My mighty MX5 - 'Ring Nail

[Smitters]

C70R said:

And I wouldn't expect anyone to go out on a soaking wet trackday with "semi-slick" tyres on.

I shouldn't ever pick a trackday at Pembrey then...

But seriously, I agree with the sentiment. The modifications/improvements in this thread are pretty tongue in cheek and I'm building my own budget track car, but as above, at least there was some view to fluids being checked etc. The number of people who drive absolute nails, leaking who knows what onto the track during TF is what puts me off, not three guys road-tripping through Europe for a lads holiday.

OP - good effort - loved the diary by day story.

[Superchickenn]

C70R said:

MikeDrop said:

C70R said:

An entertaining writeup of a great trip, and one that I'm aiming to pop my cherry on next year.
However, as someone alluded to above, there's a lot of unpredictability at the Ring and I would be inclined to treat it more as an 'experience' than a trackday. Given that the state of your cars (sorry to be so blunt, but they weren't exactly fit for conditions or use) is indicative of what I might be sharing the track with, I'd certainly not be pushing anywhere close to the levels I would on a proper trackday.

I get what you're saying, it's the nature of TF. I've seen videos of tourist coaches, stag do limos, scooters and moster trucks lapping the Ring on TF days. In fairness though, we did make sure that we all had new tyres (with the exception of me, who chose to run some more track orientated tyres. Was just bad luck with the weather), brakes and fluids were being contained where they were supposed to be. The cars were pushed hard, even in the rain and, despite the spin, mechanically help up perfectly.

nearly done with the last day so stay tuned as will be up in the next few hours

Absolutely. I wouldn't expect anyone to turn up at a trackday with a badly misfiring car or one whose exhaust was rotten through. I wouldn't expect to be sharing a track with people who had chucked on the lowest-quality coilovers available and connected their exhaust with putty. And I wouldn't expect anyone to go out on a soaking wet trackday with "semi-slick" tyres on.

To be clear, I don't believe there's anything fundamentally wrong with doing this for TF days on the Ring, even though it's not the brightest behaviour. It's more a case of making sure that everyone using the 'Ring caters to the lowest common denominator, which isn't always the case as the numerous videos will attest.

Edited by C70R on Thursday 4th October 13:55

I think the point you are missing here it wasnt a trip dedicated to the ring.. we also went on a trip visiting many other countries and the cars took a battering most of that way. The Honda showed no signs of misfiring until the day before the ring, and only missfired on idle, when it was in the rev range it was fine. The exhaust was brand new before the ring all apart from the back box, and there was no evidence of a blow before hand, and if you can see where it failed it showed no signs of this before hand. We also tried many places to fry and find a new back-box or someone that would fit one to no avail.

My golf ran great, i paid £176 for that golf, and purchased brand new tires for the trip and ran flawless the whole time apart from running low oil pressure but some 10w-60 solved (masked) that.

[MikeDrop]

C70R said:

MikeDrop said:

C70R said:

An entertaining writeup of a great trip, and one that I'm aiming to pop my cherry on next year.
However, as someone alluded to above, there's a lot of unpredictability at the Ring and I would be inclined to treat it more as an 'experience' than a trackday. Given that the state of your cars (sorry to be so blunt, but they weren't exactly fit for conditions or use) is indicative of what I might be sharing the track with, I'd certainly not be pushing anywhere close to the levels I would on a proper trackday.

I get what you're saying, it's the nature of TF. I've seen videos of tourist coaches, stag do limos, scooters and moster trucks lapping the Ring on TF days. In fairness though, we did make sure that we all had new tyres (with the exception of me, who chose to run some more track orientated tyres. Was just bad luck with the weather), brakes and fluids were being contained where they were supposed to be. The cars were pushed hard, even in the rain and, despite the spin, mechanically help up perfectly.

nearly done with the last day so stay tuned as will be up in the next few hours

Absolutely. I wouldn't expect anyone to turn up at a trackday with a badly misfiring car or one whose exhaust was rotten through. I wouldn't expect to be sharing a track with people who had chucked on the lowest-quality coilovers available and connected their exhaust with putty. And I wouldn't expect anyone to go out on a soaking wet trackday with "semi-slick" tyres on.

To be clear, I don't believe there's anything fundamentally wrong with doing this for TF days on the Ring, even though it's not the brightest behaviour. It's more a case of making sure that everyone using the 'Ring caters to the lowest common denominator, which isn't always the case as the numerous videos will attest.

Edited by C70R on Thursday 4th October 13:55

Yeah, look, I can see where you're coming from. Especially if you want to rock up in a nice, high end Ring stormer the last thing you want is some spunk waffle steam rolling into you because something has failed on their bodged together car.

As Smitters says, a lot of it is Tongue in Cheek but we really did make sure the cars were in as tip top condition as possible. Bar a few things like a slightly leaky exhaust, which isn't really a safety issue. I even went to the extent of fitting a roll cage specifically for the Ring. The tyres were just a stroke of bad luck as we weren't expecting bad weather.

It's personal risk I guess. Weigh it up and if you fancy it, go for it. If not, look for something you do fancy

Smitters said:

I shouldn't ever pick a trackday at Pembrey then...

But seriously, I agree with the sentiment. The modifications/improvements in this thread are pretty tongue in cheek and I'm building my own budget track car, but as above, at least there was some view to fluids being checked etc. The number of people who drive absolute nails, leaking who knows what onto the track during TF is what puts me off, not three guys road-tripping through Europe for a lads holiday.

OP - good effort - loved the diary by day story.

Thanks Smitters! That's the key - this was a road trip. The Ring just seemed like a good place to turn around and come home

To try and heave the thread back on topic, we do plan on going next year. My plan - to revive the Red Nail

The VR Limited is too good a car to be treating it like st around the continent. So, long live the Red Nail!

[Smitters]

For the love of God, start now. Or just re-read the first page and then realise the futility. Or use the running gear to build a kit car. I await, with amusement, the first update.

[MikeDrop]

Smitters said:

For the love of God, start now. Or just re-read the first page and then realise the futility. Or use the running gear to build a kit car. I await, with amusement, the first update.

First I need to re-read the thread just to see how much I've pilfered off it for the Green one

It will live though

[C70R]

Superchickenn said:

C70R said:

MikeDrop said:

C70R said:

An entertaining writeup of a great trip, and one that I'm aiming to pop my cherry on next year.
However, as someone alluded to above, there's a lot of unpredictability at the Ring and I would be inclined to treat it more as an 'experience' than a trackday. Given that the state of your cars (sorry to be so blunt, but they weren't exactly fit for conditions or use) is indicative of what I might be sharing the track with, I'd certainly not be pushing anywhere close to the levels I would on a proper trackday.

I get what you're saying, it's the nature of TF. I've seen videos of tourist coaches, stag do limos, scooters and moster trucks lapping the Ring on TF days. In fairness though, we did make sure that we all had new tyres (with the exception of me, who chose to run some more track orientated tyres. Was just bad luck with the weather), brakes and fluids were being contained where they were supposed to be. The cars were pushed hard, even in the rain and, despite the spin, mechanically help up perfectly.

nearly done with the last day so stay tuned as will be up in the next few hours

Absolutely. I wouldn't expect anyone to turn up at a trackday with a badly misfiring car or one whose exhaust was rotten through. I wouldn't expect to be sharing a track with people who had chucked on the lowest-quality coilovers available and connected their exhaust with putty. And I wouldn't expect anyone to go out on a soaking wet trackday with "semi-slick" tyres on.

To be clear, I don't believe there's anything fundamentally wrong with doing this for TF days on the Ring, even though it's not the brightest behaviour. It's more a case of making sure that everyone using the 'Ring caters to the lowest common denominator, which isn't always the case as the numerous videos will attest.

Edited by C70R on Thursday 4th October 13:55

I think the point you are missing here it wasnt a trip dedicated to the ring.. we also went on a trip visiting many other countries and the cars took a battering most of that way. The Honda showed no signs of misfiring until the day before the ring, and only missfired on idle, when it was in the rev range it was fine. The exhaust was brand new before the ring all apart from the back box, and there was no evidence of a blow before hand, and if you can see where it failed it showed no signs of this before hand. We also tried many places to fry and find a new back-box or someone that would fit one to no avail.

My golf ran great, i paid £176 for that golf, and purchased brand new tires for the trip and ran flawless the whole time apart from running low oil pressure but some 10w-60 solved (masked) that.

I guess the fact that all cars had issues which could have impacted other trackgoers is a bit strong to be a coincidence.
MX5 - Coilovers on the verge of failure on the return journey.
Honda - Engine fault could have resulted in a sudden loss of power on track.
Golf - Exhaust could have failed completely and fallen onto the track.

I suppose the point I'm making is that people shouldn't treat the TF days like a trackday. Not only do people show up with cars which probably wouldn't pass a trackday inspection, but you may also have to contend with things like buses and recovery trucks moving slowly around blind corners. In spite of all this, it doesn't seem to stop the racing-driver wannabes from driving at 90% and above, which feels like a recipe for disaster.
I'm sure I'll enjoy my trip, but I feel pretty sure that I'll not allow the red mist to descend and get carried away with my speed/commitment.

ETA - At any rate, the point feels moot. The trip looked like a lot of fun, and I'm sure you guys enjoyed yourselves.

[MikeDrop]

C70R said:

Superchickenn said:

C70R said:

MikeDrop said:

C70R said:

An entertaining writeup of a great trip, and one that I'm aiming to pop my cherry on next year.
However, as someone alluded to above, there's a lot of unpredictability at the Ring and I would be inclined to treat it more as an 'experience' than a trackday. Given that the state of your cars (sorry to be so blunt, but they weren't exactly fit for conditions or use) is indicative of what I might be sharing the track with, I'd certainly not be pushing anywhere close to the levels I would on a proper trackday.

I get what you're saying, it's the nature of TF. I've seen videos of tourist coaches, stag do limos, scooters and moster trucks lapping the Ring on TF days. In fairness though, we did make sure that we all had new tyres (with the exception of me, who chose to run some more track orientated tyres. Was just bad luck with the weather), brakes and fluids were being contained where they were supposed to be. The cars were pushed hard, even in the rain and, despite the spin, mechanically help up perfectly.

nearly done with the last day so stay tuned as will be up in the next few hours

Absolutely. I wouldn't expect anyone to turn up at a trackday with a badly misfiring car or one whose exhaust was rotten through. I wouldn't expect to be sharing a track with people who had chucked on the lowest-quality coilovers available and connected their exhaust with putty. And I wouldn't expect anyone to go out on a soaking wet trackday with "semi-slick" tyres on.

To be clear, I don't believe there's anything fundamentally wrong with doing this for TF days on the Ring, even though it's not the brightest behaviour. It's more a case of making sure that everyone using the 'Ring caters to the lowest common denominator, which isn't always the case as the numerous videos will attest.

Edited by C70R on Thursday 4th October 13:55

I think the point you are missing here it wasnt a trip dedicated to the ring.. we also went on a trip visiting many other countries and the cars took a battering most of that way. The Honda showed no signs of misfiring until the day before the ring, and only missfired on idle, when it was in the rev range it was fine. The exhaust was brand new before the ring all apart from the back box, and there was no evidence of a blow before hand, and if you can see where it failed it showed no signs of this before hand. We also tried many places to fry and find a new back-box or someone that would fit one to no avail.

My golf ran great, i paid £176 for that golf, and purchased brand new tires for the trip and ran flawless the whole time apart from running low oil pressure but some 10w-60 solved (masked) that.

I guess the fact that all cars had issues which could have impacted other trackgoers is a bit strong to be a coincidence.
MX5 - Coilovers on the verge of failure on the return journey.
Honda - Engine fault could have resulted in a sudden loss of power on track.
Golf - Exhaust could have failed completely and fallen onto the track.

I suppose the point I'm making is that people shouldn't treat the TF days like a trackday. Not only do people show up with cars which probably wouldn't pass a trackday inspection, but you may also have to contend with things like buses and recovery trucks moving slowly around blind corners. In spite of all this, it doesn't seem to stop the racing-driver wannabes from driving at 90% and above, which feels like a recipe for disaster.
I'm sure I'll enjoy my trip, but I feel pretty sure that I'll not allow the red mist to descend and get carried away with my speed/commitment.

ETA - At any rate, the point feels moot. The trip looked like a lot of fun, and I'm sure you guys enjoyed yourselves.

The bold bit is absolutely right! Even given the saturated conditions, Ring taxis were still out in force and the rate in which they were overtaking was immense. I got overtaken by a GT3 RS doing at least double my speed. I'd spotted it, indicated and stayed right to allow him to pass, but agree that others may not be so on the ball when keeping an eye out for faster cars.

Conversely, when I went out in a lap with Craig, we were forced to overtake a Boxster on British plates on the right hand side because they slowed right down and stayed left.

Completely agree that it shouldn't be treated as a track day. I'm just getting defensive due to my irrational and unhealthy emotional attachment to these little cars. When someone says bad things about them, it makes me want to cry a little bit

We did have a lot of fun, and we all made it back in one piece which is the end result . Hopefully, the thread gives you some things to think about as we were first timer's too. Even if you do come at it from a slightly different angle

[johnwilliams77]

It’s been an enjoyable read, thanks for posting.

[bungz]

That crash gif is amazing.

Not so much the fear of crashing in the chaps face but the "Christ this is going to cost me a fortune" look.

Fun write up.

[SonicShadow]

C70R said:

I guess the fact that all cars had issues which could have impacted other trackgoers is a bit strong to be a coincidence.
MX5 - Coilovers on the verge of failure on the return journey.
Honda - Engine fault could have resulted in a sudden loss of power on track.
Golf - Exhaust could have failed completely and fallen onto the track.

I suppose the point I'm making is that people shouldn't treat the TF days like a trackday. Not only do people show up with cars which probably wouldn't pass a trackday inspection, but you may also have to contend with things like buses and recovery trucks moving slowly around blind corners.

How many track days have you done where your vehicle is thoroughly inspected? In my experience any inspection before going on track aside from the mandatory noise test pretty much amounts to checking for any obvious fluid leaks, loose items inside the vehicle, and checking that body panels aren't falling off / wheels aren't falling off.

[C70R]

SonicShadow said:

C70R said:

I guess the fact that all cars had issues which could have impacted other trackgoers is a bit strong to be a coincidence.
MX5 - Coilovers on the verge of failure on the return journey.
Honda - Engine fault could have resulted in a sudden loss of power on track.
Golf - Exhaust could have failed completely and fallen onto the track.

I suppose the point I'm making is that people shouldn't treat the TF days like a trackday. Not only do people show up with cars which probably wouldn't pass a trackday inspection, but you may also have to contend with things like buses and recovery trucks moving slowly around blind corners.

How many track days have you done where your vehicle is thoroughly inspected? In my experience any inspection before going on track aside from the mandatory noise test pretty much amounts to checking for any obvious fluid leaks, loose items inside the vehicle, and checking that body panels aren't falling off / wheels aren't falling off.

Javelin have always seemed more thorough than most, but I agree that it's not an MOT-style check.

[Jonesy1972]

Enjoyed the whole write up; hope you don’t mind me saying, but to me it was a little like a Top Gear road trip. 3 blokes having a blast, travelling about with a modicum of problems, dealt with the appropriate level of finesse. At the end of this, you’ve got some brilliant memories and had a giggle. It’s also made me giggle, so thank you for sharing!

Jonesy

[danllama]

For next years trip, try to take in Col Du Mont Cenis and the roads around it. The road down in to Italy is sublime and the lake itself is a stunning place to spend a while or camp.

Good thread and write up!

IMG_4886 by Dan J, on Flickr

[Superchickenn]

danllama said:

For next years trip, try to take in Col Du Mont Cenis and the roads around it. The road down in to Italy is sublime and the lake itself is a stunning place to spend a while or camp.

Good thread and write up!

IMG_4886 by Dan J, on Flickr

Thanks for the suggestion Danllama, we are having a meet up in the next few weeks to discuss routes so will throw this in the pot for sure

[MikeDrop]

johnwilliams77 said:

It’s been an enjoyable read, thanks for posting.

Thanks

bungz said:

That crash gif is amazing.

Not so much the fear of crashing in the chaps face but the "Christ this is going to cost me a fortune" look.

Fun write up.

We were equally as amazed when he showed us the footage after the crash! The previous 30 seconds really add to it too. Just some every so slight little grins coming out of corners as though he was saying to himeself "you are a driving god!" and then BANG

Jonesy1972 said:

Enjoyed the whole write up; hope you don’t mind me saying, but to me it was a little like a Top Gear road trip. 3 blokes having a blast, travelling about with a modicum of problems, dealt with the appropriate level of finesse. At the end of this, you’ve got some brilliant memories and had a giggle. It’s also made me giggle, so thank you for sharing!

Jonesy

Thank you

That is exactly what we were aiming for. We all love Top Gear, especially the special road trips. So wanted to, not so much imitate, but be inspired by them. So much fun.

danllama said:

For next years trip, try to take in Col Du Mont Cenis and the roads around it. The road down in to Italy is sublime and the lake itself is a stunning place to spend a while or camp.

Good thread and write up!

IMG_4886 by Dan J, on Flickr

Looks amazing, thanks!

Definitely looking for something different for next year .

[MikeDov]

Thought I recognised the car, looks like we're local! Hello from the Bryn just up the road from you

Sorry for the thread bump, just rare to see someone from here so local

[MikeDrop]

MikeDov said:

Thought I recognised the car, looks like we're local! Hello from the Bryn just up the road from you

Sorry for the thread bump, just rare to see someone from here so local

Small world eh! Yeah the car isn't exactly hard to miss at the moment. Especially as I've still got the shark teeth still on!

[Dakkon]

C70R said:

SonicShadow said:

C70R said:

I guess the fact that all cars had issues which could have impacted other trackgoers is a bit strong to be a coincidence.
MX5 - Coilovers on the verge of failure on the return journey.
Honda - Engine fault could have resulted in a sudden loss of power on track.
Golf - Exhaust could have failed completely and fallen onto the track.

I suppose the point I'm making is that people shouldn't treat the TF days like a trackday. Not only do people show up with cars which probably wouldn't pass a trackday inspection, but you may also have to contend with things like buses and recovery trucks moving slowly around blind corners.

How many track days have you done where your vehicle is thoroughly inspected? In my experience any inspection before going on track aside from the mandatory noise test pretty much amounts to checking for any obvious fluid leaks, loose items inside the vehicle, and checking that body panels aren't falling off / wheels aren't falling off.

Javelin have always seemed more thorough than most, but I agree that it's not an MOT-style check.

I'm sorry, but that is just bks, I have done numerous trackdays for years with every TDO going in the UK and Europe and never had my car inspected beyond the obligatory noise test by anyone, and that includes Javelin.

You take your car on track and you accept the risk that it may come back not in it original state whether your fault or someone else's and if it really bothers you, get track day insurance, if that is not enough, don't do trackdays.

Having stripped his MX5 and put it back together, I would suggest he has a far better idea if that state of his car than you do of yours?

[MikeDrop]

Reviving this for a small update.

Me and the band of merry road trip men have agreed on what the annual Road Trip will look like for 2019.

Now, some existing readers may remember I'd planned to revive the original 'Ring Nail, the red 1990 1.6 MX5. However, there has been a rather large, Audi shaped spanner in those works (see Here), which depleted the 'Ring Nail funds.

So, work will continue on the Green 1996 VR Limited 1.8 instead. Which, kinda makes sense considering I've already fitted a roll cage and a bucket seat, some decent brakes etc.

I'll start a thread specific to the 2019 trip, but in summary:

• South Wales to Martigny, Swiss Cheese Land
• Great St Bernards Pass: Martigny > Aosta,Italy
• Aosta,Italy > Monza > Biasca
• St Gotthards Pass: Biasca > Andermatt, Switzerland
• Furka Pass: Andermatt > Grimsel
• Grimsel > Nurburgring for a few laps
• Nurburgring > Eupen, Belgium for some karting
• Eupen > South Wales

The 2 trips, there's been 3 of us (Myself, Craig and Mick) whereas this year we 3 others joining us. So stay tuned for some updates .

[MB140]

Sorry if I have missed it but what was the final bill for destroying some of the rings finest Armco. You hear so many horror stories about some of the extortionate bills they dish out.