Bedford Track Day.........
Discussion
Back in one piece from (Boring) Bedford Autodrome. Don't think I'll be going there again in a hurry, a little bland and featureless for my liking. Great if you wanna explore the cars limits in safety though.
Thanks to Wayne for coming along in support. Hope you had a good day.
Here's the pics:
Thanks to Wayne for coming along in support. Hope you had a good day.
Here's the pics:
Edited by LuckyP on Saturday 25th August 22:41
That's exactly how I remembered it P! 
Great day but not such a great track IMO. Got a chance to sample P's track driving and I have to say that I was fairly impressed. There was an Ariel Atom club day with about 20 Atoms present ( never knew there were so many out there and it was neat to see so many out in force at once ) and so there was at least some fair game out on track. The most impressive thing to see for me at least was one of P's favourites, yes, you guessed it, a Lotarse, but not a run of the mill Lotarse, Oh no
. This particular Elise had a 340bhp Audi 1.8 turbo turbo motor conversion and boy was it quick ( ask P ). All in all a great day out and if one thing will stick in my mind it is that for the most part at least, it would seem that little can usurp the Ultima ( even with a lowly sub 500bhp ) on track. The only slight downside is that it does feel a little like cheating but Hey Ho, someone has to be at the top of the heap, right?
Great day but not such a great track IMO. Got a chance to sample P's track driving and I have to say that I was fairly impressed. There was an Ariel Atom club day with about 20 Atoms present ( never knew there were so many out there and it was neat to see so many out in force at once ) and so there was at least some fair game out on track. The most impressive thing to see for me at least was one of P's favourites, yes, you guessed it, a Lotarse, but not a run of the mill Lotarse, Oh no
. This particular Elise had a 340bhp Audi 1.8 turbo turbo motor conversion and boy was it quick ( ask P ). All in all a great day out and if one thing will stick in my mind it is that for the most part at least, it would seem that little can usurp the Ultima ( even with a lowly sub 500bhp ) on track. The only slight downside is that it does feel a little like cheating but Hey Ho, someone has to be at the top of the heap, right? 
mogg said:
Very surprised you passed the noise test. Never seen it more than 102dB there !?
We failed!!......the static test. But they have a great policy whereby you get a red dot on the screen, and then the marshalls look out for you triggering the drive-by noise meters. As anyone who has stood and watched an Ultima zoom by, they are deep and throaty, not high pitched and raspy!!! Didn't trigger it once.....Lucky that. 
That's great, Lucky! Really glad to see folks use the car for track days...that's where you can really open her up and see what she's got!
Had a chance to drive an Atom at the track recently. They are really quick to 90. It was probably the setup, but it was a little darty at 90+ ...like the bump-steer was going to take you for a ride.
So, your GTR was turning the quickest lap times of everything out there...and on those Kumho street tires?
Had a chance to drive an Atom at the track recently. They are really quick to 90. It was probably the setup, but it was a little darty at 90+ ...like the bump-steer was going to take you for a ride.
So, your GTR was turning the quickest lap times of everything out there...and on those Kumho street tires?
Builder said:
That's great, Lucky! Really glad to see folks use the car for track days...that's where you can really open her up and see what she's got!
Had a chance to drive an Atom at the track recently. They are really quick to 90. It was probably the setup, but it was a little darty at 90+ ...like the bump-steer was going to take you for a ride.
So, your GTR was turning the quickest lap times of everything out there...and on those Kumho street tires?
The fastet things there were a Suped up Lotus Elise and some of those Ariel Atoms with superchargers......I was giving them a run though!!Had a chance to drive an Atom at the track recently. They are really quick to 90. It was probably the setup, but it was a little darty at 90+ ...like the bump-steer was going to take you for a ride.
So, your GTR was turning the quickest lap times of everything out there...and on those Kumho street tires?
Tyres are sticky as anything. Had a chap with a temp guage go across the tyres afer a spirited run. Tyres were 17 and 20 cold and then bled bach to 23 and 25 when hot. Fronts were running at high 69 centegrade, and rears at mid fifties. (I have medium comp at front and hard at rear). Bloke told me I needed an extra 2 psi front and rear as the tyres were hotter on the outter and inner edges than the centre.
I would say with the standard springs and on Kumho Tyres that amount of roll is normal.
I increased the spring rate on my car which helped the roll a little but transformed the feel significantly. When pushing hard on track and with the stickier Kumho tyre any change of direction caused the suspension to feel too soft and almost Jelly like (that’s before the bendy wishbones).
I did my first track session at Brands Hatch with the factory standard set up – Goodyear tyres and standard springs. For the second session I put on the Kumho Tyres and was immediately able to push harder in the corners but that is when I felt the suspension was too soft and noticed greater roll in the corners. For the third session I changed the springs which transformed the car again in the corners. Unfortunately I have not done any back to back testing with tyre pressures or other changes.
The biggest drawback with the spring change is the inevitable ride on public roads.
The factory set up in my opinion is great for what it is intended – driving on public roads and is certainly good fun on the track but if you want to optimise the track performance you have to sacrifice in other areas.
I increased the spring rate on my car which helped the roll a little but transformed the feel significantly. When pushing hard on track and with the stickier Kumho tyre any change of direction caused the suspension to feel too soft and almost Jelly like (that’s before the bendy wishbones).
I did my first track session at Brands Hatch with the factory standard set up – Goodyear tyres and standard springs. For the second session I put on the Kumho Tyres and was immediately able to push harder in the corners but that is when I felt the suspension was too soft and noticed greater roll in the corners. For the third session I changed the springs which transformed the car again in the corners. Unfortunately I have not done any back to back testing with tyre pressures or other changes.
The biggest drawback with the spring change is the inevitable ride on public roads.
The factory set up in my opinion is great for what it is intended – driving on public roads and is certainly good fun on the track but if you want to optimise the track performance you have to sacrifice in other areas.
LuckyP said:
The fastet things there were a Suped up Lotus Elise and some of those Ariel Atoms with superchargers......I was giving them a run though!!
Looking at the Bedford track map, what configuration were you on? How would you describe the layout you had; slower and tight, or faster and sweeping? The track layout will effect your performance relative to other (lighter) cars (as well as driving technique, tire pressures, and wear).Builder said:
LuckyP said:
The fastet things there were a Suped up Lotus Elise and some of those Ariel Atoms with superchargers......I was giving them a run though!!
Looking at the Bedford track map, what configuration were you on? How would you describe the layout you had; slower and tight, or faster and sweeping? The track layout will effect your performance relative to other (lighter) cars (as well as driving technique, tire pressures, and wear).Here is Bedford:
http://www.pistonheads.tv/clip1352
Enjoy...........
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