Ginetta, Audi and VW.
Discussion
After completing the build of my corrado race car and racing half a season, I decided to move to a purpose built race car and RWD rather than continuing to develop a high power FWD, the thought being this will allow me to concentrate on learning more and progressing my racecraft as opposed to developing a car. The decision was made and the car was put up for sale along with my M3 CSL. Didn't want to be selling this after only a year of ownership as it was nothing short of amazing, but with so much money tied up in it, something had to give.
For those who missed the old threads, heres a few snaps of what was to be replaced.
After the sale of the CSL Ginetta G50 was sourced from a team down south and purchased along with a few spares, of engine, bumper, clutch, wheels and propshaft. The car was basic G50 cup spec with the 300bhp engine and quaife box, but had been well looked after and maintained.
So she was collected and sent straight to Warren at North East Autobody in Aberdeen to tend to some bodywork issues and to get it all one colour.
At the same time I managed to get hold of a VW Transporter T5 T32 2.5tdi 50k miles VW main dealer trade in for towing the car to meetings and when converted somewhere to sleep at meetings further afield. The plan is to convert it over time with cooker, bed, entertainment etc.
Finally, a local Trackscotland forum member made an offer I couldnt refuse on the corrado, of a swap for a C5 RS6 which would be a great winter toy for the road. Spec was excellent with every box ticked, and it was extremely well maintained with all known RS6 issues dealt with and some well thoughout out upgrades of coilovers, Arbs, Miltek System and a Map. Only had this a week and its a cracking bit of kit, total chalk and cheese to the CSL, but very comfy and can certainly shift when it wants to.
Some photos taken today of the bunch together with another Ginetta purchased a few weeks earlier by my Dad, a slightly better spec than mine with geartronics paddleshift and a stage one upgrade +30Bhp. I managed to get a shot of this car at its previous home at Padborg Park in Denmark and the paddleshift system was excellent and despite the icy conditions the car felt brilliant, incredibly planted and much less intimidating than I had thought it would be.
Plans are to give the ginetta a going over over the winter and strip and spanner check as much as possible and tidy some bits up along the way. Next year the plan is to do a few rounds of the SMRC Sports and Saloons at knockhill, and dependant on how I get on with the car, possibly a few rounds of the GT Cup too, with a final aim to be to do the Race at Spa meeting in October.
To follow me racing during this season Like our page. https://www.facebook.com/akremotorsportuk
For those who missed the old threads, heres a few snaps of what was to be replaced.
After the sale of the CSL Ginetta G50 was sourced from a team down south and purchased along with a few spares, of engine, bumper, clutch, wheels and propshaft. The car was basic G50 cup spec with the 300bhp engine and quaife box, but had been well looked after and maintained.
So she was collected and sent straight to Warren at North East Autobody in Aberdeen to tend to some bodywork issues and to get it all one colour.
At the same time I managed to get hold of a VW Transporter T5 T32 2.5tdi 50k miles VW main dealer trade in for towing the car to meetings and when converted somewhere to sleep at meetings further afield. The plan is to convert it over time with cooker, bed, entertainment etc.
Finally, a local Trackscotland forum member made an offer I couldnt refuse on the corrado, of a swap for a C5 RS6 which would be a great winter toy for the road. Spec was excellent with every box ticked, and it was extremely well maintained with all known RS6 issues dealt with and some well thoughout out upgrades of coilovers, Arbs, Miltek System and a Map. Only had this a week and its a cracking bit of kit, total chalk and cheese to the CSL, but very comfy and can certainly shift when it wants to.
Some photos taken today of the bunch together with another Ginetta purchased a few weeks earlier by my Dad, a slightly better spec than mine with geartronics paddleshift and a stage one upgrade +30Bhp. I managed to get a shot of this car at its previous home at Padborg Park in Denmark and the paddleshift system was excellent and despite the icy conditions the car felt brilliant, incredibly planted and much less intimidating than I had thought it would be.
Plans are to give the ginetta a going over over the winter and strip and spanner check as much as possible and tidy some bits up along the way. Next year the plan is to do a few rounds of the SMRC Sports and Saloons at knockhill, and dependant on how I get on with the car, possibly a few rounds of the GT Cup too, with a final aim to be to do the Race at Spa meeting in October.
To follow me racing during this season Like our page. https://www.facebook.com/akremotorsportuk
Edited by Gingernuts on Wednesday 12th February 17:24
To follow me racing during this season Like our page. https://www.facebook.com/akremotorsportuk
Bit of an update.
After getting the car home work started getting under the skin of it and giving it a good spanner check along with fitting my own saftey gear and a fluids change.
Then it was off to a friend at a local garage who have some tip top alignment kit to get it all pointing in the right direction and dial in some circuit specific settings.
Then it was ready for its first pre-season test at knockhill. Was pretty nervous as although I have dealt with RWD on track in the form of the CSL, this is a different beast entirely, factoring in having to get used to slicks and a sequential box as well. However, after a few tentative first laps getting the slicks warm and shaking the car down, it proved to be a much less frightening car to drive than expected, instead being very stable and compliant at least at the pace I am currently pushing it to. Its has phenomenal cornering capabilities and the stopping power is going to take some getting used to. Braking points are way later than anything I could have imagined, and for the minute Im struggling to gain the bravery to brake as late as the car will allow. But overall, I am extremely pleased and really enjoyed the experience of beginning to get to know the thing.
Enough chat, here are some pictures and a short clip of Sundays antics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnKsqHdtB0w
Now looking forward to last bit of testing to really work on getting times down to where they should be and then the first race on the 6th of April in the SMRC Sports and Saloons!
After getting the car home work started getting under the skin of it and giving it a good spanner check along with fitting my own saftey gear and a fluids change.
Then it was off to a friend at a local garage who have some tip top alignment kit to get it all pointing in the right direction and dial in some circuit specific settings.
Then it was ready for its first pre-season test at knockhill. Was pretty nervous as although I have dealt with RWD on track in the form of the CSL, this is a different beast entirely, factoring in having to get used to slicks and a sequential box as well. However, after a few tentative first laps getting the slicks warm and shaking the car down, it proved to be a much less frightening car to drive than expected, instead being very stable and compliant at least at the pace I am currently pushing it to. Its has phenomenal cornering capabilities and the stopping power is going to take some getting used to. Braking points are way later than anything I could have imagined, and for the minute Im struggling to gain the bravery to brake as late as the car will allow. But overall, I am extremely pleased and really enjoyed the experience of beginning to get to know the thing.
Enough chat, here are some pictures and a short clip of Sundays antics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnKsqHdtB0w
Now looking forward to last bit of testing to really work on getting times down to where they should be and then the first race on the 6th of April in the SMRC Sports and Saloons!
Time for an update.
RS6: After a gearbox issue coming up this was sold on at a ridiculous loss as I simply didn't have to time to allocate to removing engine and box to sort. Also didn't seem worth it for a car that was barely used and destined to be sold anyway. If I had been more into it I had considered a change to a manual box as the triptronic in these is nothing short of awful. But again it looked like it would end up costing a minimum of 3k and really didnt want to start another project, so just took the hit. Lesson learned!
Van: Still plodding on faultlessly, not got round to converting it for staying in yet which is frustrating, but being used the way that it is, and regularly filling it top to bottom with race gear, its going to need a rethink to come up with a way of maintaining space if required but still being comfortable enough to live in for a few days. Possibly some sort of easily removable furniture or two tiered system for loading underneath with a bed ontop.
Ginetta: After a change of fluids and spanner check, the car was ready for its first outing at knockhill with the SMRC sports and Saloons.
On the whole the car ran faultlessly on the circuit and smashed my old PB's and managed a podium, in the first race, fighting off a seat leon supercopa to hold third whilst trying to chase down a big power charged E46 M3, whilst my tyres wets were majorly overheating. Car is a joy to drive in the wet and has grip where I didn't know it even existed. Only issues that arose were an air jack foot popping a hole in the end and stopping the system from working. This made it very difficult to change the wheels over in a hurry due to the low ride height making it very difficult to get a jack under, but we managed, and the offending jack is off being serviced.
The only other problem was limited tyre choice. I have very good wets and reasonable slicks, but knockhill has a tendancy to be damp with a drying line or having sporadic showers, which mean either using wets which are only good for 2-3 laps before they overheat and become pretty loose, or risk it on slicks, which proved to be the wrong choice at the weekend, a shower whilst in the assembly area meaning it was like driving on ice on cold slicks, and unfortunatley spun out on the first corner, narrowly missed by the whole field!
Options that are being investigated are soft compound list 1b tyres such as 888's which people have had reasonable success with, or a cut slick which I think with be the ultimate compromise.
Some Pictures:
RS6: After a gearbox issue coming up this was sold on at a ridiculous loss as I simply didn't have to time to allocate to removing engine and box to sort. Also didn't seem worth it for a car that was barely used and destined to be sold anyway. If I had been more into it I had considered a change to a manual box as the triptronic in these is nothing short of awful. But again it looked like it would end up costing a minimum of 3k and really didnt want to start another project, so just took the hit. Lesson learned!
Van: Still plodding on faultlessly, not got round to converting it for staying in yet which is frustrating, but being used the way that it is, and regularly filling it top to bottom with race gear, its going to need a rethink to come up with a way of maintaining space if required but still being comfortable enough to live in for a few days. Possibly some sort of easily removable furniture or two tiered system for loading underneath with a bed ontop.
Ginetta: After a change of fluids and spanner check, the car was ready for its first outing at knockhill with the SMRC sports and Saloons.
On the whole the car ran faultlessly on the circuit and smashed my old PB's and managed a podium, in the first race, fighting off a seat leon supercopa to hold third whilst trying to chase down a big power charged E46 M3, whilst my tyres wets were majorly overheating. Car is a joy to drive in the wet and has grip where I didn't know it even existed. Only issues that arose were an air jack foot popping a hole in the end and stopping the system from working. This made it very difficult to change the wheels over in a hurry due to the low ride height making it very difficult to get a jack under, but we managed, and the offending jack is off being serviced.
The only other problem was limited tyre choice. I have very good wets and reasonable slicks, but knockhill has a tendancy to be damp with a drying line or having sporadic showers, which mean either using wets which are only good for 2-3 laps before they overheat and become pretty loose, or risk it on slicks, which proved to be the wrong choice at the weekend, a shower whilst in the assembly area meaning it was like driving on ice on cold slicks, and unfortunatley spun out on the first corner, narrowly missed by the whole field!
Options that are being investigated are soft compound list 1b tyres such as 888's which people have had reasonable success with, or a cut slick which I think with be the ultimate compromise.
Some Pictures:
Yeah I did want something bigger, but I use it as a daily and its great for snowboarding/mountain biking etc.
I went for the T32 2.5 to get the max capacity.
This is another reason it wont be getting fully kitted out with a kitchen etc, just carry either a gas stove or use circuit facilities for food.
What ginetta is it you race and in what series?
I went for the T32 2.5 to get the max capacity.
This is another reason it wont be getting fully kitted out with a kitchen etc, just carry either a gas stove or use circuit facilities for food.
What ginetta is it you race and in what series?
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