Getting into Motorsport

[JZZ30]

Got a car. Getting real now





Costs so far:

Equipment
Car £2000
Trailer £900
Re-new trailer bed £300 (4 x 18mm marine ply and 5L non slip paint)
Tie down straps £45

Training
£135 - Rally day at Knockhill
£35 Test day at car club (30th Dec, still to include on the day costs)

Miscellaneous
Towbar £400
Numberplate £10
Car Club Membership £30 (for us both)
New tyre for trailer £65

TOTAL £3920

[JZZ30]

avenger286 said:

I don't think your doing to bad at just under 4k for all you have got and done. Micra's are well proven cars in the category.

Yes, but lots to spend still. Car needs new seats and belts as the ones in it are out of date.

Little shopping spree this morning to Turner Autosport in Strathaven https://turnerautosport.com

Bought: -
suit, boots, gloves
Helmet and getting fitted to helmet - Hans posts and mic etc.
Hans device
Intercom for the car

Total spend £1070. This was a discounted price.

A great service from Steve Turner. Highly recommended.

[JZZ30]

I'd love to visit the Autosport show but I think I'm working that weekend!

Looking for some advice on an idle issue with the car.

Sometimes it idles fine, sometimes high but mostly low and cuts out as you pull up to stop. Anyone know about these? Or can point me to a decent micra forum?

I'll have a look at/in the throttle body tomorrow.

[JZZ30]

Test day at Kames.

Amazing how much progress made with a few drives round the track. All just about building confidence in the car just now.

Travel £30, petrol for the Micra £20

[JZZ30]

Norfolkit said:

That's almost certainly the idle control valve, around £100 ish, double (probably) that if you don't fit it yourself. Not done one on a Micra but done it on a Civic, not difficult to do.

Car came with a spare throttle body in the boxes of spares I got with it.

I was going to just swap out the complete throttle body, but didn't fancy trying to remove the (waterway?) Pipes from the old one without crushing them. So I just swapped the idle control valve. Interestingly, it has really improved the idle but not cured it completely from stalling on pulling up to a stop.

[JZZ30]

Quick update on progress / costs

My son will be doing a little 'Winter Mini Series' consisting of 3 Autotests. First is this weekend. £15.00.

We've also booked his spot to sit his Junior BARS test at Knockhill - Early March - £325

Costs so far:

Equipment - £3405
Car £2000
Trailer £900
Re-new trailer bed £300 (4 x 18mm marine ply and 5L non slip paint)
Tie down straps £45
Intercom System for car £160

Clothing / Safety - £910
Racesuit, Gloves, Boots, Balaclave
Helmet (with Added Comms)
HANS device

Training - £560.00
£135 - Rally day at Knockhill (27th Jan)
£85 Test day at car club, 30th Dec, (Travel £30, Fuel for car £20 & £35 fee)
£15 - Autotest 20th Jan
£325 - BARS test

Miscellaneous - £570.00
Towbar £400
Numberplate £10
Car Club Membership £30 (for us both)
New tyre for trailer £65

TOTAL £5445

[JZZ30]

First bit of competitive driving today. Autotest. Thoroughly good fun for £15!

[JZZ30]

Another test day at Kames circuit. great day out for the money, and the driving is coming on great. We had an off in the morning, but all part of the learning curve. (just a slide over the grass avoiding the tyre walls etc.)



Costs so far:

Equipment - £3405
Car £2000
Trailer £900
Re-new trailer bed £300 (4 x 18mm marine ply and 5L non slip paint)
Tie down straps £45
Intercom System for car £160

Clothing / Safety - £910
Racesuit, Gloves, Boots, Balaclave
Helmet (with Added Comms)
HANS device

Training - £645.00
£135 - Rally day at Knockhill (27th Jan)
£85 Test day at car club, 30th Dec, (Travel £30, Fuel for car £20 & £35 fee)
£15 - Autotest 20th Jan
£85 Test day at car club, 28th Jan, (Travel £30, Fuel for car £20 & £35 fee)
£325 - BARS test

Miscellaneous - £570.00
Towbar £400
Numberplate £10
Car Club Membership £30 (for us both)
New tyre for trailer £65

TOTAL £5530

Got a 1 to 1 training session booked for early February at Knockhill.

Will also have a bit of spending in February getting the car ready - New seats / belts and a set of regulation tyres.

[JZZ30]

If anyone is interested in his progress, Jack has uploaded an on-board from the weekend. Will be interesting to compare as the months roll on. The weather was atrocious.

Constructive criticism welcome bearing in mind his total driving time probably amounts to less than 12 hours. (excluding PlayStation!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8mjlIjFpss

[JZZ30]

R8Steve said:

Only criticism here would be that dad doesn't have a helmet on?

Yes, Fair point. I had taken it off (full face is all i have at the moment) because It was steaming up and forgot to put it back on for this run.

[JZZ30]

Radiator fan is not working. Can anyone tell me what I need to search for to find this





If I search 30 amp fuse it just brings up the blade type.

[JZZ30]

Dan BSCS said:

Fusible link/PAL Fuse

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2...

Thanks for that. Now I know it's a J Type fuse. Picked one up at halfords and I'll order some cheaper ones online for the tool box.

Bought a pressure gauge and foot pump to add to the tool kit in the van.

[JZZ30]

Thurbs said:

General points and being hyper critical...

- stick in a small steering wheel, they are peanuts.
- hold it at 10-2 and keep your hands there, only taking them off for changing gear or catching a massive slide. Do not shuffle or slide the wheel through the hands.
- looked like the brakeing wasn't on the limit, neither was turn in.
- Steering wheel inputs could be smoother.
- change gear properly, sometimes it was too late, sometimes too early.
- Rainex the screen and turn off the wipers.

Thanks for the input.

A smaller 'grippier' steering wheel is on the shopping list.

I've been encouraging him to brake later and harder. I think it's just a confidence thing at the moment.

Hopefully the steering and gear change will come with some more practise and professional tuition.

RainX - I've never used it. Will look into it. Thanks.

Edited by JZZ30 on Friday 2nd February 19:29

[JZZ30]

Another quick update to costs. Training session at Knockhill had him practising handbrake turns, and a bit of heel and toe. Some pointers on his racing lines too.

Still having issues with the car stalling as you come to a stop. Think I'll create a separate readers car thread for some help on that.

Costs so far:

Equipment - £3435
Car £2000
Trailer £900
Re-new trailer bed £300 (4 x 18mm marine ply and 5L non slip paint)
Tie down straps £45
Intercom System for car £160
Foot Pump + Gauge £30

Clothing / Safety - £950
Racesuit, Gloves, Boots, Balaclave
Helmet (with Added Comms)
HANS device
Helmet Bag with Hans Storage £40

Training - £825.00
£135 - Rally day at Knockhill (27th Jan)
£85 Test day at car club, 30th Dec, (Travel £30, Fuel for car £20 & £35 fee)
£15 - Autotest 20th Jan
£85 Test day at car club, 28th Jan, (Travel £30, Fuel for car £20 & £35 fee)
£180 - 1 to 1 training at Knockhill (£165 training, £15 Travel)
£325 - BARS test

Miscellaneous - £570.00
Towbar £400
Numberplate £10
Car Club Membership £30 (for us both)
New tyre for trailer £65

TOTAL £5780

[JZZ30]

Autotest number 2 yesterday (he has to compete in 3 towards his junior BARS). Another great day albeit in very trying conditions!

Finished 2nd in class on the day

|https://thumbsnap.com/3StSLGnB[/url]



To be added to training Costs £10 for the autotest, £10 fuel in the car and £20 travel.

[JZZ30]

New seats and harnesses fitted today (£700)
Also changed the steering wheel (£60)

Next big spend will be a set of competition tyres and that should be us just about set for the first rally.

Pics in the build thread here - https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Hopefully there is a market for the used seats/harnesses on ebay to recover a little money?

Edited by JZZ30 on Wednesday 14th February 22:57

[JZZ30]

Oilchange said:

how about a helmet for your sons passenger!

Edited by Oilchange on Thursday 15th February 00:24

Yes, still a fair point as noted above. Incredibly stupid. Won't happen again.

[JZZ30]

avenger286 said:

There is a good market for used seats and belts on eBay also a good second hand market for tyres. Learning about tyres is also another think to learn about with rallying. You will probably need to be looking at as soft as you can find.

Only one type of tyre is allowed and specified in the regulations so all the juniors are running the same tyre and size. This year is Yokohama's A050 in medium compound.

[JZZ30]

avenger286 said:

Wow won't be much grip on the rear in the cold will be a learning curve. At least everyone is in the same boat.
I really think what you are doing for your son is brilliant and he is lucky to have such a enthusiastic dad. My little boy (3) loves when we go up to Mull and just stands there naming all the cars.

Thanks for the comments, we are having a great time so far.

Re: tyres - got to remember they are limited to one litre cars.

[JZZ30]

TimCrighton said:

Have you come and done one of our Rally Trackday at Anglesey Circuit? You can run a junior car and we usually get several Junior Micras come along for some seat time. Link to the Rally Trackday page in on the www.angleseycircuit.com web page.

That looks great, thanks for the link.

Definitely something we will look to do. Getting him seat time at different places is important.