track day at snett
Discussion
QBee said:
Had the slicks put on the wheels by ATS last week.
Chap knows my car well, knows the tyre pressures.
He even chalked a direction arrow on them to be helpful.
Just thought I would check the tyre pressures......
31psi all round. Hmmmm.
Now that will be quick, have you driven on slicks before? as they are much much more sensitive to pressure, and need to work them hard to get heat into them, are you going to make some geo-changes to accommodate? as standard road tyre setup won't work.Chap knows my car well, knows the tyre pressures.
He even chalked a direction arrow on them to be helpful.
Just thought I would check the tyre pressures......
31psi all round. Hmmmm.
NickOrangeCars said:
Now that will be quick, have you driven on slicks before? as they are much much more sensitive to pressure, and need to work them hard to get heat into them, are you going to make some geo-changes to accommodate? as standard road tyre setup won't work.
I plan on a couple of laps to warm them up, a couple more to get used to the handling, then back to the pits for a change of undercrackers. 
Then out on track again, warm them up properly and see how they handle. I intend to use them in place of R888s, as Mat tells me they have about that level of grip left in them after a hard season's racing. I have texted him the pressure question - he is familiar with my (lack of) skill level.
No geo changes intended on Wednesday. It is 90% a road car, so my standard 1 degree negative camber will have to do. I am aware Mat runs a lot more on the multi-coloured monster.
phazed 11.83 said:
Don't tell him that!
There is enough to think about on a normal track day.
What suspension changes need to be made for slicks?
Slicks give a huge amount of extra grip, that means much more roll, you need to have it so camber is bringing full tyre into contact. It won't 'not work' its just unlikely without some changes to be even close to optimum, and given that slicks bite you 10x faster than a road tyre, you need to make sure that tyre contact surface is applied 'more' as car is pushed to the limit, and not reduced due to car roll / camber being wrong. There is enough to think about on a normal track day.
What suspension changes need to be made for slicks?
The man I am sure who would have the answers is Mat Smith as he knows how to setup a car, and last time I saw him running at Snetterton he was running absolutely bonkers amounts of camber even running road tyres.
QBee said:
I plan on a couple of laps to warm them up, a couple more to get used to the handling, then back to the pits for a change of undercrackers.
Then out on track again, warm them up properly and see how they handle. I intend to use them in place of R888s, as Mat tells me they have about that level of grip left in them after a hard season's racing. I have texted him the pressure question - he is familiar with my (lack of) skill level.
No geo changes intended on Wednesday. It is 90% a road car, so my standard 1 degree negative camber will have to do. I am aware Mat runs a lot more on the multi-coloured monster.
thats good - if they have had a lot of heat cycles you can treat them much more just like R888's Then out on track again, warm them up properly and see how they handle. I intend to use them in place of R888s, as Mat tells me they have about that level of grip left in them after a hard season's racing. I have texted him the pressure question - he is familiar with my (lack of) skill level.
No geo changes intended on Wednesday. It is 90% a road car, so my standard 1 degree negative camber will have to do. I am aware Mat runs a lot more on the multi-coloured monster.
Getting serious dude.
About 3.5 on the front 4 on the back
and much harder springs.
You need to be checking your pressures before you go out and as soon as you stop when you return to the pits unless you have a proper tyre heat probe to check inner/ middle and outside edge of tyre's. The pressure will increase considerably when the tyre's are hot.
This is the best meet for ages grrrr to be missing this great day. Nuts!
Do at least half a lap with your left ft on the brakes, that should help you get them working and the tyre's will get some heat soak and warm up quicker.
As Nick points out, without getting the car set up to take the extra cornering forces you'll be allover the outside edge and it won't work to good.
Your man will have it sweet. I'm going to book mine into Matts for geo soon
About 3.5 on the front 4 on the back
and much harder springs. You need to be checking your pressures before you go out and as soon as you stop when you return to the pits unless you have a proper tyre heat probe to check inner/ middle and outside edge of tyre's. The pressure will increase considerably when the tyre's are hot.
This is the best meet for ages grrrr to be missing this great day. Nuts!
Do at least half a lap with your left ft on the brakes, that should help you get them working and the tyre's will get some heat soak and warm up quicker.
As Nick points out, without getting the car set up to take the extra cornering forces you'll be allover the outside edge and it won't work to good.
Your man will have it sweet. I'm going to book mine into Matts for geo soon
Edited by Classic Chim on Sunday 20th August 19:06
Mat has several degrees of camber on his race car, 800 lb springs and is testing some new dampers......
But mine is a road car. I will have a chat about set up with him tomorrow morning, as my car is going in for a brake change. I do have some slightly stiffer springs, and he could adjust my ride height and geo instead of fixing the dodgy driver's side window,
The window is dodgy, not the driver........
.......no, perhaps I was right first time.
But mine is a road car. I will have a chat about set up with him tomorrow morning, as my car is going in for a brake change. I do have some slightly stiffer springs, and he could adjust my ride height and geo instead of fixing the dodgy driver's side window,
The window is dodgy, not the driver........
.......no, perhaps I was right first time.
QBee said:
Unfortunately I cocked up on garage booking, so Peter and I will be parked behind you guys. Hopefully Alan will have booked one and we can make a contribution to share some space and pool tools etc.
Yep, I booked one. Hopefully they'll stick us all together. My mechanics here too, so plenty of brainpower going on, then they let me loose on the track to downgrade the whole process 
Looking forward to a few laps in the ginetta, considered that GRDC thing, but watched a vid of someone smashing their way through the grid n decided against when it was applauded...
T4NGO said:
QBee said:
Unfortunately I cocked up on garage booking, so Peter and I will be parked behind you guys. Hopefully Alan will have booked one and we can make a contribution to share some space and pool tools etc.
Yep, I booked one. Hopefully they'll stick us all together. My mechanics here too, so plenty of brainpower going on, then they let me loose on the track to downgrade the whole process Looking forward to a few laps in the ginetta, considered that GRDC thing, but watched a vid of someone smashing their way through the grid n decided against when it was applauded...
T4NGO said:
Yep, I booked one. Hopefully they'll stick us all together. My mechanics here too, so plenty of brainpower going on, then they let me loose on the track to downgrade the whole process
Looking forward to a few laps in the ginetta, considered that GRDC thing, but watched a vid of someone smashing their way through the grid n decided against when it was applauded...
I have watched a lot of GRDC over last year (both GRDC and GRDC+ which is the next level up) - and found most of the racing is very clean, you have to remember these are amateurs and most of the collisions are more mistakes than deliberate. GRDC (like Caterham Academy) is a fantastic way to start out in racing without it breaking the bank - and still being part of larger race series (British GT + Touring Cars) Looking forward to a few laps in the ginetta, considered that GRDC thing, but watched a vid of someone smashing their way through the grid n decided against when it was applauded...
For record - I am not in GRDC, I run in GT5 Challenge which is predominantly Pro drivers (mostly coming up from Karting + Ginetta Juniors) and is extremely competitive, it does have (like Juniors) its fair share of crashes and contact, which is natural given people are racing bumper to bumper most of the time and mistakes are made, but it is also one of the most entertaining classes to watch!
I had to call Javelin this morning to check I could add a second driver at the circuit (yes, cash only), and so I asked if we could please have Alan's garage and John's garage side by side. Nice lady said she hadn't allocated them yet, so yes. Hope this is ok with you guys - looking forward to seeing the two race cars at the event!
NickOrangeCars said:
Is it a GRDC car then? as I thought most has seats left in them (regs require it) - or did you just have it taken out to save weight?
No, mines a TVR - GTF Sagaris. Looking forward to see YOUR Ginetta and a couple a laps in pass seat Mines only got the one seat. Fuel tank, lines, battery oil etc. in place of seat on mine so not case of just adding a seat unfortunately
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