Abingdon Friday 22rd PHOTOS and mini story.

[Jon_Bmw]

I know a fair few of you are going to bedford the day after? but its a little too far for me.

Anyhow pay £79 and blast around abingdon airfield for the day. Get it wrong and you don't end up reshelling your car

I shall either be in this:



or this:



Might take the e30 as a support vehicle, but its more likely to be a subaru or a work turbo diesel. Lets be honest a 318is hasn't got enough power to pull the skin of a rice pudding, let alone a broken car

Come say hello if you are about.

[ROC]

Is that with Motorsport events Jon?

Cheers,

Rich.

[Jon_Bmw]

Yes it is. Can't believe I didn't write that.

www.motorsport-events.com

[ROC]

Tempted to take the Westfield if I can get the time off work. Thats a lot of track time for £79

[agent006]

Website lists 22nd?

[Jon_Bmw]

Sorry, i am idiot, it is friday the 22nd. Not a great post this one by me.

[Jon_Bmw]

Well I had a brilliant day. Prepped the 205 late last night, but took the 200sx just in case it didn't make it back or to use in case it died midday. Wouldn't want to waste a track afternoon. Some poor sod in a porsche managed 3laps before his bottom end went pop. Oh well it was only a cheapie one.

We went out at first with the shite road tyres and already over a lap it feels faster than the 200sx despite being 100bhp down Breaking is now excellent due to some nice EBC yellow pads which only cost £36 The downside is they look marginally council as you can just see them through the wheels and calipers.

Council lock up area?


We put the slicks on despite track and air temperatures beign rock bottom resulting in some cold hard slicks A guy wanted a passenger ride in our car as he drove something not to dissemilar(a clio 182 on road tyres) so you always try a bit harder when impressing someone right?

The result was a fucking huge sideways moment on the first real corner(60mph) which lasted for about 2 seconds. Now that may not sound a lot, but you have to remember this is front wheel drive I was on the lockstops The problem we were facing was getting the rear slicks up to temperature, the above abeit accidental method worked quite well.





Anyway we spent the rest of the day doing this:



TRIPODDING!



and had a great laugh. Its nice to drive something that is actually competetive. It was pretty much the same sort of speed as the below M3 which was on slicks/caged/ and apparently had 250bhp(marginally slower perhaps). Very proper it was. Obviously the m3 pulled away on the straights due to a big power advantage, but not as much as you might expect






We had a slight water feature moment when the expansion tank decided to open its valve after a long session and then turning the engine off and hence the water pump stopping pumping/cooling. All was good though and we carried on.

Also met a total hero called Tim who took me out in a genuiene e28 m5. He was a very good driver, hitting 99% of the apexs spot on. His chariot was also very sure footed with only one slightly sideways moment despite me holding onto the grab handle most of the journey! It had slippery leather It had a properly low ratio diff, with it hitting nearly 80mph in second gear I think he is going to swap it for something slightly higher ratio to be able to use third more affectively. See photos below of a 1 in 187 car





I think I have found a great cheap suspension MOD for all cars. SLICKS! Honestly they transform the car, this set owe me £35 Now tell me your £300 H&R set will match the performance of a set of slicks. I know its not ideal, but for £35 its proper bang for your buck. With a suspension change, a proper exhaust manifold and some cams this 205 will be quite a weapon....Maybe take some of these on:









Only kidding.


P.S Now totally jealous of the guys going to Bedford tomorrow.

[gusbang]

Looks good fella, we have booked to take our 325 to abingdon on Fri 7th March, how do you rate the circuit?

[1an]

looks good John,

but if you are going to run slicks at the lieks of brands etc dont you have to have fia approved roll cages etc?

[Theo]

Looks like a good crack, what was the surface like? Did it munch tyres or was it proper tarmac? I do like that pug of yours, I would have kept the road tyres on and enjoyed the lift off oversteer though!

[Jon_Bmw]

The curcuit is good Gusbang. No really long straights, so i'd be suprised if you got to 100mph+

Some tight chicanes that are definatly 2nd gear corners as well. There is one sweeping right hander which is off camber and is also a breaking zone the cars squerm a lot there(95mph approach speed). The track surfuce is good and consistant with no slippery areas. Well laid out and organised.

Ian, i'm not sure fella about the cage issue. But on a day like today you would have to be a clown to roll it. They do stress the brakes a lot more, but we didn't fade the yellows which was nice, the benefit of a light car?

The percieved(from the organisers perspective) and potentential problem is that you are going 'that' much faster at any given point with slicks that it may be considered an issue at circuits with armco I suspect.

[Jon_Bmw]

Looks like a good crack, what was the surface like? Did it munch tyres or was it proper tarmac? I do like that pug of yours, I would have kept the road tyres on and enjoyed the lift off oversteer though!

Have you noticed the lack of trim on the turd though, more and more falls off each week. Self lightening, its all the rage I hear. The surface is never going to be as kind as tarmac to be honest but I think I could get another 5 events like this out of these tyres without any issues(lost a 1mm today in 110 racing miles). For £25 for all 4 I don't have much to worry about, but I know how expensive your r888's are

We were tempted to put two road tyres on the rear and two slicks up front, but it would have got out of hand at some point, with a dented Ego and car I suspect.

Its very chuckable, I find myself not worrying if its going to try and kill me at the next corner and just turn the wheels in, at quite frankly, crazy speeds.

[johnl320]

Looks like a good day Jon, god I miss my old 200sx

john

[Theo]

Have you noticed the lack of trim on the turd though, more and more falls off each week. Self lightening, its all the rage I hear.

Yes mate, I've installed a self fragging kit on my car, can be seen in action on this pic;

Have you noticed the lack of trim on the turd though, more and more falls off each week. Self lightening, its all the rage I hear.

Do you think the frogmeister is capable of a ring trip?

[Jon_Bmw]

That I am not sure of

We have a lot of things to work on now, areas we know need making stronger. I am actually not sure I could bear it over that long a distance either. Travelling for an hour today was painful enough.

So many things to go wrong...and to sum it up:

Its french


But in 2-3 months time hopefully it will be much more 'all together' and i'd be in a better position to commit to going.

I miss the raw power of the 200sx John, but as a track car its just not all that great. As a Road car = brilliant.

[oldbimmer]

Great write up!!

I've been to a few days organised by motorsport events - good value and well organised.

[ShepsEvo3]

Your 205 and the Caterham/Westfield-whatever looks like they are just sat there, That M5 looks like its going some in this pic. What a car

[Jon_Bmw]

Paul thats because the 205 is coming into the pits, which means an entry speed of <30mph. You can see the m5 is on the turn in point(level with the yellow cone). Without a doubt, its a monster of a car. The caterham on the other hand is just boring, predictive and in some cases quite slow.

[ShepsEvo3]

Paul thats because the 205 is coming into the pits, which means an entry speed of <30mph. You can see the m5 is on the turn in point(level with the yellow cone). Without a doubt, its a monster of a car. The caterham on the other hand is just boring, predictive and in some cases quite slow.

Ah, so thats your excuse

I understand, the 205 generally goes round courners flat in relation to the old E28's. The E28 leaning like they do makes for exciting "fast looking" photographs.

The caterham can be very quick in the right hands too But I have to say, the 205 GTi with a cage and some sorted suspension is very difficult to beat round a circuit IMO. I remember driving one with Grp N bilstien suspension, cage and 309 GTi front lower arms fitted around Combe, you could leave the braking VERY late even on standard brakes and still know that whatever speed you had going into the corner, it was going to come out the right way, as long as you never lift off the power mid corner! lol. Just as an example, generally just on the pit lane entrance before Camp corner at Combe is a good braking point, but in that 205 you could keep the power firmly on for a good few car lengths after the pit lane entrance and still be able to brake and turn in with no problems. Well impressed with that car. (did 1m14s on old Combe circuit before esses and bobbies were there in that 205 on yoko's A008 road tyres - my 270hp 3dr sierra cossy quickest was 1m15.9s) My race Mk2 XR2 challenge car at the same time was almost as quick (1m15's) with just a blueprinted and ballanced engine and on yoko A008R control tyres.

Looks like you had a great day though, would love to go and take a look.

[Jon_Bmw]

Yep, I must have clicked the camera between the indicators flashing Seriously, it was coming in, otherwise that would be one fucked up entry point!

Paul we can't believe how much quicker it is than our 260bhp 200sx round a track. The difference is pretty staggering to be honest. Just shows that being able to be late on the brakes and turn into a corner 10/15 mph quicker makes a HUGE difference. The fact that when you are coming out of a corner you can just stand on the throttle without the back end always sliding around makes you massively more confident. This is all down to how the car delivers its power compared to the 200sx. This is totally linear, wheras the 200sx is nothing, nothing then HOLY shit at 4000rpm.

Still need to get it down to you mate to have a look, but we are waiting to get a decent 4 branch manifold, then come down to spin it up on your rollers.

I never want to drive on road tyres again

[ShepsEvo3]

Yep, I must have clicked the camera between the indicators flashing Seriously, it was coming in, otherwise that would be one ****** up entry point!

Paul we can't believe how much quicker it is than our 260bhp 200sx round a track. The difference is pretty staggering to be honest. Just shows that being able to be late on the brakes and turn into a corner 10/15 mph quicker makes a HUGE difference. The fact that when you are coming out of a corner you can just stand on the throttle without the back end always sliding around makes you massively more confident. This is all down to how the car delivers its power compared to the 200sx. This is totally linear, wheras the 200sx is nothing, nothing then HOLY shit at 4000rpm.

Still need to get it down to you mate to have a look, but we are waiting to get a decent 4 branch manifold, then come down to spin it up on your rollers.

I never want to drive on road tyres again

I wasn't doubting you Jon

Thats the difference between rear and front wheel drive also and I kinda prefer a front wheel drive car for the circuit. The French did seem to have got that car right straight out the box though.