brillomaster

Well we are back... car made it there and back in one piece! well, 99% in one piece, but i'll leave Will to explain what happened to the 1% of the car we didnt bring home Overall was an awesome day... Will has a photos, but heres a report/debrief from me... Track time started at 9:45 or so with some pretty serious trackday machinery - half the cars there arrived on trailers, mainly caterhams and elises, with the odd subaru and clio thrown in, but our main competition were the trio of stripped out M3s. Generally dry, few spits of rain but nothing to change driving style. Initially we were very cautious particularly with the brakes - braking light and early, well before the BRAKE boards that were there to help learn the lines. Car did indeed handle like a boat through the bends, tipped over at a very jaunty angle most of the time! Definitely does not like fast direction changes through the chicanes, quite easy to get a pendulum going on. However as the day wore on we did grow in confidence, and managed to be brave approaching corners, maing sure we braked in a straight line, off the brakes and turn in, steady throttle through the corner then slowly feed in the power on the exit. Despite the suspension the car was very docile and predictable at the limit - was generally neutral tending to slight understeer, but easy to get the back into play with a teeny bit of trail braking. Awesome fun to drive right on the edge, clipping the apex cones and then running ot wide whilst hard on the gas. only one corner really gave us any trouble, a very tight second gear hairpin, which we had to take about 20 mph, fighting understeer all the way around. Really could have done with a slippy diff, when I did try to get some power oversteer, the soft suspension just meant we span up one wheel and didnt really go anywhere! Then at ten to 4, everything changed.... the heavens opened! We did consider calling it a day, but since it was almost inevitable we will have a full wet day at some point, we forced ourselves to go out anyways. Quite a difference even going at 6/10ths, just had to be so smooth with everything, and also we are now most definitely getting oversteer! Believe me, winding a quarter turn of opposite lock whilst doing 70 through a corner is a sphincter clenching moment! Somehow I managed not to spin despite the worsening conditions - even though the hairpin that was so awkward before became a playground for drifting fun! Definitely focuses the mind driving in the wet, after a few laps came back exhausted, but very happy so the car... engine and gearbox were very strong, never missed a beat, and was pretty nippy! however suspension and brakes do need upgrading... about 6 laps are the limit on the brakes, and then the pedal just goes all the way to the floor. On the way home the front pads were completely shot, making a horrible grinding noise probably just as well we stopped when we did. Going to work on the car the next few weekends, and then roll on the next trackday!

nope, still got the standard seats in there. However, they were only cloth with no electronic adjustment to start with, so they arent too bad... just waiting for a decent pair to come up on ebay, but mindful of our budget (think the stringy thing holding your shoes on )

So me and Will have our first trackday tomorrow at Hullavington airfield, in our old E36 328i... really excited! Have been looking at videos to know what to expect, but really looking forward to getting out on a track again, been far too long. Car is pretty much standard mechanically, but is missing 80% of its interior, which has helpfully contributed some useful weight savings. We expect hat the weak points will be brakes and suspension, but will be report back with pics at the weekend. We also have a bit of friendly competition in the form of an MR2... could be an interesting duel!

Dang, makes me wish i'd gone for Azure Blue and not Drizzle Grey... looks really nice! might also be attempting to polish up my headlights, they're looking pretty cloudy.

Mmmmm, £7k for a 04 Import Auto seems steep to me, regardless of condition and mods... i paid less than 7k for a UK manual zed with less miles on it, a year ago! normally i would say to put standard wheels back on, but with the other mods that are on it you'd be limiting yourself to a certain buyer anyways, so perhaps you would get the value for them with them on. Either ways, best of luck with the sale!

I agree lol... if first gear cant prevent a car from rolling backwards, then how on earth is it going to move it forwards! I always leave my in third or reverse when parked on any kind of slope, preferably with the front wheels pointing into the kerb in case that doesnt work!

i always thought the lights of a 350z look similar to the mk5 ford fiesta... or is it just me?

i like the red rims, stands out. Although not with the standard orange reflectors on!

+1 +2, was gonna call it on bad grammar as well... anyone want to start the thread that this thread could have been?

One of those things really - just have to estimate based on how the clutch feels as to how much life it has left. But either way, having a nice new clutch does make the car feel a lot better!

coilovers to stop the car pitching under braking, and proper buckets and harnesses will help no end when driving. if buckets are too costly, just go for harnesses, or even a CG Lock on the seatbelt will help hold you in place.

nah im already decided on the hankooks lol, ordered them last tuesday, getting them fitted tomorrow! will let you know if i end up backwards in a hedge. PS POST 1000! happy veterans day to me!

Good stuff! Bet you're glad it was a dry day - cadwell is a formidable challenge in the wet with the two very contrasting sections of track.

£7,500 seems a bit steep for me, especially as it doesnt have Rays on it. appreciate that its a dealer car, but i'd say £6,500 or so.

That is a weird one, will have to give that a go on the way home! doesnt sound right to me, im sure someone would have picked up on it before now!

Question is, does it make all the correct whistles and chirrups for a tuned turbocharged car? If so, the spoiler and wheels are entirely justified With the exhaust thats on it people are going to turn round and have a look, might as well give them something lairy to look at! Also, white wheels are cool, end of story!

My concern for FK453s is they're a different style of tyre, asymetrical as opposed to directional like the FK452s. I've got a good deal on some Hankook Ventus V12s, so have gone for them... similar budget to FK452s, similar tread pattern, heck they're even from a similar part of the world (south korea and japan). According to tyrereviews they have a better average rating than both falkens and dunlops, so hopefully will be ok!

haha yeah that was a bit of a moment you had! you couldnt have stopped in a worse place!

Ouch, sorry to hear that! if there is a silver lining, was that it happened at home when you're insured and dont have to stump up an additional bill for armco repairs! looks pretty bad tbh, hope you get a decent settlement and are out zedding again soon!

"they're all like that, sir..." how long have you had the car? i'll admit i was a bit rev happy pulling away when i first got it, but soon got used to it, now feels much the same as any other car i can remember owning.

I'd love a V8V, until it broke down or fell apart. Same way i'd love a working TVR Chimaera - problem is they dont stay working for very long!

presume you mean 'tyres with tread' as from the sounds of it, they dont have any grip!

hmmm, I'm about to move to mismatched tyres for the first time since having the car (FK452s being no longer available) - hopefully we wont have any TCS issues! however its the fronts im changing so there wont be any change in the amount of rear wheel grip. but slightly more on topic, if you have TCS issues just when cruising, i would suggest a sensor. yes the bridgestones will have less grip than MPSSs, but they'll still have a lot more grip than budget tyres!

Yep, deffo go for tracking and tyre pressure and condition first - was feeling very weird round roundabouts and it was the rear tracking that was quite badly out! Got that fixed and all is well. My right side toe adjustment bolt was seized so needed a new one of them (£15 from zmanalex) but once that was fitted, all was well again. Shame i didnt check the tracking before as the fronts were so worn on the inner edge they're nearly down to canvasm, even though the rest of the tyre still has 4mm of tread

Welcome! Lotsa young'uns on here, im 26 myself. had quite a few RWD cars in the past few years, but this one might be a keeper!