just my opinion.

[Lauren]

I don't know why you guys don't simply pull the guy you are about to race over, drop your trousers, compare sizes and whoever is bigger wins.

I'll give you a scenario when that won't work...

Say you've got a girl with a 500bhp Evo, going against some kiddy in a Ferrari 355. The girl stands a very good chance if she races this guy, yet if she was to whip it out, she'd.... errrr... LOSE!

Seriously though, as some have said, the fun is experiencing your own modded pride and joy (and one that could be a result of your own hard work and research) beating an expensive car that is already meant to be a Supercar. Think about it - if you were to have such a Supercar yourself, whenever you drove around, you'd naturally be thinking in the back of your mind that very few cars are as quick as you. Then, you see what is otherwise considered a cheaper, more inferior car and it beats you! It's happened to me, experiencing a REALLY quick original Mini and an equally quick Mk2 Escort - they both left impressions on me.

I know what you are saying Dino but i've been there with the highly modded car thing. Great fun, but knowing that i had a quick car on the road really meant to me that i wouldn't get involved in a street race, no way. Tbh i've always been more interested in other cars i catch up on track and how much i can pick up on them round the corners. Surely its far more satisfying when for eg:

@Anglesey on the outlap I let a scooby come past me down the backstraight as the rate at which he caught me got my attention, by the time we got to the same back straight on the next lap i had caught him up and passed him, it was great to see him lose 150yds round School. We weren't racing but overall on a lap my car was quicker. That was more about the driver than the car and for me thats where the fun bit is.

Driver upgrades are 10x more effective than bolting another 50bhp to your engine.

[ENSMR2]

Nice track day footage. Golf eats scoobies, porsches, TVR's and lambo's.

http://www.carpi.ch/Video/red_devil_04_15mb.wmv

[Lauren]

Nice track day footage. Golf eats scoobies, porsches, TVR's and lambo's.

http://www.carpi.ch/Video/red_devil_04_15mb.wmv

Pretty impressive, though being on slicks would have helped no end. But a seriously quick car nonetheless. Have seen some impressive golfs on track, i know a guy with a Mk1 running a 20v on throttle bodies, its well setup handling wise too.

[llenrub]

Iv'e done trackruns in a porsche 911, dodge viper, F355, TVR cerbera, Lotus esprit turbo, M3, single seater etc and it was great fun, but as said, its once in a while and they are someones else's vehicles.

Keeping the racing line and find the performance edge of your vehicle is a doddle. As a chap said ealier in the thread, drifting, sliding etc is a real measure of car control. watch tiff and jason Plato in their vids and the rally drivers. Thats car control. I found rally driving considerably more challenging than track day driving!!

[llenrub]

Good vid!!

Spank those expensive cars YEEES

Hooraay for Big horse power mods

[llenrub]

Spanked them all on the straight i note. Just goes to show 'no replacement for big HP'

I wonder what Frank Williams would he'd prefer right now. extra 50HP or a better driver!

[Lauren]

Iv'e done trackruns in a porsche 911, dodge viper, F355, TVR cerbera, Lotus esprit turbo, M3, single seater etc and it was great fun, but as said, its once in a while and they are someones else's vehicles.

Keeping the racing line and find the performance edge of your vehicle is a doddle. As a chap said ealier in the thread, drifting, sliding etc is a real measure of car control. watch tiff and jason Plato in their vids and the rally drivers. Thats car control. I found rally driving considerably more challenging than track day driving!!

Oh is it really? Well if you have driven all the above cars and have all that track experience you'd know better than to say that. As for gooning ie sliding the car round yep can do that too and often do play around doing that stuff.

[Lauren]

Spanked them all on the straight i note. Just goes to show 'no replacement for big HP'

I wonder what Frank Williams would he'd prefer right now. extra 50HP or a better driver!

Well on a circuit that has long straights the whole straight line junkie thing is going to be more a of a factor for sure, but on tighter circuits like angersea and say Cadwell its a different story entirely.

I don't think F1 has real world evidence tbh, i'm guessing thats why you used that example.

[llenrub]

Places like cadwell park you might as well drive a fiat punto. You rarely get out of 3rd gear!

Thats not for me. I prefer the old Hockenheim Circuit. 2 long straights with a wiggly bit at the end section. 200mph blast. "Weehaaa"

[Lauren]

Places like cadwell park you might as well drive a fiat punto. You rarely get out of 3rd gear!

Thats not for me. I prefer the old Hockenheim Circuit. 2 long straights with a wiggly bit at the end section. 200mph blast. "Weehaaa"

I read that as: Straight Line Junkie

Besides Hockenheim's mega long straights have been dug up and grassed over for ages now. Anyways what are you going to do 200mph in, your own LMP car?

Cadwell is fast in places particularly into Coppice ie the first corner after the long straight. It has the best mix of challenging corners in the UK IMO.

Cadwell is a drivers circuit pure and simple.

[GeoffC320]

Another classic thread...

If money were no object then I'd be straight out there buying a Porsche/Ferrari or whatever (probably TVR if I'm honest...just love 'em!):twisted: . But it's not, and that's why I bought about the best thing I could for the money I had IMO, a REV3 turbo. Now I have done a few bits & pieces to mine and despite buying it when prices were a bit on the higher side the car probably still owes me no more than £12,000 - including mods/repairs (nothing's ever actually failed) and servicing.

Now add to this the mini-Ferrari looks and I for one feel more than happy with the value I’m getting for my money. It gives me that rush & feeling of satisfaction I’d otherwise have to spend one hell of a lot more to get, whether it’s the speeded-up-film effect of nailing that throttle on a clear stretch, threading it down a twisty road on a dark, wet night or simply standing back and looking at it after giving it a good wash & polish.

If you restrict yourself to about 300bhp you shouldn’t experience running costs anything like the average exotic - if you do wish to go far above this the whole exercise becomes a bit more questionable but still perfectly defensible if you understand that it’s becoming more of a hobby/learning experience by that point.

As far as the ‘vs’ thing goes it all means nothing to me, I’ve seen off bikes yet been given a good run by things like Puntos or Novas. Who knows what’s going through the other guy’s mind or why he's driving like he is? I know I've let people go for very valid safety reasons and they probably still think "those MR2's ain't all that":roll:

I think we should just try to appreciate the ‘2 for what it is – a pretty quick, decent-handling and good looking car that’s great value for money and relatively painless to own (and the 3 Mks mix these qualities in different measures!).

Cheers

[jonno]

Keeping the racing line and find the performance edge of your vehicle is a doddle....

Come to one of the donington track evenings or the IMOC trackday at Elvington, I could use some more cannon fodder

[tonigmr2]

Nah mate he'll get you on the straights with his driving stiles
T

[jonno]

Hmmm.... I Need More Boost!!

[llenrub]

Nah sorry Jonno, I dont do circus tricks, bit I know a friendly midget who might help!!

[MegatronUK]

I can see why you'd prefer to go round corners Lauren, Yours is a 1986 NA.

I think you'll find Lauren preferred corners in her supercharger too...and I'd put good money on her giving you a serious scare on any track no matter what you're driving

At the end of the day public roads means just that - the public are on them. Even if you think you are Schumacher standard, they are not, and they can and do get in your way. That means one day you will crash if you drive at insane speeds or take risks. It's only a matter of time.

T

I'd bet Lauren or any other experienced track day driver can embaress many others in there much faster cars in her '1986 NA' ....

Indeed. My Escort will more than likely cane a MR2 Turbo in the acceleration stakes... but why bother? The fun is in getting the back end out, powering out of corners or getting nailing that handbrake turn on that one 180 corner!

My Supra is capable of obscene speeds on the road.. but I've had my fill of maniac driving on the roads... I did all of that in my first few cars... which went just about fast enough to pull the skin off a bowl of rice pudding!

I'd rather get to work or home 20 minutes later than show that BMW driver who has the faster accelerating car.

[llenrub]

Yeah, I'm not into standing start etc, rolling 50-70 mph is me!

[jonno]

Yeah, I'm not into standing start etc, rolling 50-70 mph is me!

That must be really exciting!

[llenrub]

Yeah, It would be better if I had a 1200 hp skyline then I could do the 50 to 150 in 5 seconds!

Rolling starts are the domain big hp. I like that area.

I'd rather a big hp skyline than an Arial Atom anyday!

[Icsunonove]

llenrub wrote:

Anyway, track days wreck your car and I don't have a racing team budget.

No they don’t, unless your car is badly engineered. They wear your tyres and brakes a lot and you use an awful lot of fuel.

llenrub wrote:

Iv'e done trackruns in a porsche 911, dodge viper, F355, TVR cerbera, Lotus esprit turbo, M3, single seater etc and it was great fun, but as said, its once in a while and they are someones else's vehicles.

Keeping the racing line and find the performance edge of your vehicle is a doddle…..

=D> Wow, I am impressed. Can I book some tuition with you? I have never heard anyone say that. Perhaps you should get a job with a trackday company as an instructor.

Mind you when you say it’s a doddle were you talking about a track called Santa Pod? I have heard that the racing line is quite easy to learn there!

llenrub wrote:

Places like cadwell park you might as well drive a fiat punto. You rarely get out of 3rd gear!

Utter nonsense. Even in a pathetic standard 118bhp Lotus Elise you can reach 104mph into Coppice and about the same up Park Straight into Park corner. So with your car you should be approaching these corners at about 215mph!

“Met this bloke called Fernando at Cadwell Park. He was driving this Renault and thought it was a fast car. Anyway I showed him. Coming out of Barn corner I floored the throttle in my MR2 and overtook him into Coppice at 215mph!..........”