MK3 Turbo at Anglesea - Friday 27th May - Goonage

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BenF
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MK3 Turbo at Anglesea - Friday 27th May - Goonage

Post by BenF »

I've just get back in from a top weekend away at what has to be one of the best and most enjoyable circuits in the UK.

I'd just got my Mk3 back from having the PE Turbo kit kit + Unichip fitted at Millway on Wednesday - the car is running well, I just need to do some final tuning (but that's for another post - Greddy Profec and eManage may be on the cards ..)

This was my first 'proper' trackday in the Mk3. I'd done the TOC event at Bruntingthorpe a month or so ago, but Bruntingthorpe wasn't a circuit to push beyond the limits as it is a fairly high speed circuit.

I was looking forwards to Anglesey, as it is has a great mix of height changes, corners and bends that can either be driven 'technically' for a good lap time, or given reasonable circuit conditions you can use the opportunity to goon sideways through corners - come in too fast, get the car sideways and scrub off speed whilst on the throttle and collect the car on the exit - huge fun ...

I first tried the standard Mk3 alloys with 185/55 A539s on the front @ 32psi, and Yoko A043s in 215/45/R16 @ 36 psi on the rear. This give me good inital turn in to corners, but would soon wash out into understeer in tighter corners. Adjusting the pressures at the front down to 30psi didn't really cure the understeer, making it difficult to turn into slow and medium speed corners

I then swapped the tyres and rims for some earlier 15" roadster alloys, with 195/50 S03s on the front, and 205/50 T1-Ss on the rear, 30psi front and 36psi rear.

I was expecting this setup on the revised 2003 suspension to give me huge amounts of oversteer, but I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised. The car felt much more balanced and with less rubber on the road at the rear it felt much more willing to move around, but in a progressive way rather than snappy way.

After a couple of sessions with this setup, I was gooning around sideways at most places at the circuit - I was laughing so hard at one point I had to slow down to wipe my eyes.

I did end up coming into the hairpin a little too hot on one lap, which resulted in me getting incredibly sideways, as captured below - I was actually against the end locks of the steering rack, but kept it balanced (just) on the throttle and caught it on the way out.

I have to say, it wasn't what I would have intended with cars following me, but that hairpin has to be one of the best places to goon around sideways on in the UK ..



Turn in ..

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Hmm, opposite lock already required ..

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... keep it balanced ...

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Hmm - is that the end stops of the steering rack .. ?

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Getting ready to wind off all that steering lock ...

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Well, I was wanting to replace the rears with some Advan Neova LTS's anyway. Nice smoke though :D

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And away we go ..

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Last edited by BenF on Wed Jun 15, 2005 12:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
MegatronUK

Re: MK3 Turbo at Anglesea - Friday 27th May - Goonage

Post by MegatronUK »

You sure thats not a rwd Escort in disguise? :lol:

Looked like great fun!
BenF
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Re: MK3 Turbo at Anglesea - Friday 27th May - Goonage

Post by BenF »

Small light car, powerful engine = plenty of fun.

So, do you fancy a go at Anglesey then ... :) ?
Mikejc
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Re: MK3 Turbo at Anglesea - Friday 27th May - Goonage

Post by Mikejc »

Fantastic series of pics there Ben, compliments to the photographer =D>

Looking at that just makes me want to get out on the track more and more. Fingers crossed the car will be fully ready sometime soon and then i'll have to come and join you :D

Mikejc
BenF
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Re: MK3 Turbo at Anglesea - Friday 27th May - Goonage

Post by BenF »

Mikejc wrote:Fantastic series of pics there Ben, compliments to the photographer =D>

Looking at that just makes me want to get out on the track more and more. Fingers crossed the car will be fully ready sometime soon and then i'll have to come and join you :D


Yeah, the photographer did a top job - t'was my other half, borrowing Si Cook's Digital SLR which is an impressive bit of kit ... He's also got some good ones of him in his new MK1 SC .. I'll give him a nudge and see if I can get some pics up.

As for trackdays - yeah, they're brilliant fun and a huge buzz. You have to pick your track and Trackday company to ensure they're happy with you driving like this. I didn't come off the track, and although collecting some glares from the Marshalls it was OK. I've heard that Easytrack though aren't happy with people gooning around like this.

Equally, the Nurburgring isn't a forgiving circuit, and I'd drive that at 8/10ths, not getting the car out of shape at all.

You can't beat a good trackday, well setup car and some tuition for improving your driving skills ..
tonigmr2
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Re: MK3 Turbo at Anglesea - Friday 27th May - Goonage

Post by tonigmr2 »

Looks like fun Ben...worth all the effort then of getting the car and then getting it turboed? :D

T
BenF
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Re: MK3 Turbo at Anglesea - Friday 27th May - Goonage

Post by BenF »

Yeah, it was great fun on the early 15" alloys. I just wish I'd swapped to them earlier in the day - I only ran the last 2 sessions on the 15s ..

As for the Turbo installation - its definitely the way to go on the Roadster, especially if you're coming from something with a decent power/weight ratio.

The only thing is, as with any project its 95% there at the moment - I need to either do some fine tuning of the Unichip, or alternatively bin it and go down a GReddy Profec / eManage route with bigger injectors to sort the fueling out ..
tonigmr2
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Re: MK3 Turbo at Anglesea - Friday 27th May - Goonage

Post by tonigmr2 »

Motec? Costs a penny or two but would be spot on, could even have one map for everyday and another for track days...
T
BenF
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Re: MK3 Turbo at Anglesea - Friday 27th May - Goonage

Post by BenF »

Motec .... hmmm!

The eManage Piggyback is quite a popular choice for Roadsters - there are people running big power figures from setups with them (~250RWHP) which is awesome considering the engine was only designed for 138bhp.

As for trackdays vs road use - What I'd probably do is the same thing as in my old MK2 Turbo - turn the boost levels down on track to keep the engine temperatures down.

MoTeC is tempting, but probably overkill for what I'm looking at ..
ryan_s3
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Re: MK3 Turbo at Anglesea - Friday 27th May - Goonage

Post by ryan_s3 »

Hey,Thats my mate Bill behind you in the yellow ibiza,that car is rapid!!
Nice goonage by the way..very clarkson.
BenF
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Re: MK3 Turbo at Anglesea - Friday 27th May - Goonage

Post by BenF »

Yeah, I've got some more pictures I need to send Bill, plus some footage in due course.

Messing around sideways is great fun at Anglesea :)
Speedy
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Re: MK3 Turbo at Anglesea - Friday 27th May - Goonage

Post by Speedy »

Ahh, roll on the IMOC trackday :) - I'm going to have to get some practice in!!
CosmosblueMR2
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Re: MK3 Turbo at Anglesea - Friday 27th May - Goonage

Post by CosmosblueMR2 »

Speedy wrote:Ahh, roll on the IMOC trackday :) - I'm going to have to get some practice in!!


is that fully booked yet ?

:-k
Car now Sold :cry: damn 5th Lumber Disc !
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Speedy
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Re: MK3 Turbo at Anglesea - Friday 27th May - Goonage

Post by Speedy »

http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic. ... 6&start=90

Your probably best off PM'ing Lauren to find out the latest situation. I'm sure I saw somewhere that somebody had pulled out, but I don't know if that place has been filled yet.
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Lauren
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Re: MK3 Turbo at Anglesea - Friday 27th May - Goonage

Post by Lauren »

CosmosblueMR2 wrote:
Speedy wrote:Ahh, roll on the IMOC trackday :) - I'm going to have to get some practice in!!


is that fully booked yet ?

:-k


Frank,

it is, but this guy is selling his place:

http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13118

HTH
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