I'm not sure I will check for you, I'm using a single something.

 

Checked and indeed I am, why do you ask?

 

This weekends national A meet at Shelsley had a massive 215 entries and the sun was shining saturday. I got in early and booked my 3 practice runs for my first crack at a track I know in dry conditions with the car at 100%. I launched on my first run took second and the car made what I can only describe as a mega WRC style anti lag noise and went nowhere, we checked and double checked everything tried again and the same happened. My car which had come off the trailer from Loton 2 weeks previous and into my garage come off the trailer at Shelsley and developed a massive misfire?!?!?

Spoke to Paul trailered up and off to Zen. They were very busy when I arrived with customer cars on the dyno for time attack, a while later and they got me on and after some buggeration the misfire was gone and the car pulled good numbers on the dyno and after some japanese food and good company I was off home and before I knew it back on the start line.

I did a 70% run with nice slow shifts as I have been really struggling to get used to the 6 speeder and crunching a lot of gears at previous meetings. I posted a 31.00 which put me in second place behind Roger in the mega Audi who posted a 29.96, quick but achievable with the new spec of the car.

I had a decent margin between me and 3rd place and nothing to lose in the 2nd run, whilst it was likley Roger would go faster you never know and I knew the car could break the 30 second barrier if I could put a quick clean run in.

So I went for it, it started great launching 1.83 fastest of all the 200+ cars of the weekend, then.......crunch another ****ing missed gear! finaly found the gear and to say the red mist had come down is quite an understatement, I got Kennel and Crossing just right and felt like I was clawing back time, my ess approach split was 19.47 just a tenth behind my PB even with the missed gear and there was hope yet, that is until I came into the esses far too hot driving like a ****.....understeer to massive oversteer to oversteer the otherway to big grass bank, another crunched gear all this and I still posted a 31.44 . The most annoying thing was Roger who was up behind me broke a drive shaft off the line and the 29.96 time stood as the winning time. My best sectors combined from my 2 runs put me faster than that which made things even more annoying as I may not get a better chance to beat Roger at Shelsley.

So a missed opportunity but considering I had no practice and Paul managed to fix the car against the odds and get it out there to score some much needed championship points not all bad.

I expected to come out of the blocks superfast this year and just go quicker instantly but I have a lot to get used to with all the new components on the car especially the gearbox and I think as last year I won't be really up to speed until mid season.

Loton Park next weekend for the first visit of the British and Midland champs to my favourite track, I did my Banzai run and record break here last big meeting and hope I can do the same this time, it will be tougher than tough though to take a win as Roger seems to be really flying in the big A4 now and the development problems of last season seem to be behind them but I'm up for the challenge!

I'm off to practice changing gear.

Ess approach at 97mph


My car post encounter with grass bank


My Banzai run, some great driving and some awful driving....what could have been.
View My Video

 

Only because most of the big output cars seem to run 2x 044. I've got a spare one which I'd never used because I thought I needed another. I will now try a single 044.

Mark

 

I use a single 044, can't imagine what two would sound like in stereo

 

Notice I said the big output cars, you obviously don't fit that criteria John

Is your engine ready yet?

Mark A

 

Rob, is it selecting 3rd that you are having trouble with?

 

Yeah, it's odd I didn't miss a single gear change through the entire 2007 season and I haven't managed an event without missing at least one gear with the 6 speeder this year. Everyone else who's driven it seems to think it's fine though so I think I might just need to sort my act out?

Nice to meet you at the weekend by the way .

 

I always seem to miss 3rd in my 6 speed too and this seems to happen to anyone who drives a 6 speed car after getting used to the 5 speed impreza box.

Banny

 

Rob, i had this problem for most of Knockhill untill i held the gearstick differently and adopted a slightly different movement.

Instead of pushing the gearstick diagonally from 2nd to 3rd, say at 2 o clock angle, where it doesnt go into 3rd, try pushing it more towards 1 o clock.

I did this by putting the palm of my hand behind the stick instead of to the side. I havent missed 3rd gear since.

The gate between 1 and 3 is very narrow, especially compared to a five speed.

Try the above approach and see what happens.

Nice to meet you too

Steven

 

Who needs a 'big output'

Yes !!, so are the bits you are sniffing at, do you want them ?

---john---

 

John I've sent you an e-mail

 

Loton Park tomorrow for practice and race on Sunday, I have been trying to master the akward shift from second to third on the 6 speeder up and down the drive and I think I have it nailed (famous last words), were also gonna try some new stuff with the handling to calm it down and make it more neutral.

Forecast is good and I'm looking forward to it!

H&DLCC - Events

I got given a pic from Harewood (below), I have entered the 2 day national at harewood on 5th and 6th of July and hope to take a couple more seconds out of my times.

 

Another frustrating weekend but this time nothing it on to blame but myself, I went well in practice with some good record time splits but had a minor spin on my final run after putting a wheel on the grass.

I made a good triangle split on my first competetive run of 21.6 right where I needed to be for record times but drove up the 'straight' like a puff and made a hash of the last corner.

My final run sat in 2nd place with my record gone and nothing to lose I went for full attack and locked up and went over the grass into the first corner, great. I was clawing it back when....... wey hey I missed 3rd gear out of the final corner and finished with a 56.4.

So 2nd place and my record broken down from 55.79 to 55.55 by Roger in the mega audi. I know the car is well capable of those times and even getting into the 54's I just need to kick my driving up a notch or Ten.

My mistake filled season continues and I really need to sort my concentration and finish some clean fast runs, I am almost a second behind my times of last year with twice the car, stupid errors and missed gears are threatening to ruin my season already. I intend to get my act together for my next outing.

The teething problems with the car are behind us now and it was excellent, handling sorted and really neutral and seriously fast accelerating through the gears.

Struggling to upload the video at the moment but will post it up later.

The Clerk of the course finaly lost his rag with my route 1 approach to one corner and left me a reminder of the flappy things I keep breaking and he won't put up with it much more.

 

Cutting Rob, you could make a rally driver!

 

I hope to be the unmaking of some rally drivers very soon .

I'm on full attack for the rest of the season, I'm seriously dissapointed with my cowardly weekends driving and intend to bring some pain to epynt!!!!!!

 

Take care Sir, this place will bite you in the **** if you let your concentration slip for a 1,000 second.

Keep plugging away, all your hard work will pay off in the end..

Regards, John..

 

Hi Rob,

Very interested to see your post re hillclimbing. I have been running a Toyota
Mr2 at Gurston Down Speed hillclimb for a couple of seasons,see Mr2 Sprinting Home Page It has been a very useful car to hone my driving skills but sadly
is not really powerful enough or geared correctly for sprinting. So I have just bought a Type RA as my next Hillclimb car. It is a WRX and came fitted with a cage I will be testing the car at Gurston down on the 22nd June to see what sort of times I can run and see if any mods are required. All I will do initially is fot a set of Toyo Proxes R888 road / track tyres, these transformed the Mr2 in both wet and dry conditions. I intend to keep the car road legal and drive it to and (hopefully) from the events. I thing the change over from the Mr2 to the Type RA is going to be a bit of a shock, no DCCD on this one so throttle feathering is going to be the key here me thinks. Anyway, will keep you posted on my progress, Gurston is BARC SW if you fancy a visit some time it would be great to see you there Check Gurston Down Hillclimb

Cheers,

Jules.

 

Jules

You should have bought mine and saved yourself a fortune (in the long run!)

Race Cars : STi RA Road/Track etc, Forged 2.5 etc

Have fun

Martin

ps. I've really enjoyed Gurston!

 

well done at curborough mate no way of catching that evo with the sequential box,115 over the finish line!!!!!!
Good to meet you

 

Good to meet you to mate and very well driven I never thought I'd see an impreza win the road mod class!

Had a great battle with Norman in his evo you mentioned above, he pipped me by just 0.09 in the end, I had him in the twisties but 10 mph faster than me over the line proved just too much. Nice bloke and a great challenge, I'll have him next time!

 

I hope to race there very soon in prep for doing the leaders championship next year which goes country wide. Can you recommend a good B meet this year?

I think you will enjoy the transition to the scoob mate .

 

As mentioned above I did a single lap meet at Curborough where I haven't driven for what seems like an age on Sunday and really enjoyed it, the weather was excellent and the meeting was really well organised.

There were some serious cars there and some serious drivers and competiton was very close in all the closed roof classes, none more than ours.

Stormin Norman came down in his Evo 6 to replace John Stevenson whos car is sick and looking at his practice times in the morning it was obvious he and his car were very quick and I had my work cut out!

We were never more than a few tenths apart all day and I set a 32.65 just to see him come in under me by a mere 9/100ths on 32.56 and push me into second. What I gained in the corners he dragged back down the finish straight crossing at a mind blowing 115mph to my 105mph and just sneak ahead! It was a great battle to be a part of and great to watch so I was told.

I felt I drove well and the car was great although my finish line speeds were a few mph down on my one and only visit last year which was a bit dissapointing but my peak boost was quite down so I think that would explain it, time to get it back on the dyno for a tweek!

I intend to go back with some fresh front tyres as mine are beyond ****ed and full boost and have a crack at the record of 31.95, very tough but I know where I left some time and I think it's achievable with a near perfect run, and I'll keep going back till I get it!!!!!!

Had some good racing, met some nice people and got sunburnt a good day out

 

Gurston is good fun - I have done 2 events there in the past, 1st one in a P1 with about 300/300 and 2nd and final one in the RA which was running about 370/370 at the time. I have a video of that final run somewhere - I'll post it up later.

I hope to do one event there this year, would be interesting to see the same car with twice the power this time

 

Nah m8, not got that sort of dosh. Dont need all of that power etc, I will make this stock WRX RA work for with just minor mods.

Yep I've had some good times at Gurston

Thanks m8,

Jules.

 

I have only ever run at Gurston, they run B meets and a couple of A meets
for the british hillclimb championship. The events are now televised on Motors TV (Sky I think) Check the events calander:
The Gurston Down Calendar

I Think that I should be Ok in the Scooby, but it is going to be a learning curve in so many ways. But I'm up for the challenge

Maybe see you there sometime,

I am running Gurston in RGP on the 22nd June as a taster for the Scooby, that is if the importer finally gets it registered, else I'll have to run the Mr2.

Cheers m8,

Jules.

 

I forgot to mention above a break through on Sunday........ I competed my first meeting without missing a gear this year!!!! I think I'm getting the hang of the 6 speeder finaly and the ratios worked really well could this beginning of the end to my whingeing about the gearbox....... who knows D).

My annoying front tyre wear continues and front grip was very scarce at the weekend even with 36 psi in them to try and stop the tyre wall collapsing and creating this mess, I'm out of Ideas suggestions on a postcard please. These are knackered and ready for the bin but I'm at the mercy of Avon until they decide to make some more.

 

I just nicked this pic from Sunday off the MLR (Sorry North)

 

With your boost sorted i bet you will have him!
Need to sort out my dreded under steer,dont know what else to do.Any ideas?

 

I ran against you last year in a white RA....you beat me! I was the 'short bloke' in the Blue Bugeye cheering on Rob and trying to buy his Dad's green Audi.

I had the same trouble last year with the handling and blamed the front plated diff. I made some changes with the ARB's from Curtis (Power Station) and went for more forward DCCD. Problem solved.

With bugeye on EXE TC and White line ARB's plus an anti lift kit, car firmly planted. Tried My RA with the original Ohlins and had the same prolem as last year. I think the dampers and springs were too hard, great on a race track but deadly on a bumpy sprint track....just a thought.

I think more progressive/compliant springs, firm but not too hard dampers and hard rear ARB works for me. I am two seconds faster with less power and 300KG more weight. It's all in the suspension.

That car of yours looks bloody quick out of the blocks!

Rob, £6K buys you a sequential box mate?

John