My circuit dayz this year

[SeanDezart]

April 12th - Val de Vienne
June 5th and 6th - Val de Vienne
October 11th - Monthléry (Frances' Brooklands)

And who knows, maybe a fourth......but a hill-climb demo. as well on the 24th May

Damp start today at Val de Vienne with a touch of fog at the end of the big straight, so one couldn't see the corner from the 200m board.

30 minutes at 08:00 this morning - we were three altogether. I was a little nervous how the Toyo Proxies would perform on a damp circuit with light rain.....but suitably predictable and I don't believe I'd have had more grip with more treaded tyres. This taught me to really get down and figure them corners and lines out.

An hour and 20 mins session at 12:30 started well and I completed one lap ok but the mornings' sessions had left some deposits here and there and coming badly out of one corner, I was on a bad line for next and completely fluffed it (see photos) !

I lost 10 minutes watching the other three cars go round until the 4x4 came to rescue me - here, I can't stipulate enough that if you are gonna do track days regularly, get yourselves fitted some proper tow eyes ! Out in a jiffy meaning less risk to me, my car and the others on the track !

I went back to the paddock with tail between legs, cleaned out the gravel from out the back, had another visual check and got right back out there for a solid hour non-stop. I was on my own as the other cars had gone in for various reasons (nothing sinister).

I got better, took a few more chances, braked later, tried going through corners in second or third and at the end feel very happy with myself as I've sussed the circuit ready for June when they'll be a big audiene.

There were a lot of nice comments made on the car, previous owners chatting too and a Spanish guy who took my details 'cos his mate in Barcelona has one and keeps breaking crankshafts !!!!!

The new gearbox was a doddle and helps the car be quicker.

There will be two videos which will include the spin off so you can all have a laugh !

If I can work out the race logic box, I can give you some lap times but using the acceleration mode on the way home on a damp road, I recorded a 0-60mph time of 5.8 secs and I can better that on a dry day and by upping the rev. limiter.

I'm off to have a shower now, a beer and make myself a nice steak and salad dinner - good day in all !

[grolls]

{

[status]

stick with the toyos,i have been running them for the last 5years or more,they r the nuts

[Russ]

Hehe looking forward to the vids!

Pah 5.8!! I'm gonna dig out my recording thingy when my car is on the road again, and beat that 5.8 with my 'lardy 300'

[Rob Gaskin]

Nice one Sean thanks for the report.

So your car sat there in the gravel with the other cars still on track? Sounds a bit scary to me.

Towing eyes - yes a must. I use ropes (from the diff housing at the rear). Solid eyes can cause chassis damage in minor shunts.

[SeanDezart]

It was scary - I spent the first lap afterwards further forward on the corner flagging them down then crossed the track to be behind the barrier on the inside, watching 'em miss my car by a few feet........

Rob, you don't have minor shunts with a Z - that's what happens with car-park bumps !

They can be discreet Russ !

[Rob Gaskin]

Originally Posted by SeanDezart

Rob, you don't have minor shunts with a Z - that's what happens with car-park bumps !

Sean that's rubbish!

[SeanDezart]

Originally Posted by Rob Gaskin

Sean that's rubbish!

Enlarge please.

IMHO a 'minor shunt' that hard enough to damage my car due to my tow eyes being pushed into the body will have already destroyed the bumpers, the front light cowl, the rear light....all of which reflects an horrendous replacement cost.

The eys only protrude a few cms....I told you that they are discreet but I now have the proof that they work very efficiently...and to be honest Rob, they look so much better than.........

[Rob Gaskin]

What's rubbish is the minor shunts in a Z bit, suggesting that they only crash at high speed.

Granted on an old car like a Z the bumper irons will also transmit the shock. Last time I was at Donington I was studying braided (seat-belt) type towing straps on the modern GT cars. I was told that the solid towing eyes are the first thing to take the impact and do inflict unnecessary damage to a chassis in a minor collision.

As it happens I was under my lads Pug 106 on Saturday doing the exhaust. A while back he had a woman run in the back of him. I noticed his rear chassis leg still had a crease in it where the towing eye (not detachable) is welded to it.

[SeanDezart]

Different definitions of minor Rob ! You inferred speed related, I referred to impact and the corresponding damage -not necessarily speed related as your sons' Pug experience may show ?

But a Z isn't a Pug so let's talk Zs !

In your Z, what circumstances can you think of where a minor shock (ie at low speed) solely to a towing eye will specifically seriously damage your Z more than the rest of the impact ?

At high speed, I think that we can both agree that we don't want to think anymore about that - it's too painful !

Frankly, for someone doing regular track days, the risk is greater not to have a solid eye that one doesn't have to grapple for, buried in the gravel trap. It's not just you, your car and the marshalls but the other people on the track who probably are less talented than you and therefore more at risk to spin in exactly the same place.........

If after all, it's a case of money and time..... I still think yours detract from an otherwise nicely prepared car - they look like Ford MKIV Cortina anti-static belts hanging down with a bit of 'tuning' red paint on !

Sorry - I've not better photos to illustrate my point.

[Rob Gaskin]

Sean, I know mine looked shite - they were a hasty (no cost) fit for a track day. They remained on for a year or two though.

All I'm saying is the strap type would be my preferred option and are available from Demon Tweeks etc. I don't have bumpers on my car anymore.

Look at these two pics and consider a minor impact:

[SeanDezart]

Personal choice then Rob but :

a) any minor shock isn't going to limit itself to where the tow eye is attached - shock is displaced by the rest of the receiving body-work/bumper and perhaps a tow-eye may disperse this shock (unless your chassis rails are more than tired further back ?

b) I maintain that a solid, obvious towing eye is a) what the marshells are used to finding and therefore looking for and b) they can't get pushed up under the car and have to be grappled for.

It's all a question of time and exposure - I can assure you that it isn't a comfortable experience.

I also admit that I went for a specific look - classic (metal tow eye) and discreet (black - no stickers stating "tow here" with a red arrow. I will say that the guys arrived, hooked up no question and I was out in seconds !

[SeanDezart]

Ok clever people :

Circuit du Val de Vienne,au vigeant : piste vitesse moto, auto, monoplace, stage d'initiation ou de perfectionnement, Roulages organisés, journées Open... Osez la Piste...

(I came off on the second corner (trop vite) before the main straight) !

best lap time in the wet of 2min 18 sec 400ths : track length of 3.757kms

= an average of 146 km/h ?

And I don't know if this is good or bad :

Braking results
Speed(kmh) Time(s) Distance(m)
130-80 02.7 80.1

AvgLatG -0.06G
PkLatG 1.67G
PkAccelG 1.07G
PkDecelG 0.76G


Braking results
Speed(kmh) Time(s) Distance(m)
130-80 02.7 78.4
100-60 03.2 77.3

Vmax 158.5kmh
Vavg 56.4kmh
AvgLatG -0.08G
PkLatG 1.02G
PkAccelG 0.60G
PkDecelG 0.80G


Braking results
Speed(kmh) Time(s) Distance(m)
130-80 03.4 101.3
100-60 08.6 186.7

Vmax 181.6kmh
Vavg 84.1kmh
AvgLatG -0.08G
PkLatG 1.09G
PkAccelG 0.67G
PkDecelG 0.85G

Err, help !

Speed(kmh) Time(s)
0-60 02.8
0-100 06.0
50-80 02.1
100-130 03.3

[grolls]

The car video looks slugggish to say the least...now the bike ones like he's having much more fun......as expected....

[STEVE BURNS]

well I aint clever as I cant see no car video but hey I am English and cant read French