Walshy Day Write Up

[Neil]

I wondered what sort of day I was letting myself in for when I read headlines on one of the national papers in the hotel just before heading over to the airfield.... "Wettest Day On Record". Luckily it han't rained for a few hours and roads had started to dry out. A bit of bad planning on my part meant that I had a panicked drive around looking for a petrol station before heading over to the airfield - I didn't manage to find one so decided that half a tank would have to last me until lunch.

 

I arrived at the airfield to meet Andy, who I have to say is an absolutely top bloke possessing the rare talent of remaining unbelievably calm whilst novice drivers are spinning him around at 70+ mph! There were 4 cars booked in for the session: me, an Elise S, an Esprit (V8?) and an Atom. I was a but disappointed to find out the Esprit and the Atom had wussed out and a Scooby owner had filled one of their places. Down to 3 before it started.

 

I was 1st out on track. Andy had me do an emergency stop and a few steering exercises so he could see what he was up against. We then headed down a small link road to start the high speed corner exercise. My instructions were to take the corner as fast as I felt comfortable..... I set off and got up to about 70 before braking and entering the corner at 55 and sailing around with ease. Next run; a bit faster. This time I took it at 65 (off the pedals) and proptly found myself going backwards . By the end of the day I was taking the corner at 75 on a damp track and catching oversteer without too much fuss!

 

In the morning the track was pretty much dry (just a few puddles to contend with). I was glad of this as I wanted the opportunuty to test the car on a dry track. I don't think the scooby owner was quite so glad.... he'd put some pretty much knackered tyres on the car to "kill them off" (even though they were pretty much illegal when he arrived!) Funnily enough, it didn't take him more than a couple of hours to properly kill them. The tread blocks on the outside had completely gone and the whole tread pattern had started to delaminate!

 

He headed off to get some new boots.... down to 2.

 

I was quite pleased as we were now getting a lot more track time than if there'd been all 4 cars there, but half an hour before lunch this started to take toll on my car. After yet another (fast and quite violent) spin I noticed the battery light on the stack lit up. On quick inspection it was pretty obvious that I needed a new battery - it had spit it's guts up and left sticky battery goo splashed around in the boot.

 

Kwik Fit, yet again, proved to be a bunch of fu-kwits. I ended up paying Halfrauds £5 to fit my battery (by which I mean it cost me £5 to use their spanner while the spotty teen shop assistant stood by watching me whilst asking how fast it goes ). I set off back for the airfield but noticed that the battery light was still coming on. All the cables were tightened up properly so I stopped off at yet another garage (since fu-kwits proved so useless on the 1st visit). They confirmed that the alternator wasn't charging the battery properly ....

 

Andy phoned Sinclairs for me (his sponser in the LoT Race Series), after describing the problem to them they suggested that it was probably one of the connectors on the alternator (which had been replaced recently). Apparently they've seen a few issues like this with the K-Series in the past - one of the alternator braided connectors can become brittle when subjected to a decent amount of heat which can lead to it failing. This could have been made worse by the alternator change which would have obvioulsy disturbed things. The problem was that the connector in question is not officially available as a serviceable part . Luckily they'd decided to get a batch made up themselves to deal with exactly this sort of issue.... unluckily they didn't have any in stock. After some ringing around they confirmed that they could get one for Tuesday. I tried PTP, but they knew nothing of the issue so I opted for an overnight stay and a trip to Sinclairs.

 

This all happened before lunch was over! The scooby hadn't come back yet and my since my car was still running (even if I didn't know how much longer the battery would hold up) I decided to carry on with the driver training.

 

Next up were braking exercises. The corner that I'd just about managed at 75 before lunch would now be entered at 85mph . Oh, I should add that by now it was pissing it down! I leant a lot about understeer and how un-natural it can feel letting off the brake to regain front end grip. Scary but very rewarding.

 

We also did exercises controlling the turning radius of the car using only the throttle, drifting from one side of the airfield to the other without moving the steering wheel. This really helped me to find the transition point between understeer and oversteer, and also helped me understand why I was expiriencing so much understeer on the road; it turns out that since my geo was out for so long (only got it sorted a couple of months ago) the front tyres had worn badly on the outside edge. Although there was still plenty of tread over the face of the tyre the outside edges had worn to the point that understeer was inevitable. Time for some new front tyres.

 

Mr scooby finally came back and rejoined the group. Within the hour he managed to pick up a puncture in one of his brand new tryes! I shouldn't laugh... but :lol:

 

We finished off the day with a few laps of a circuit laid out with cones. It was at this point that we got to pax in other peoples cars, so I blagged a ride in the S. Nice car, but I was surprised to see 10 on the rev counter but the change light flashing up at 6k?! And the seats are better in mine (FWIW). It drove very well and turned in better than mine (thanks to my worn fronts?) and despite out-braking himself a couple of times he manage to put in some pretty quick times.

 

My car was still holding up so I took the S owner out for a thash. I managed to put in some good laps; a bit quicker than the S but I can't remember by how much - I didn't take note of the times. I'm not sure of the gearing on the S but I managed to keep 2nd up the straights where the S needed to grab 3rd (might have been driver rather than car ). I also managed to take my Mrs out for a few laps - I succeded in getting a bit lost between the cones and making her feel a bit ill

 

Sinclairs did a great job with the car, their diagnosis was spot on and I'm told that the alternative repair is a new engine loom! Just glad I didn't breakdown elsewhere as it sounds like it might have been a lot more expensive!

 

All in all a great day, It's amazing how little I actually knew. I wouldn't claim to be Lewis Hamilton but thought I was an OK driver. At the start of the day I span on the high speed corner at 65. By lunch I was taking it at 75 (whilst catching oversteer ) and I finished off entering the corner at 85 and still making at around. It's amazing how little you actually know!

 

If you're thinking of doing a carlimits day - do it. No point spending a few hundred notes on upgrades and shiney bits when you are only using 60% of the cars capability to start with.

 

Neil

[kimbo]

Ace reporting - glad you enjoyed. Kim

[ferk]

Great report, hadnt really considered a day like that, but now u have me thinking.......

[CHOPPA]

Top report. Nice one.

Your eventful day makes mine look like a walk in the park. No where near as much drama, but it did hail over lunch time which put a new "spin" on things in the afternoon.

I was amazed at how tired I was at the end of the day. Granted I had driven from here to there and back the same day, but I was amazed at how exhausted I was when I got home. It really did take it out of me.

Did Andy have a go in your car? When he drove mine, I never realised how far the rev counter went round. Never looked back since.

Do you feel comfortable doing track days now? (assmuimg you haven't already done any yet).

A

[Daniel]

Nice one Neil, sounds like you had a brilliant day, catching oversteer, well done!!!!!!!

 

Also it's nice to know about the altenator issue for the K-Series guys, could prove VERY expensive at most places bar Sinclairs.

[Varlz]

Nice write up m8. I got a walshy day for me 30th just havent booked it up yet but reading your article i cant wait. I totally agree with about modding the driver rather than the car. Glad you had a good one and that you got your car sorted as well.

[Deleted_User]

excellent write up Neil, did those tyres last long enough?

[chorton_1]

Cracking write up. I really should get myself on a course and see how deficient I really am....

[Neil]

Scotto, after all the effort I went to to pick them up I ended up keeping my current tyres on instead. I thought about swapping them but the weather forecast was grim to say the least and I didn't fancy either; having no traction all day in the wet or; driving home to Hinckley on a sodden motorway with heavily worn rears. Having seen what Mr Scooby went through I'm glad I went with my nearly new rears! I found out my fronts are about shot anyway - still legal but very prone to understeer.

 

The tyres took a bit of a battering but nothing more than I imagined - apparently 1mm of tread loss is about the norm for the day. I'm already planning my 1st track day (if I can find enough in the piggy back) so I might stick your old rears on for that.

 

If I can figure out (1) how to get a video off Miles' camera and (2) how to upload it to the web I'll post a short vid of the circuit session at the end of the day taken by the other Elise owner. I didn't get any in-car footage - long story involving me being an idiot, don't ask

 

 

Oh, I discovered a new problem this morning - I've got a nice bruise on the outside of my right knee from all the times I smacked it on the chassis side rail while spinning around

[Chombers]

I’ve got it booked for next Wednesday so great to read of your experiences, can’t wait!

 

 

Incidentally anyone thinking about booking it may want to do it sooner rather than later as there aren’t many spaces left over the next couple of months.

 

[Neil]

Did Andy have a go in your car? When he drove mine, I never realised how far the rev counter went round. Never looked back since.

Yeah, Andy drove mine a few times, including "the corner" at 85 in the wet (having only taken it at 75 in the dry up to that point!). I'm happy to rev my VVC already

 

Do you feel comfortable doing track days now? (assmuimg you haven't already done any yet).

Not done any yet but currently scraping together the funds for my 1st. I'll start a ticker when I get it booked

 

On the subject of booking a carlimits day, if you are chomping at the bit to get out there, it's worth checking for cancellations as a lot of people chicken out in this weather.

[grez]

Top write up Moschops!

I had a similar battery related issue on my Walshy day at the start of this month (I also have an S2 111S), no alternator prob or light showing though so I didn't notice til I got home and found a boot full of melted items including the carpet and soft top bag...

[Neil]

Melted carpet.... sounds familiar

 

I'm just glad that I'd emptied the boot as all our luggage was in there an hour or 2 before! The only thing left in there was the tool pouch and luckily the leather seems to be holding up.

 

 

Currently on the lookout for a new boot liner if anyone comes across one for sale.

[Ladders]

Blimey! Is that from the battery acid?

[Neil]

Yeah, nasty stuff. Got it all over my hands and was itching for a while even after washing it off thoroughly

 

The carpet looks OK on the other side, it's just the foam backing that's melted so I'm not in too much of a rush to get a new carpet.