as I hadn’t yet changed the oil filter (v difficult to do due to access) And also because I forgot to get one!) Also two new tyres required, a bottom arm and track rod end!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCZOo1NBpDA
Day 5 – Nov 24th Castle Combe (again). Wet approx. 7 degrees.
A lot of red flags! 7 in the morning alone really limited running. 162 miles completed approx. 2h 32 mins on track. Interestingly lap times were only about 2-3 sec slower than in the dry at 1m35.
I went with a friend of mine who was in his race Clio, however he caused one of the red flags when he went off and damaged the car, so he spent the rest of the day as my passenger.
Nothing really to report, it was very uneventful, the car never missed a beat and I was able to practice wet driving lines and techniques and build my confidence under braking, picking a marker and braking later and later (ABS helps in this case). Having purchased new tyres these were down to 6mm (wet track less wear), rears still fine. In fact I suspect the rear brakes may last the whole of this challenge, and rear tyres may last 2-3 more track days.
The discs warped again, this can only be the deposits from the soft road pads building up on to the surface of the discs, however replacement discs are £40. I did think about getting the discs skimmed but the cost is almost the same.
Fuel used £92, new front discs required, pads have about 80% left on them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkwJG1HpwSE&t=...
Total cost so far inc car £5641. Total track hours just short of 13, with mileage at 889.
On this basis, I won’t be able to complete 100 hours, I might get to 60. I may be able to get to 4000 track miles, which is not a bad target.
If you take out the initial car costs then, the average cost per hour is around £144, which is approx. the quarter of the cost of a racing hour.
Average track mpg around 13, average speed around 71mph.
A lot of red flags! 7 in the morning alone really limited running. 162 miles completed approx. 2h 32 mins on track. Interestingly lap times were only about 2-3 sec slower than in the dry at 1m35.
I went with a friend of mine who was in his race Clio, however he caused one of the red flags when he went off and damaged the car, so he spent the rest of the day as my passenger.
Nothing really to report, it was very uneventful, the car never missed a beat and I was able to practice wet driving lines and techniques and build my confidence under braking, picking a marker and braking later and later (ABS helps in this case). Having purchased new tyres these were down to 6mm (wet track less wear), rears still fine. In fact I suspect the rear brakes may last the whole of this challenge, and rear tyres may last 2-3 more track days.
The discs warped again, this can only be the deposits from the soft road pads building up on to the surface of the discs, however replacement discs are £40. I did think about getting the discs skimmed but the cost is almost the same.
Fuel used £92, new front discs required, pads have about 80% left on them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkwJG1HpwSE&t=...
Total cost so far inc car £5641. Total track hours just short of 13, with mileage at 889.
On this basis, I won’t be able to complete 100 hours, I might get to 60. I may be able to get to 4000 track miles, which is not a bad target.
If you take out the initial car costs then, the average cost per hour is around £144, which is approx. the quarter of the cost of a racing hour.
Average track mpg around 13, average speed around 71mph.
Day 6 – Dec 14th Donington Park, wet/dry 5 degrees
As it was damp, there were a lot of red flags, one of which was caused by me (first one since 2001!) when I got a wheel on the damp as I turned in and slid into the gravel trap at Goddards. As it was near the end of the day, and as I was knackered after an early start I decided to call it a day with 144 miles on the clock and 2hr 17 mins of track time. I could see a bigger accident happening.
Which almost happened earlier in the day when a Caterham lost control at the old hairpin and nearly stopped just as I was charging into the braking zone, leaving me with the only option of a dodgy overtake and near miss. The alternative would have been to park my car in his.
The car was near faultless again today although it does show signs of being abused and I suspect it needs an engine mount. However, the new Mintex discs warped but I think this was down to re-using the previous pads (they did have 8 mm left – now down to 5mm) but clearly ,they leave deposits on the brake discs as they are so soft. I probably need to invest in some race pads, as in this case the OE option is just not working. Again, I used approximately the same amount of fuel £92 although this does include a longer journey to the circuit then any track day previously done this year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GNz_WkNpAU
Day 7 – 1st Feb – Mallory Park, dry 9 degrees.
New pads and discs fitted again, I wasn’t certain if the Twingo would be any good around Mallory as it’s essentially full throttle for 90% of the lap! As Mallory is a small circuit and as the day was cheap, it was populated by Hot Hatches/MX5’s in the main so my car for once wasn’t out of place.
First time at Mallory since 2016, I’d forgotten how narrow it seemed, however after a handful of laps it all came back to me. I spent the day practicing consistency both in terms of lap time – I got down to a low 59s, and corner entry speeds. Particularly at the Esses where it was really difficult to get the exact same turn in speed lap after lap. Sometimes 80mph, sometime 79, then anywhere between 77 and 82 – which is too fast.
For Gerrards, turning in at 80mph was better than 83 as you could just keep your foot planted all the way around. At a slightly higher speed the car tended to wash out about 2/3 of the way around the corner requiring a slight lift!
Anyway a good day was had, the Twingo is showing some signs of wear, brakes were screwed again by the end of the day, but I think either the tyres are worn in such a way that the car is tramlining a little, or maybe I need to look at the steering rack. I think the dog bone mount is over due replacement. I used approx. £121 of fuel. I was very glad I brought an additional 3rd jerry can.
In total 200 miles were completed which works out at 148 laps with a total track time of 2h35 mins. Next event is Silverstone National and I’m going to go for some upgraded carbon Lorraine pads!
So that's as far as have got so far. Next track day Silverstone on 24th Feb, then back to Mallory after that!
Will up date in due course. feel free to ask any questions!!
As it was damp, there were a lot of red flags, one of which was caused by me (first one since 2001!) when I got a wheel on the damp as I turned in and slid into the gravel trap at Goddards. As it was near the end of the day, and as I was knackered after an early start I decided to call it a day with 144 miles on the clock and 2hr 17 mins of track time. I could see a bigger accident happening.
Which almost happened earlier in the day when a Caterham lost control at the old hairpin and nearly stopped just as I was charging into the braking zone, leaving me with the only option of a dodgy overtake and near miss. The alternative would have been to park my car in his.
The car was near faultless again today although it does show signs of being abused and I suspect it needs an engine mount. However, the new Mintex discs warped but I think this was down to re-using the previous pads (they did have 8 mm left – now down to 5mm) but clearly ,they leave deposits on the brake discs as they are so soft. I probably need to invest in some race pads, as in this case the OE option is just not working. Again, I used approximately the same amount of fuel £92 although this does include a longer journey to the circuit then any track day previously done this year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GNz_WkNpAU
Day 7 – 1st Feb – Mallory Park, dry 9 degrees.
New pads and discs fitted again, I wasn’t certain if the Twingo would be any good around Mallory as it’s essentially full throttle for 90% of the lap! As Mallory is a small circuit and as the day was cheap, it was populated by Hot Hatches/MX5’s in the main so my car for once wasn’t out of place.
First time at Mallory since 2016, I’d forgotten how narrow it seemed, however after a handful of laps it all came back to me. I spent the day practicing consistency both in terms of lap time – I got down to a low 59s, and corner entry speeds. Particularly at the Esses where it was really difficult to get the exact same turn in speed lap after lap. Sometimes 80mph, sometime 79, then anywhere between 77 and 82 – which is too fast.
For Gerrards, turning in at 80mph was better than 83 as you could just keep your foot planted all the way around. At a slightly higher speed the car tended to wash out about 2/3 of the way around the corner requiring a slight lift!
Anyway a good day was had, the Twingo is showing some signs of wear, brakes were screwed again by the end of the day, but I think either the tyres are worn in such a way that the car is tramlining a little, or maybe I need to look at the steering rack. I think the dog bone mount is over due replacement. I used approx. £121 of fuel. I was very glad I brought an additional 3rd jerry can.
In total 200 miles were completed which works out at 148 laps with a total track time of 2h35 mins. Next event is Silverstone National and I’m going to go for some upgraded carbon Lorraine pads!
So that's as far as have got so far. Next track day Silverstone on 24th Feb, then back to Mallory after that!
Will up date in due course. feel free to ask any questions!!
Edited by Dynion Araf Uchaf on Sunday 2nd February 10:43
Are Twingo front discs vented or solid?
You could try giving performance braking in Monmouth a call, I found them very knowledgable and helpful, their advice made a huge difference on the discs and pads for my hatchback track car.
I thought I kept having brake warping but it turned out to be the pads getting so hot the pads were having a build up of heat and pad material which caused a vibration like warped discs.
Alex
You could try giving performance braking in Monmouth a call, I found them very knowledgable and helpful, their advice made a huge difference on the discs and pads for my hatchback track car.
I thought I kept having brake warping but it turned out to be the pads getting so hot the pads were having a build up of heat and pad material which caused a vibration like warped discs.
Alex
Brake wear is waaay too high. I’d look at improving the cooling with cheap flexi ducting from somewhere in the front dam, binning some weight from the car and using better/hotter pads.
Many years ago I did 30 track days in a year in a Lotus Elise and probably only changed pads every 5 or 6 events. Tyres were another matter until I moved onto cut-slick style tyres.
Many years ago I did 30 track days in a year in a Lotus Elise and probably only changed pads every 5 or 6 events. Tyres were another matter until I moved onto cut-slick style tyres.
alfa-alex said:
Are Twingo front discs vented or solid?
You could try giving performance braking in Monmouth a call, I found them very knowledgable and helpful, their advice made a huge difference on the discs and pads for my hatchback track car.
I thought I kept having brake warping but it turned out to be the pads getting so hot the pads were having a build up of heat and pad material which caused a vibration like warped discs.
Alex
vented, I've just took the plunge and purchased some CL pads, Hoping this will make the differenceYou could try giving performance braking in Monmouth a call, I found them very knowledgable and helpful, their advice made a huge difference on the discs and pads for my hatchback track car.
I thought I kept having brake warping but it turned out to be the pads getting so hot the pads were having a build up of heat and pad material which caused a vibration like warped discs.
Alex
MrOrange said:
Brake wear is waaay too high. I’d look at improving the cooling with cheap flexi ducting from somewhere in the front dam, binning some weight from the car and using better/hotter pads.
Many years ago I did 30 track days in a year in a Lotus Elise and probably only changed pads every 5 or 6 events. Tyres were another matter until I moved onto cut-slick style tyres.
I want to keep the car standard, I don't need any home built mods making reliability worse. however as per my other post I have upgraded the pads.Many years ago I did 30 track days in a year in a Lotus Elise and probably only changed pads every 5 or 6 events. Tyres were another matter until I moved onto cut-slick style tyres.
how many hours did you reckon you did in your Elise that year? Could be massive, over 100 hours?
An interesting exercise. Are you feeling benefits that will aid your racing?
Brakes - an option to consider is to use proper track pads and replace the discs when you change pads - the Rent4ring guys use Endless pads with standard discs on the Suzuki swifts and it gives them amazing, reliable performance that lasts a huge amount of track miles. The brake pads are very expensive but gave the best value and performance of all the combos they tried.
They still worked fine on the road too (I drove on the road from rent4ring to the Nurburgring entrance and to get fuel when I hired one).
Given that replacement discs are pretty cheap for you car they don’t add much to the overall costs.
Brakes - an option to consider is to use proper track pads and replace the discs when you change pads - the Rent4ring guys use Endless pads with standard discs on the Suzuki swifts and it gives them amazing, reliable performance that lasts a huge amount of track miles. The brake pads are very expensive but gave the best value and performance of all the combos they tried.
They still worked fine on the road too (I drove on the road from rent4ring to the Nurburgring entrance and to get fuel when I hired one).
Given that replacement discs are pretty cheap for you car they don’t add much to the overall costs.
braddo said:
An interesting exercise. Are you feeling benefits that will aid your racing?
since the end of last season I've done approx 7 1/4 hours on track. Or approximately 2 full club seasons of racing. I am more confident from the off, and the repetition is helping with consistency. I am also actively trying to improve certain aspects, namely, identifying reference points, my vision, braking and corner entry.the difficulty is concentration, it's hard to maintain after 20 mins in the car. So I am working on that too.
has it benefitted my race driving? yes but I have had only one chance to try it and that was the Silverstone GP race. I was able to get on the pace straight away ( although my car was down on power) However my speed through the beckets complex was significantly higher than almost all the opposition, it's just a pity I was a bit race rusty and made some school boy errors. But other than that I was a lot more consistent/confident. I was quite pleased with my speed/lines through Copse for example. I think I hit my markers almost every lap.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jXg-ZDa0BY&t=...
the real benefit is having the time to try different things like braking later, lines, turn in speed. As well as gaining enough experience to know that as this car understeers whether its going into the gravel or not. I.e. learning to ignore certain feedback rather than reacting to it. But like I say you have to keep concentrating and consciously keep working on different things.
Edited by Dynion Araf Uchaf on Sunday 2nd February 21:26
Dynion Araf Uchaf said:
how many hours did you reckon you did in your Elise that year? Could be massive, over 100 hours?
Probably not. Most were sessioned so only 2 or 3hrs max on track per day. Even on open pit-lane I still kept the runs under 30 mins to keep temps down and give the poor girl a chance to recover/re-fuel/running repairs. Maybe 75 hours actual running, or equivalent to 3+ x a 24hr race!Still a lot of hard miles in a year, lots of stuff broke/wore out (toe-links, bushes, fixings, discs, linkages, cables, steering stuff, engine parts/re-build, damper re-build, alternator, screen, the list goes on) due to climbing kerbs, repeated high-speed stops, high revs, heat, spins, vibration, flying stones ... yada yada yada.
Cost a mint. Loved it. Ultimately got bored so went racing for proper.
Day 8 – 24th February, Silverstone National. Very wet, then drying
Great day! 274 miles completed. New brakes were a lot better, still a bit of judder but never got worse than a little bit of judder, and the pads still have 70 % left on them. The braking and handling for this car in the wet was phenomenal. I’ve never driven a better car in the wet. It was one of the quickest out there when fully wet as it was so soft compared to all the race cars, but the ABS and the brake pads gave massive confidence. Coming down Wellington straight I could brake nearly at the turn in marker for Brooklands. I may have been only going at about 100mph but it was still mega late on the brakes. Interestingly the rears were stone cold when fully wet, it looks like the car doesn’t use them until the ABS kicks in. As it dried out they did start to get hot but hardly any wear on them.
As it was wet I got to try different wet lines to find what worked best which will help in future, but my main practise areas were braking, and corner speed followed by developing a feel for what the car was going to do as it slided. By the end of the day however the tyres were rooted so that limited me in terms of outright commitment. I also decided to use a self imposed limit of 6k as this matches the gear changes I use on the race car, so can practise down shifting into Copse for example as opposed to ringing it out in 4th.
In total 3hr 45 mins completed, 166 laps and my biggest day for mileage by quite some way. Next up is Mallory Park again, but not sure if I will take this or the race car. In the meantime I need to lay out some cash as the fronts are down to 1.5mm of tread and I need to change the dephaser/cambelt.
Non-too serious video below for amusement ( mostly mine)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOrP74ultRo&t=...
Great day! 274 miles completed. New brakes were a lot better, still a bit of judder but never got worse than a little bit of judder, and the pads still have 70 % left on them. The braking and handling for this car in the wet was phenomenal. I’ve never driven a better car in the wet. It was one of the quickest out there when fully wet as it was so soft compared to all the race cars, but the ABS and the brake pads gave massive confidence. Coming down Wellington straight I could brake nearly at the turn in marker for Brooklands. I may have been only going at about 100mph but it was still mega late on the brakes. Interestingly the rears were stone cold when fully wet, it looks like the car doesn’t use them until the ABS kicks in. As it dried out they did start to get hot but hardly any wear on them.
As it was wet I got to try different wet lines to find what worked best which will help in future, but my main practise areas were braking, and corner speed followed by developing a feel for what the car was going to do as it slided. By the end of the day however the tyres were rooted so that limited me in terms of outright commitment. I also decided to use a self imposed limit of 6k as this matches the gear changes I use on the race car, so can practise down shifting into Copse for example as opposed to ringing it out in 4th.
In total 3hr 45 mins completed, 166 laps and my biggest day for mileage by quite some way. Next up is Mallory Park again, but not sure if I will take this or the race car. In the meantime I need to lay out some cash as the fronts are down to 1.5mm of tread and I need to change the dephaser/cambelt.
Non-too serious video below for amusement ( mostly mine)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOrP74ultRo&t=...
Dynion Araf Uchaf said:
Day 8 – 24th February, Silverstone National. Very wet, then drying
Great day! 274 miles completed. New brakes were a lot better, still a bit of judder but never got worse than a little bit of judder, and the pads still have 70 % left on them. The braking and handling for this car in the wet was phenomenal. I’ve never driven a better car in the wet. It was one of the quickest out there when fully wet as it was so soft compared to all the race cars, but the ABS and the brake pads gave massive confidence. Coming down Wellington straight I could brake nearly at the turn in marker for Brooklands. I may have been only going at about 100mph but it was still mega late on the brakes. Interestingly the rears were stone cold when fully wet, it looks like the car doesn’t use them until the ABS kicks in. As it dried out they did start to get hot but hardly any wear on them.
As it was wet I got to try different wet lines to find what worked best which will help in future, but my main practise areas were braking, and corner speed followed by developing a feel for what the car was going to do as it slided. By the end of the day however the tyres were rooted so that limited me in terms of outright commitment. I also decided to use a self imposed limit of 6k as this matches the gear changes I use on the race car, so can practise down shifting into Copse for example as opposed to ringing it out in 4th.
In total 3hr 45 mins completed, 166 laps and my biggest day for mileage by quite some way. Next up is Mallory Park again, but not sure if I will take this or the race car. In the meantime I need to lay out some cash as the fronts are down to 1.5mm of tread and I need to change the dephaser/cambelt.
Non-too serious video below for amusement ( mostly mine)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOrP74ultRo&t=...
It was bloody wet on Monday that's for sure. Your car was so good on the day that i've since been looking at Twingo Cup's for rainy occassions. The Exige definitely wasn't suited to the bad weather and I'm not interested in fitting wet tyres to it for what will only be a couple of days use a year. Great day! 274 miles completed. New brakes were a lot better, still a bit of judder but never got worse than a little bit of judder, and the pads still have 70 % left on them. The braking and handling for this car in the wet was phenomenal. I’ve never driven a better car in the wet. It was one of the quickest out there when fully wet as it was so soft compared to all the race cars, but the ABS and the brake pads gave massive confidence. Coming down Wellington straight I could brake nearly at the turn in marker for Brooklands. I may have been only going at about 100mph but it was still mega late on the brakes. Interestingly the rears were stone cold when fully wet, it looks like the car doesn’t use them until the ABS kicks in. As it dried out they did start to get hot but hardly any wear on them.
As it was wet I got to try different wet lines to find what worked best which will help in future, but my main practise areas were braking, and corner speed followed by developing a feel for what the car was going to do as it slided. By the end of the day however the tyres were rooted so that limited me in terms of outright commitment. I also decided to use a self imposed limit of 6k as this matches the gear changes I use on the race car, so can practise down shifting into Copse for example as opposed to ringing it out in 4th.
In total 3hr 45 mins completed, 166 laps and my biggest day for mileage by quite some way. Next up is Mallory Park again, but not sure if I will take this or the race car. In the meantime I need to lay out some cash as the fronts are down to 1.5mm of tread and I need to change the dephaser/cambelt.
Non-too serious video below for amusement ( mostly mine)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOrP74ultRo&t=...
Between you and the manic Citroen C1s it was like having a swarm of flies on track out there
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