Swervin_Mervin
18-08-2007, 14:34
Bit of a review from last wednesdays first foray of the year on track in the blue track clio ULF.
Tues night: Set off eventually at about quarter to 8 and made slightly indecent progress arriving at the B&B near Louth at 21:30! What I was most amazed at however was that, still running on the tank I put in on a run to Machynlleth last week, I managed to arrive without needing a fill up. That's 365 miles on 1 tank. ULF has only ever managed 320 miles before now and that was on a motorway-only run.
Wed Morning: After a crap night's sleep (no reflection on the B&B just it was too damn quiet out in the sticks :P ) and some breakfast inside us we had a quick blat down to Horncastle to fill up before just making it back for signing on and the briefing.
The paddock was awash with Caterham Academy cars but there was plenty of interesting other stuff there:
2 911 GT3s, one of which is captured here in a crap phone pic:
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i5/Swervin_Mervin/DSC07275.jpg
4 E46 M3s, one of which was supercharged and another (cabrio) which I'm sure was turboed as it was chattering on the overrun. The latter sounded absolutely cracking and looked tremendously quick. I must say that it was refreshing to see an M3 being driven well for a change as well, with one of the CSLs seemingly getting perfect lines through Hall bends every time I watched.
2 Sapphire cosworths. One a bit chavved the other more subtle. The former also appeared pretty much a straight line warrior as when the rain started tipping down the other was having a giggle out of Hall bends getting the tail out where this guy was pootling before wheelspinning down teh straight. :roll:
1 AE86. Black and caged up but looked relatively standard. This guy was also clearly having fun at the bottom of the mountain hanging it out every time I saw him. 8)
1 4.2L SD1. Great seeing this old girl barrelling round and having a bit of fun in the wet. Have some good footage of this at the end of Hall bends which I have no ability to get off the camera at the moment.
2 106 Rallyes, both quite heavily modded. 1 Saxo which I didn't get to dabble with. 1 Heavily modded FRS which saw a bit of remodelling on the front at some point and again seemed like a straight line warrior.
2 Mk1 Escorts, 1 was having a giggle on the corners hanging it out every time.
Out on track:
The day was dry to begin with but weather looked threatening. I went out first with my co-owner Paul passengering and it tipped down. Not to worry though as I didn't plan on hammering it from the off and took the opportunity to get a proper feel for the Paradas and Firestones.
I think the gradient changes and sections of Gooseneck and Hall Bends took him by surprise and I could see he was itching to get out there so we came in and swapped over. By the time we got out the rain had stopped and he managed to get e good session with a drying track.
I also took the opportunity to point out a few areas that I thought he'd find he needed to concentrate on during the day, such as the rise after the pit straight where you always seem to be able to go quicker, and the section of Gooseneck and the drop downhill. This was based purely on my only previous visit there with some other guys last year but I think we all agreed at the time that Cadwell is definitely a place where you could keep going back and learning more.
After this we decided to do solo sessions as I personally admit I'm a shite passenger and I also find it easier to concentrate without someone else there. Sod's law it tipped down when I went out again! Still, I found that I had a growing confidence in the tyre combo and was starting to feel like I could concentrate on stringing gradually quicker laps together trying to target specific sections at a time.
Seems Paul in his sessions was starting to feel the same and that the specific section of Gooseneck and the drop down hill (I forget the corner) was really bugging him. I love this section and seemed to be gaining on a lot of quicker things by taking a straight off-track line out of Gooseneck and then flicking straight over the top of the l/h corner's blind apex before running wide to the outside just at the end of the rumble strips.
I think he tried this later on and could see what I meant but still didn't feel he'd got it right. My gripe was the uphill rise after the pit straight and Gooseneck where I know I can go faster but always found I wasn't. :evil:
The afternoon sessions were great though. I actualy had one session out there with a mostly dry track and got my only opportunity to judge relative pace. I'd caught some slower traffic including the FRS but at the same time an S2 Exige had caught me. He was reluctant to go past all of us so I led past the slower traffic just before the Mountain. Then we blatted up through Hall Bends and the chicane on to the pit straight to let him past.
Once past I thought I'd see if I could keep pace. Despite pulling on the straights and through Gooseneck he wasn't disappearing at all. :P Seems the one area I was catching was the uphill l/hander I thought I was too slow on! I stuck with him for 3-4 laps before coming in to let things cool down a touch. Must say though that following him I had one lap where I just thought I'd hooked everything up perfectly. No doubt an instructor could've shown me I hadn't but it felt pretty good to me.
Hall bends was also another section which to me most people seemed to crawl through. Having watched Paul through this section later in the day it seemed he too was finding that he was being held up through there an awful lot.
The rain came down pretty heavily later in the day and a lot of the Caterham boys buggered off. We were both still enjoying ourselves though and I think we both agreed that the tyre combination was working a treat. The Paradas were super grippy, but not so much as to ruin the fun. In the wet especially they allowed a really nice gentle breakaway and you could easily feather the power in so as not to end up just power understeering off line. Additionally the Firestones seem to offer consistent grip levels in both dry and wet conditions and by comparison to the Yokos feel tip-toey. This actually felt disconcerting at first on the road but now I'm used to it they are great for just loosening their hold when you want to let that rear get playful to get back on line.
Perhaps the thing I'm satisfied the most about though is I felt I wasn't overdriving the car at all, even when following the Exige in the dry-ish conditions. A more experienced trackdayer had pointed out to me at Anglesey last year that I was a bit keen on trying to power out of the corners too hard and this was something I also found myself guilty of at Cadwell last time.
This time however I just seemed to find the smoothness that Mark R noticed at the Haynes sprint day a while back, and as such felt like I was really able to consistently put good laps in without killing the tyres. Evidence is below:
The Paradas
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i5/Swervin_Mervin/DSC07276.jpg
The Firestones
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i5/Swervin_Mervin/DSC07277.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i5/Swervin_Mervin/DSC07278.jpg
So all in all a great day for both of us. I also found that I enjoyed it as much even though we split the day. I put this down to the fact that on every other day I've done I just feel like I've had enough by about half 3 / 4 o'clock but have to continue to get my moneys worth. This time though I felt fresh throughout.
I think we'll try and fit one more day in this year, probably at Anglesey's Coastal circuit later in October, November. Will be interesting to see how it compares to Cadwell, which I just love and which is superb fun in a small car.
R26:
Following the day Paul had said I could drive the R26 back home. I thought that was a bit brave offering to drive all the way back in ULF (he's a whopping 37 and has had back surgery in recent years :lol: ). Sure enough he was a bit less keen but let me drive the 5-6miles to Horncastle to fill up.
What amazed me the most about actually driving it was how I could recognise so many similar characteristics to the Clio. Driving position was still offset (unlike the current clio which is spot on and straight), seating is high, there's a bit of tramlining and most astonishing of all, you could feel what was happening under the wheels. :shock:
I have not driven a modern hatch in recent years and got out thinking that the car was actually able to communicate what was happening on the outside, other than that information coming throught the 'screen. This was, therefore, a bit of a revelation. Most impressive.
As for pace. Well it's a 230bhp turbot so it goes really rather well. It's all very undramatic though. A bit of a whistle and wham you need to change up again. Impressive, and probably great for day to day driving but for me it's a bit dull when "on one".
Grip is just a whole different ball game to the Clio. There's more than you could ever want. Again, what struck me as odd though was that whilst having buckets of traction it didn't feel over-tyred like so many other modern hatches I've driven. :?
Weird. Overall I think I'm quietly impressed with the R26 and certainly would be happy with one for the daily slog. Makes me want to try the 197 though to see if those feedback levels are similarly present.
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i5/Swervin_Mervin/P1010168.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i5/Swervin_Mervin/P1010167.jpg
Tues night: Set off eventually at about quarter to 8 and made slightly indecent progress arriving at the B&B near Louth at 21:30! What I was most amazed at however was that, still running on the tank I put in on a run to Machynlleth last week, I managed to arrive without needing a fill up. That's 365 miles on 1 tank. ULF has only ever managed 320 miles before now and that was on a motorway-only run.
Wed Morning: After a crap night's sleep (no reflection on the B&B just it was too damn quiet out in the sticks :P ) and some breakfast inside us we had a quick blat down to Horncastle to fill up before just making it back for signing on and the briefing.
The paddock was awash with Caterham Academy cars but there was plenty of interesting other stuff there:
2 911 GT3s, one of which is captured here in a crap phone pic:
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i5/Swervin_Mervin/DSC07275.jpg
4 E46 M3s, one of which was supercharged and another (cabrio) which I'm sure was turboed as it was chattering on the overrun. The latter sounded absolutely cracking and looked tremendously quick. I must say that it was refreshing to see an M3 being driven well for a change as well, with one of the CSLs seemingly getting perfect lines through Hall bends every time I watched.
2 Sapphire cosworths. One a bit chavved the other more subtle. The former also appeared pretty much a straight line warrior as when the rain started tipping down the other was having a giggle out of Hall bends getting the tail out where this guy was pootling before wheelspinning down teh straight. :roll:
1 AE86. Black and caged up but looked relatively standard. This guy was also clearly having fun at the bottom of the mountain hanging it out every time I saw him. 8)
1 4.2L SD1. Great seeing this old girl barrelling round and having a bit of fun in the wet. Have some good footage of this at the end of Hall bends which I have no ability to get off the camera at the moment.
2 106 Rallyes, both quite heavily modded. 1 Saxo which I didn't get to dabble with. 1 Heavily modded FRS which saw a bit of remodelling on the front at some point and again seemed like a straight line warrior.
2 Mk1 Escorts, 1 was having a giggle on the corners hanging it out every time.
Out on track:
The day was dry to begin with but weather looked threatening. I went out first with my co-owner Paul passengering and it tipped down. Not to worry though as I didn't plan on hammering it from the off and took the opportunity to get a proper feel for the Paradas and Firestones.
I think the gradient changes and sections of Gooseneck and Hall Bends took him by surprise and I could see he was itching to get out there so we came in and swapped over. By the time we got out the rain had stopped and he managed to get e good session with a drying track.
I also took the opportunity to point out a few areas that I thought he'd find he needed to concentrate on during the day, such as the rise after the pit straight where you always seem to be able to go quicker, and the section of Gooseneck and the drop downhill. This was based purely on my only previous visit there with some other guys last year but I think we all agreed at the time that Cadwell is definitely a place where you could keep going back and learning more.
After this we decided to do solo sessions as I personally admit I'm a shite passenger and I also find it easier to concentrate without someone else there. Sod's law it tipped down when I went out again! Still, I found that I had a growing confidence in the tyre combo and was starting to feel like I could concentrate on stringing gradually quicker laps together trying to target specific sections at a time.
Seems Paul in his sessions was starting to feel the same and that the specific section of Gooseneck and the drop down hill (I forget the corner) was really bugging him. I love this section and seemed to be gaining on a lot of quicker things by taking a straight off-track line out of Gooseneck and then flicking straight over the top of the l/h corner's blind apex before running wide to the outside just at the end of the rumble strips.
I think he tried this later on and could see what I meant but still didn't feel he'd got it right. My gripe was the uphill rise after the pit straight and Gooseneck where I know I can go faster but always found I wasn't. :evil:
The afternoon sessions were great though. I actualy had one session out there with a mostly dry track and got my only opportunity to judge relative pace. I'd caught some slower traffic including the FRS but at the same time an S2 Exige had caught me. He was reluctant to go past all of us so I led past the slower traffic just before the Mountain. Then we blatted up through Hall Bends and the chicane on to the pit straight to let him past.
Once past I thought I'd see if I could keep pace. Despite pulling on the straights and through Gooseneck he wasn't disappearing at all. :P Seems the one area I was catching was the uphill l/hander I thought I was too slow on! I stuck with him for 3-4 laps before coming in to let things cool down a touch. Must say though that following him I had one lap where I just thought I'd hooked everything up perfectly. No doubt an instructor could've shown me I hadn't but it felt pretty good to me.
Hall bends was also another section which to me most people seemed to crawl through. Having watched Paul through this section later in the day it seemed he too was finding that he was being held up through there an awful lot.
The rain came down pretty heavily later in the day and a lot of the Caterham boys buggered off. We were both still enjoying ourselves though and I think we both agreed that the tyre combination was working a treat. The Paradas were super grippy, but not so much as to ruin the fun. In the wet especially they allowed a really nice gentle breakaway and you could easily feather the power in so as not to end up just power understeering off line. Additionally the Firestones seem to offer consistent grip levels in both dry and wet conditions and by comparison to the Yokos feel tip-toey. This actually felt disconcerting at first on the road but now I'm used to it they are great for just loosening their hold when you want to let that rear get playful to get back on line.
Perhaps the thing I'm satisfied the most about though is I felt I wasn't overdriving the car at all, even when following the Exige in the dry-ish conditions. A more experienced trackdayer had pointed out to me at Anglesey last year that I was a bit keen on trying to power out of the corners too hard and this was something I also found myself guilty of at Cadwell last time.
This time however I just seemed to find the smoothness that Mark R noticed at the Haynes sprint day a while back, and as such felt like I was really able to consistently put good laps in without killing the tyres. Evidence is below:
The Paradas
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i5/Swervin_Mervin/DSC07276.jpg
The Firestones
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i5/Swervin_Mervin/DSC07277.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i5/Swervin_Mervin/DSC07278.jpg
So all in all a great day for both of us. I also found that I enjoyed it as much even though we split the day. I put this down to the fact that on every other day I've done I just feel like I've had enough by about half 3 / 4 o'clock but have to continue to get my moneys worth. This time though I felt fresh throughout.
I think we'll try and fit one more day in this year, probably at Anglesey's Coastal circuit later in October, November. Will be interesting to see how it compares to Cadwell, which I just love and which is superb fun in a small car.
R26:
Following the day Paul had said I could drive the R26 back home. I thought that was a bit brave offering to drive all the way back in ULF (he's a whopping 37 and has had back surgery in recent years :lol: ). Sure enough he was a bit less keen but let me drive the 5-6miles to Horncastle to fill up.
What amazed me the most about actually driving it was how I could recognise so many similar characteristics to the Clio. Driving position was still offset (unlike the current clio which is spot on and straight), seating is high, there's a bit of tramlining and most astonishing of all, you could feel what was happening under the wheels. :shock:
I have not driven a modern hatch in recent years and got out thinking that the car was actually able to communicate what was happening on the outside, other than that information coming throught the 'screen. This was, therefore, a bit of a revelation. Most impressive.
As for pace. Well it's a 230bhp turbot so it goes really rather well. It's all very undramatic though. A bit of a whistle and wham you need to change up again. Impressive, and probably great for day to day driving but for me it's a bit dull when "on one".
Grip is just a whole different ball game to the Clio. There's more than you could ever want. Again, what struck me as odd though was that whilst having buckets of traction it didn't feel over-tyred like so many other modern hatches I've driven. :?
Weird. Overall I think I'm quietly impressed with the R26 and certainly would be happy with one for the daily slog. Makes me want to try the 197 though to see if those feedback levels are similarly present.
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i5/Swervin_Mervin/P1010168.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i5/Swervin_Mervin/P1010167.jpg