Bedford GT on Monday 20th July (MSVT)
Discussion
So, my next outing in the "PistonShed" 328i has been booked, another trip to Bedford with another family member who fancies a go - who else will be there? With such great weather and only £159 entry I'm sure a few must be tempted.
There'll certainly be a few TTs, if this thread is anything to go by!
http://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&a...
If you're there, pop over and say hello!
There'll certainly be a few TTs, if this thread is anything to go by!
http://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&a...
If you're there, pop over and say hello!
Nice to meet you too, shame we didn't end up sharing a piece of track, cars were probably quite well matched!
That was definitely a good day. Only one very brief stoppage at the end of the day, and good considerate driving from all but a handful. It never felt busy out on track, either. Footage to follow, though I only had one solo run that got cut short by rain and an stranded CLA45! Car felt great though, and 185 miles done in the end so I'm very happy.
That was definitely a good day. Only one very brief stoppage at the end of the day, and good considerate driving from all but a handful. It never felt busy out on track, either. Footage to follow, though I only had one solo run that got cut short by rain and an stranded CLA45! Car felt great though, and 185 miles done in the end so I'm very happy.
charltjr said:
I seemed to spend about ten laps stuck behind dog slow cars that were quick on the straight 
Didn't see a single blue flag all day which would definitely have helped. Bit absurd that someone was pulling away from me down the back straight by a good fifteen or twenty car lengths and yet I still had to brake really early to avoid running into the back of them at the next corner. Can't blame them too much as they were newbies but still, that's supposed to be what the flags are for.
Other than that, no complaints at all. I just need to get the Clio turbo'd for some more straight line speed
Interesting, I didn't get much trouble, and my car's certainly quicker through the twisties than down the straights. I find your body language has a big influence, not only being close enough to suggest you want to get by, but moving left early to make your intentions clear! I think we were a bit lucky with traffic this time, actually.Didn't see a single blue flag all day which would definitely have helped. Bit absurd that someone was pulling away from me down the back straight by a good fifteen or twenty car lengths and yet I still had to brake really early to avoid running into the back of them at the next corner. Can't blame them too much as they were newbies but still, that's supposed to be what the flags are for.
Other than that, no complaints at all. I just need to get the Clio turbo'd for some more straight line speed
Great footage, Longman, the helmet cam gives you a really good aspect and your car was just wonderful
I never came across you on track when I was driving, but you came past when I was instructing a few times and I was very impressed. Hope to see you out there again!I only went for one solo run this time, and only got a single hot lap done before it started to rain and we got a red flag for the CLA, but here's that lap. You can see the stoppage developing at the bottom hairpin, nothing obviously wrong with the car, I figured perhaps limp-home or a dashboard warning.
http://youtu.be/RTnvietA1RQ
Cheers! Yours is good too, nice lines throughout, the only thing that occured to me is that heel and toe would be a really good addition - I heard a couple of chirps as you went down to second, or otherwise the gear going in quite late which can be unsettling or at least distracting as you turn in. Otherwise far better than you let on on the day 
Didn't happen to be one of the Golfs that was giving you the straight-line trouble, did it?
I had a really good run behind that Astra coupé, I meant to ask which engine it had because he was noticeably quicker on the straights but pretty even over a lap, so that was fun.
Some photos from the day, with special mention to the world's bravest Vanquish owner!
Didn't happen to be one of the Golfs that was giving you the straight-line trouble, did it?
I had a really good run behind that Astra coupé, I meant to ask which engine it had because he was noticeably quicker on the straights but pretty even over a lap, so that was fun.
Some photos from the day, with special mention to the world's bravest Vanquish owner!
Sounds like you were very lucky with noise, Longman - Bedford's testers can be particularly draconian and really do enforce the "one strike and you're out" ruling on the drive by mics.. but if as you say you never got near the drive by limit then they were quite right to ignore the static and let you out 
it's clear why your car would generate an artificially high reading when measured directly behind when stationary!
Re. E36 oil temps, mine stands up very well. A gauge stack with oil temperature, pressure and a real water temp reading are on my to-do list so that I can keep a better eye on things while out on track, but the sewing machine effect you mention gives you a good indication when you come back in! When I first got mine, it would sound horribly tappety like that by the end of a session, and calm down by the next day. Back then it had cheap oil in from the previous owner's recent change. I use Mobil 1 0W40 - it's done 600 track miles over six events (track days and sprints) without so much as a whisper from the top end.
I expect it is getting hot, perhaps even hotter than you'd want, but the Mobil seems well able to deal with it and doesn't degrade over repeated heavy heat cycles. There are several oil cooler solutions available at reasonable cost if you still have trouble even with the best oil you can get your hands on, and there's plenty of space to mount them, especially if you've removed your air con condensor. Apart from the obvious cooling benefit of the airflow, you'd have more oil in the system in total, giving you more thermal mass to keep temperatures down further.
it's clear why your car would generate an artificially high reading when measured directly behind when stationary!Re. E36 oil temps, mine stands up very well. A gauge stack with oil temperature, pressure and a real water temp reading are on my to-do list so that I can keep a better eye on things while out on track, but the sewing machine effect you mention gives you a good indication when you come back in! When I first got mine, it would sound horribly tappety like that by the end of a session, and calm down by the next day. Back then it had cheap oil in from the previous owner's recent change. I use Mobil 1 0W40 - it's done 600 track miles over six events (track days and sprints) without so much as a whisper from the top end.
I expect it is getting hot, perhaps even hotter than you'd want, but the Mobil seems well able to deal with it and doesn't degrade over repeated heavy heat cycles. There are several oil cooler solutions available at reasonable cost if you still have trouble even with the best oil you can get your hands on, and there's plenty of space to mount them, especially if you've removed your air con condensor. Apart from the obvious cooling benefit of the airflow, you'd have more oil in the system in total, giving you more thermal mass to keep temperatures down further.
Ah, it's good to see footage from the S2000, shame the wind noise drowns most of it out! I really love the soundtrack from these cars, passengered in one at Blyton and it makes everything so exciting. Was that shot on a GoPro? If so, I've found the full-back case a lot more resilient to wind noise than the skeleton-back one.
I've been having a nose on the MSVT photography page and there's some really good shots of my car and many others, I'm definitely thinking of buying a few but the pricing structure really rather favours group buys! If anyone else wants some, please let me know and we can sort something out to save a few quid.
For the full-res digital download: "Unit price 8.00; drops to 5.00 for orders of 2 or more; drops to 2.50 for orders of 10 or more; drops to 1.50 for orders of 20 or more; drops to 1.00 for orders of 30 or more; drops to 0.80 for orders of 50 or more."
I think I'd probably want four. Gallery here:
http://www.msvtphotography.com/v/photos/45678dcb/C...
I've been having a nose on the MSVT photography page and there's some really good shots of my car and many others, I'm definitely thinking of buying a few but the pricing structure really rather favours group buys! If anyone else wants some, please let me know and we can sort something out to save a few quid.
For the full-res digital download: "Unit price 8.00; drops to 5.00 for orders of 2 or more; drops to 2.50 for orders of 10 or more; drops to 1.50 for orders of 20 or more; drops to 1.00 for orders of 30 or more; drops to 0.80 for orders of 50 or more."
I think I'd probably want four. Gallery here:
http://www.msvtphotography.com/v/photos/45678dcb/C...
Heh, I'll have to bite the bullet on the photos later in the week, then - but I agree they're excellent work this time. As much as I enjoy Javelin days, the photography was nowhere near this standard.
Ah, that makes sense about your GoPro case. I charge mine with a 12V USB adapter over lunch and that works nicely for the day, can't drill my case as I also use the GoPro for skiing and need to keep it dry! I have considered getting a second case and hardwiring to the car's electrics, ignition switch and all, maybe once the interior's stripped.
Too many people put noisy cans on S2000s and that can spoil them a bit, they're all about induction noise - your setup would be my approach too! Indeed, it is on my E36 noise tests at just 79dBA but by God it's lovely in the cabin once it's under load.
Ah, that makes sense about your GoPro case. I charge mine with a 12V USB adapter over lunch and that works nicely for the day, can't drill my case as I also use the GoPro for skiing and need to keep it dry! I have considered getting a second case and hardwiring to the car's electrics, ignition switch and all, maybe once the interior's stripped.
Too many people put noisy cans on S2000s and that can spoil them a bit, they're all about induction noise - your setup would be my approach too! Indeed, it is on my E36
noise tests at just 79dBA but by God it's lovely in the cabin once it's under load.Gassing Station | Track Days | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff