Last week I enjoyed a superb driving weekend with Tom and his co-driver/mate Olly. We headed through scenic Wales last Saturday in convoy, with an overnight stay followed by a trackday at Anglesey circuit.
A morning meeting at Ross On Wye was followed by a thrilling drive on a mixture of A, B and minor roads, a well chosen route by Tom that saw us rarely in traffic. A stop at the Caban Coch reservoir and dam for lunch, a walk to the top and then back on the road again. Top speeds were 'relatively' sensible but full throttle and cornering were frequently used, and top down I was able to appreciate Toms bellowing CSL airbox and Supersprint race exhaust. The local sheep voted with their feet in preferring the mellower tones of my Roadsters Eventuri! :lol: . Over rough roads my car had developed a knocking from the front, having checked everything was tight I put it down to a worn top mount or drop link. Another stop, at Betwsy Coed for a drink and on to the Groes Inn near Conwy for our evening meal (Evo magazines pub of choice), this was also digs for Tom and Olly. I took the cheaper option (£40 B & B) of staying a couple of miles down the road, both nice places.
Early Sunday morning start with a bright, sunny forecast but windy (the roof was staying up), pleased we'd pre-booked a garage. I mentioned the knocking noise from the front suspension to Tom and he mentioned checking the strut brace having previously experienced a fracture; it wasn't this but it was one of the nuts holding the chassis cross braces. A quick tighten and all was quiet again, that saved me the cost and hassle of changing parts unnecessarily
. I've been to Anglesey circuit with work before when organising racing, but this was my first time of driving the track. The day was run by Javelin with the International GP circuit used in the morning and a switch to the Coastal in the afternoon. Tom had experienced an identical day a couple of years ago here, also with Javelin.
I knew that my Nankang NS2R would be fit for the bin after the weekend, arguably before it started, having been through a lot of heat cycles and very low on tread. This led me to drive the morning on the International circuit with caution and a lack of usual exuberance, but did result in smoother lines. By late morning I knew that the inner edges of the rear tyres would be through to the carcass if I carried on, so a google search found me a tyre fitters 27 miles away that was open on a Sunday! A couple of hours later I was back to the circuit and ready for an afternoon of normality: chasing Toms Coupe, this time on the Coastal circuit that includes the 'Corkscrew'. When the circuit was re-opened in 1997 it featured part modelled on other circuits in the world, the Corkscrew being modelled on Laguna Seca's famous drop, so (big head alert) I'm pleased to have driven both within a month to compare. The altitude drop is nothing like as extreme as Californias finest, but fun none the less.
As a possible result of running rather extreme amounts of toe out for the first few trackdays these tyres have developed a bad case of 'sawtooth' where the tread blocks have worn unevenly. The vibration is enough to physically shake the steering wheel and upset my phone video too (sorry I only recorded in SD quality, doh!). Now that I have dialled back the rear toe out to 2mm I hope the next set will be fine. Talking of video, you can view highlights here:
https://youtu.be/MyDma8tSiu8
[youtube]https://youtu.be/MyDma8tSiu8[/youtube]
Both Tom and I experienced issues with erroneous data being displayed. Mine was not displaying high revs or top speeds at some points of the track, but the G meter helped show a slight difference between cars in cornering. Tom was able to use 2nd gear to punch out of many of the slower corners whilst I had to stick to 3rd or else wheelspin the power away, plus I think Tom was enjoying sliding his car around in 2nd
. You can see that on one occasion early in the video when trying to gap Tom I carried a lot of speed upto Rocket and braked too late resulting in overshooting the corner. Initially I blamed the brakes (new EBC Blue Stuff NDX) overheating after being stuck in traffic for some laps but it was all my fault!
We swapped cars for a session late in the day and what a difference. Each time Tom has added to his car it has made an improvement, it really is a pleasure to drive. It turns in beautifully now with its new Bilsteins well suited to the smooth tarmac, a seat that holds you without needing a death grip on the steering wheel, tyres that actually grip and that noise..... :evil:
The sun was starting to go down and we left at different times with me stopping at the local beach for a quick photo and a pause before the long drive home to Bath.
This may end up being the last trackday in the M for a while with the new (old) BMW racecar being added to the BMW fleet......
A morning meeting at Ross On Wye was followed by a thrilling drive on a mixture of A, B and minor roads, a well chosen route by Tom that saw us rarely in traffic. A stop at the Caban Coch reservoir and dam for lunch, a walk to the top and then back on the road again. Top speeds were 'relatively' sensible but full throttle and cornering were frequently used, and top down I was able to appreciate Toms bellowing CSL airbox and Supersprint race exhaust. The local sheep voted with their feet in preferring the mellower tones of my Roadsters Eventuri! :lol: . Over rough roads my car had developed a knocking from the front, having checked everything was tight I put it down to a worn top mount or drop link. Another stop, at Betwsy Coed for a drink and on to the Groes Inn near Conwy for our evening meal (Evo magazines pub of choice), this was also digs for Tom and Olly. I took the cheaper option (£40 B & B) of staying a couple of miles down the road, both nice places.
Early Sunday morning start with a bright, sunny forecast but windy (the roof was staying up), pleased we'd pre-booked a garage. I mentioned the knocking noise from the front suspension to Tom and he mentioned checking the strut brace having previously experienced a fracture; it wasn't this but it was one of the nuts holding the chassis cross braces. A quick tighten and all was quiet again, that saved me the cost and hassle of changing parts unnecessarily
. I've been to Anglesey circuit with work before when organising racing, but this was my first time of driving the track. The day was run by Javelin with the International GP circuit used in the morning and a switch to the Coastal in the afternoon. Tom had experienced an identical day a couple of years ago here, also with Javelin. I knew that my Nankang NS2R would be fit for the bin after the weekend, arguably before it started, having been through a lot of heat cycles and very low on tread. This led me to drive the morning on the International circuit with caution and a lack of usual exuberance, but did result in smoother lines. By late morning I knew that the inner edges of the rear tyres would be through to the carcass if I carried on, so a google search found me a tyre fitters 27 miles away that was open on a Sunday! A couple of hours later I was back to the circuit and ready for an afternoon of normality: chasing Toms Coupe, this time on the Coastal circuit that includes the 'Corkscrew'. When the circuit was re-opened in 1997 it featured part modelled on other circuits in the world, the Corkscrew being modelled on Laguna Seca's famous drop, so (big head alert) I'm pleased to have driven both within a month to compare. The altitude drop is nothing like as extreme as Californias finest, but fun none the less.
As a possible result of running rather extreme amounts of toe out for the first few trackdays these tyres have developed a bad case of 'sawtooth' where the tread blocks have worn unevenly. The vibration is enough to physically shake the steering wheel and upset my phone video too (sorry I only recorded in SD quality, doh!). Now that I have dialled back the rear toe out to 2mm I hope the next set will be fine. Talking of video, you can view highlights here:
https://youtu.be/MyDma8tSiu8
[youtube]https://youtu.be/MyDma8tSiu8[/youtube]
Both Tom and I experienced issues with erroneous data being displayed. Mine was not displaying high revs or top speeds at some points of the track, but the G meter helped show a slight difference between cars in cornering. Tom was able to use 2nd gear to punch out of many of the slower corners whilst I had to stick to 3rd or else wheelspin the power away, plus I think Tom was enjoying sliding his car around in 2nd
. You can see that on one occasion early in the video when trying to gap Tom I carried a lot of speed upto Rocket and braked too late resulting in overshooting the corner. Initially I blamed the brakes (new EBC Blue Stuff NDX) overheating after being stuck in traffic for some laps but it was all my fault!We swapped cars for a session late in the day and what a difference. Each time Tom has added to his car it has made an improvement, it really is a pleasure to drive. It turns in beautifully now with its new Bilsteins well suited to the smooth tarmac, a seat that holds you without needing a death grip on the steering wheel, tyres that actually grip and that noise..... :evil:
The sun was starting to go down and we left at different times with me stopping at the local beach for a quick photo and a pause before the long drive home to Bath.
This may end up being the last trackday in the M for a while with the new (old) BMW racecar being added to the BMW fleet......
