Yep, did a trackday back there a while back, and no they don't take off. It was a wet trackday, and keeping it floored over the Mountain resulted in a tiny bit of wheelspin, nothing to worry about. They really don't have enough power for any airplane style dramatics, being 122bhp. Will be interesting to see how your car goes over it, I assume you won't be going quite fast enough at that point of the track for the downforce to have much of an effect?
I'm a bit wary of the Hairpin at Cadwell, as on that same trackday I went in their a bit hot and couldn't get enough speed off, resulting in a quick trip to the tyre barriers, but nothing major. Pretty much from the Mountain until the exit of Barn is very slippery in the rain because of all the trees overhanging shedding their leaves. Although I did hear someone mention they've cut them back a bit recently?
You're lucky you didn't hear the full extent of it, as I faded the footage out before it got even bluer
JJ72, the closest I've got in LFS is with the XRG. Obviously, it's front engined rather than mid, but I've played about with the setup (including limiting the BHP to 122) and have got it so it doesn't handle too differently to the MR2.
First gear is quite weak in Hewlands, and it's recommended not to use it except for standing starts, or in the paddock unless you absolutely have to. As we use a road engine (out of an MR2 or Celica) in standard tune (apart from dry sumping, carbs and a lighter flywheel) then low down torque isn't a problem.
I don't have datalogging, but I'd be surprised if I used much less than 3000rpm anyway, and MR2s pull happily at that engine speed, so I don't bother with 1st. I don't even bother with it at Mallory's hairpin, although it does struggle a bit there, especially in the wet.
For the same reason (standard, torquey engine that will also happily rev to 7500rpm) we don't change gear ratios for circuits, whereas some people in the paddock will change them if the wind changes - I don't see the point.
It's got a standard diff, so not a limited slip one. It doesn't really need one with the amount of power it's got, but it will still get very sideways in the rain if you want it to
Tell me more - in what way are they lacking? I'm not denying that ARE lacking (I'm only an amateur club racer after all), so any tips gratefully received (as long as they are sensible).
People keep telling me in the paddock I have a tail-happy driving style. But I really would prefer to be smooth and dull, but the car won't let me - it WANTS to slide. Fortunately I'm happy to let it play too, and just drive the wheels off it.
So many people in paddocks are scared of oversteer, but if that is what makes the car go quickly then I'm fine with that. I don't mind catching slides - LFS taught me well
I'll resist the urge to crack an obvious joke there...
I guess with club racing you have to strike a balance between having maximum fun, being a quick as money/machinery allow, and not killing yourself in the process.
Have you thought about what this might lead to in the future ? Are you hoping someone even richer than you notices you've got a bit of talent and chucks a huge wedge of cash in your direction. Real sponsorship, fresh tyres for every race, a new car perhaps ? Or maybe a seat in a team car ? Where do you wanna be in ten years time, young man
Mazz - It IS about fun, and it IS about [trying to be] quick. And I'd rather not die, but you don't think about that when driving.
If a rich man, or a team owner asked me to drive for them, I'd jump at the chance. But that is NOT going to happen EVER. The only places I'll go with racing are where I can afford to go. We're planning on a quicker, slightly newer car next year, and possibly two sets of softer tyres for the year (rather than one harder set)... I really don't see people with money to spend on a racing driver lurking around club racing pitlanes. Yes, it's possible, but it's not probably.
As I know the chances are so slim, I don't find it bothers me. I know I'm only doing this for fun.
It's not quite as much fun as last year, because I'm trying to win a championship, so I've always got one eye on the scores and the other on reliability rather than outright speed, but I'm hoping it'll be worthwhile!
Just pure observation, I think the sudden slides often came when the engine enter its torque band (when it notably became louder), I would guess around 4000rpm. Your setup tends to "rotate", with a sensitive front end has a rather late apex, so the laterial G are still quite high when you exit the corner, so when you put on the power, the torques comes in and the rear goes away from you.
I think there are two ways in terms of driving approach, first is you let go some apex speed and run a tighter radius right after the apex, so you can have a straighter exit. Second one is what I usually prefer, to keep the throttle open a bit more just before the apex, so the revs are already building as you cross the clipping point, the surge of torque will happen sooner but less dramatic, and because of the torque the car will be more planted on the rear end. (kind of like the feeling of running a higher preload in LFS)
Interesting you should say that. I know of a lot of top class sportsmen/women who say the happiest times they had were at the grass roots level. But the ability to handle the pressure is the difference between the champions and the also-rans.
400 odd years ago when i wer' a lad, i was a bit of an aspiring sporting hero ! I'd regularly complete against the likes of Colin Jackson and Tony Jarrett in athletics and the Bell brothers on the ski slopes. And i can tell you they were far from being the quickest guys out there. But, they were the ones that could handle the pressure. They were the ones that had that depth of commitment, hunger and drive to succeed and improve, and in some cases sheer bloody mindedness. The rest of us simply didn't know about or understand it. We were just as talented, in some cases even more so. But, we just didn't have that little hidden spark of greatness within us.
Whilst it's great to have ambitions and set yourself goals, it's important to make them attainable, like stepping stones i.e i wanna overtake that guy in front, i wanna beat that bloke with a quick reputation, i wanna come first in class, win a race outright, win the championship ! and so on.
Poor old/young Lep got some stick a while back for having ambitions about getting into F1, and perhaps rightly so, he did seem to have his heads in the clouds at the time. But it sounds like you've got your feet on the ground and are being realistic in your approach to this. And good on yer, you never know where this might eventually lead you
You'll probably find the the 'getting louder' isn't when the engine comes on song (it has a very flat torque curve), but when I open the throttle. The late apex is meant to reduce the lateral load on the rears when you come on the throttle... I think I just lack F1 style throttle control!!
But then, if you watch the 1988 F3 championship (which I bought on eBay on VHS) you'll see they ALL slide the cars around a lot - it's what they like. Other people I know who have raced 883s concur that it's a car that wants to, and likes to slide.
I do think the car could cope with more differential locking, but as it's a ZF type of diff (cam and pawl), there isn't any easy adjustment that can be done. I believe next years car has a powerflow diff, that can be adjusted, and it's something I will probably end up investigating.
The new car won't have a flat bottom (which help quite a lot!), so I'm planning on altering the car to reduce the disadvantage in this area by trying 'skirts' (to create tunnels), or vortex generators. It also doesn't have cockpit adjustable anti-roll bars, which are VERY useful (and I can feel them now, whereas last year I wasn't good enough to feel the difference), but I'm mentally designing a way of achieving them - at the rear it's easy as it's a conventional bar with blade adjusters, but at the front it's a monoshock with the roll-stiffness provided by belleville washer stacks. I haven't quite devised a system to make that driver adjustable, but I'm getting there...
Modern cars won't accept such large slip angles (because of the aero), so you'll see a big change in apparent driving style.
The pressure isn't too much - I know when to drive for points, and when to push for passes or wins. I only need to be 1 point ahead at the end, and currently I'm 30, so I can afford to give a few points away should I not be quick enough or reliable enough... But when I could get out the car with a big grin knowing I hadn't crashed, it was a lot more relaxed. Now, I get out of the car wanting to know how the other drivers did, and where I stand in relation. It's different, that's all. A bit like pick up racing in LFS; you enjoy each race as it comes. But in a league you don't get that satisfaction until the end of the season...
Playing with the class scores on my excel spreadsheet at www.reynard883.com/results/2008.xls, I think I can win the championship at Cadwell Park, even if my main rival beats me at all the races (he's only doing one race at Anglesey though)... But it looks like it's going to go all the way to the final rounds at Snetterton...
That was only my second ever outing on track, back when I was 15, and the MR2 had near-as-makes-no-difference slicks on the back. And yep, that last one was full opposite lock.
Tristan, I look forward to seeing how you come up with solutions to the onboard anti-roll bar adjustments, among with other things. I assume you'll be posting progress reports when you get your new car up on your website? I'll certainly be keeping an eye out for how you do the rest of this year.
what kind of differential are you running in the MR2?
