IMOC Trackday- Sat 3rd September @ Elvington

[swahili]

A little late, but another vote of thanks to Lauren & the team for a great day.

As an aside, one of the marshalls (on the pit lane at the end, didn't get his name) asked me about the GPS/phone holder in my car - got it from www.smartdevicesdirect.com

[BenF]

Hrms.... is it worthwhile getting a brake fluid change?? Mine looks a lot darker than it did when it went in....

I'm getting an oil change done... but is brake fluid worth gettin done as well?

As for 110 on the clock.... 10% over still means I managed to hit 100 before stamping on the anchors!!

Brake fluid - if in doubt, yes! Brake fluid is dead easy to change yourself - just takes time, and ideally two people and a hose with a one way valve on the end.

You basically open the bleed nipple on the caliper, and pump the brake pedal gently, topping up the brake fluid reservoir as you go - you'll see the change in fluid colour as the new stuff comes through.

Don't open the bleed nipples too much - I've found that a little air can get drawn into the caliper as you let the brake pedal 'lift'. Ideally, the person at the brake caliper should close the bleed nipple just as teh person pumping the brake pedal is pressing down on the brake pedal.

If you're expecting to do some more trackdays, or drive hard, I'd put in some DOT5.1 fluid on the basis it is best to change it again in 18 months - otherwise put DOT4 in which should last 2 years (it absorbs water less rapdily than DOT5.1). DOT5.1 has a higher boiling temperature than DOT4 when 'dry' (ie new) but once moisture has got in from the atmosphere, it performs worse than DOT4 - hence the need to change DOT5.1 every 18 months if you're doing trackdays to make sure you're getting the best performance.

Cost : 1 litre of Halfords DOT5.1 is only 8.99, and the bleed kit is about £7 - add about 90 minutes of your time and the job's done.

As for brake feel - If you boiled your brake fluid on Track, the pedal would have gone to the floor with little/no resistance as your trying to stop - this would probably would have caused a serious brown trouser moment!

With pad fade (when they're too hot) you get a firm pedal, but very little stopping power. Just ease up on your braking (break earlier, more lightly) and let the pads cool off. You don't want to overheat brand new pads like this though as they can crumble away.

What most people are probably feeling at the moment is the glassy surface that develops on the brake pads after hard use, resulting in the brakes not feeling they're stopping the car very well, and you needing to use more pressure than normal to stop the car.

Give it a week or so of normal driving with standard brake disks and the brake feel and stopping power will improve as this glassy layer wears away.

Cars with grooved disks will recover a little more rapidly as the grooves 'shave' off the glassy layer and brake pad material as they are used normally..

[MartG]

Goldy - I replaced my brake fluid on Sunday after the trackday, and the old stuff came out very dark compared to the new stuff I put in ( 5.1 ), with quite a few bubbles in it ( which would explain why the pedal felt soft after the first couple of runs on Saturday ). I must admit however that I hadn't changed it for a couple of years, so it was due a change anyway ( with 20/20 hindsight I should have done it before the trackday - we live and learn )

[MegatronUK]

Just been working out exactly what speeds I was doing along the back straight... (using Dave Andrews excellent 'gearing' program)

>ratios: Gearing plot Ford/BGH/Caterham/Toyota/Quaife gearboxes
(C)Dave Andrews 1997
Wheel rim size 15 Tyre section 205 Aspect ratio 50
Enter diff ratio 4.60 Wheel diameter 23.070
Enter 1st gear ratio 3.60 Type 9 Standard ratios
Enter 2nd gear ratio 2.08
Enter 3rd gear ratio 1.36
Enter 4th gear ratio 1.00
Enter 5th gear ratio 0.82
Enter rev limit 7000
Limit
1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 7000 500-600-700-800-700
1st (3.60 ) 4.1 8 12 17 21 25 29 33 29
2nd (2.08 ) 7.1 14 22 29 36 43 50 57 50
3rd (1.36 ) 10.9 22 33 44 55 66 77 88 77
4th (1.00 ) 14.9 30 45 60 75 90 104 119 104
5th (0.82 ) 18.1 36 55 73 91 109 127 146 127


Revs @ 60 mph in 4th 4.021 Revs @ 70 mph in 4th 4.691
Revs @ 60 mph in 5th 3.297 Revs @ 70 mph in 5th 3.847

I've got the rev limiter set to 6000rpm, and hit it several times coming down the straight, so that means I must have been doing 109-110mph... the Escort clock only reads to 110 and the needle was off the top and waving around, so thats probably about right

Hmm... six speed box next?

Actually, I need to set the rev limiter higher, as we fitted ARP conrod bolts to let us rev higher - it should be at least 7000rpm, which would help get a few mph more per gear. Of course yours truly lost the instructions for the rev limiter ages ago....

[DoM]

Hrms.... is it worthwhile getting a brake fluid change?? Mine looks a lot darker than it did when it went in....

I'm getting an oil change done... but is brake fluid worth gettin done as well?

As for 110 on the clock.... 10% over still means I managed to hit 100 before stamping on the anchors!!

If you're serious about using it on track, I can recommend investing in some Motul RBF 600, it has a really high boiling point compared to most brake fluids, 600 F or something like that! Or if you can afford it, Castrol SRF is the dogs!

www.opieoils.co.uk - This guy can sort you out

Dom

[Icsunonove]

John, I can well believe that!

That Vauxhall 2 litre engine of yours certainly does produce plenty of horsepower!

But it's a right handful to control....

[MegatronUK]

... yeah, I get that feeling sometimes

[MartG]

That Vauxhall 2 litre engine of yours certainly does produce plenty of horsepower!

Good engines those ! ( its a 20XE I presume ) My 'other car' has the turbo version, the C20LET, while my wife's Astra has the newer Z20LET.

[MegatronUK]

That Vauxhall 2 litre engine of yours certainly does produce plenty of horsepower!

Good engines those ! ( its a 20XE I presume ) My 'other car' has the turbo version, the C20LET, while my wife's Astra has the newer Z20LET.

Yep, ex-Calibra or Cavalier GSI - I'm not sure which! ... we junked the injection system and fitted a 4-2-1 tubular manifold and it's gulping fuel through a pair of big ole rorty ex-Lotus Esprit 45 DHLA's! The ignition is taken care of by a custom contactless dizzy and a hall effect module and coilpack.
It seems to be tough as old boots... it drips the odd spot of oil from around the oil filter take off plate, and the back of the sump, but other than that it just gets on with its job!

I'm not exactly sure what kind of power it's making, but I'd guess realistically around 170-180bhp ... a lot for a car that only weighed 820-odd kg from the factory

[MartG]

If you need to know anything about the engine, or running it with carbs, aftermarket management etc. , theres a load of guys here www.migweb.co.uk who have done it too.

[MegatronUK]

Yeah, I raided their knowledge and the Mantaweb folks when we were getting it setup

Some of them were, not surprisingly, unimpressed that it was "going in a ancient, rusty, Ford"

[MartG]

Yes, the usual recipient these days seems to be a Nova - my Calibra is becoming increasingly rare as they are broken for thier engines, especially the turbos