'96 JDM Integra Type R
Discussion
Further track day preparation has occurred.
This has consisted of a brake fluid change which was remarkably drama free considering the rusty bleed nipples on the rear calipers. They're not quite 10mm anymore but luckily I had some imperial sockets left over from the Triumph that fitted perfectly.
I've also ordered a Decibel Devils silencer as I'm very concerned I'll be well over the Brands Hatch Db levels as it is. Fingers crossed it keeps me on the right side of ok otherwise it'll be a waste of the best part of £300 when trackday costs and fuel to get there are added in!
Less than 2 weeks now so getting pretty excited, really hoping for a dry, cold day like today.
This has consisted of a brake fluid change which was remarkably drama free considering the rusty bleed nipples on the rear calipers. They're not quite 10mm anymore but luckily I had some imperial sockets left over from the Triumph that fitted perfectly.
I've also ordered a Decibel Devils silencer as I'm very concerned I'll be well over the Brands Hatch Db levels as it is. Fingers crossed it keeps me on the right side of ok otherwise it'll be a waste of the best part of £300 when trackday costs and fuel to get there are added in!
Less than 2 weeks now so getting pretty excited, really hoping for a dry, cold day like today.
Well Monday was a frigging great day despite some car problems!
Got up nice and early with the car fully loaded and got to Brands for sunrise, the track looked amazing first thing in the morning. The weather was perfect, nice and crisp with blue skies overhead, which for November was a right result.
After getting my sticker/number and paying for the garage I parked the Teg up, unloaded all my crap out of the boot and went for a wander around. I spotted James from this forum with his MX5 so went over to have a chat and then went into the briefing.
Soon after that I was out on my first lap of Brands Hatch for the sighting lap, James very kindly jumped in with me and being a trackday/racing/Brands Hatch veteren gave me some valuable insight into the track.
Going out on my first 'hot lap' was pretty daunting but the nerves soon faded and it was serious fun. I gave myself 15 minutes on with 15 minutes break for the rest of the morning, again with James out with me on one session which improved my driving lines massively!
Unfortunately my front brakes had developed a serious judder by mid morning, so lunchtime was wasted searching for a set of discs within driving distance of the track but nobody keeps obscure japanese brake discs in stock obviously. Instead I just cleaned them up and chucked on my sticky R888's for good measure. What followed, despite much brake judder, was the most enjoyable session of the day as my confidence had grown and the tyres made a big difference to the grip levels.
As we pulled into the pits after this session the steering felt really odd, with a few runs up and down the car park to confirm it - it was pulling really badly to the left. We checked the brakes were free and pulled the wheels off. Oddly the front left had tyre had ballooned but only on the inner edge. It was pretty odd and I'm glad I didn't take the chance of going back out on track. Putting it down to a dodgy part worn tyre (they came on some 2nd hand wheels I bought) we swapped back to my AD08 road tyres and went back out.
Another great session followed, probably a good half hour out on track, but as I pulled into the paddock the same thing happened again! So now 2 tyres had been killed I can only put it down the wheel alignment being too aggressive probably due to being set up for hill climbing and the short distances and tight turns associated with that.
That was game over unforunately as I only had 1 spare left hand tyre left, so it was time to pack up and go home!
Despite this I had an awesome day, everyone was really friendly, everything seemed to be very well organised by Circuit Days, I only queued to get out on track once all day and didn't have much traffic on track when I was out. Time to think about the next one!
Photos to follow!
Got up nice and early with the car fully loaded and got to Brands for sunrise, the track looked amazing first thing in the morning. The weather was perfect, nice and crisp with blue skies overhead, which for November was a right result.
After getting my sticker/number and paying for the garage I parked the Teg up, unloaded all my crap out of the boot and went for a wander around. I spotted James from this forum with his MX5 so went over to have a chat and then went into the briefing.
Soon after that I was out on my first lap of Brands Hatch for the sighting lap, James very kindly jumped in with me and being a trackday/racing/Brands Hatch veteren gave me some valuable insight into the track.
Going out on my first 'hot lap' was pretty daunting but the nerves soon faded and it was serious fun. I gave myself 15 minutes on with 15 minutes break for the rest of the morning, again with James out with me on one session which improved my driving lines massively!
Unfortunately my front brakes had developed a serious judder by mid morning, so lunchtime was wasted searching for a set of discs within driving distance of the track but nobody keeps obscure japanese brake discs in stock obviously. Instead I just cleaned them up and chucked on my sticky R888's for good measure. What followed, despite much brake judder, was the most enjoyable session of the day as my confidence had grown and the tyres made a big difference to the grip levels.
As we pulled into the pits after this session the steering felt really odd, with a few runs up and down the car park to confirm it - it was pulling really badly to the left. We checked the brakes were free and pulled the wheels off. Oddly the front left had tyre had ballooned but only on the inner edge. It was pretty odd and I'm glad I didn't take the chance of going back out on track. Putting it down to a dodgy part worn tyre (they came on some 2nd hand wheels I bought) we swapped back to my AD08 road tyres and went back out.
Another great session followed, probably a good half hour out on track, but as I pulled into the paddock the same thing happened again! So now 2 tyres had been killed I can only put it down the wheel alignment being too aggressive probably due to being set up for hill climbing and the short distances and tight turns associated with that.
That was game over unforunately as I only had 1 spare left hand tyre left, so it was time to pack up and go home!
Despite this I had an awesome day, everyone was really friendly, everything seemed to be very well organised by Circuit Days, I only queued to get out on track once all day and didn't have much traffic on track when I was out. Time to think about the next one!
Photos to follow!
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