Donington 3rd Decemer

[JimmyC]

Getting some early practise in for next year dodge

Was nice to meet you Dave, was it you that had the red e30 spin right in front of you just after the Craner Curves on about the 2nd lap? I was in my mates MK2 golf GTI that spun off as we tried to avoid both of you! lol

I thank you, that was me fella... thanks to everyone who missed me Man that was a greasy circuit... I've driven Donny in the Dry about 10 times, this was the first time in the wet...

Stock 318 on slim cheap rubber!!! and not to mention 1st time in the car, period! I'd only driven it 20 yds onto a trailer before...

Spun 3 times on the 1st out lap, nice! Sorry if I gave anyone the willies!!!

Anyhow, I couldn't agree more about the track etiquette, was a tad dissapointing...
All the same, it was cool to see all you BM lads out there, especially that M3 Race preped beast, who's is that again? what lap times was it putting in, man it was fast!!!

Anyhow, here a few that I caught! Donny 3rd Dec

Almost as much fun as the Charger

E30's Rule

Dodge
ButtMonkeyRacing - The Edge of Reason

[Lloydie38]

Hi Dave,
Just reading all the messages from the guys and it sounds like you all had a fantastic day even if it was wet n slippy.
As for standard of driving, the comments from you and many others are very similar to those of my mates who were on the IoM track on Saturday. I don't know how your marshalls work, do bad drivers get black flagged once and a last warning if they get reported again they're off the track, or how does it work - anyone know what the exact rules are?
Like most things in life it's a few idiots who make it dangerous and ruin it for the rest of us.
I did notice that on your Track day and the one here the car's that rolled it were both FWD....Perhaps Lexus rear clusters too..!!

Cheers

Ian

[DawieM3]

Hi Guys,

The M3`s mine. I battled for traction at the rear and was actually very dissapointed with the way the car handled. Whenever I canged gear the back end just broke loose and I had to be so carefull putting the power down coming out of corners. I don`t know if its my rear tyres or that the car is setup for running in the dry. I`m sure the guys behind us would have got some good footage.

I did not bother with taking laptimes as there was just too much other stuff happening, and the number of cars I could have T boned was unbelievable. It was good to see the whites of their eyes as they saw us looming apon them, but all in all, we easily managed to drive around them.

The best bit was being able to run the car down the main straight under full power not having to worry about NOISE as the meter wasnt working.

Next time I take the car out will be in the dry, and then the Craners are really unbelievable at speed when the grip is there.

Glad those that went enjoyed themselves.

Regards,

Dave.

[Andy335Touring]

Nice video clip Dodge

[calder]

dodge - nicely caught when the back came round on the second corner in the vid I watched it go round the long corner and was just waiting for the back to step out.

[Charger500]

Getting some early practise in for next year dodge

Hey JimmyC, How yer doing?

Oh yes, as much practice as possible is on the plans!!! Although, this time round I just wanted to take the 318 out in pure stock form before it's garged for the 10 Week teardown and rebuild! You know, kind of a before and after, just to mark the it in my own mind/experience...

How's the build coming along?

PS - cheers Andy, Calder and anyone else with positive comments I have a handful of ovther video shots I'll try find time to put together... Later

[GavinJ]

Dodge what camera set up did you have?

I wouldn't mind getting some footage next time...

[samurikid]

Gavin - sorry to hear the B didnt like its trip out . Passed you a few times mate , but each time I thought " there oyu go - a classic being used properly ! " if you know what I mean .

[GavinJ]

I bought it with the intention to use it for trackdays and its proved to be a cracking little car, i've got the handling pretty much sorted using lowered springs, uprated shock absorbers, front and rear anti rollbar etc. But the only thing its really lacking is top end speed on the straights which is when all the new cars come flying past lol!

Something didn't feel right with the car in the afternoon so i expected something to happen as i noticed a few 'puffs' of smoke on gear changes when i was a passenger when my dad was driving.

I've got to look on the bright side though as i've got a high compression 3.5 v8 out of an old sd1 waiting to go in

I can't wait as the v8 produces 155bhp in standard form and loads of torque so it should be quite nippy as the mg is small and light.

[Jhonno]

3.5 litre v8 and only 155 bhp!!!

[GavinJ]

yeah i know but with v8's its more about torque that overall bhp, it will have twice the *bang* than the 4 pot fitted currently.

For example a 4600cc v8 Standard Engine Fully balanced, high torque cam only puts out 220 bhp but 280 lbs/ft.

With a ported/polished head and cam i should get 180-190bhp hopefully, but it will keep me happy for now although i've got tubular manifolds and a large bore exhaust system so that should increase it slightly from the standard 155bhp.

[GavinJ]

Forgot to say that the other good thing about the SD1 V8 is that its an alluminium block and actually weighs less than the standard cast 1800cc fitted now!

[Jon_Bmw]

Forgot to say that the other good thing about the SD1 V8 is that its an alluminium block and actually weighs less than the standard cast 1800cc fitted now!

Now that is amusing.

Looks like everyone had fun and remained in one piece(e30zone wise) so a good acheivement if the track was super slippery.

[Charger500]

Dodge what camera set up did you have?

I wouldn't mind getting some footage next time...

I've got a reletivly cheap Sony Mini DV Video Camera a TRV-19E which is a good quality shot (doesn't show here as I have to save in a lesser quality for web site space!) and I use a Suction Camera Mount from Hague's the SM1... Had it for a few years now and it works really well, I belive Top Gear/Fith Gear etc. use similar... Once I get the Roll Cage in the E30 I'll move to a fixed Bracket type SC2

Highly Recommended it, I use it mostly when we run to the Le Mans 24 Hour every year... along with the usual Track stuff, Gavin's B, sorry that's all I've got from Saturday... you get to capture things like this Turn up your sound!!!

[JimmyC]

Getting some early practise in for next year dodge

Hey JimmyC, How yer doing?

Oh yes, as much practice as possible is on the plans!!! Although, this time round I just wanted to take the 318 out in pure stock form before it's garged for the 10 Week teardown and rebuild! You know, kind of a before and after, just to mark the it in my own mind/experience...

How's the build coming along?

PS - cheers Andy, Calder and anyone else with positive comments I have a handful of ovther video shots I'll try find time to put together... Later

Doing good mate! You look like you've been having some fun in the boggy?

10 week build- good luck mate! im approaching month 4 of build and the car is just a stripped shell with half a cage welded in- taking so much longer than planned! running gear is nearly all built up and painted with new bushes and disks all round (just on the floor not the car!! Prepping the car for paint this weekend.

Then full steam ahead for bedford shake down 28th jan, followed by cadwell and silverstone GP- you need to join LOT for cheap trackdays mate, they'll let you in if your a PBMW racer. Silverstone GP Ԛ£100, Cadwel Ԛ£70 both OPL

Cant wait for next year,, its going to blinding

[Demlotcrew]

Black E30 318is!

Hey Andrew, I had a few laps with you towards the end of the day, great driving mate, hope I didn't hold you up at all... After letting you pass on the back stright :p (OK, you passed me, you were much quicker) I was hoping to get a few laps in following you but the Red Flag came out...

Maybe some other time, give me a shout the next time you're out...

Dodge

Hi mate, yeah it was fun i remember, you were in the red 318? It was really wet on that day i just could not get the power down at all, had a few moments when i down shifted on one of the bends and just dumped the clutch as i panicked the back end just went into fish tail mode!
We did have a few good laps shame about the red flags all day long.

The next time you see me i hope to be in a track preped car too!



Might be a black 318is again

Andrew

[GavinJ]

Highly Recommended it, I use it mostly when we run to the Le Mans 24 Hour every year... along with the usual Track stuff, Gavin's B, sorry that's all I've got from Saturday... you get to capture things like this Turn up your sound!!!

Cheers Dodge that was on the last session we did when my dad was having a go and we noticed the 'death' smoke appearing on gear change, you can see it in that vid!!

[Charger500]

10 week build- good luck mate! im approaching month 4 of build and the car is just a stripped shell with half a cage welded in- taking so much longer than planned! running gear is nearly all built up and painted with new bushes and disks all round (just on the floor not the car!! Prepping the car for paint this weekend.

Then full steam ahead for bedford shake down 28th jan, followed by cadwell and silverstone GP- you need to join LOT for cheap trackdays mate, they'll let you in if your a PBMW racer. Silverstone GP Ԛ£100, Cadwel Ԛ£70 both OPL

Cant wait for next year,, its going to blinding

It sure is going to be blinding, I can tell your as excited as the three of us (Godber & Samurikid) we wanted to start last year but the time caught up with us so we put it off for another year... been working towards this for almost 18 months now!!!

Aye, 10 Weeks is the plan, I've got 16 Hours a week set a side for 'Exclusive' E30 build... I'll get the Charger in temp storage so I have a full Double garage space set aside for the tear down and build! Cage should be in by the end of Jan and during that time between now and then, expecting to get Suspension, Bushes and Brakes sorted... Which leaves me most of Feb and early March for Fire, Electrics and general finishing...

Thanks for reminding me, I should get my act together for LOT, good to know they are cool with the E30 Racers been there at the sametime...

What's been your biggest nightmare?

[Charger500]

Cheers Dodge that was on the last session we did when my dad was having a go and we noticed the 'death' smoke appearing on gear change, you can see it in that vid!!

Yeah, It was funny, the conversation I was having with my Buddy as we were behind you that time was "is that me smelling of burning oil or is it the MG???" it all came apparent after I'd gone past, hop ethe old B is running OK, it didn't seem too bad though...

[GavinJ]

Yeah, It was funny, the conversation I was having with my Buddy as we were behind you that time was "is that me smelling of burning oil or is it the MG???" it all came apparent after I'd gone past, hopethe old B is running OK, it didn't seem too bad though...

Well i can't use the mg at all at the moment as it smokes way to much and we only just about limped home as it deteriorated quite badly on the way home - i wasn't sure if we would make it as it started to lose power as soon we got onto the a50

We will have to arrange another one around feb/march time, but i notice the track action website has not been updated with next years trackdays yet.

[Charger500]

We will have to arrange another one around feb/march time, but i notice the track action website has not been updated with next years trackdays yet.

I can recommend http://www.circuitdriver.com/ sub' seems a bit steep but it lists all Track & Testing days for a couple of months ahead...

[samurikid]

10 week build- good luck mate! im approaching month 4 of build and the car is just a stripped shell with half a cage welded in- taking so much longer than planned! running gear is nearly all built up and painted with new bushes and disks all round (just on the floor not the car!! Prepping the car for paint this weekend.

Then full steam ahead for bedford shake down 28th jan, followed by cadwell and silverstone GP- you need to join LOT for cheap trackdays mate, they'll let you in if your a PBMW racer. Silverstone GP Ԛ£100, Cadwel Ԛ£70 both OPL

Cant wait for next year,, its going to blinding

It sure is going to be blinding, I can tell your as excited as the three of us (Godber & Samurikid) we wanted to start last year but the time caught up with us so we put it off for another year... been working towards this for almost 18 months now!!!

Aye, 10 Weeks is the plan, I've got 16 Hours a week set a side for 'Exclusive' E30 build... I'll get the Charger in temp storage so I have a full Double garage space set aside for the tear down and build! Cage should be in by the end of Jan and during that time between now and then, expecting to get Suspension, Bushes and Brakes sorted... Which leaves me most of Feb and early March for Fire, Electrics and general finishing...

Thanks for reminding me, I should get my act together for LOT, good to know they are cool with the E30 Racers been there at the sametime...

What's been your biggest nightmare?

You two should have gone to spec savers ! Or at least bought one already done and raced last season - took me all of one day !
Mind you - may have to change the gearbox after playing at Donington!
Anybody know if the 318 gearbox is the same as the 320 or is that a silly question ?

[calder]

I'm pretty sure that the 318 gearbox is not the same as the 320 although i've not compared them. Different engine physical size and different engine power curve likely to be different.