sonic 1st track day report

[subevo]

after 7 months of graft weve just had our first track day at knockhill after completing car day before.have to admit to rushing things.to make deadline.

first impressions. not as fast as i thought maybe due to homemade exhaust restricting power.there was a lot of very fast cars and they take it very seriously.mainly tuned lotus elises and subarus.

spun car twice.brakes were crap. probably due to to not setting up at an mot station and a leak at rear.hopfully improvements can be made.tried playing with bias with no joy.

at 90mph and higher if you lift off gas the car weaved violently almost crashing.later found out two of the wheels were the wrong offset due to being swapped by mistake.hopfully this was the cause.person responsible shall not be named.but should be shot at dawn.

handling wise seeemed pretty good.the 6 speed box seems to have a very long first gear so it was into 1st for the hairpin instead of the usual 2nd in other cars.

pluses- my daewoo matiz radiator did not allow car to overheat so pleased.

now the bad stuff. forgot to change nut for a nyloc on aux belt pulley and it came off this then caused a water hose to burst and empty contents onto track.given red flag and returned to pits in the nick of time .

also forgot to tack weld exhaust bung which blew off and melted a connector.doh!! session over.so plenty of stuff to fix for next time.but thoroughly enjoyed day out.more power and braking required.and skill.

[nigel]

;D ;D ;D Outstanding

I'm really pleased, that the car has made its first outing on the track, sounds like a good first day, plenty of minor problems but no accidents or damage.

I will be looking forward to reading the follow up reports, whens your next outing ? any pictures ?

nigel

(I wonder if Track Days should have its own section ? 'Management')

[subevo]

thanks nigel
.maybe 2weeks time for next event.the one today was for hardcore guys.a bit too extreme for me.eg. 350z with 575hp.who just spent £4000 on new brakes.ouch.


by the way is your car stable at high speed when lifting off gas? just for comparison.fingers crossed its the wheel problem i mentioned.

[juddyjuddster]

Well done Subevo, that's a great report.

Also you are brave as Knockhill is more technical than windows office 2007. I have done a good few trackdays there and the first set of corners are just frightening.

Good stuff cant wait for the next report.

[nigel]

Mar 27, 2010 19:43:03 GMT subevo said:

thanks nigel
.maybe 2weeks time for next event.the one today was for hardcore guys.a bit too extreme for me.eg. 350z with 575hp.who just spent £4000 on new brakes.ouch.


by the way is your car stable at high speed when lifting off gas? just for comparison.fingers crossed its the wheel problem i mentioned.

I'll look forward to the report on the next outing.

Seems you were a little out classed equipment wise on that day.

Not noticed any problem with car stability when lifting off gas, only thing I have found is the problem with cross winds which affects all light cars at high speed.

Looking at your pics I see you've got ST or Standard rear Calipers and Willwood 4 pots on the front. Not sure what pads your using but since I've gone over to 1144's on the back braking been a lot better. I just think the Willwods are an overkill on the front almost to much.

nigel

[mattsmev]

Well done for doing a track day. I had my first track day of the year as well. All very humble, loads of EVO's and lotus'. I was really pleased with my mods. I have so much more confidence in the car. two audi R8's were the fastest and also some race prepared caterhams. also a Marlin 5EXi, but i certainly held my own and could catch and over take lotus' with ease. It was great.

no problem coming off the power at high speed, even when jumping on the brakes.

Management - a new track day section would be a great idea. I have some video to upload as well.

Cheers

Mattsmev

[Stiggy]

Sounds like great fun you guys had. A little tweek here and there.
Light weight cars are a different game to what you may be used to. More skill is required than in a conventional one and a half ton tin top point and squirt.
All middies have the tendancy to "lift off oversteer" All you need to do is lift off slightly slower. You will find that you will be able to bring the power on b4 a front engined car rear wheel drive car when your coming out of a corner. If you experience understeer it is possible with the required skill to apply power and bring on a little oversteer to compensate. Easier said than done but that is what Stirling Moss will tell you. Have fun. A little at a time. Stiggy

[nigel]

Mar 27, 2010 23:00:37 GMT mattsmev said:

................ I have some video to upload as well.

Cheers

Mattsmev

Come on Matt I'm waiting

nigel

[mattsmev]

Oh gosh there is so much to do.

I will shortly add the engine mods that you have all suggested to the thread in the technical section. I am quite enjoying that and I’ll edit my video and post it soon, honest. In the mean time this long post is written a report of my track day, I am no journalist, but here we go

I had a track day yesterday with motor sport events at Colerne here in wilts. I was keen to do Colerne as I had done it twice last year, so by doing this track I could get a good handle on the effects of my mods over the winter. A sort of back to back to back test session. I am very lucky, this track is only about 7 miles from me, so it is very easy to get to. I drove my rocket to the event with R888s fitted, but took the normal tools, seat, umbrella and 20l fuel with me. For those that are interested the day cost me £110, about £45 in fuel and a bit of tread off the tires

Arrived at 8:45. Normal briefing and sighting laps and then my first session, it was open pit lane after that. The field was made up of mostly tin tops, two Audi R8s, lots of Evos and Lotuss (or is that Lotusi) but not sure what types, Supras, some Caterhams/westfields, but again, not sure what engines they were running, some of them were obviously in a race series judging by the cage and numbers.

Not a particularly hard core day, unlike the competitive field subevo has found himself in this weekend. Mostly guys (and some girls) out for a simple track day.

The track layout is shown here, you can see it has a good mix of corners.



Just like last year the two big stops are the rocket’s really big strong point. I can brake really late and still make the apex. The brakes and the R888s made my stopping immense. Strangely, my only two ‘offs’ were under braking, one on my first lap, into the first hairpin, my brakes and tires were cold. I am surprised what a difference this makes, and I really noticed it. I carried on down the runway avoiding the cones as I went. The second was with warm brakes but I was trying to hard, I locked up the fronts and missed the corner, no harm done, there is plenty of run off. I moved the balance back two turns and it was much better after that.

Unlike last year the long sweeping right hander at the bottom of the picture was a great part of the track. Last year I had no confidence here, the back was keen to step out and I could not get any significant power down. This year it was ¾ power in 3rd to the apex then easy flat to the next hair pin. Really good part of the circuit. I suspect the tires are responsible for most of the extra grip, but sorting out my rear tracking will have helped loads.

I was catching and overtaking loads of cars, a real buzz to it. It feels great to overtake a lotus, knowing my car has cost half as much, and I can cope with the R8s getting by, I expect their alloys cost as much as a Rocket, one owner said a set of tyres was £1200! I was genuinely surprised at the cars I could catch and get past, much better than previous track days.

Motor sport events bans timing but I am certain I was faster than last year. So much more confidence in the fast corners, a joy to drive. It’s like a different car after my winter mods.

Things to improve? I need to do something with my seat. It twists in the big corners, so I am fighting that. My shift light sometimes does not work, but then the next time I use the car it does. I may email OMEX to see if they have any ideas.

Sorry for the long post, but I had a great day and wanted to tell you all about it

Cheers

Mattsmev

Video soon, honest

[mattsmev]

Oh, forgot to say, I also clipped a cone, so need to do some repairs the the wheel arch, but nothing too bad

[subevo]

great to see your reports guys.
just as an update i took my sonic to a digital weigh bridge today and got 600kilos(st170 engine fitted) .i must admit to being dissapointed i was hoping for 550 or less. aw well removing the wings =12kilos. exhaust change =2 kilos saved.

are the wilwoods really that good? i would rate my brakes at 3 out of 10 at the moment.hopfully i can sort this.

below is a video clip of the sonic at 2.08 mins onwards.check the speed at which i was passed at.

yes this is a scary track at 2.45 there is a blind uphill chicane that takes some balls to fly over.

[mattsmev]

Here is my video from Colerne,

s640.photobucket.com/albums/uu126/mattsmev/?action=view¤t=trackdayColerne27-03-2010.flv

And another one in the wet, (there was rain at midday)
s640.photobucket.com/albums/uu126/mattsmev/?action=view¤t=trackdayColerne-wet-27-03-10.flv

As you can see this is a slower and simpler track than subevo at knockhill. that just like a bunch of well prepared caterhams driven by people who really knew what they were doing.

Cheers

Mattsmev

[tr1kerfozzy]

Looks like you were having fun!! ;D

[Stiggy]

just as an update i took my sonic to a digital weigh bridge today and got 600kilos(st170 engine fitted)
REPLY;
The ST engine is heavier than a 2.0 Zetec and the Getrag 6 speed box is a lot heavier than the IB5. That said it should go like sludge of a shovel provided it's got good compression and an easy flow exhaust. The ports are larger on that head than standard Zetec so it will need the right manifold and the plenum chamber length is controlled by the ecu if it's wired correctly. Best thing to do is get it dyno'd. I have heard that only a real tight st170 puts out 170 bhp and thats when it's in the Focus.
Try taking a heavy treader around the track as a passenger next time and see if it makes a noticeable difference. Or add a couple of bags of sand and see if that slows you down. The extra ST weight should not make a significant difference and should more than compensate for itself. You guys have done extremely well, first time out and not far behind the nutters. Well done.

[subevo]

thanks stiggy.
we were 2 up in the car .never had a chance to drive it on my own but should be much quicker just myself.

you are correct in that the st170 is sometimes down on power even 150bhp has been known.just swapped exhaust for a free breathing one today and also checked to see if the original cosworth designed one would fit and it did .cause i moved my engine back.but thats for another day.as you say we will get it dynoed and take it from there.

for others its maybe better to forget the st170 and just get throttle bodies etc combined with the lighter setup .

for us its turbo or supercharger for this coming winter project. someones already done it to the st170 and got 294hp.those caterhams are going to get a pasting next year.