V6 ZS for a rainy day track day car
Discussion
We have a Radical SR3 for track days. However, it's rubbish and rotten in the wet.
For that and a variety of other reasons, including client entertainment and such, we have got hold of a V6 ZS that we are going to put on track. It also seems like I am going to be driving it around a bit over the next few weeks as well.
Is there anything in particular that the MG experts here would recommend us give attention to other than the normal track day preperation stuff?
For that and a variety of other reasons, including client entertainment and such, we have got hold of a V6 ZS that we are going to put on track. It also seems like I am going to be driving it around a bit over the next few weeks as well.
Is there anything in particular that the MG experts here would recommend us give attention to other than the normal track day preperation stuff?
Make certain the inlet manifold valves and the VIS motors are all ok, these are common failure points and make a big difference to the way the car drives. The motors can often be repaired if you take them apart, there are a pair of microswitches on a PCB operated by a cam - the solder joints get broken with repeated flexing. Epoxying the switches onto the PCB and re-soldering is the solution. If the manifold is making a rattling noise that's bad news as it means one or more valves have parted company from the operating rod and it's not really fixable as the manifold is bonded together. A new manifold is very expensive, and good s/h ones are not common.
Manifold and VIS motor failure seems to be exacerbated by the amount of oil that gets passed through from the crankcase breather (the rubber pipe that connects onto the throttle body). It's recommended to plumb this pipe through a catch tank to significantly reduce the amount of oil that gets through.
Obviously check the timing belts and tensioners have been done, it's a fairly big job on these as there's three of them and space is rather tight. Plan on most of a day if you have to do this and have never done it before (and you'll need the special kit of locking tools). Worth checking/changing the thermostat as well, the plastic bodies can spring leaks as they age.
Check the clutch slave bracket for cracking (remove from gearbox and give it a close inspection). They are renown for failing, leaving you to get home without a clutch. A much better solution is to ditch the plastic master and slave cylinder and replace with the proper metal parts from a Honda Civic. You will need to fabricate a suitable bracket to mount the slave, but it makes a big difference to the feel of the clutch and reliability of the system. A guy with the internet name of "Sheddist" was selling a kit of parts to do this a while back, I think he hangs out on the Xpowerforums mainly.
In common with most Rovers and Civics of the era, the rear trailing arm void bush can perish and makes the car feel a bit vague. Cheap to buy, but a bit of a pain to replace - choose your largest hammer as they can be bloody tight in the arms!
Check for loose doorhandles. The handles have threaded brass inserts pressed into plastic pillars which basically crumble with age until you go to open a door and are left with a door handle in your hand. Oddly the Rover 400 never suffered from this, and the later face lift cars seem to be much less prone.
Manifold and VIS motor failure seems to be exacerbated by the amount of oil that gets passed through from the crankcase breather (the rubber pipe that connects onto the throttle body). It's recommended to plumb this pipe through a catch tank to significantly reduce the amount of oil that gets through.
Obviously check the timing belts and tensioners have been done, it's a fairly big job on these as there's three of them and space is rather tight. Plan on most of a day if you have to do this and have never done it before (and you'll need the special kit of locking tools). Worth checking/changing the thermostat as well, the plastic bodies can spring leaks as they age.
Check the clutch slave bracket for cracking (remove from gearbox and give it a close inspection). They are renown for failing, leaving you to get home without a clutch. A much better solution is to ditch the plastic master and slave cylinder and replace with the proper metal parts from a Honda Civic. You will need to fabricate a suitable bracket to mount the slave, but it makes a big difference to the feel of the clutch and reliability of the system. A guy with the internet name of "Sheddist" was selling a kit of parts to do this a while back, I think he hangs out on the Xpowerforums mainly.
In common with most Rovers and Civics of the era, the rear trailing arm void bush can perish and makes the car feel a bit vague. Cheap to buy, but a bit of a pain to replace - choose your largest hammer as they can be bloody tight in the arms!
Check for loose doorhandles. The handles have threaded brass inserts pressed into plastic pillars which basically crumble with age until you go to open a door and are left with a door handle in your hand. Oddly the Rover 400 never suffered from this, and the later face lift cars seem to be much less prone.
Edited by Mr2Mike on Tuesday 25th October 21:42
Excellent,
Thanks for that. We had picked up on only a couple of those bits and bobs.
We are taking it to Brands next Tuesday for some clients to have a go in (they can't drive the Radical). We'll see how it performs. We have a full garage set up to work on it after then and will look at some of those things. Before then it's a full service and check over, some new discs and pads and possibly some better tyres.
I'll let you know how we get on!
Thanks for that. We had picked up on only a couple of those bits and bobs.
We are taking it to Brands next Tuesday for some clients to have a go in (they can't drive the Radical). We'll see how it performs. We have a full garage set up to work on it after then and will look at some of those things. Before then it's a full service and check over, some new discs and pads and possibly some better tyres.
I'll let you know how we get on!
I think you made a good choice. It's an excellent budget track car, very taut and sharp (for a road car) even with standard suspension, but forgiving enough for the less experienced drivers.
Definitely a good idea to fit some track oriented brake pads as it's not hard to fade the brakes with enthusiastic driving on the road.
The induction system, particularly the air filter, is alleged to be fairly restrictive on the ZS180 and I suspect there may be some truth in this judging from the rather small size of the filter and the number of sharp 90 degree bends in the airflow. A freer flowing filter and cold air feed may be a worthy investment (if not already fitted) and it makes the V6 sound even better.
Definitely a good idea to fit some track oriented brake pads as it's not hard to fade the brakes with enthusiastic driving on the road.
The induction system, particularly the air filter, is alleged to be fairly restrictive on the ZS180 and I suspect there may be some truth in this judging from the rather small size of the filter and the number of sharp 90 degree bends in the airflow. A freer flowing filter and cold air feed may be a worthy investment (if not already fitted) and it makes the V6 sound even better.
That's pretty much spot on from Mr Mike.
I had decent gains from a cold air induction on mine- it made the biggest difference at the top end where it felt a bit asthmatic at higher rpms on the standard filter. Never dyno'd it, but it was definitely better.
I had mine on track at Bedford in the wet- biggest issue I had was the usual brake fade. Aside from that, I was keeping up with and overtaking some "faster" cars- I left there impressed by it(just into 5th at the end of the straight if you know it- around 120mph).
(Also, for what it's worth, I was neck and neck with my mates Integra Type-R down the straight(dyno'd at 202bhp)).
I had decent gains from a cold air induction on mine- it made the biggest difference at the top end where it felt a bit asthmatic at higher rpms on the standard filter. Never dyno'd it, but it was definitely better.
I had mine on track at Bedford in the wet- biggest issue I had was the usual brake fade. Aside from that, I was keeping up with and overtaking some "faster" cars- I left there impressed by it(just into 5th at the end of the straight if you know it- around 120mph).
(Also, for what it's worth, I was neck and neck with my mates Integra Type-R down the straight(dyno'd at 202bhp)).
Well, we took it to Brands on Tuesday.
Bloomin' marvellous it was.
We are going to be working up a bunch of things to do over the winter but we may give it a few runs whle the Radical is getting a full rebuild.
One question though relates to towing eyes on the front (and read I suppose).
as a track day car we need to have permenant towing etes. From what I can make out there are 2 lashing points under the front, but if used the splitter gets damaged. What do other people do. We were expecting a cover and threaded eye bolt arrangement.
The other strange thing was both fog lights got smashed. We didn't hit anyting and I'm not aware of a lot of gravel flying around.
Bloomin' marvellous it was.
We are going to be working up a bunch of things to do over the winter but we may give it a few runs whle the Radical is getting a full rebuild.
One question though relates to towing eyes on the front (and read I suppose).
as a track day car we need to have permenant towing etes. From what I can make out there are 2 lashing points under the front, but if used the splitter gets damaged. What do other people do. We were expecting a cover and threaded eye bolt arrangement.
The other strange thing was both fog lights got smashed. We didn't hit anyting and I'm not aware of a lot of gravel flying around.
It doesn't have towing eyes as you found out. I suppose the only way would be to fabricate some?
The lashing points are useless as you need to take the bumper off to use them. As I found out when the RAC guy needed to tow me(ended up having to wait for a flatbed).
Sorry, no help to you I know.
The lashing points are useless as you need to take the bumper off to use them. As I found out when the RAC guy needed to tow me(ended up having to wait for a flatbed).
Sorry, no help to you I know.
silverthorn2151 said:
The other strange thing was both fog lights got smashed. We didn't hit anyting and I'm not aware of a lot of gravel flying around.
I had a 1.8 VTi Civic which is a very simmilar car to the Rover 400/45 and went through two sets of fog lamps, eventually replacing the expensive Honda items with some small after market fog lamps made by "Ring" that seemed to be tougher and looked very close to the OEMs. Not smashed the fogs on my ZS180 yet however, but they do seem to be a bit vulnerable. As it's a track car perhaps it would make more sense to remove them use the holes in the bumper for some ducting for cooling the brakes?
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