Public apology to my car

[FUBAR]

So a few weeks ago I very cockily posted on PH that in 9 months of motoring (although if I'm honest, not that many miles, to be corrected in September with 2 Euro trips) my total expenditure had been a service and a new clutch master, and that I laughed in the face of the suggestion of £3k pa running costs (yes, I was warned by Gazzab at the time I was treading a dangerous path)

Fed up with the R888s (the noise, the ride, the fouling of the arches) I swapped back to a set of Eagle F1 Asyms (a MUCH nicer road tyre) and put the car away Monday night. But did I imagine it? Did the clutch feel a little funny? No, its all in my mind.

Get in the car Wednesday to go to a PH meet... the frikin clutch slave has gone awol

So, I would just like to publicly apologise to my car for being such a cocky git. I'm sorry. Very. I've learnt my lesson, and yes, you are my master. I'm not sure what I was thinking.

Please forgive me?

Love

FUBAR











fingers crossed that should do the trick....the new owners amongst us will come to understand what I've just done

Edited by FUBAR on Friday 17th August 12:16

[PuffsBack]

Hmmm I was about to agree with you and say the same but looking at my summary shows over £2k spent in the last 10 months not including fuel.

I also did a lot of labour myself, fitted the alternator, new coilovers, speed sensor, sports exhaust, wiper park switch plus loads of minor bits etc.

Mind you a lot was upgrades as well

Edited by PuffsBack on Friday 17th August 12:16

[FarmyardPants]

AA warranty Nick?

[FUBAR]

FarmyardPants said:

AA warranty Nick?

I have it and I called the AA man out for Home Start. He refilled reservoir and pumped clutch and got enough clutch for me to get it to a garage, hence I cant claim on the warranty. Sneaky bar stewards.

[FarmyardPants]

Your apology strategy seems to have backfired

[S6 Devil]

FUBAR said:

I have it and I called the AA man out for Home Start. He refilled reservoir and pumped clutch and got enough clutch for me to get it to a garage, hence I cant claim on the warranty. Sneaky bar stewards.

Are you sure that's the case. I had a serpentinenbelt slip off my Jag, they came and refitted and followed me to the garage. They covered the cost of a new belt and pulley kit. If it's FUBARED then they should pay for it!

[BCA]

Interesting thoughts on R888s - it's the reason we've not run '1bs' so far...

Out of interest, what are you running at the speed trials?

[FUBAR]

S6 Devil said:

Are you sure that's the case. I had a serpentinenbelt slip off my Jag, they came and refitted and followed me to the garage. They covered the cost of a new belt and pulley kit. If it's FUBARED then they should pay for it!

Well I havent pushed the point but I know from past experience that unless they recover it to the garage then they wont pay out on the warranty.

[FUBAR]

BCA said:

Interesting thoughts on R888s - it's the reason we've not run '1bs' so far...

Out of interest, what are you running at the speed trials?

Last year I was running the 888s, although I have a theory for the sprinting (not just the BST) is that the race/road pads and 888s make very little difference over 1 flying lap as they don't get enough heat in them. I'm sure road pads would in fact be better for sprinting?

[Mags]

fingers crossed that should do the trick....the new owners amongst us will come to understand what I've just done

[/quote]

But your car doesn't know you've apologised, you need to read this apology out loud to it whilst being filmed and posted on YouTube to prove to us its been done. The prophecy will be fullfilled and your car (or Christine) will fix itself

Mags

[Tanguero]

FUBAR said:

BCA said:

Interesting thoughts on R888s - it's the reason we've not run '1bs' so far...

Out of interest, what are you running at the speed trials?

Last year I was running the 888s, although I have a theory for the sprinting (not just the BST) is that the race/road pads and 888s make very little difference over 1 flying lap as they don't get enough heat in them. I'm sure road pads would in fact be better for sprinting?

My preferred combination for sprinting is 888s and Mintex 1144 pads. The Mintex pads have great cold performance and 888s shaved about 3-4% off my times on the same tracks as well as feeling a lot more progressive close to the edge. I tried various other pads and didn't find anything with the cold performance to touch the Mintex.

I never had any great issue with the 888s on the road though they certainly are noisier and an can make your bum go a bit "half crown-sixpence-half crown-sixpence" on standing water in a downpour.

[BCA]

Tanguero said:

My preferred combination for sprinting is 888s and Mintex 1144 pads. The Mintex pads have great cold performance and 888s shaved about 3-4% off my times on the same tracks as well as feeling a lot more progressive close to the edge. I tried various other pads and didn't find anything with the cold performance to touch the Mintex.

I never had any great issue with the 888s on the road though they certainly are noisier and an can make your bum go a bit "half crown-sixpence-half crown-sixpence" on standing water in a downpour.

Cool, we may be trying 1b tyres next season, should be interesting... Especially with our unusual wheel set up.

[FUBAR]

You need a lot more skill, and a lot braver, than I am to get that extra 4%. Completely wasted on me lol.

Peter, you cite the very reasons why I swapped tyres. Want to use the car again in autumn without sheeting myself!

[Tanguero]

Nick, I now have a set of wheels with regular tyres for winter and a set with 888s for summer. This year I don't think I would have got much use out of the 888s even if I hadn't been rebuilding the thing! Also bear in mind I am running 16" Oz Saturn wheels not your 25" spinner clad bling'o'matic specials which may be something to do with why the 888s are better behaved on mine.

For sprinting switching to the 16" rims made a big difference no matter which tyre. I find the extra flex of the taller sidewall gives a lot more warning and controllability so rather than suddenly spitting you into the scenery it is all a lot more progressive and recoverable.

BCA - What is unusual about your wheel setup?

[FUBAR]

I agree Peter. My biggest regret was not buying some smaller rims just for the 8s. But then again, if I had you all wouldn't have had the pleasure of seeing my gorgeous alloy wheels

Are 16s the way to go? Was going to go 17s but smaller will be cheaper

[BCA]

Tanguero said:

For sprinting switching to the 16" rims made a big difference no matter which tyre. I find the extra flex of the taller sidewall gives a lot more warning and controllability so rather than suddenly spitting you into the scenery it is all a lot more progressive and recoverable.

BCA - What is unusual about your wheel setup?

Two sets of 16" spiders. one 1a, one 1b (dunlops, thanks Guillotine!). I've been telling people with tams/t350s to do this for years... We've done it, the car is sooo much better on road and track, even with tiny tyres (225s!) all round. Saves 12kilos unsprung weight, rides superbly, no tram lining, progressive and silly cheap compared to 18s!

T cars run stretched tyres on 18s, so the difference is very noticeable. Still have the 18s because they look great, and 6x17" RL7s from our Cerb spares which I must get around to selling as they don't look right on the T/ are not the right offsets for a T350.

[Tanguero]

FUBAR said:

I agree Peter. My biggest regret was not buying some smaller rims just for the 8s. But then again, if I had you all wouldn't have had the pleasure of seeing my gorgeous alloy wheels

Are 16s the way to go? Was going to go 17s but smaller will be cheaper

I haven't tried it on the 17s, I picked up a set of 16" for under a ton and they were such a dramatic improvement over the 18" spiders that I just stuck with those. I think any extra sidewall height helps but I don't know what is optimal. It would be really interesting to try both on the same track back to back.

[BCA]

Fubes - you can't go smaller than 17" because of your brakes.

[Tanguero]

Custom calliper spacers mean you can get the larger brakes under the 16" wheels.

[FUBAR]

BCA said:

Fubes - you can't go smaller than 17" because of your brakes.

Good point. I have the Tuscan front brakes so bigger yeah? (lol, I have to ask someone else what spec MY brakes are!)