My nova on track at Mallory

[chip]

What an awesome day out, had fantastic fun in my nova for its first outing.



My first drama was tearing open one of my rear slicks, meaning I had to go onto some fairly narrow wet weather road tyres instead as it was the only other rubber I had.
This meant it was a bit of a handful to be honest as the normally fairly tame backend really came alive with the lack of traction, massively slowed down my laptimes I expect (**** knows wasnt timing and didnt care, lol) but made for a really good laugh throwing it around, I probably learnt far more about how to handle (and not handle, lol) it like this than I ever would of on the rear slicks to be honest, so alls well that ends well etc

Managed to spin out at the hairpin about 4 times arseing about, and did a piroutte on the big chicane, but other than that it was suprisingly controllable really when I wasnt messing about, and im quite pleased at the amount of feedback it gives.
Still loads of work to do on the suspension, but at least now I have a starting point

Did 50+ laps all without any major mechanical incident, engine didnt use a drop of oil or water, which im really pleased about as only built it 500 miles ago and technically I was just finishing off running it in on low boost and a low rev limit, so its now ready for its new management and a significant increase in power.
Si B was saying his 340bhp evo couldnt keep with it when I was pulling out of the low speed stuff like the hairpin, which is quite amusing as its only currently running 12psi of the 30psi I have planned for it.
Minor issues included my started motor solenoid kept jamming a few times (had to start it with a screwdriver instead, lol) and a bit of damage on the fibreglass rear arch where the tyre caught it, but I reckon thats getting off pretty lightly considering the way I beat its face in all day


Video of it here, courtesy of Si B in his evo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S8O-Eoaprw
(click the "watch in high quality" option at the bottom or its really grainy)

[OHC]

they golf headlights? you look a bit sideways in that pic

[marty150cdti]

looks like a good day out fella

[chip]

they golf headlights? you look a bit sideways in that pic

Yeah they are golf lights.

Was a bit sideways most of the times coming round the hairpin, and on a few occasions was actually backwards

look like a good day out fell

It was mate, possibly the most fun ive ever had on track, despite being more or less the slowest in terms of actual laptimes on the day I expect, its not all about being the fastest though

[OHC]

Yeah they are golf lights.

Was a bit sideways most of the times coming round the hairpin, and on a few occasions was actually backwards



It was mate, possibly the most fun ive ever had on track, despite being more or less the slowest in terms of actual laptimes on the day I expect, its not all about being the fastest though

just read Orange Peels thread and i see you spun it on that corner, not surprised with a fair few horseys going to the rear wheels lol, certainly an interesting mod to the lights and grill, not seen that done before with any lights especially golf lights

[chip]

The hairpin I just wasnt really able to do anyway other than booting the back out, as the speed the car wanted to go round it to make good progress would have sat me just below the end of revs in 1st (was having to change up at 6500) meaning I would have to shift mid bend, and if I went round it within traction in 2nd it was putting me off boost, so only way to make any progress really was to go into in 2nd and give it a bootfull to stop the understeer.
Worked most of the time, but a couple of times I ran out of talent doing it lmao

[chip]

Some pics courtest of DHDEV of one of the occasions I reached into my bag of talent and found it empty at the end of the day when the tyres had really gone off lmao



(still had my foot planted at this stage trying to recover it, you can see the rear tyres spinning up still on the grass, but that was never going to happen, lol)













and start it with a screwdriver cause the starter solenoid packed up lmao




SO pleased with how it took the abuse though, I did 50+ laps, and the engine didnt use a drop of oil or water, I was expecting far more teething troubles than I had, and I still cant stop smiling at how much fun it was to drive

[cambridge]

limited grip setups are a good laugh/good thing to teach you about the car.... Yes slicks/888's/048's etc are great tyres, but they kinda mask over some chassis issues and driver skill deficiencies. imho its only worth going to a "track" tyre once you have exhausted the chassis and skill

seems to be nice and reliable now

[Brett]

50 laps with no major problems first time! nice effort. Looks like it was a right laugh all day!

[chip]

50 laps with no major problems first time! nice effort. Looks like it was a right laugh all day!

A laugh it certainly was mate, was such a total handfull (even visibly to people outside the car lmao) that it really was the most involving drive ive ever had, even if not the fastest!

So nice watching that video and the only thing that comes out of the exhaust is flames not any smoke or steam etc!

[chip]

limited grip setups are a good laugh/good thing to teach you about the car.... Yes slicks/888's/048's etc are great tyres, but they kinda mask over some chassis issues and driver skill deficiencies. imho its only worth going to a "track" tyre once you have exhausted the chassis and skill

Certainly some truth in that, plus this way when my talent was running out, at least it was happening at 70 not 90, lol

seems to be nice and reliable now

I honestly went there expecting a couple of little goes in the nova, followed by sticking it back on the trailer due to some sort of issue, and then spend the rest of the day fighting Rob over who was driving his next etc, so im really pleasantly surprised at what a beating it took.

[LEE69]

Top stuff mate car looks a right hoot!
Roll on the extra horses.

[mattcoupturbo]

That looked a right laugh. Funny seeing it step out you constantly. Should be quite a weapon soon by all accounts.

[chip]

That looked a right laugh. Funny seeing it step out you constantly. Should be quite a weapon soon by all accounts.

Funny it is, track weapon it isnt, lol
We'll have to see what happens with a bit more work on the suspension


My mate had to slow down by TEN seconds a lap to stay behind me to video me though, just to put in perspective how far off his 340bhp evo it is, despite the fact that in a straight line my car is actually slightly quicker than his lmao

[Nobbie]

Looks great fun, arse end out + small car = fun!

[Jack]

Wow, awesome! That looks like a serious laugh!

[chip]

Looks great fun, arse end out + small car = fun!

It could be rented out as a machine to test your reaction times with how quickly you need to steer to correct it when it starts to go with such a short wheelbase and so much rear end weight

Wow, awesome! That looks like a serious laugh!

Laugh it certainly is mate


I think the only person who went out in it all day who didnt get out laughing was twitchell TBH, but by the time he came out the tyres were just so shot to pieces that it really wasnt safe anymore lmao (he's the one in it when dhdev got the pics of it doing a pirouette, lol)

[Jack]

It reminds me of the skidpan training I did, when the instructor jacked the back wheels off the floor to see how quick we were. lmao I'm pleased it went round with no major incidents!

[Chris S]

mint

[Benn]

Seams to pull away well.. Love the flames.

[pommyben]

lol ... the only thing missing is the 4 brass handles ... lol

[MSG]

This is not critisism just an opinion, and i amy be totally wrong!! in that video you can see the car isn't very stable around bends, may be it is feeding far too much power to the rears, and not enough at the front, and this is again my opinion, it may also have something to do with weight distribution problems now that you have nearly most of the weight in the rear, perhaphs carrying a bag or two of sand in the front may help towards the weight distribution and providing more stable ride around bends where you have been loosing time, hence any counter effect of extra weight of sand bags is countered by time gained around corners, but still yes quite impressive, that mitshubi looked good too. I liked the overrun flames when you chenged the gears.

(please as I said I don't know eff all about track driving so ignore my remarks if you might find them rubbish as I am not criticising).

[Benn]

At above, thats chip pushing it in the corners..lol

[chip]

MSG, you observation is totally correct that it lacks rear end grip and is sliding out at the back, this is due to a combination of factors.

1. The main one is that it was on rubbish rear tyres as I damaged my rear slicks, this is most of the problem
2. The next biggest issue is im doing it on purpose to learn how to control it past the limits and cause its fun
3. The next biggest issue is fact that yes its putting probably a fair bit over 300bhp through the rear tyres
4. and finally the rear suspension still needs work to maximise grip

The first and last of those issues I intend to sort, the 2nd one isnt likely to change much cause im a big kid and the 3rd one is only going to get worse lmao

[Lugy]

Extreme cooling mode?