GW 200 CUP (clubsport->racecar->v2)

[burrellbloke]

Can you not just take out the passenger side light and put in a blank/cold air feed rather than use a smaller duct?

Also, don’t forget that every time you look at the photo of you on Paddock Hill bend I will be looking back at you!

 

[LiamP]

I decided this was the cheap/quick option but might go down the air feed through the light if this works, not a fan of no lights though tbh.

Yep, I was going to photoshop you both out

 

[RSRowe]

If it settles your mind a little, I ran mine with the low battery warning for about 2 years until it finally stopped doing alternator things.
As for your airbox vent. A cheap way of doing it is spinning the bottom section of the airbox round 180° so the inlet sits towards your vent. It does look a bit crap though with the mounting lugs sticking up.

 

[LiamP]

I will force myself to test all three next time I am out, no feed, feed and upside down. My only concern is the heat from the rad as I imagine it’s pointing directly at/above it.

 

[EthanMenace]

I decided this was the cheap/quick option but might go down the air feed through the light if this works, not a fan of no lights though tbh.

Yep, I was going to photoshop you both out

we have ruined what would have been a very clean photo

 

[LiamP]

Last minute booking at Snetterton with MSV last Thursday, decided the drive was worth the £200 saving over Brands and I needed some practice. Pleasant surprise to bump into @Helpimonfire as I was pulling the car off the trailer.

I think it was about 90% race cars who all had the same idea including what seemed like half the hot hatch grid. Not sure we can be blamed when testing is double the price and you get a lot less track time.



Started the day off with dunlops and RPX to bed in, was having weird battery issues (usual theme) so changed the regulator to try and isolate it as I waited for the brakes to cool. Next session and the car started to develop a slight misfire during acceleration, double checked all wiring and fault codes but nothing showed.



Went out for another session and the car completely died on pit exit, it then came back alive, I realised at the point that it must be power related to the ECU. Somehow limped it back to the pits at about 30MPH without causing a red. After checking earths / power I opened up the UPC box to find the ECU connector not fully pushed in, facepalm as I had removed this last week when changing a buzzing relay.

I could finally started pushing the car and tbh wasn’t very happy, the RPX don’t have the same bite as ds1.11. However the big issues is the way they trigger the front ABS when trailing, it’s as if they continue to try and bite on the disk right when you want the car settled. The Dunlop’s were not that impressive either although admittedly I was running old rears on the front (backwards) which Martin told me others have said is not great.

Over lunch I switched the pads back to the old ds1.11 and the car felt considerably better even with how worn they are. To be fair to the RPX for the price they are a good pad although not for ABS / you get what you pay for.



I tried switching the air box around and looking at the data it doesn’t look like it has made any difference however I think this is because the temp sensor is just recording the temp of the manifold.

A few reds in the afternoon slowed the day down before I put the AO52’s back on and immediately started pushing faster times. Stiffened the front and rear up a few clicks and finally got the car moving again, I guess it makes sense that a grippier tyre requires a stiffer car.



Had a great final session with a few of the hot hatch grid, probably the most fun I have had in the car this year, really enjoyed having space on the track compared to Brands.





Reviewing the data I am currently a few seconds off where I want to be so started looking at others videos to see where I am losing time. One thing I have started doing is using iMovie to step through my lap against others. It’s not perfect but you can graph a rough delta corner by corner by just comparing a time stamp / location (corner exit curb).

Here I have compared Mike Epps lap and current lap record from Matt (insane time / lap) I had assumed I was losing time in the slow corners but it’s actually the fast corners (1/3) and the final part of the lap. You can see I actually gain a fair chunk in the mid section and I am only 5 tenths off by the back straight before bleeding time through Brundle/Bomb/Coram.



Going into more depth I am actually braking later but this is costing me, Matt brakes earlier, gets the car loaded up / settled and is then on full throttle before and through the apex. This is something I need to work on, struggle to have the confidence on the throttle through a corner.

Goodwood on Thursday with my Dad which is likely to be some fun / testing a few things and then racing Saturday with what seems like some good weather although it keeps changing.

 

[R20BTG]

This is something I need to work on, struggle to have the confidence on the throttle through a corner

This is entirely understandable given the shunt you had in the white shell

 

[av4625]

Last minute booking at Snetterton with MSV last Thursday, decided the drive was worth the £200 saving over Brands and I needed some practice. Pleasant surprise to bump into @Helpimonfire as I was pulling the car off the trailer.

I think it was about 90% race cars who all had the same idea including what seemed like half the hot hatch grid. Not sure we can be blamed when testing is double the price and you get a lot less track time.

View attachment 157773

Started the day off with dunlops and RPX to bed in, was having weird battery issues (usual theme) so changed the regulator to try and isolate it as I waited for the brakes to cool. Next session and the car started to develop a slight misfire during acceleration, double checked all wiring and fault codes but nothing showed.

View attachment 157774

Went out for another session and the car completely died on pit exit, it then came back alive, I realised at the point that it must be power related to the ECU. Somehow limped it back to the pits at about 30MPH without causing a red. After checking earths / power I opened up the UPC box to find the ECU connector not fully pushed in, facepalm as I had removed this last week when changing a buzzing relay.

I could finally started pushing the car and tbh wasn’t very happy, the RPX don’t have the same bite as ds1.11. However the big issues is the way they trigger the front ABS when trailing, it’s as if they continue to try and bite on the disk right when you want the car settled. The Dunlop’s were not that impressive either although admittedly I was running old rears on the front (backwards) which Martin told me others have said is not great.

Over lunch I switched the pads back to the old ds1.11 and the car felt considerably better even with how worn they are. To be fair to the RPX for the price they are a good pad although not for ABS / you get what you pay for.

View attachment 157777

I tried switching the air box around and looking at the data it doesn’t look like it has made any difference however I think this is because the temp sensor is just recording the temp of the manifold.

A few reds in the afternoon slowed the day down before I put the AO52’s back on and immediately started pushing faster times. Stiffened the front and rear up a few clicks and finally got the car moving again, I guess it makes sense that a grippier tyre requires a stiffer car.

View attachment 157775

Had a great final session with a few of the hot hatch grid, probably the most fun I have had in the car this year, really enjoyed having space on the track compared to Brands.

View attachment 157776



Reviewing the data I am currently a few seconds off where I want to be so started looking at others videos to see where I am losing time. One thing I have started doing is using iMovie to step through my lap against others. It’s not perfect but you can graph a rough delta corner by corner by just comparing a time stamp / location (corner exit curb).

Here I have compared Mike Epps lap and current lap record from Matt (insane time / lap) I had assumed I was losing time in the slow corners but it’s actually the fast corners (1/3) and the final part of the lap. You can see I actually gain a fair chunk in the mid section and I am only 5 tenths off by the back straight before bleeding time through Brundle/Bomb/Coram.

View attachment 157778

Going into more depth I am actually braking later but this is costing me, Matt brakes earlier, gets the car loaded up / settled and is then on full throttle before and through the apex. This is something I need to work on, struggle to have the confidence on the throttle through a corner.

Goodwood on Thursday with my Dad which is likely to be some fun / testing a few things and then racing Saturday with what seems like some good weather although it keeps changing.

What you say here about RPX pads is very interesting. I have them in my M3 and thought they were very good for the price but I have at times suffered ABS issues. I wonder is it the pads!

The way you say about getting slowed up and on the throttle early, I found that really worked in the Clio especially if you have a good diff. You could be quite aggressive with a well setup clio. I have also found it doesn’t work as well in the M3 (unless sideways is the goal) and I’m trying to break the habit of it and get better at trail braking in.

 

[LiamP]

This is entirely understandable given the shunt you had in the white shell

Agreed, I think seat time is the answer.

What you say here about RPX pads is very interesting. I have them in my M3 and thought they were very good for the price but I have at times suffered ABS issues. I wonder is it the pads!

The way you say about getting slowed up and on the throttle early, I found that really worked in the Clio especially if you have a good diff. You could be quite aggressive with a well setup clio. I have also found it doesn’t work as well in the M3 (unless sideways is the goal) and I’m trying to break the habit of it and get better at trail braking in.

In my case it was 100% the pads as the issue went when I switched back.

Yeah clios do like an aggressive driver, braking late / over braking and the momentum just dies.

 

[LiamP]

Finally bolted on the splitter I have been working on for a while, car looked awesome.





Fell off on lap 1, luckily just one side so was able to get back to the pits with the smell of burning ply.



I severely underestimated the amount of downforce it would create having bolted it to the weeder rad mount. This has bent the mount and then pulled the spot welds apart! Version 2 might have a few splitter rods involved.

After that the day was great, started really pushing the car again and was getting loads of confidence in the high speed corners. The car is about 1.5s faster than last time I was here but I think that might be driver / setup as I am actually losing 4/5 tenths per straight due to lack of top speed. This could potentially be drag from the rear wing, certainly something I need to test as I am not convinced it is worth it.

Managed to get the car/trailer on my drive for an early start tomorrow.

 

[R20BTG]

Looks quick! Sounds good too. What exhaust are you running again?
Love the little smack on the steering wheel at the end, was that in frustration or celebration?

 

[R20BTG]

I see you blanked off the brake cooling, is that because Goodwood is a bit faster without as many braking zones?

 

[LiamP]

Looks quick! Sounds good too. What exhaust are you running again?
Love the little smack on the steering wheel at the end, was that in frustration or celebration?

Its pure manifold attached to an Akra with a 200 cell cat welded in between.

The smack was annoyance for having to lift slightly on the exit as I went in a bit too hot

I see you blanked off the brake cooling, is that because Goodwood is a bit faster without as many braking zones?

Ah no, I was bedding in some new DS1.11 which I forgot to mention.

 

[LiamP]

Snetterton Round 6/7

Left the house at 4:30 to find myself talking to the police 5 minutes later when I came across a 4 year old in the next village on the pavement in her pj’s in the rain/dark, somehow had escaped from her house and was very confused / scared. This obviously delayed me so arrived 5 minutes before scrutineering with a very very busy paddock, took the easy option and parked on the grass about a million miles from the paddock.

Got through scrutineering without any issues which they always seem annoyed about. 30 minutes later called for qualifying in a relatively quiet grid size of 23 cars with 5 in class B.



Back on the AO52’s and the car felt good, was struggling with front roll in the mid corner but it was workable. The track felt slow and it was the general consensus in the paddock that the new tarmac is slower along with mixed conditions meant it was hard work to try and get the car turned in.

Set a 2:16.8 early on and then improved to 2:16.3 before my final lap was ruined by coolant/oil on Oggies which was scary. Was frustrated as it would have been a low 15 but was pleased to be able to get straight onto fast laps as it’s something I have struggled with. This got me pole by 1s ahead of an FN2 that had joined from Roadsports series, Dave (BH civic winner on the left) has moved up a class so the competition was less compared to previous rounds.



Q: P1 Class 2:16.341

Gave the car a check over and bumped front dampers up one click and rears by two clicks to try and remove the roll and get the rears working. I also changed the regulator as I could see the voltage drop below 13v when waiting in assembly area which scared the shit out of me.

Race 1

Delayed start as the FN2 snapped a driveshaft during the green flag lap, the marshals were a bit slow to realise and they almost started the race.

After another green flag lap I got a poor start meaning I was in amongst the Class C BMW’s which are silly fast off the line, got squeezed and took a hit on both alloys into T1. Very cautiously approached the following corners as I confirmed nothing was broken but things felt good. Overtook out of Nelson after being neck and neck down the back straight which is concerning considering he is supposed to be the class below. Got a good gap before a SC due to a C1 on fire on the back straight, race finished behind SC.







P1 Class 2:17.361 (FL)

Got to watch some racing in-between including the Roadsports race which was just awesome to see the grid, the quality of the cars is ridiculous. Darkside TT’s / TCR / motorsport spec M2 CS etc. strongly recommend going to watch if you like seeing very expensive race cars.

Race 2

Got a great start and was with the class A’s into T1, this didn’t stop Josh in the BMW going for a mega dive on the inside, he apologised and his excuse was ‘I forgot to brake’. Kept onto the back of the Class A train and started pushing the KA before my coolant and oil temp started rising. The oil then got to 120 deg before I let off to try and cool it down, slowed to 2m20s laps and the temp dropped down to 107. Luckily I had a decent gap so I could afford to not blow the engine and keep the position but was frustrated as I knew I could get a 2:14 lap with the optimal confirming. I am assuming the temp was due to the thermostat although testing on Sunday and it opened when idling so not 100% sure what caused it as I can’t see any leaks or anything obvious.





P1 Class 2:15.952 (FL)

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Fastest lap from R2, very scrappy and plenty on the table for next time.

Overall really happy with the day, confidence back up, car is super fast and I really enjoyed it.



Next race would be Silverstone Int in August but it’s Sat/Sun and I have been offered a seat to race with my Dad in the 2CV 24hr race the following weekend which I am going to do instead. The next race after that isn’t until September at Oulton Park which is a track I really want to do. Few things to fix and improve including splitter v2 which will keep me busy and probably a track day to test.