First proper track day

[Shad]

...in the new toy anyway, and where better to start than the first circuit I ever visited, Silverstone GP

I've been tinkering with various things on the car over the past couple of weeks, culminating in two frantic days of work before Monday. I've changed to much more aggressive brake pads (ceramic compound, they work like ships anchors), had the cams set-up properly on adjustable pulleys (great improvement in torque), carbon fibre aero-screen and some other smaller but important changes.

I was quite pleased to see it was all worth it as the car worked flawlessly for the whole day. The first couple of sessions were spent learning the new brakes and what I could get away with handling wise, and the rest of the day was just really good fun pushing harder and improving consistency - thoroughly enjoyable day!

As always, photos and video if you're interested







More photos here

The video is 6.5 minutes long and is basically two laps, one in traffic and one clear. It's DivX and uses the free DivX Web Player, broadband is required.

Video here

Upgraditus has fully set in and next on the list are LSD and and adjustable front anti-roll bar... LSD for donuts, naturally, and roll bar because I couldn't quite stay flat on the throttle through Bridge, just needed a slight lift to get the nose in and then back on the power, so a little more bite on the front should help there!

[Disturbedguy]

Looks like you had lots of fun mate and thats one nice ride.

[Stoo]

You really need white racing overalls if you're wearing that lid

[kidzer]

That's just cool!

Very nice looking car, does it stick to the road well enough, or is there plenty of sideways if you are really going for it without being smooth?

[Konan555]

had the cams set-up properly on adjustable pulleys (great improvement in torque)

It's amazing how many people overlook the simple Vernier (or two) isn't it? Amazing little tweak IMO.

[Shad]

You really need white racing overalls if you're wearing that lid

It's on the list but purely because a) I need a suit and b) white happens to match the helmet...

That's just cool!

Very nice looking car, does it stick to the road well enough, or is there plenty of sideways if you are really going for it without being smooth?

With the open diff you can provoke a power slide but once it gets to about 40 degrees the outside wheel gains traction again so all the power goes to the inside wheel, and the slide ends quite abruptly. It's fairly tame in that respect. You have to be careful braking and changing down gear, it will happily lock the rears if you don't heal + toe. The grip though... it's interesting. In day to day use there's a tremendous amount of grip, due to the suspension setup, the weight distribution and the cut-slick tyres, and the relatively low cornering speeds possible on the road. However, the difference between that 'cold' state the the state after a lap of Silverstone is nothing short of black and white - every first lap I did it was like driving on ice. I had cold tyres and marbles to contend with, and it caught me out a couple of times as I just understeered deep into a turn. The brakes are similarly affected. So yes there's loads of grip, but it varies depending on how the car's being used

It's amazing how many people overlook the simple Vernier (or two) isn't it? Amazing little tweak IMO.

The silly thing is the cams are an official Caterham upgrade, and were fitted by Caterham at the factory, utilising the standard Rover pulleys. Yet they will now refuse to service my engine because it has verniers on! Go figure...

[Butuz]

Looking really good shad!

Hopefully hitting Llandow end of may will be my first track day in a long time!

Keep tracking!

Butuz

[dave87]

Looks good, the laps seemed to be pretty smooth too, which is harder to achieve than being quick down the straights.

What mods have you done to the Caterham?

[Shad]

Thanks Dave, I aim for smoothness and consistency and the speed comes as a result

The car's had.... 6 speed close ratio box, Supersport cams, wide track suspension, AP 4-pots brakes, FIA roll bar, Apollo tank (prevents oil pick-up sucking on air). That was all done before I got the car (a good £5k+ I didn't have to pay for!!), I've done some weight saving and aero improvements with the screen (and now matching carbon half-doors), sorted the braking with the race pads and had the cams set-up properly, as well as the usual maintenance. Like I did with the Honda, I'm focusing on getting the best from the chassis before going mad with the engine, but hopefully over next winter I can get it nearer the 500hp/tn area and see how quickly I can get through a set of rears

Good luck at Llandow Butuz

[dave87]

Not unsubstantial mods then.

How quickly do tyres last on track days? I'd imagine they are going to be a lot shorter than road use, but unless you are a fool or an F1 driver (commonly the same) you aren't going through multiple sets each time?