Discussion
Hi guys!
So, looking into getting my first Radical, hoping to start off with an early SR3 for around £20k. I live 5 mins away from Oulton park so I need to start taking advantage of this. Ideally want it to be road legal with such a short drive to the track. Won’t be competing just trackdays when I have time.
What are the things to look for? Obviously engine mileage and general history but is there anything which needs special attention when viewing?
Noticed this one in the classifieds which is he sort of spec I’m after.. Does anyone know this car?
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/r...
Cheers for any advice!
So, looking into getting my first Radical, hoping to start off with an early SR3 for around £20k. I live 5 mins away from Oulton park so I need to start taking advantage of this. Ideally want it to be road legal with such a short drive to the track. Won’t be competing just trackdays when I have time.
What are the things to look for? Obviously engine mileage and general history but is there anything which needs special attention when viewing?
Noticed this one in the classifieds which is he sort of spec I’m after.. Does anyone know this car?
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/r...
Cheers for any advice!
andylaurence said:
If you're going to drive to the track, how will you get your slicks there? I've not seen a towbar on the options list...
Isn't that exactly the same with such as a 911 and many many others, so like that/those, don't you just fit rubber halfway decent both on the road and on the track? No Radical (trackday or race) I've come across has been particularly hard on rubber or pads.As I'm posting before too many Victor Meldrew's arrive on the scene for the usual Marmite Moment, I say to the OP (as the seller is remarkably candid about with his intro) it really is up to the individual as to whether or not it suits and if it does, bloody well go for it (and relish the ability to blow the doors off virtually everything on a trackday, including exotic stuff costing massively more.
Yep - was think of just having semi-slicks fitted, toyo r888 etc. doubt I would be at the limit of these to begin with!
As I say, just starting out and just wanted a road legal one as so I don't have to faff around with a trailer etc to begin with and of course some opinions on where not to go wrong would be good! Any cars you know for sale would be helpful as well.
If any of you guys are up at Oulton park sometime it would be good to get a passenger ride in one and have a chat about them
Alex
As I say, just starting out and just wanted a road legal one as so I don't have to faff around with a trailer etc to begin with and of course some opinions on where not to go wrong would be good! Any cars you know for sale would be helpful as well.
If any of you guys are up at Oulton park sometime it would be good to get a passenger ride in one and have a chat about them
Alex
apostrophe policedoes have tbe an sr3 alex?
I started whith an 1100cc clubsport which was great fun and it got me hooked,so withn 6 months id sold it and got a 1300cc prosport. it really is a cracking fun car,easy to drive very fast and multi disciplined.eg its good on track,on the hillclimbs,long fast sprints,shorter tighter sprints etc.
you could by one easily,and a trailer for £20k and have enough left over to buy yourself a nice tow car!
im not sure on your driving talent but id pretty much guarantee it would be more than quick enough for you!
ive just started srinting in mine this year,as a total novice of zero sprints under my belt.fist event was wet and I was 3rd in class of 5 which I was relatively happy with in the conditions. and 2nd and 3rd events on Anglesey in the dry I won my class easily both days and had a 2nd and 3rd FTD. great cars! and good luck
I started whith an 1100cc clubsport which was great fun and it got me hooked,so withn 6 months id sold it and got a 1300cc prosport. it really is a cracking fun car,easy to drive very fast and multi disciplined.eg its good on track,on the hillclimbs,long fast sprints,shorter tighter sprints etc.
you could by one easily,and a trailer for £20k and have enough left over to buy yourself a nice tow car!
im not sure on your driving talent but id pretty much guarantee it would be more than quick enough for you!
ive just started srinting in mine this year,as a total novice of zero sprints under my belt.fist event was wet and I was 3rd in class of 5 which I was relatively happy with in the conditions. and 2nd and 3rd events on Anglesey in the dry I won my class easily both days and had a 2nd and 3rd FTD. great cars! and good luck
I suggest that if you have never driven any kind of Radical before that you enquire at Radical about the trial days ! Might be worth doing that before even considering purchasing one. I did Snetterton last year and bought an SR3 SL 6 months later ! I'll be at Oulton Park on the 19th August with it if your around ?
Well i have just shaken down my SR3 RS first time in Chenevieres. And as an almost 25 year kart and race driver I can tell you it handles like a dream on slick tires.
Using Toyo 888 or similar on the car is only for the super experienced pro race drivers as the car needs the soft tires. It would be like on ice with semi slicks and ok I alomost won the german kart championship back in the 90s but don't want to go to the limit with such kind of tires that do not fit the car. These tires are not able to deal with the car at race speed.
You can have a road trip with these tires and it would be ok.
Think of fitting them on an F1 car and go to the limit.
Balance of mecanical and aerodynamic grip is fundamental to drive such kind of cars really on the limit. If not handling is horror and will cause aftermath costs beyond a second set of rims and slicks.
Using Toyo 888 or similar on the car is only for the super experienced pro race drivers as the car needs the soft tires. It would be like on ice with semi slicks and ok I alomost won the german kart championship back in the 90s but don't want to go to the limit with such kind of tires that do not fit the car. These tires are not able to deal with the car at race speed.
You can have a road trip with these tires and it would be ok.
Think of fitting them on an F1 car and go to the limit.
Balance of mecanical and aerodynamic grip is fundamental to drive such kind of cars really on the limit. If not handling is horror and will cause aftermath costs beyond a second set of rims and slicks.
I've used the Dunlop DZ03 road legal tyres that Radical use and now are trying Toyo 888's on my road legal SR3.
The dunlops worked very well with the same suspension geometry Radical use as a base line for their slick shod cars ( though with twice the ride height). The set up was done by them at the factory. They were progressive and from listening and watching others, the car handled in a similar way.
I switched to the Toyo's to try something different and because the Dunlops are only available at the rear in a 225 and my rear rims are really too wide. Yes I know, I should buy narrower rims.
The 888's have been good so far, only done 1 track day and found the rears good but the fronts need less camber. Still progressive but with lots of grip. And the car is easy on the tyres too. They seem to last well. Or I'm driving too slowly, which as I'm not a karting champ is probably the case. The wider rears have changed the handling balance a bit but it's not bad, just slightly different, and very straightforward to drive around.
The dunlops worked very well with the same suspension geometry Radical use as a base line for their slick shod cars ( though with twice the ride height). The set up was done by them at the factory. They were progressive and from listening and watching others, the car handled in a similar way.
I switched to the Toyo's to try something different and because the Dunlops are only available at the rear in a 225 and my rear rims are really too wide. Yes I know, I should buy narrower rims.
The 888's have been good so far, only done 1 track day and found the rears good but the fronts need less camber. Still progressive but with lots of grip. And the car is easy on the tyres too. They seem to last well. Or I'm driving too slowly, which as I'm not a karting champ is probably the case. The wider rears have changed the handling balance a bit but it's not bad, just slightly different, and very straightforward to drive around.
Well cold I don't know but I wouldn't want to go at race pace with a tire that is not made for the car.
I creates heart attacks if the backend steps out widely at high speed for obviously no reason.
Maybe if you do 95% it is ok but if you really go for it... you really need balls.
If the car works with these kind of tires it is fine, I don't want to test it.
Maybe it is a state of mind to accept a bada tire and to handle this way. I just can't which makes it pretty unworthy to try for me.
You have a road legal SR3 which means it is way softer, setup for these kind of tires. But the race cars don't roll and nich that much, way stiffer, so the race setup will not make the road tire work at all.
Have you ever driven a 45hp shifter kart with bad tires or tried to drive it in the wet with slicks.
You may make it around the track, it works, no doubt, but you are always in danger to crash.
I don't know how fast you are driving. ;-)
I creates heart attacks if the backend steps out widely at high speed for obviously no reason.
Maybe if you do 95% it is ok but if you really go for it... you really need balls.
If the car works with these kind of tires it is fine, I don't want to test it.
Maybe it is a state of mind to accept a bada tire and to handle this way. I just can't which makes it pretty unworthy to try for me.
You have a road legal SR3 which means it is way softer, setup for these kind of tires. But the race cars don't roll and nich that much, way stiffer, so the race setup will not make the road tire work at all.
Have you ever driven a 45hp shifter kart with bad tires or tried to drive it in the wet with slicks.
You may make it around the track, it works, no doubt, but you are always in danger to crash.
I don't know how fast you are driving. ;-)
Edited by gilles027 on Tuesday 20th May 10:29
It would be interesting to hear what the manufacturers say, I'll give them a ring when I get a moment. The DZ03's and 888's are used as a control tyre in some club championships, though none that I'm aware of have "downforce" cars, but some include cars that are significantly heavier.
Coincidentally I have driven a 125 gearbox kart a few times, it was brilliant fun and on old tyres it was lively but still fun. It didn't feel anything like my radical.
Coincidentally I have driven a 125 gearbox kart a few times, it was brilliant fun and on old tyres it was lively but still fun. It didn't feel anything like my radical.
It's not about that the tire won't stand the downforce but that I don't know if the balance would be ok with such kind of tires. If so ok, it is on any ones responsability.
Go really fast in a car or cart with too old tires is like playing the lotterie, you may win.
Do some drifts and have fun, no doubt, but in terms of really pushing hard and competing with others with no proper tires is something I can not advise to do. That's my point.
Go really fast in a car or cart with too old tires is like playing the lotterie, you may win.
Do some drifts and have fun, no doubt, but in terms of really pushing hard and competing with others with no proper tires is something I can not advise to do. That's my point.
Steve57 said:
The SR1 (ok not quite in the same league as an RS) runs on dunlop road tyres. i cant see it would affect it that much apart from a lower level of grip (prepared to be proved wrong tho 
)
Just to add something to this, I've got an SR1 - (albeit with upgrades - 210bhp, dry sump and paddleshift) and running it on slicks compared to the championship controlled dunlop treaded tyres is night and day (they're actually competition rubber closer to slicks rather than road rubber). ) Some of it will be to do with setup as I only use the treads for shaking down/lap rides etc, but the difference is huge.
On the treads, the car is unstable under brakes and wanders across the circuit under hard braking, not so confidence inspiring, and significant mid corner and exit oversteer. I thought it was just me, then a friend of mine (who is an ex Macau GP winner - so is not a complete retard behind the wheel) did some laps a few weeks ago to provide me with some data and had exactly the same comments.
Switch to slicks and its a completely different car. Stable, progressive and hugely confidence inspiring... As I said, some of it will be set up, some will be inherent grip, (but they are still much softer than regular road tyres)but the difference really suprised me first time out. Something else going on there, maybe in tyre structure too.
Not sure if it adds too much info to the OP - just thought it was worth mentioning some real world experience based on Steve's hypothesis.
Thank you. Interesting...
I've ridden my old race bike on control "road legal" tyres and slicks and didn't find that much of a difference other than grip but they were not tyres that had heating/cooling characteristics that you would want on any road tyre.
I assumed that car tyres of this type would be similar but perhaps not. An even more stable, progressive and more grippy tyre than I use must be a dream!
Note to self: must try slicks.....
I've ridden my old race bike on control "road legal" tyres and slicks and didn't find that much of a difference other than grip but they were not tyres that had heating/cooling characteristics that you would want on any road tyre.
I assumed that car tyres of this type would be similar but perhaps not. An even more stable, progressive and more grippy tyre than I use must be a dream!
Note to self: must try slicks.....
road legal tyres vs slicks on a bike and car arre pretty different in my experience.
bike tyres are closer to slicks - be that due to construction/rubber... or the physics of things... not many road legal car tyres were ever designed for a sports prototype - and even then... they are not really designed to be put the the limit (of tracks)
in a car you can exploit the max grip of the tyre much easier than on a bike too.
bike tyres are closer to slicks - be that due to construction/rubber... or the physics of things... not many road legal car tyres were ever designed for a sports prototype - and even then... they are not really designed to be put the the limit (of tracks)
in a car you can exploit the max grip of the tyre much easier than on a bike too.
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