Part 2
First ImpressionsSo, having raced to prepare the car, I was just about ready to race on track.
Fintray was probably a good venue to start with; a friendly atmosphere and a simple layout.
Not really knowing what to expect, the day was as much about learning the proceedings as it was trying to put in a competitive time.
The track consisted of a long flat drag to the first corner - a near 180 degree sweeping double apex right hander - climbing through a rounded left hairpin with a tricky exit onto an uphill straight,
then into the tight right final hairpin followed by a short blast to the line.
Beside the passenger ride I was offered by the clerk of the course upon my arrival I had never seen the venue before taking to the track for the morning practice runs.
My driving felt a bit reactive/defensive and I was more focused on trying to locate my braking & turn-in points in preparation for the afternoon's timed runs,
as well as which of the 107's ridiculously long gears I should exit the tight uphill left hander in.
Although the layout was simple there were nuanses to the surface camber & grip, the first corner had a blind entry requiring a lot of commitment and the limit was difficult to judge.
Comparing my practice runs it became quite evident how much time can be won or lost on the brakes. Missing the apex by just a few feet on a slow hairpin results in travelling further with a
considerable addition to overall time.
In short - A lot to take in.
Lunch break offered a bit of respite and I familiarised myself with the competition.
It became apparent that the A1 class wasn't hugely populated, my fellow competitors being a 1010cc Hillman Imp running trumpeted carbs & fat tyres
and a similarly spec'd 1275cc Austin Mini.
Judging by the practice times it was going to be tight and with 2 race runs planned for the afternoon we lined up to see who'd come out on top.
Our fastest of these 2 runs would count as our best score and the winner was the driver with the best score in the category.
In the name of consistency I managed a 39.44 and 39.42 respectively.
The Mini couldn't quite put it together - falling just short of the times,
But the Hillman got the power down, rocketing to first with a decent improvement on practice and seating me in 2nd place of the 3.
It wasn't quite a win but I'd kept on the pace - not bad for a first event.
I had anticipated being a little underpowered and over-geared.
Comparing split times after the event I discovered I was consistently a full 2 seconds down by the end of the opening straight and had clawed back over a second in the subsequent corners
to finish where I did.
This was reassuring of my own performance if not the car.
Considering Fintray a successful first event - I packed up and headed home.
ServiceThe next 2 weeks saw a basic service consisting of oil & filter change and a set of NGK spark plugs.
On the topic of spark plugs: I see a lot of people mention upgrading their plugs to much costlier Iridium units.
It should be noted that Iridium is not the best in terms of performance - it is
much less conductive than copper - These iridium
upgrades will last up to 3x as long due to the harder electrode
and are less prone to causing pre-ignition with low-octane fuel (not really an issue in the UK) but do not produce as hot a spark as copper plugs - offering no advantage to outright performance
over their cheaper counterparts.
I would go as far as to say the only real benefit the Iridium plugs offer (in this application) is to the manufacturer who can market them at a high price to an area of the consumer market
competent enough to replace their own plugs but not quite as savvy in understanding the properties thereof.
As for oil, the standard recommendation is ACEA A4/B5 class 5w-30 grade oil.
I tend to use ACEA C3 / 5w-40 oil in the hotter summer months when the car sees more use and ACEA C3 / 5w-30 in winter.
The C3 class oils have better shear resistance over the A/B classes: Basically an oil gets thinner over the course of its life due to the moving components in the engine literally tearing the molecules
apart (shearing) - this is especially true at the high engine speed and operating temperature associated with race use or long distance driving; the C3 class oil maintains its structure under these
conditions, offering better protection and lubrication for the engine. Comparing the 2 classes under real conditions I've noticed the C3 oils retain the 'just serviced', slick, free-revving feel to the
engine for a lot longer than the A/B oils which seem to cook and lose that fresh edge after just a few hundred miles of hard use.
Service complete and feeling a bit more comfortable with experience under the belt from the previous round, it was off to Golspie for my first sprint event.
This round would prove to be a real challenge in terms of putting in a competitive performance.
I was pitted against 4 seasoned drivers in 2 well prepared cars at the upper limit of engine capacity for this class -
On a track with long straights interspersed with slow, tight bends.
Acceleration and straight line speed were the key to fast times here.
We were offered 2 timed practice runs in the morning hours. I'd been to the track a year or so earlier but wasn't sure how I'd fare in competition so wasted no time in trying to find the pace.
Comparing the times at lunch, owing to last second braking and good corner exit speed, I'd managed to keep on terms with the 1389cc Corsa driven by David and Alan Munro in 3rd and 4th place respectively.
My times hovered in the ~95second region for the 2 laps, within a second of their ~94second runs.
The Gordon's 1360cc 205 was in a league of its own...
Practice done, we broke for lunch and unfortunately so did the weather.
The afternoon began on a wet track.
I'd lost the corner entry & exit advantage I previously had in the dry and rather predictably got decimated on the straights, finishing my first race run with a 102.49.
A break in the weather meant the track began to dry out; it looked like a dry second run but it wasn't meant to be. Once again the rain started to pour right as I queued up.
The track was a total wash out in minutes and I wasn't able to improve on my earlier time - Ending the day behind the faster cars but happy with the pace considering.
I'd played around with tyre pressures a bit at this meeting - running around 27psi front / 28psi rear - the front-rear balance resulted in a controllable amount of oversteer midcorner with the lower
pressure offering a slightly more progressive loss of grip at the limit; though it was clear I had to address the acceleration of the car...
Upon my return to base I set about on another course of dieting, removing any remaining weight that was reasonably accessible.
Rear wiper assembly, aerial, non-critical heat shielding, headunit & speakers, as well as the door and bulkhead interior soundproofing -
The latter of which was not the easiest of tasks given the wiring loom, pedal mechanisms and plumbing that pass through it.
I rely on this car daily as my primary mode of transport so I didn't want to commit to the time consuming process of removing and refitting fundamental systems for the sake of a few stray bits of
matted fibre - Instead I set about it with an assortment of blades, removing what I could bit by bit.
The only place left inaccessible was the area behind the heater matrix but I was happy enough with what I'd managed to accomplish.
The various airbags also weigh a lot but I think it would be unwise of me to publicly suggest removing these...
Whilst preparing for the next round - a hillclimb event at Forrestburn - a few more bits arrived at my door: A simple nylon gear knob and a brace for the front subframe.
Nothing game-changing but if there's one thing to learn about when striving for success (at anything in life) its that a collection of small changes can manifest as a big gain.
On that note I think being comfortable and confident within the setup of the vehicle can extract a better real world performance from the combination of car and driver than a slight edge to
mechanical performance on paper.
Or in other words - Ergonomic upgrades can be just as beneficial as performance upgrades.
I started by fitting a pedal extension to the accelerator - The standard configuration has the accelerator set further back from the brake for safety reasons. Adding the extension brought the
accelerator in line with the brake pedal and extended it downward, making it easier to blip the throttle with my heel whilst pressing the brake pedal when downshifting into a bend or getting back on
the power without upsetting the balance of the vehicle. You're probably aware this is called the heel-toe technique.
Having measured the diameter when ordering, I then went to fit my racey gear knob..
Damn. Wrong thread pitch.
The knob itself was a nylon teardrop with a cylindrical threaded metal insert held in place by a single M5 bolt at the top. The insert could be removed and was similar in diameter to the non-threaded
lower part of the gear stick with the rubber sleeve.
With the help of an accomplice I cut the gear stick down to what I deemed an ideal height (removing the standard threaded top portion in the process) and drilled a hole in the top, directly down
the shaft, which we tapped to accept an M5 bolt. Wrapping the covered part of the shaft in electrical tape to create a snug fit, I bolted the (now slip-on) nylon teardrop directly to the gear stick.
What we'd fasioned was essentially a crude short-shifter with about a 20% reduction in throw between gears and slop inherent to the design of the ball-and-socket lever mechanism.
If you're suffering with dry and sloppy lever action (consult your GP...) you can easily remove the gaitor and centre trim to access this ball-and-socket joint and pack it out with a thick grease -
I did this with limited success; wouldn't call it a fix but it gave the gear stick a slightly better feel.
Fitting of the lower strut brace was a comparitively simple task - It bolts between the front most wishbone locations on each side, joining them together and thus stiffening the subframe.
Just follow the instructions and (using a few extension pieces to get access from the front of the car) be sure to torque up the wishbone bolts with the weight on the axle.
The brace I used was the powdercoated steel version from Weicher. It actually performed really well with a marked improvement in steering response. Essentially it removes that split second delay
between turning the steering wheel and the car changing direction (caused by flex in the chassis - An important consideration when using stickier tyres), with an increase in feel for what the front
wheels are doing and where the limit of grip is.
My only gripe with the brace was that it hangs below the exhaust with very little clearance: Since the events detailed here and after a few outings with a passenger on crumbling single track roads,
I'd spanked it off the ground under heavy braking hard and frequent enough to bend it back into the exhaust pipe - This caused it to rub and rattle. I was worried the repeated impacts would
eventually damage or distort the subframe where the brace was mounted so decided to remove it again despite the initial improvement it had made to the handling.
In light of the handling improvement I would like to fabricate a revised design with more ground clearance - I'd be keen to make a few of these in TIG'd stainless steel to cover the cost of a welder
if anyone is interested in purchasing one for their own car.. (PM me)
With the next round looming I was determined to improve on my previous efforts. The course looked a lot more technical - A proper test of driving prowess with an emphasis on cornering ability
rather than engine capacity.
Would these revisions be enough to shake up the results at the highly anticipated Forrestburn Hillclimb?
Stay tuned...
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