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Track car ownership - The highs and lows.

Posted: Sun May 13, 2018 9:07 am
by dougle_turbo
Late last year after some deliberation I decided to sell the RS4 and buy a track car. Initially, I had wanted to keep the RS4 and run a track car but with 3 vehicles already on the drive, it just wasn't an option.

Because I was new to track day driving, (I had only attended a couple) the brief I gave to myself was that it needed to be cheap to run, repair and insure (a good idea - more on this later). Having looked at lots of options and been very tempted by E36s, Porsches and other machinery I managed to stay on brief and found a great little 172 Cup that was already track prepped, owned by none other than PhilT and W8PMC.

Nicole aka Track slag on collection:
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PhilT kindly scared the crap out of me at Donington on a very cold and wet day in earlier this year by showing me exactly how quick these 172 cups are around a track (and seriously embarrassing some more exotic machinery). We did a deal, and a couple of weeks later I was driving the 3+ hour drive back to London in a very loud, stripped out 172 Cup. (Thank god for noise cancelling earphones!)

So having picked up Nicole I was keen to get on track and duly booked a track day at Brands with fellow forum member FaisalJ. The weather was set to be a mixed bag and we had both dry and wet driving conditions before lunch, thankfully Nicole had a set of wet and semi-slick tyres so either wet and dry running were catered for. Nicole ran very well before lunch as I steadily got to grips with the handling and the weather conditions. So far, so good. The post-lunch session was to be a memorable one...albeit for all the wrong reasons.

A sunny morning greeted us (although the gritters were out):
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On the 10thish lap after lunch, as I passed the apex into Paddock Hill bend, my talent (which was limited to start with) left me completely as the car stepped out at the rear end. A valiant effort in trying to save the slide ended in me and the car racing sideways through the gravel at speed, and the inevitable full roll. Thankfully I was absolutely fine, the seats and harness doing the job. Nicole, however, didn't get off as lightly.

Nicole with some serious gravel rash.
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So after a trip to the med centre, I was left feeling pretty flat, and slightly sore. The only good news was that the engine started and ran okay, somehow the wheels were all pointing in the right direction and I could drive it around the paddock, making putting it on the recovery truck that bit easier.


More to follow.....

Re: Track car ownership - The highs and lows.

Posted: Mon May 14, 2018 6:54 am
by 535dboy
Oops

Glad you are ok

Tricky corner that one and as you now know the one that can bite back but you aren’t the first and won’t be the last

Dust yourself off and have another go when you and the/a car are ready

Re: Track car ownership - The highs and lows.

Posted: Wed May 16, 2018 3:36 pm
by PhilT
Clio 172 Cup track car "Nicole" aka NV1 - R.I.P :cry:
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Re: Track car ownership - The highs and lows.

Posted: Wed May 16, 2018 5:06 pm
by FaisalJ
Good call starting a thread Doug!

The TT made it into the gravel that day too, with my nephew at the wheel and me crapping it in the passenger seat.

https://youtu.be/8CUVrcCs3HA

(Jump to 3:15)

A good dozen or so cars did the exact same thing that day!

Re: Track car ownership - The highs and lows.

Posted: Fri May 25, 2018 11:10 am
by Ben_r1
Lucky man you should never run fixed buckets and harnesses without a cage, if the roof were to collapse you lose the ability of being pushed down and backwards.

Fortunately the Mk2 clios I’ve seen roll over the years all seem to maintain shape very well. I did exactly the same thing in a 172 ph1 a few years back but managed to straighten her up and go in the gravel front ways.

If you had a rear ARB fitted and it was stripped out and damp it’s a recipe for disaster, always disconnect the links and cable tie it up in wet conditions!

Re: Track car ownership - The highs and lows.

Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2018 5:30 pm
by dougle_turbo
I've just realised I didn't finish my story of woe.

So after I rolled the car I spent a few weekends and evenings (cold cold evenings) putting the car back together. I managed to source all the parts second hand and got the car fairly ship-shape (bar the roof). Once back together I thought I'd better get the tracking checked out, and amazingly it was still straight, next up I thought I'd better take the car for a bit of a drive to check for any untoward noises etc. All was fine until the first stretch of the dual carriageway, I hit the loud pedal and BANG, the engine sounds like there was a rock in the cylinder. With nowhere to stop I managed to coast to the next roundabout and get out of the way. Cutting a long story short having got the car back home my worst fears were realised, the cambelt had slipped and snapped an exhaust valve. On closer inspection, a stone must have got into the housing when I was in the gravel and have cut through 3/4 of the belt.

So that basically ended that car. But I didn't want to admit defeat, so, two weeks later bought another Clio Cup and got that prepped for the track. It's performed faultlessly all season and I've managed to get 12 or so days under the belt. I would thoroughly recommend track days to anyone, I'm completely hooked. Just make sure you get track insurance!
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Re: Track car ownership - The highs and lows.

Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2018 6:39 pm
by Eddie555
Love this picture of Babe and Nicole V2 together.

Re: Track car ownership - The highs and lows.

Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2019 11:10 am
by Banana man
Have you sorted your rear harness location points on the new car? It looks like a cross bar in the back of it but I can’t tell, as above a half cage at least is ideal to stop you being crushed and those original harness points means if you was subject to a lot of forward G in a crash it’d pull you down and crush your spine.

Google MSA guidelines if you haven’t already, I’ve got my TT still to prep, but I’ll be fitting a cage and that’ll give me my correct mounting points for my harness, being quite tall I’m asking for trouble if I rolled a TT too so haven’t got much choice.

Re: Track car ownership - The highs and lows.

Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2019 8:15 am
by dougle_turbo
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Re: Track car ownership - The highs and lows.

Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2019 9:44 am
by Banana man
That’s the one, here’s the actual MSA literature, upto 45* is classed as acceptable 10* is the preferred angle.

https://www.motorsportuk.org/assets/156 ... etyk-1.pdf

Re: Track car ownership - The highs and lows.

Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2019 10:04 am
by FaisalJ
Banana man wrote:Have you sorted your rear harness location points on the new car? It looks like a cross bar in the back of it but I can’t tell, as above a half cage at least is ideal to stop you being crushed and those original harness points means if you was subject to a lot of forward G in a crash it’d pull you down and crush your spine.

Google MSA guidelines if you haven’t already, I’ve got my TT still to prep, but I’ll be fitting a cage and that’ll give me my correct mounting points for my harness, being quite tall I’m asking for trouble if I rolled a TT too so haven’t got much choice.
Hang about - you have a TT track car?

Rule 1

Are you on the TT forum?


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Re: Track car ownership - The highs and lows.

Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2019 10:52 am
by Banana man
FaisalJ wrote:
Thu Mar 07, 2019 10:04 am
Banana man wrote:Have you sorted your rear harness location points on the new car? It looks like a cross bar in the back of it but I can’t tell, as above a half cage at least is ideal to stop you being crushed and those original harness points means if you was subject to a lot of forward G in a crash it’d pull you down and crush your spine.

Google MSA guidelines if you haven’t already, I’ve got my TT still to prep, but I’ll be fitting a cage and that’ll give me my correct mounting points for my harness, being quite tall I’m asking for trouble if I rolled a TT too so haven’t got much choice.
Hang about - you have a TT track car?

Rule 1

Are you on the TT forum?


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Yes for both questions, I’m trying to get started on it properly but I have a S6 I’m trying to get to some sort of standard (rat look? :? ) for shows this year so it’s had to be put on a back burner for a bit, it had been on the cards for a while but after taking the s6 on track at ADI last year I knew I needed a track car, I took it to donno end of last year in fairly standard form apart from cat back and brakes mainly, and had an awesome time again, just been collecting bits to get it more track focussed atm, I’m gagging to get started though.

Re: Track car ownership - The highs and lows.

Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2019 8:17 am
by dougle_turbo
Banana man wrote:
Thu Mar 07, 2019 9:44 am
That’s the one, here’s the actual MSA literature, upto 45* is classed as acceptable 10* is the preferred angle.

https://www.motorsportuk.org/assets/156 ... etyk-1.pdf
Thanks for the literature, I was all ready aware of the guide lines. Although it may not look like it, the harnesses were at 45 in the car. There is a huge amount of misinformation surrounding harness locations, angles and supposed spine crushing.

Re: Track car ownership - The highs and lows.

Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2019 8:24 am
by dougle_turbo
Ben_r1 wrote:
Fri May 25, 2018 11:10 am
Lucky man you should never run fixed buckets and harnesses without a cage, if the roof were to collapse you lose the ability of being pushed down and backwards.

Fortunately the Mk2 clios I’ve seen roll over the years all seem to maintain shape very well. I did exactly the same thing in a 172 ph1 a few years back but managed to straighten her up and go in the gravel front ways.

If you had a rear ARB fitted and it was stripped out and damp it’s a recipe for disaster, always disconnect the links and cable tie it up in wet conditions!
Just noticed this comment. More misinformation. There are many manufacturers who fit fixed buckets into their cars and don't have roll cages.

Re: Track car ownership - The highs and lows.

Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2019 8:59 am
by FaisalJ
dougle_turbo wrote:
Ben_r1 wrote:
Fri May 25, 2018 11:10 am
Lucky man you should never run fixed buckets and harnesses without a cage, if the roof were to collapse you lose the ability of being pushed down and backwards.

Fortunately the Mk2 clios I’ve seen roll over the years all seem to maintain shape very well. I did exactly the same thing in a 172 ph1 a few years back but managed to straighten her up and go in the gravel front ways.

If you had a rear ARB fitted and it was stripped out and damp it’s a recipe for disaster, always disconnect the links and cable tie it up in wet conditions!
Just noticed this comment. More misinformation. There are many manufacturers who fit fixed buckets into their cars and don't have roll cages.
E.g. Audi!


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