Fiesta ST MK7.5 Track car
Discussion
Thanks and the do sit with the OEM look I'm going for sitting in the air vents ( air vents all still work just for referance) .
With regards to oil pressure I will look to link something up with the p3 gauge as I cann add aux sensors to the p3 .
With regards to oil pressure I will look to link something up with the p3 gauge as I cann add aux sensors to the p3 .
Bright Halo said:
Those gauge installs are very neat.
Do you have anything for oil pressure?
Do you have anything for oil pressure?
Last few bits have arrived before Bedford on Saturday .
I have got x 2 5 liter VP fuel cans that should keep me going for most of the day .
And a STR racing fuel wand .
Need to load up the other car with all the other bits and do some checks to the Fiesta and then we are good to go .
Only slight bad point is that it is planed to be raining all day Saturday so look like a wet track .
I have got x 2 5 liter VP fuel cans that should keep me going for most of the day .
And a STR racing fuel wand .
Need to load up the other car with all the other bits and do some checks to the Fiesta and then we are good to go .
Only slight bad point is that it is planed to be raining all day Saturday so look like a wet track .
Ok time to update on how the Bedford track day went on Saturday and I will try and cover everything about the day and how the car felt from the last time I was there last year so might be a long read .
After checking the car over on Friday next was to load up the I30N with the second set of wheels and jacks fuel etc .
We set off at 4.00 AM as it’s about a 3 hour drive but got there in loads of time and parked up , signed in and had a quick look around .
The weather was planned to rain at some point but was dry in the morning so I set the car up for a dry track running the Nankang AR1 tyres , cold air feed headlight , front number plate removed and the coilovers set to ten clicks hard front and 5 clicks rear .
The only problem I had was that i forgot to bring the TPMS caps but as the Nankang AR1 tyres were set up from there last track day that was a good starting point and I would just need to keep an eye on them and check them after each session .
It was then on to some sighting laps to try and re learn the track again .
We came in to re check tyres and get a quick drink as the track was then open and below is a quick video of some track action .
https://youtu.be/Yor9c62sk9A
Then out for the first session but this was red flagged due to a crash and the track was closed for around half an hour .
Session 1
https://youtu.be/LmVi7e5QMKE
Session 1 rear view
https://youtu.be/S6dYsSAQOHw
After the track reopened we went out for session two .
Session 2.1
https://youtu.be/XLcgOHO1W2E
Session 2.2
https://youtu.be/529t3Gfl9Hc
Session 2.3
https://youtu.be/T1gmvduP5Ts
session 2 rear view
https://youtu.be/qp8ThdHMpPc
Then after a cool down and checking the tyre pressures we set out for another session .
Session 3.1
https://youtu.be/ntYkRKebNBw
Session 3.2
https://youtu.be/DEIHz9WwWHE
Session 3 rear view
https://youtu.be/OgmgMLmzYec
The battery in the front go pro died so did not get all the laps but this was it for now and we then broke for lunch checked the car again and then went back out again after lunch .
One last thing before going back on track I got chance to use my fuel wand
Session 4.1
https://youtu.be/yCHZfU0K6ts
Session 4.2
https://youtu.be/BK4EFmcwsho
Session 4 rear view .
https://youtu.be/Fx2QFY7BmS0
I was still running the dry set up but after a few laps of light rain the heavens opened so we had to come back in to change tyres and bits but the track was red flagged and closed due to the amount of rain / standing water that was falling .
The track was closed for around an hour and a half until the rain eased off a bit so after we changed the tyres over to the MPS4 we set out for some wet laps .
Session 5.1
https://youtu.be/9wgDDQ8xj2g
Session 5.2
https://youtu.be/hpaYuI3obn4
Session 5 rear view
https://youtu.be/hDeMdaWFYqE
It was good to drive the car in the wet on track to feel how it felt and apart from a small moment running too much kerb ( Session 5.2 at 2.16 )
I did a few laps and then we called it a day at around 4.30 ish to set off home after a great day at Bedford .
apart from the Nurburgring last year the only track day I did was at Bedford last year so it was good to get some dry running in the morning to see how the car was with the new upgrades compared to last year .
Some pictures of the car on track .
Below i will try and relay how the car felt on track from last time going through all points on the car .
Engine / power
The car is running the new S280 turbo set up at low boost of 1.5 Bar and has another 20 BHP and 20 LB/FT over the old set up .
The car was quick in a straight line last year and feels even better now running this turbo set up and was around 10 MPH faster down the back straight compared to last year on the old set up .
Below is a few videos from the long back straight at WOT and it is good to compare this to some other cars to get a feel of the straight line pace the car has now .
CTR KPRO tune
https://youtu.be/j_oMWQa4lEY
Caterham seven
https://youtu.be/pQzUUJl-nP8
Golf GTI club sport S
https://youtu.be/FuWRoe6UT4U
Breaks
The car is still running the front 4 pot AP racing calliper set up with Pagid RLS 29 pads and 330 mm 2 part floating front discs and now is running the new rear Focus RS 280 mm discs and PBS PRO pads along with Motul RBF 700 brake fluid .
The car has massive stopping power and gives great confidence in its feel .
I did not get any brake fade all day even stopping from 130 + MPH down the back straight and the set-up is spot on giving good pedal feel .
Pads at the front is still very good and after 3 track days now I would say the pads have around 75 % life left in them and the rears around the same .
The problem is that I am still not braking late enough and am braking way too early so am losing a tone of time here not braking later but this will be something that I will work on as I feel there is so much time to be had here .
Transmission
Again no problems and running the Motul gear 300 oil would have helped with heat .
The Quaife ATB LSD is still the best thing on the car and just pulls the car round the turns and i still need to improve in feeding full power in as im only at 50 % in some turns where i could be at 90 or 100 % throttle .
The Coolerworx shifter was amazing and i did not miss a gear all day and the shift is much quicker and shorter than stock and the shifter is in the best place so easy to grab .
suspension
This is the part of the car that has had the most changes with braces , lower arms , camber plates and bolts , FARB , RARB , drop links etc .
The improvement was the most impressive out of all the new bits that are on the car now and the car just corners flat with no under steer and no over steer it just feels very pointy and grippy .
Braking is much better now and the car stops much more straighter and does not squirm under hard braking new like it did before .
Cooling
With the new P3 gauge I could keep more of an eye on oil and coolant temps along with inlet temps and EGT .
The coolant never went much more than 85 degrees max even after a few hard laps .
With regards to the oil the max temps were 105 degrees and most of the time sat around 90 degrees so I’m happy with the cooling of the car
Tyres
The Nankang AR1 are amazing in the dry and really help to put the full power and torque down and have so much grip in the corners and braking .
They are about 40 % worn I would say after 3 track days .
I was out on track with them when it started to rain and they did have more grip in the wet than I thought they would have but heavy rain / standing water they are lethal .
After changing over to the pilot sport 4 tyres they gave great traction and grip in the wet and much more than I thought they would do and you could use a lot more of the power than I thought you would be able to .
Thing to improve / bad points
The only part that is lacking on the car now is the driver
The car feel very well set up and very flat and with great stopping power and good power so the one part that need improving is me as I can feel that the car could go so much quicker with a better driver but that is part of the fun learning and trying to improve after each session .
This was only my 6th track day and I do feel like I have improved a small amount from the last session but there is still a long way to go .
where I’m losing loads of time due to me and not the car is braking too early and not using / trusting the stopping power of the brakes and also not going to WOT in some of the turns trusting the diff and tyres will grip and pull the car round .
My lines are still very much on the novice side as well that is costing me lap time .
So to sum up I had a great time and had good fun trying to improve with each lap and the car ran spot on all day and felt a fair bit quicker than last time there .
It will now be on to the next track day for some more fun and learning .
After checking the car over on Friday next was to load up the I30N with the second set of wheels and jacks fuel etc .
We set off at 4.00 AM as it’s about a 3 hour drive but got there in loads of time and parked up , signed in and had a quick look around .
The weather was planned to rain at some point but was dry in the morning so I set the car up for a dry track running the Nankang AR1 tyres , cold air feed headlight , front number plate removed and the coilovers set to ten clicks hard front and 5 clicks rear .
The only problem I had was that i forgot to bring the TPMS caps but as the Nankang AR1 tyres were set up from there last track day that was a good starting point and I would just need to keep an eye on them and check them after each session .
It was then on to some sighting laps to try and re learn the track again .
We came in to re check tyres and get a quick drink as the track was then open and below is a quick video of some track action .
https://youtu.be/Yor9c62sk9A
Then out for the first session but this was red flagged due to a crash and the track was closed for around half an hour .
Session 1
https://youtu.be/LmVi7e5QMKE
Session 1 rear view
https://youtu.be/S6dYsSAQOHw
After the track reopened we went out for session two .
Session 2.1
https://youtu.be/XLcgOHO1W2E
Session 2.2
https://youtu.be/529t3Gfl9Hc
Session 2.3
https://youtu.be/T1gmvduP5Ts
session 2 rear view
https://youtu.be/qp8ThdHMpPc
Then after a cool down and checking the tyre pressures we set out for another session .
Session 3.1
https://youtu.be/ntYkRKebNBw
Session 3.2
https://youtu.be/DEIHz9WwWHE
Session 3 rear view
https://youtu.be/OgmgMLmzYec
The battery in the front go pro died so did not get all the laps but this was it for now and we then broke for lunch checked the car again and then went back out again after lunch .
One last thing before going back on track I got chance to use my fuel wand
Session 4.1
https://youtu.be/yCHZfU0K6ts
Session 4.2
https://youtu.be/BK4EFmcwsho
Session 4 rear view .
https://youtu.be/Fx2QFY7BmS0
I was still running the dry set up but after a few laps of light rain the heavens opened so we had to come back in to change tyres and bits but the track was red flagged and closed due to the amount of rain / standing water that was falling .
The track was closed for around an hour and a half until the rain eased off a bit so after we changed the tyres over to the MPS4 we set out for some wet laps .
Session 5.1
https://youtu.be/9wgDDQ8xj2g
Session 5.2
https://youtu.be/hpaYuI3obn4
Session 5 rear view
https://youtu.be/hDeMdaWFYqE
It was good to drive the car in the wet on track to feel how it felt and apart from a small moment running too much kerb ( Session 5.2 at 2.16 )
I did a few laps and then we called it a day at around 4.30 ish to set off home after a great day at Bedford .
apart from the Nurburgring last year the only track day I did was at Bedford last year so it was good to get some dry running in the morning to see how the car was with the new upgrades compared to last year .
Some pictures of the car on track .
Below i will try and relay how the car felt on track from last time going through all points on the car .
Engine / power
The car is running the new S280 turbo set up at low boost of 1.5 Bar and has another 20 BHP and 20 LB/FT over the old set up .
The car was quick in a straight line last year and feels even better now running this turbo set up and was around 10 MPH faster down the back straight compared to last year on the old set up .
Below is a few videos from the long back straight at WOT and it is good to compare this to some other cars to get a feel of the straight line pace the car has now .
CTR KPRO tune
https://youtu.be/j_oMWQa4lEY
Caterham seven
https://youtu.be/pQzUUJl-nP8
Golf GTI club sport S
https://youtu.be/FuWRoe6UT4U
Breaks
The car is still running the front 4 pot AP racing calliper set up with Pagid RLS 29 pads and 330 mm 2 part floating front discs and now is running the new rear Focus RS 280 mm discs and PBS PRO pads along with Motul RBF 700 brake fluid .
The car has massive stopping power and gives great confidence in its feel .
I did not get any brake fade all day even stopping from 130 + MPH down the back straight and the set-up is spot on giving good pedal feel .
Pads at the front is still very good and after 3 track days now I would say the pads have around 75 % life left in them and the rears around the same .
The problem is that I am still not braking late enough and am braking way too early so am losing a tone of time here not braking later but this will be something that I will work on as I feel there is so much time to be had here .
Transmission
Again no problems and running the Motul gear 300 oil would have helped with heat .
The Quaife ATB LSD is still the best thing on the car and just pulls the car round the turns and i still need to improve in feeding full power in as im only at 50 % in some turns where i could be at 90 or 100 % throttle .
The Coolerworx shifter was amazing and i did not miss a gear all day and the shift is much quicker and shorter than stock and the shifter is in the best place so easy to grab .
suspension
This is the part of the car that has had the most changes with braces , lower arms , camber plates and bolts , FARB , RARB , drop links etc .
The improvement was the most impressive out of all the new bits that are on the car now and the car just corners flat with no under steer and no over steer it just feels very pointy and grippy .
Braking is much better now and the car stops much more straighter and does not squirm under hard braking new like it did before .
Cooling
With the new P3 gauge I could keep more of an eye on oil and coolant temps along with inlet temps and EGT .
The coolant never went much more than 85 degrees max even after a few hard laps .
With regards to the oil the max temps were 105 degrees and most of the time sat around 90 degrees so I’m happy with the cooling of the car
Tyres
The Nankang AR1 are amazing in the dry and really help to put the full power and torque down and have so much grip in the corners and braking .
They are about 40 % worn I would say after 3 track days .
I was out on track with them when it started to rain and they did have more grip in the wet than I thought they would have but heavy rain / standing water they are lethal .
After changing over to the pilot sport 4 tyres they gave great traction and grip in the wet and much more than I thought they would do and you could use a lot more of the power than I thought you would be able to .
Thing to improve / bad points
The only part that is lacking on the car now is the driver
The car feel very well set up and very flat and with great stopping power and good power so the one part that need improving is me as I can feel that the car could go so much quicker with a better driver but that is part of the fun learning and trying to improve after each session .
This was only my 6th track day and I do feel like I have improved a small amount from the last session but there is still a long way to go .
where I’m losing loads of time due to me and not the car is braking too early and not using / trusting the stopping power of the brakes and also not going to WOT in some of the turns trusting the diff and tyres will grip and pull the car round .
My lines are still very much on the novice side as well that is costing me lap time .
So to sum up I had a great time and had good fun trying to improve with each lap and the car ran spot on all day and felt a fair bit quicker than last time there .
It will now be on to the next track day for some more fun and learning .
You are correct on that one and that will be part of the fun trying to improve after each track day and try to get a little bit better .
And just a few more pics i have found of the day .
And just a few more pics i have found of the day .
WCZ said:
nice! with a bit of driver improvement you could be so much faster around there with that car
Nice, looks good. I do think you have a lot of time left in that car, they react well to being chucked around a lot.
This is my friend his MX5 chasing me a few weeks ago at Bedford:
https://youtu.be/J_YsxgZDXdc
Car wallows a bit as I accidentally had set coilovers to full soft instead of full hard haha. But, was just as fast and allowed me to ride kerbs without destroying my spine!
What speed were you doing back straight? I was hitting 130mph before braking.
This is my friend his MX5 chasing me a few weeks ago at Bedford:
https://youtu.be/J_YsxgZDXdc
Car wallows a bit as I accidentally had set coilovers to full soft instead of full hard haha. But, was just as fast and allowed me to ride kerbs without destroying my spine!
What speed were you doing back straight? I was hitting 130mph before braking.
Yes no doubt about that there is a tone of time to be had from the car and I will have fun trying to find it
That was only my 6th real track day so I hope I have a bit of improvement in me as well .
I might think about a bit of tuition but at the moment I'm having fun learning by my self and did feel that I was a bit better there from last time .
Looking at your video some of your lines and not breaking for some turns is something I'm not doing as it looks like you are at 100 % throttle at times where I'm at 50 % .
I will need to give you the keys and ride shotgun to see just how much quicker the car is with someone knowing what they are doing
That was only my 6th real track day so I hope I have a bit of improvement in me as well .
I might think about a bit of tuition but at the moment I'm having fun learning by my self and did feel that I was a bit better there from last time .
Looking at your video some of your lines and not breaking for some turns is something I'm not doing as it looks like you are at 100 % throttle at times where I'm at 50 % .
I will need to give you the keys and ride shotgun to see just how much quicker the car is with someone knowing what they are doing
alex98uk said:
Nice, looks good. I do think you have a lot of time left in that car, they react well to being chucked around a lot.
This is my friend his MX5 chasing me a few weeks ago at Bedford:
https://youtu.be/J_YsxgZDXdc
Car wallows a bit as I accidentally had set coilovers to full soft instead of full hard haha. But, was just as fast and allowed me to ride kerbs without destroying my spine!
What speed were you doing back straight? I was hitting 130mph before braking.
This is my friend his MX5 chasing me a few weeks ago at Bedford:
https://youtu.be/J_YsxgZDXdc
Car wallows a bit as I accidentally had set coilovers to full soft instead of full hard haha. But, was just as fast and allowed me to ride kerbs without destroying my spine!
What speed were you doing back straight? I was hitting 130mph before braking.
Edited by Kaveney on Saturday 1st August 18:42
More of a check up than any updates this time .
After the first track day of the year at Bedford last month i have given the car a good check over before the next outing .
All the fluids oil , coolant , brake fluid are all spot in and do not need any topping up so that is all good .
The brakes still have loads of life left in them so all good there as well .
Tyres ( both sets ) still have loads of tread on them too .
The only thing that i have found is with the lower engine mount as the car was making a small knocking noise at the end of the day at Bedford .
After looking in to this the Mountune unit looks to have failed with the Polyurethane insert coming away from the mount .
The Mountune lower engine mount uses a softer yellow Powerflex Polyurethane so with the car having much grater power and braking power i think this has caused the damage .
I will look to get this replaced and will look at using a stiffer Polyurethane insert .
After the first track day of the year at Bedford last month i have given the car a good check over before the next outing .
All the fluids oil , coolant , brake fluid are all spot in and do not need any topping up so that is all good .
The brakes still have loads of life left in them so all good there as well .
Tyres ( both sets ) still have loads of tread on them too .
The only thing that i have found is with the lower engine mount as the car was making a small knocking noise at the end of the day at Bedford .
After looking in to this the Mountune unit looks to have failed with the Polyurethane insert coming away from the mount .
The Mountune lower engine mount uses a softer yellow Powerflex Polyurethane so with the car having much grater power and braking power i think this has caused the damage .
I will look to get this replaced and will look at using a stiffer Polyurethane insert .
So after the first track day at Bedford I have booked to do Lydden hill this Saturday .
It will be x (6) 15 minute sessions for the day and i have stuck my self in the novice camp for the day .
Looking forward to driving the track as it is one i have not been to yet and looks a good small circuit a bit like Brands Hatch indy .
I will look to do a full write up on how the day went with some videos and a sum up of the day .
It will be x (6) 15 minute sessions for the day and i have stuck my self in the novice camp for the day .
Looking forward to driving the track as it is one i have not been to yet and looks a good small circuit a bit like Brands Hatch indy .
I will look to do a full write up on how the day went with some videos and a sum up of the day .
So last Saturday I took the car to Lydden hill for another track day and will review how the day went below .
The track is around 140 miles from where I live so set off at 4.30 to get there for the 7.30 sinning on .
The day was set up in groups and divided in to x (6) 15 minute sessions .
The track was wet and it was still raining .
Next was noise testing and the car was 74 DB so well under the 100 DB limit .
As it was still raining and as I had not even driving the track before I kept the car on full soft on the suspension and kept the PS4 tyres on .
Then it was out for the first session on a wet track but this got red flagged and we only had a few minutes on track after the track was open again .
Session 1.1
https://youtu.be/HJdgOvCGJYQ
Session 1.2
https://youtu.be/LhB8MNlJp7I
Session 1 rear view
https://youtu.be/jPSWvAH-goE
On the way to the pit exit after the session the car went in to limp mode and the spanner warning came up on the dash .
After parking up I set about looking in to seeing what the problem may be .
The problem was easy to see as the lower offside intercooler boost pipe had blown off .
After this was checked for any damage and reinstalled the car was running fine again .
The problem was that I had missed the second slot so had to sit this one out but did get chance to watch some track action .
https://youtu.be/5bhtObarDTk
As the track was drying out I swapped the wheels over from the MPS4 units to the AR1 tyres and then set the coilovers to 10 clicks hard front and 4 clicks hard rear .
Then it was on to session three .
session 3.1
https://youtu.be/bwWNbcf9XyQ
Session 3.2
https://youtu.be/_eTJyh6JKV0
Session 3 rear view
https://youtu.be/D_BpTnNvTVo
As this was my first few laps in the dry and not knowing the track that well I thought it would be a good plan to try and follow the lines of the quickest car in the group that was a stripped 315 BHP Nissan 350Z .
The car felt good just like it was at Bedford but the big problem I was having was that at the two sharp hairpins ( Devil’s elbow and north bend ) I could not get much traction and was spinning the wheels in second gear so it was a choice of short shifting in to third gear and being out of the power band or only going to 50 % throttle in second trying to minimize wheel spin .
Then after a call down for the car it was on to session 4 before the lunch break .
Session 4.1
https://youtu.be/d6-UGeTVp8w
Session 4.2
https://youtu.be/i-6mN_fuCms
Session 4.3
https://youtu.be/szpDkH40sN0
Session 4 rear view .
https://youtu.be/fNX384CqL9w
I got a bit stuck behind some cars but the car felt really good and when I got some clear track I started to push a bit harder and use the brakes more to brake much later and soon caught up to my old 350Z friend .
It was then a break for lunch and as the track was getting hotter and dryer I installed my fir filter cooling headlight and removed the front number plate to aid in cooling . I also adjusted the front coilovers to 15 clicks hard and the rear ones to 6 clicks hard .
For session 5 I let the Mrs have a go and she drover well and had great fun .
Then it was on to session 6 for my best and last session of the day .
Session 6.1
https://youtu.be/dnTAjUPxGIg
Session 6.2
https://youtu.be/dKVjK7mEYow
Session 6 rear view
https://youtu.be/3supnaEwYJk
I got stuck behind a MG ZR 160 as I still had cold tyres so had to play catch up with the 350Z and a RX8 but after catching them up I started to push the car and my limited skill a bit harder .
I was very happy with how the car was running and started to pull away from the 350Z and was pushing a bit more until I has a bit of a moment at paddock bend ( 3.19 https://youtu.be/dKVjK7mEYow ) but was soon going well again until my left front AR1 tyre let go so we had to head in to the pits and call it a day .
Knackered AR1 tyre
Think I may have picked up a puncture from going a bit wide at paddock bend and then the tyre let go under load .
We packed up had a chat with some guys in the paddock and then set off home after a great day .
I will try and relay how the car felt on track from last time going through all points on the car
Engine / power
As the track is a tight short track I was only using second and third gear and found a problem in that second gear would not hook up under 100 % throttle even feeding this in did not help so I had to only use 50 % to get traction in the tight turns sacrificing some performance for grip as the 342 LB/FT just wanted to spin up the front tyres .
Breaks
The brakes were amazing again and had no fade all day and I started to use them harder and brake much later and still felt that I could break a bit later .
Pads are a bit more worn but still ok
Transmission
No problems and the Quaife ATB LSD was amazing at pulling the car around the corners and the Coolerworx shifter helped with some quick gear changes .
Suspension
Car felt nice and tight on the twisty track with no under steer or over steer and cornered very flat .
Cooling
As the track is all second and third gears this would work the engine harder but the max coolant temps were 90 deg all day and the oil temps max was 113 deg after some hard laps so the cooling is still working very well on the car .
Tyres
The Ar-1 units were mega again and had loads of grip but the track is known for destroying tyres and at the start of the day the tyres looked like the below .
Before Lydden Hill .
After Lydden Hill .
Rear tyres still look in good order .
Apart from the boost hose blowing off and the tyre letting go the day went without a hitch and was great fun .
I still have a lot of learning / improving to do but did feel that I was quicker in the car from the last track day at Bedford and after each session was getting quicker on the track .
The car still has more to give but it is fun pushing the car a bit harder each track day and getting a bit quicker .
Next up will Thruxton at the end of September .
The track is around 140 miles from where I live so set off at 4.30 to get there for the 7.30 sinning on .
The day was set up in groups and divided in to x (6) 15 minute sessions .
The track was wet and it was still raining .
Next was noise testing and the car was 74 DB so well under the 100 DB limit .
As it was still raining and as I had not even driving the track before I kept the car on full soft on the suspension and kept the PS4 tyres on .
Then it was out for the first session on a wet track but this got red flagged and we only had a few minutes on track after the track was open again .
Session 1.1
https://youtu.be/HJdgOvCGJYQ
Session 1.2
https://youtu.be/LhB8MNlJp7I
Session 1 rear view
https://youtu.be/jPSWvAH-goE
On the way to the pit exit after the session the car went in to limp mode and the spanner warning came up on the dash .
After parking up I set about looking in to seeing what the problem may be .
The problem was easy to see as the lower offside intercooler boost pipe had blown off .
After this was checked for any damage and reinstalled the car was running fine again .
The problem was that I had missed the second slot so had to sit this one out but did get chance to watch some track action .
https://youtu.be/5bhtObarDTk
As the track was drying out I swapped the wheels over from the MPS4 units to the AR1 tyres and then set the coilovers to 10 clicks hard front and 4 clicks hard rear .
Then it was on to session three .
session 3.1
https://youtu.be/bwWNbcf9XyQ
Session 3.2
https://youtu.be/_eTJyh6JKV0
Session 3 rear view
https://youtu.be/D_BpTnNvTVo
As this was my first few laps in the dry and not knowing the track that well I thought it would be a good plan to try and follow the lines of the quickest car in the group that was a stripped 315 BHP Nissan 350Z .
The car felt good just like it was at Bedford but the big problem I was having was that at the two sharp hairpins ( Devil’s elbow and north bend ) I could not get much traction and was spinning the wheels in second gear so it was a choice of short shifting in to third gear and being out of the power band or only going to 50 % throttle in second trying to minimize wheel spin .
Then after a call down for the car it was on to session 4 before the lunch break .
Session 4.1
https://youtu.be/d6-UGeTVp8w
Session 4.2
https://youtu.be/i-6mN_fuCms
Session 4.3
https://youtu.be/szpDkH40sN0
Session 4 rear view .
https://youtu.be/fNX384CqL9w
I got a bit stuck behind some cars but the car felt really good and when I got some clear track I started to push a bit harder and use the brakes more to brake much later and soon caught up to my old 350Z friend .
It was then a break for lunch and as the track was getting hotter and dryer I installed my fir filter cooling headlight and removed the front number plate to aid in cooling . I also adjusted the front coilovers to 15 clicks hard and the rear ones to 6 clicks hard .
For session 5 I let the Mrs have a go and she drover well and had great fun .
Then it was on to session 6 for my best and last session of the day .
Session 6.1
https://youtu.be/dnTAjUPxGIg
Session 6.2
https://youtu.be/dKVjK7mEYow
Session 6 rear view
https://youtu.be/3supnaEwYJk
I got stuck behind a MG ZR 160 as I still had cold tyres so had to play catch up with the 350Z and a RX8 but after catching them up I started to push the car and my limited skill a bit harder .
I was very happy with how the car was running and started to pull away from the 350Z and was pushing a bit more until I has a bit of a moment at paddock bend ( 3.19 https://youtu.be/dKVjK7mEYow ) but was soon going well again until my left front AR1 tyre let go so we had to head in to the pits and call it a day .
Knackered AR1 tyre
Think I may have picked up a puncture from going a bit wide at paddock bend and then the tyre let go under load .
We packed up had a chat with some guys in the paddock and then set off home after a great day .
I will try and relay how the car felt on track from last time going through all points on the car
Engine / power
As the track is a tight short track I was only using second and third gear and found a problem in that second gear would not hook up under 100 % throttle even feeding this in did not help so I had to only use 50 % to get traction in the tight turns sacrificing some performance for grip as the 342 LB/FT just wanted to spin up the front tyres .
Breaks
The brakes were amazing again and had no fade all day and I started to use them harder and brake much later and still felt that I could break a bit later .
Pads are a bit more worn but still ok
Transmission
No problems and the Quaife ATB LSD was amazing at pulling the car around the corners and the Coolerworx shifter helped with some quick gear changes .
Suspension
Car felt nice and tight on the twisty track with no under steer or over steer and cornered very flat .
Cooling
As the track is all second and third gears this would work the engine harder but the max coolant temps were 90 deg all day and the oil temps max was 113 deg after some hard laps so the cooling is still working very well on the car .
Tyres
The Ar-1 units were mega again and had loads of grip but the track is known for destroying tyres and at the start of the day the tyres looked like the below .
Before Lydden Hill .
After Lydden Hill .
Rear tyres still look in good order .
Apart from the boost hose blowing off and the tyre letting go the day went without a hitch and was great fun .
I still have a lot of learning / improving to do but did feel that I was quicker in the car from the last track day at Bedford and after each session was getting quicker on the track .
The car still has more to give but it is fun pushing the car a bit harder each track day and getting a bit quicker .
Next up will Thruxton at the end of September .
Time for an update on the car .
After the track day at Bedford in July I was getting a small knocking noise from the front of the car and after inspection it looked like the Mountune lower engine mount was at fault due to the Polyurethane coming away from the mounting .
To be fair the Mountune mount has been on the car for over three years now and is having to cope with much more loads now so it has not done bad but as I will need to change this unit for a new one I have taken the option to upgrade this to a firmer unit more for track work .
Damaged Mountune lower engine mount .
I have replaced this with a new Airtec unit using a track grade purple Polyurethane so will be a lot stiffer .
Airtec purple grade lower engine mount .
And installed .
The mount is much more stiffer so should cope much better on track than the road spec Mountune lower engine mount and does not add too much more NVH in to the cabin .
After the track day at Bedford in July I was getting a small knocking noise from the front of the car and after inspection it looked like the Mountune lower engine mount was at fault due to the Polyurethane coming away from the mounting .
To be fair the Mountune mount has been on the car for over three years now and is having to cope with much more loads now so it has not done bad but as I will need to change this unit for a new one I have taken the option to upgrade this to a firmer unit more for track work .
Damaged Mountune lower engine mount .
I have replaced this with a new Airtec unit using a track grade purple Polyurethane so will be a lot stiffer .
Airtec purple grade lower engine mount .
And installed .
The mount is much more stiffer so should cope much better on track than the road spec Mountune lower engine mount and does not add too much more NVH in to the cabin .
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