The crunchy 197

[RSRowe]

It’s had paint at some point in its life, but nothing structural seems to of moved.

5 of us have had these Gaz’s. 3 have had this issue with the rear, and 3 have had to chop their track rods.
The other 2 lads haven’t fitted theirs yet, but I’m convinced they’ll have the same problems.

 

[Beany]

Seems weird, I’ve never had issues and @Benno and @Big Ben both have/had Gaz golds and not known of anything.. how bizarre

 

[RSRowe]

It’s just my/our luck I think. Matt at Supreme who we bought them off has never seen it before either..... same goes for having to cut the track rods

I know the cars low, but it certainly ain’t as low as some you see. I was originally going to set it up with the cup racer geo, but ended up going a bit higher.

 

[Beany]

Just seems a strange on.. atleast you’ve not let it phase you and you’ve certainly cracked on which is fair play mate.

mine was proper low when it was first set up

 

[RSRowe]

It is what it is. We’ve got Anglesey booked for next weekend
Looking forward to it as I’ve never been before.

Bought the Clio home earlier and was quite surprised at how the Gaz’s feel. They don’t feel as crashy as the Cup shocks.

 

[Beany]

They’re great coilovers for the price.. I run them fairly soft on road driving and they’re fine..

Spring rates quite hard tho on mine

 

[RSRowe]

Ah I’ve got them full soft. Can’t remember what rate they are. Whatever Mr. Supreme ordered

 

[Beany]

Funnily enough I went with his recommendation too lol

 

[J90RDN]

I had to cut my inner track rods as well when I adjusted the tracking. I'm running KW coilovers.

The R3 is immense. The induction sound alone makes it worth the money.

 

[RSRowe]

I had to cut my inner track rods as well when I adjusted the tracking. I'm running KW coilovers.

The R3 is immense. The induction sound alone makes it worth the money.

Good to hear I’m not the only one!
I really need to hurry up and fit it, but still need to buy a battery for it.

Did you refit the inlet air temp into your R3 box?

 

[J90RDN]

Did you refit the inlet air temp into your R3 box?

No, left it in the original position in the inlet manifold. 2 reasons - 1, I remove the airbox far more than I remove the inlet manifold, so would be something extra to piss around with (and the fibreglass/carbon fibre is fragile), and 2, I'd rather measure the air inlet temp at the point it's about to enter the engine (appreciate the difference is probably minimal).

 

[RSRowe]

That’s fair. I was worried moving it would affect the fuelling a lot, given the inlet temps are quite high from what I’ve measured.

 

[RSRowe]

Kumho V70a review - Great until the tread falls off.


Anglesey review - Fantastic!! Even more fantastic when one of the lads brings some cakes his lady made



More to follow soon

 

[suj]

I've only spannered for a mate at Anglesey and on a roadtrip stopped to watch, always wanted to drive it!
Bet it was amazing!

What compound V70a were you using? I used hard compound on my E36 and actually loved them (but never had the tread problem you have!)

 

[RSRowe]

Definitely will be returning again. They swapped the layout at dinner to the shorter Coastal loop, which I much preferred.

I originally bought a set of Mediums as they were cheap, but ruined the outside edge after a day at Blyton and Oulton.
I then get a pair of Hards for the front and made a mess of the outer edge again at Cadwell pushing way too hard trying to keep up with my mates (but not quite as bad this time)
Then did Croft, which strangely didn’t seem to wear them much more
Fitted coilovers after this as standard camber definitely wasn’t helping things.

Then the above was after 2 20 min sessions at Anglesey. Though the tyres were dead beforehand. I was naively thinking I’d get at least another day out of them.... lucky my mate had a spare pair of AR1 to finish my afternoon of track time.

 

[N0ddie]

Did all of your cars have issues with the Gazs fouling on the inner arch? I was considering a set myself but not sure I want this hassle when, for the money, there are a number of problem free alternatives.

 

[RSRowe]

Yeah they all had the issue. But to varying degrees.
On mine there was absolutely no way I’d run it as it was. I had about half an inch of clearance on the drivers, and none on the passenger.

The guy who supplied them said he’d never seen the issue before. It’s a shame as the coilovers feel really good. They are compliant on the road (granted very stiff on the back) and ride pretty comfy. In fact comfier than H&R springs with cup shocks I had on previously (though I did enjoy how the car handled on them)

On track they feel fantastic. It’s certainly made the back end a lot more lively, but it’s manageable and good fun. You can really feel the rear wheels working for grip now as opposed to just the fronts

 

[John Gordon]

Curious on your feedback about the 4 holes in the front bumper above the grill, did it help to get some air in?

Also, the Focus wheels were a direct fit? (reading the thread backwards, as you do)

 

[RSRowe]

I’m not too sure. I never really monitored inlet temps prior to getting the hole saw out. Generally my temps are around 12 degrees above that of ambient.

I still have all the standard airbox and ducting fitted, which takes air from the slam panel just before where the grille and the new holes are..... let’s just pretend it makes a difference.

As for the wheels. They did actually bind up on the caliper a small amount, but they did bolt up given they’re the same PCD. It’s a shame there aren’t any really cheap lightweight standard Ford wheels which we could use.

 

[RSRowe]

Pictures finally came through from the weekend.
Unfortunately the day was swapped to sessions 2 days before (as opposed to open pit) in order to comply with the latest Welsh Covid rules. Madness considering you can, or rather could walk around the local mozzas without a mask on.

We were in the group which went out first. I ended up missing the first session laps after being sat in the garage raising the rear of my car up due to scrubbing the inside of the arch. Annoying!

Managed to get out on the second session for a grand total of 17 minutes until the chequered flag came out. Turned out we weren’t having 30 mins on track per hour, but 20 (as there were 3 groups). Bit of a shitter, but it is what it is. We are lucky we are still allowed to continue our hobbies I guess.
I really struggled to get in a good flow at the start of the day too. My mates just seemed to leave me for dead..... it was only until the session before dinner when I started being able to pace them through some of the faster bends. I am a lot slower under braking though (which is strange as we’ve all the same setup) but I think it’s just a confidence thing, as I’ve not really gelled with the DS1.11’s (maybe my issues are attributable to a duff bearing or crap fluid)













Some really good pictures, though most of them seemed to be of my mates LY 200. They changed the track over at dinner to the Coastal layout which was even better than the full circuit we did prior. Definitely want to get back out there at some point!

The circuit days Nurburgring trackday is just 3 weekends away now. The list of things I need to sort is now about 1000 quid long after ruining my tyres as above. Ben ran a set of used super hard MRF ZTR’s all day and really rated them. So I’ll likely follow suit in the hopes that they’ll be a lot more hard wearing compared to my Kumhos.
I also need new pads, fluid, and I think I need a wheel bearing too - though I can’t feel any play in any of them. It’s definitely well overdue an oil change too.
Also need to fit a box we’ve refurbished into the white car with the gay wing.