MX5 vs Elise
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Discussion

saaby93

Original Poster:

32,038 posts

208 months

Tuesday 3rd December 2013
quotequote all
Hope not pea roast
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B_EfFsAPxI

From 2 minutes onwards the elise begins to mishandle?

orangesrule

1,952 posts

178 months

Tuesday 3rd December 2013
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I think from 2 minutes onwards the elise driver realises he can't shake the mx5 off, and pushes it beyond his skill level. that combined with being mid engined didnt end well.

A900ss

3,314 posts

182 months

Tuesday 3rd December 2013
quotequote all
Ego.

The Lotus driver couldn't admit that the MX5 was being driven quicker than his car.

The Lotus was out of shape plenty of times before the off and should have let the MX5 pass.

Fantuzzi

3,297 posts

176 months

Tuesday 3rd December 2013
quotequote all
A900ss said:
Ego.

The Lotus driver couldn't admit that the MX5 was being driven quicker than his car.

The Lotus was out of shape plenty of times before the off and should have let the MX5 pass.
He was even badly out of shape before the last corner - I think at that point I would have told myself to calm the fk down and stop being so stupid, lie to yourself that the mx5 is probably being driven by a GP2 driver or former WRC stage winner and just enjoy the day!

saaby93

Original Poster:

32,038 posts

208 months

Tuesday 3rd December 2013
quotequote all
The dreaded toe link failure - at 3 mins are the rear wheels pointing their own way?

kambites

71,562 posts

251 months

Tuesday 3rd December 2013
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saaby93 said:
The dreaded toe link failure - at 3 mins are the rear wheels pointing their own way?
I don't think so - he managed to correct the direction of travel at least twice before finally spearing into the tyre wall; if the toe-link lets go the car will spin almost instantly from what I've seen.

I'd be more inclined to simply put it down to lack of talent trying to stay ahead of a faster driver. It looks like he came close to doing the same thing at least twice before he actually did.

steve singh

3,995 posts

203 months

Tuesday 3rd December 2013
quotequote all
What an idiot !

saaby93

Original Poster:

32,038 posts

208 months

Tuesday 3rd December 2013
quotequote all
kambites said:
saaby93 said:
The dreaded toe link failure - at 3 mins are the rear wheels pointing their own way?
I don't think so - he managed to correct the direction of travel at least twice before finally spearing into the tyre wall; if the toe-link lets go the car will spin almost instantly from what I've seen.
not convinced - there was a thread about 4-5 months ago. Dont the wheels generally hold the right direction but behave like castors on a shopping trolley
He was doing ok until the last minute. See where he cant even hold a straight line through the chicane as the rear right wheel wants to play its own game


Yes here's sudden one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8odtKj7aXFM
or did it go earlier

Edited by saaby93 on Tuesday 3rd December 19:29

kambites

71,562 posts

251 months

Tuesday 3rd December 2013
quotequote all
saaby93 said:
ot convinced - there was a thread about 4-5 months ago. Dont the wheels generally hold the right direction but behave like castors on a shopping trolley
He was doing ok until the last minute. See where he cant even hold a straight line through the chicane as the rear right wheel wants to play its own game
I wouldn't call that driving "doing OK"! There was at least two previous occasions where he had the car fish tailing and I think was pretty lucky to hold onto it. You can see even from early on in the video that his inputs are far from smooth, winding lock on and off on the approach to apexes and the Elise is not a car that appreciates being thrown around.

Of course it could have been mechanical failure but looking at the result I'd say a slowly deflating tyre was probably more likely than a toe-link failure.

There's certainly nothing wrong with the angle of the rear wheel as the rear steps out to the left on the exit of the right-hander before the left kink he finally loses it on.

Edited by kambites on Tuesday 3rd December 19:33

saaby93

Original Poster:

32,038 posts

208 months

Tuesday 3rd December 2013
quotequote all
kambites said:
I wouldn't call that driving "doing OK"! There was at least two previous occasions where he had the car fish tailing and I think was pretty lucky to hold onto it.
yes I think it had already failed where it was fishtailing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mC9PtiyXvTs
youve got me scanning youtube now

kambites

71,562 posts

251 months

Tuesday 3rd December 2013
quotequote all
I do see what you mean though, just before it hits the tyres it looks like the rear right is off-straight. Maybe he lost control, started fishtailing, and the sudden force change as the car snaps from left to right was enough to cause the toe-link to let go.

I still hold that he would have crashed sooner or later though. Look at the way he turns in at 2:15... then fish-tails on the exit of the same corner you just can't get away with doing that sort of thing in the Elise unless you really know what you're doing, and if you really know what you're doing you (a) wouldn't do it and (b) wouldn't be struggling to stay ahead of an MX5. hehe

Edited by kambites on Tuesday 3rd December 19:38

saaby93

Original Poster:

32,038 posts

208 months

Tuesday 3rd December 2013
quotequote all
Maybe they have more fun parked up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wcz73FiSYY0
smile

Paul_M3

2,532 posts

215 months

Tuesday 3rd December 2013
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Unless it's a bit of an optical illusion, the suspension definitely looks quite broken at 3:00


kambites

71,562 posts

251 months

Tuesday 3rd December 2013
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It looks alright to me in the left shot to me (well you can't really see); the right one looks a bit odd but it's quite hard to tell with that windscreen wiper in the way.

Paul_M3

2,532 posts

215 months

Tuesday 3rd December 2013
quotequote all
kambites said:
It looks alright to me in the left shot to me; the right one looks a bit odd but it's quite hard to tell with that windscreen wiper in the way.
To me it looks massively 'toe'd in' on the left photo, and then 'toe'd out' when the car goes the other way.

I've watched that bit several times to try and work it out, but I might just be convincing myself!

kambites

71,562 posts

251 months

Tuesday 3rd December 2013
quotequote all
I'd say the other way around if anything? Toed in in the second.

Paul_M3

2,532 posts

215 months

Tuesday 3rd December 2013
quotequote all
kambites said:
I'd say the other way around if anything? Toed in in the second.
It does, you're right.

And leaning over a long way.

kambites

71,562 posts

251 months

Tuesday 3rd December 2013
quotequote all
The toe link going wouldn't change the camber significantly, only the toe. You'd have to snap a wishbone to change the camber and if he'd done that, the wheel would be lying flat on the floor. hehe

It is very, very hard to tell from such a low resolution photo with so much motion blur in it and a windscreen wiper in the way. It certainly could have been a toe-link failure, they're pretty common on track, but the fact that he was driving so poorly for so much of the video makes me look for a simpler explanation. hehe

Edited by kambites on Tuesday 3rd December 20:07

Mastodon2

14,333 posts

195 months

Tuesday 3rd December 2013
quotequote all
Elise has MX5 on his tail, Elise overtakes CRX and does off, Elise suddenly sees MX5 on his tails again and starts progressively pushing harder and harder, unable to accept that the lowly MX-5 simply has the better driver. Elise driver takes a couple of corners on the ragged edge, then loses it. Hardly rocket science!

He was not "doing ok" before a sudden off, he was throwing the car all over, braking later and later, trying to muscle the car around the corners faster than it wanted to go. He nearly lost it at least twice before going off, he should have backed it off then and realised the red mist was getting better of him, but he let a chip on his shoulder and an over-inflated ego get in his way, and it was game over.

Paul_M3

2,532 posts

215 months

Tuesday 3rd December 2013
quotequote all
kambites said:
The toe link going wouldn't change the camber significantly, only the toe. You'd have to snap a wishbone to change the camber and if he'd done that, the wheel would be lying flat on the floor. hehe

It is very, very hard to tell from such a low resolution photo with so much motion blur in it and a windscreen wiper in the way.
Yeah, I couldn't see how a toe link would change the camber either. I think it might be the wheel changing toe angle making it look that to my (very tired) eyes. Or more likely just the poor video quality.

Always had these videos in my mind when in the pits on track days!

Edited by Paul_M3 on Tuesday 3rd December 20:16