Car Limits Airfield Training North Weald

[tjlazer]

Hello there, if anyone is free on Monday 17 May I'm going to the carlimits training day. From what I've read it sounds a lot of fun, with plenty of opportunities to push the car, learn some skills and have some fun in a large (and therefore safe) airfield environment. A good opportunity to add another 4 day working week to the already abbreviated May.

Could be fun if some more zeds wanted to join? Cost is £199 for the day so very reasonable compared to similar programs, tyre wear will obviously depend on how much hamilton hoon you want to add to your cornering style!

http://www.carlimits.com/script/viewEvents.php?type=airfieldtraining&month=20100501&start=4

 

[Dreamer]

£199 Im sure i paid about £30 when i did it. Its hard on the tyres there and apart from being able to spin all over the place its just not a track day.

 

[mmm-five]

20 minutes is my record for a set of tyres (which were part worn anyway, and I'd expected to use them up, and had brought spares) at an airfield - although that was in a car that was 300kg heavier.

 

[Raify]

£30 is the activity day, with loads of cars and a bit of tuition. £199 is a 4 person day where you get one-to-one tuition.

I'm very interested in this, was planning on booking it up for me and the missus. Will check her diary for that date....

 

[tjlazer]

Exactly this a 4 person all day set up so you get a good amount of time in the car and plenty of instruction on the technical aspects. For me it's a nice way to learn a few more skills in a low risk environment before I man up for future track days. I'm sticking the old wheels back on for this so will be fully prepared to burn some rubber (leaving enough to get me home!). Looking at the website there are a lot of lotus owners using this, as well as various other car clubs so I thought it would be nice to make it an official zed day :driving:

 

[Andy]

Just watched this vid & it looks ok, but id wanna be drifting around those cones so a drift day for £130 seems more fun, yet a proper £180 day at bedford surely would be more enthralling as a proper trackday than the airfield, but with still very little risk.

I guess you're paying for the tuition, but if I'm having a laugh around a track I prefer to just get as many laps in as I can, trying different things to see what works... and what doesn't work but puts a big grin on my face

[youtube]fTlJnBDd7nc[/youtube]

[youtube]M8IQ9FFZ558[/youtube]

 

[Andy]

Sorry I've carried on watching.. & this is just brilliant:
[youtube]A7PD-mWxDFE[/youtube]

 

[Raify]

I've just booked up on this day, for me and the missus. See you there!

 

[James_G]

I did this back in 2007 and it's a great day, and good value as has been stated. The surface there is abrasive however, so tyre wear can be an issue. Your coach (Andy Walsh?) advises you put the maximum PSI in your tyres to stop sidewall scrubbage. 54psi IIRC He will also drive your car quite hard to demonstrate to you what it's capable off. This "might" make you wince.

Word or warning, on my car the power steering fluid reservoir was overfilled (by a previous owner and /or BMW dealer) and with all the cornering force it leaked out and went into the alternator. Two months later, the car broke down on the A23 and a new alternator was required. So make sure your fluids are topped up, but not too much.

In terms of what you will learn, it's all about car control, finding limits, stepping past them and learning how to gather it all up. I did it before I ventured out on my first track day, and it was money well spent.

 

[tjlazer]

Excellent, I'm looking forward to it, will check out the psi on the tyres but at least the M comes with a pump in the boot! Looking forward to doing some LARGE slides :driving:

 

[Mattt]

Aebous was interested too, might be worth PMing him.

 

[Craig74]

Walshy is brilliant you will have a great day and learn a lot. I went about 2 years ago in my Exige.

Cheers
C

 

[Raify]

See you Monday Tjlazer! Can't wait to spin the car :driving:

 

[tjlazer]

Yes indeed, I was going to PM you. Very much looking forward to this, can't wait to stretch the car's legs again and try some full speed turns with the traction control off :driving: fingers crossed I stop spinning at some point :lol:

I've got to work out how to change my wheels given I have no jack or torque wrench and I don't have a more "practical" car to take the wheels down to the local garage. I could be in for a bit of a work out this weekend if I walk them down but I really should change them to save my new tyres. Time will tell if I can be bothered!

 

[tjlazer]

Today was fantastic fun, great to meet you and Mrs Raify and give those M engines the work out they were made for! It's great to push the car to the limit and beyond and I definitely feel more confident and in control now. Andy was an amusing instructor and I feel I learnt alot even I wasn't exactly pushing for all out pace at times I'm not sure it was entirely necessary to thrash the tires to within an inch of their lives but it was a hell of a lot of fun. I will definitely be looking to get out on a track soon. For now I'll be teaching my girlfriend how to pull lock to lock turns in Sainsburys car park! Hope to see you at a meet or run soon!

 

[Dreamer]

Thats the spirit TJ, the z4M is a brilliant track car and will be QUICK once your confidence starts matching the car

 

[Raify]

Hehe, that was a brilliant day. Girlfriend loved it too.

I was surprised how controllable it was at the limit, even on my ditchfinders. It's certainly more composed than the Z3M Coupe was. Great to meet you Tj, we'll have to have a South East meet up now the weather's nice.

 

[pvr]

I trust you were listening to the Intravee whilst you were destroying the tyres

 

[Raify]

I trust you were listening to the Intravee whilst you were destroying the tyres

I couldn't hear it over the engine! But it rocked for the hour + journey there and back, SWMBO even found a search menu I hadn't used yet. I'm loving the Intravee!

The only thing I haven't managed is to update the firmware, but I suspect that's a laptop issue (com ports etc) rather than anything else.

 

[tjlazer]

Darn it I forgot to check out the intravee in the end! I think I was too buzzed up from the driving session. I was still grinning like an idiot this morning, getting to sleep took ages as I couldn't stop replaying the day in my head I really enjoyed the passenger ride in the coupe too, you really appreciate how quick these M things are with someone else at the wheel.

PS I've booked my CSLs in for a refurb in smoked chrome - great looking motor Raify