Coo that sounds like a nice day!

:-)That truly fantastic weekend was possible because the people who attended those two courses really care about their driving and have a passion for constant improvement. No-one has more commitment to excellence than Colin Scott or myself. We learn something special from our clients every week.
Thanks for all your support.

One of the participants asked about further reading so here is my library of best practical books on driving.
Dixon "Tyres suspension and handling ISBN 0-0340-67796-1"
Carrol "Smith Drive to Win 0-9651699-0-9"
Keith Code "the soft science of road racing motor cycles 0-918226-11-2" one of the best books on driving - don't be put off by the motor-cycle content most of it applies to cars too.

Best fishes and keep the banter up otherwise Simon de Sideways will abscond to some distant planet where "lots of trouble is usually serious" and we may never hear from him again.

Don

 

Hi Chaps

What a great day it was!

John isn't kidding... His tyre were ACTUALLY smoking for about 5 minutes after he came of the circles!!! A real pleasure to witness!

Great driving John!

Kev
Sorry we didn't get as much time in the car as I hoped. Hope you had a good day though.


Well.. that was the last outing for me and the Scoob at MIRA :-( . Part Exchanging it this week for the Lotus. :-)

It was not quite as lively as it has been in the past. I was suffering with lots of understeer, but still lots of fun. I will really miss it!

All the best

Simon

 

The tyre pressures I started on were 34PSI front, 30PSI rear when cold.

The pressure climbed 2PSI when hot so were 36PSI front 32PSI rear by lunch, the balance of the car stayed the same.

I dropped the front by 2PSI to give 34PSI front 32PSI rear when hot; this helped with front end bite quite considerately and improved the balance of the car.

My tyre pressures cold are now 32PSI front 30PSI rear, I have noticed an increase in tramlineing with this lower front pressure, but is not bad enough to annoy me and the overall grip and balance feels much better.

The tyres I am using are the OEM Bridgestone’s on 16" Turbo alloys.

The thing that really struck me on the way home is how grippy the roads feel now when wet, its a very strange feeling. The day on a low grip surface has really heightened my senses to what the tyres are doing.

The only real problem I have with the course is that it has left me with a ridiculous cheesy grin on my face, I’m sure people at work think I have flipped my lid.

As for the cossie, sadly that had to go. I sold it a couple of days before the New Year but at least it went to an enthusiast who is going to treat it properly. He was terrified of the thing when he picked it up so I switched it to low boost for his journey home. 350BHP in a RWD cossie is quite scary on icy roads for a novice I suppose.

Have fun on the course; you'll love it.

 

sad thing to lose old sideways eh?
Bit of an old git but we enjoyed his banter.
Bet he can't drive any more after buying something difficult!
We wicsh him well and look forward to his return to the folding.

 

Cheaky B@st@ard!

Watch it Palmer!

 

Tyres Suspension and handling costs 80 quid - it ought to be good for that much

 

Simon..

Don't worry, on a scale of 1-10 it was a full on 11 for sure, just amazing how you could "throw" it around that wet weather circuit like you did.... not bad for a family saloon car eh !!

I still think that considering the actual time we were there John got it down to a "t" in the end. After going out with him first thing in the morning and I thought he was fast then (and you was'nt too bad through the hairpin John !!) and then late afternoon the difference was very noticable, more confident faster lines through the curves etc ..... and as for those concentrics.....100% improvement, he managed a complete lap around
them in one controled power slide and this was in his standard sport... he even had the tyres steaming !!

I managed to do a lap or two in most of the cars.... except for the Caterham.... but i wanted to stay dry !

Great day.... can't wait till I do it again..

Thanks all
K

 

Nice one John! Sounds like you had a great time. As a fellow member of the "Frozen-off class of Dec 19th 1999", I'm dead jealous that you got your chance this time! Someone had bought me an Autosport show ticket, so I couldn't make it, but it was a tough decision to make!

Out of interest, what tyre pressures did you end up running? I'm hoping to attend the next course, so I'd be interested to know what you were using. Has your new found skill been put to good use in the Cossie yet?

I wonder if Simon's taking his Esprit up to MIRA one day.....

 

John

I cought the tail end of "Driven" on CH4 last night and it showed a short clip of next weeks show and if I'm not mistaken it's shot at the wet weather track at MIRA, might be worth watching if it is ?

K

 

If Drivel have anything to do with it it will probably look pants.

 

Yeh true.... but last Sunday would of made a cracking show !!

K

 

watched drivel last night.

It was pants.

Going again 0n feb 13th.
Simon is taking the lotus so should be a good day seeing sideways coping with RWD power.

cheers john