17th July - Silverstone Track evening

[Kevin]

Myself and Silver Surfer enjoyed an evening at Silverstone.

Sorry there's going to be no pictures......

It was a very wet evening, with about 30 other cars there, so the track was nice and quiet.

I had an eventful day, as on Sunday I though it would be clever to try and adjust the camber. Turned out to be not such a good idea, as although I have a camber gauge, I do not have a toe gauge. The front toe was way off. A desparate call to Norton Way in the morning and Bryan did me a huge favour and said I could bring my car in for them to look at (ie fix). So out from Norton Way at 3.30, and straight up to Silverstone.

Unfortunately my car suffered from horrendous understeer (racing excuse No. 12), I couldn't do anything at any speed in corners, my CRV would of been quicker.

Kare (Silver Surfer) enjoyed his first time out on a track. He also was nice enough to let me have a drive of his car. So much more grip than mine. Maybe its time to ditch the cheapo Kumho's and get some GS-D3's like Kare has. I was really enjoying Kare's car, but I had to give it back.

So we had a safe session. I've learned my car needs some setting up to be at its best, but the biggest lession learned today was by the Ferrari Enzo driver. Yes, I said Enzo. Two laps in the rain does not make you the 'rainmeister'. He learned the expensive way, while he parked the Enzo into a wall.

[simonprelude]

Another one bites the dust :(



So we had a safe session. I've learned my car needs some setting up to be at its best, but the biggest lession learned today was by the Ferrari Enzo driver. Yes, I said Enzo. Two laps in the rain does not make you the 'rainmeister'. He learned the expensive way, while he parked the Enzo into a wall.

[NSXGB]

Two laps in the rain does not make you the 'rainmeister'. He learned the expensive way, while he parked the Enzo into a wall.

Ouch!


Will one day make a track day....

[Senninha]

... but the biggest lesson learned today was by the Ferrari Enzo driver. Yes, I said Enzo. Two laps in the rain does not make you the 'rainmeister'. He learned the expensive way, while he parked the Enzo into a wall.
SOmehow I dont think that one will be getting stripped and sold on ebay!

Good to hear you guys had a good outing and a safe one.

Kevin, I thought you were back on the RE070's from the R? How come the Kumho's are back on? GS-D3's get my vote too but be prepared to bed them in for 500 or so miles. They will feel loose at the front end when first installed.

regards, Paul

[NSXGB]

SOmehow I dont think that one will be getting stripped and sold on ebay!

Good to hear you guys had a good outing and a safe one.

Kevin, I thought you were back on the RE070's from the R? How come the Kumho's are back on? GS-D3's get my vote too but be prepared to bed them in for 500 or so miles. They will feel loose at the front end when first installed.

regards, Paul

Sorry for hijacking the thread, but I have GS-D3's too and agree with what you said about bedding them in. My question is: Have you noticed more road noise with yours? I don't think I'm imagining thing but on the motorway they seem much louder than my old RE010's did.

[Silver Surfer]

With their aftermarket exhaust, I doubt there is much road noice to hear!!;)

Back to the thread......, it was indeed a memorable evening for me as a track virgin no more as well as seeing my first Enzo in the flesh and 15mins later, the first smashed up Enzo in the flesh. It really did look sore. The front totally wasted and the rear fender severely dented!!

My first lesson was in the wet!! The GoodYear and Toyo combo seem to held out well and there was plenty of tread left. The rain kept me from giving it too much bravado and I think Kevin suffered a minor fright as my passenger early on when I was getting use to the track. An Elise spinning out of control in front of me and a Monaro spontaneously combusting was a scene and added more action.

Good fun and worth the money.

SS

[Senninha]

HI Kare,

Good to see you emerge safely from your first outing, and a good circuit too! From the comments above, would I be right to guess the F1's are up front? Would make for good wet weather steering feel.

I saw my first Enzo on the road on Sunday, in black and in convoy with a black Muci. Unforunately I was in the CRV so no point cruising up alongside :no:

(NSXGB, F1's are much quieter than old bridgestone / yoko combo)

regards, Paul

[NSXGB]

HI Kare,


(NSXGB, F1's are much quieter than old bridgestone / yoko combo)

regards, Paul


Strange, I have only just noticed the road noise...maybe something else...

[Silver Surfer]

Nope. :no:...the Toyo's are up front. F1s are worn behind. Toyo were the best tyres I can find for my 15" miniscule wheels.

SS

[Senninha]

Nope. :no:...the Toyo's are up front. F1s are worn behind. Toyo were the best tyres I can find for my 15" miniscule wheels.

SS
Oh well, good job I'm not a betting man then :rolleyes:

And we'll have to see what we can do about those pesky iccle 15's ;)

regards, Paul

[Kevin]

It's the weather. Unless there is going to be a really good chance of it being proper summer weather, there's no point putting on the RE070's.

I don't know if my car problems are down to alignment, the suspension equipment/combination or the tyres. At the speeds I was going at, I don't think the suspension itself would be a major factor.

Afterwards Kare's tyres are noticeably softer and stickier in feel. Mine are hard and cold.

Tyres can only handle a few heat cycles before they go off and become hard. My racing instructor told me that he replaces tyres after 8 cycles, not because they wear out but becuase they go hard and lose grip. Road tyres and especially the cheaper ones will take less cycles than the expensive ones.

I'm also going to need to replace my dampers soon. While working on the car recently, I can see the dampers are corroding badly. They are TEIN aluminium units. The corrosion is not just surface corrosion or under the anodising. It is eating away at the material. After brushing off the corrosion it can be seen there's .5mm if metal gone in places.:eek:

So the long process of choosing a new suspension begins, as well as opening the wallet once again. Maybe the safest one to go for is the Type-R, at least I'll be getting OEM quality.




Kevin, I thought you were back on the RE070's from the R?
regards, Paul

[Steveycaz]

Nope. :no:...the Toyo's are up front. F1s are worn behind. Toyo were the best tyres I can find for my 15" miniscule wheels.

SS

Which toyo's Kare? I could only find track-day tyres for the 15's. I couldn't find Eagle's at all for my 16" rears! (how do you do it?)

[Silver Surfer]

Toyo T1R 205/50/15
GY F1 225/50/16

You can get them via www.Event-Tyres.co.uk/Tyres (http://www.Event-Tyres.co.uk/Tyres)
or Blackcircles.com


The former is a mobile van and puts them on for you.

SS

[modarr]

Bryan did me a hug favour

Well, well, well. So that's how you get things done at a drop of a hat or other garment?

Could it be, in my lowly and humble opinion, that the stiff front set-up caused the understeer and not so much the tyres?

Mo

[Kevin]

It's hard to say. The car has been perfectly neutral for ages now. The understeer has crept in with the new diff. The new anti-roll bars should induce oversteer. I guess not enough.

I have some stiffer rear springs I can put in. At least it won't cost anything to try. I'm just hoping I won't be turning the car into a drift special.

With some better alignment and new tyres it should come good in the end.

Otherwise I start using the CRV on wet track days.