Just a little note to say thanks to Don Palmer and Colin for a great day at Mira yesterday, thanks also to Andrew for organising the day and showing that you can get an Evo to spin.

Hi to the rest of the guys hope you had as much fun as I did. If I had been told that you could get a car 120° to the direction of travel and recover it, I would have thought you were talking b*****ks until it went out with Don.

Simon de Sideways made a guest appearance to demonstrate what incredible car control you can achieve with tuition from Don and Colin, albeit after 19 appearances and a certain amount of talent.

Finally go to MIRA it’s a must! Oh but make sure you’ve got decent tyres all round or your car becomes very tale happy.

Thanks again.

Jason

 

hehe

I'm crap with names so forgive me for forgetting who was who...

Nobody told me it was a mass Scooby outing until I got a call from Don at lunch time!!! I was taking a well earned day off.. I would have picked a different weekend if I'd have known!

What a rabble!!!

We had a great looking STi Type R in Sonic Blue (didn't get a go though - couldn't slow him down for long enough!! ).
Then there was the most incredibly tail happy 4WD car of all time!!! Seemed to have the most sticky tyres in the universe on the front and 'Playstation Racer 2's' on the back!!! It was bonkers! I have never had to use so much opposite lock in a 4WD car before! Forget, *Simon* de Sideways, this thing was a tool for *bleeding everbody* de Sideways! What a great car!

The EVO6 was (I'm affraid to say) quicker than any scooby I have driven round there. Actually, didn't feel any quicker in a straight line (surprisingly) but was so incredibly competent in the bends that it would beet a Scooby round there by as much as 1/2 - 3/4 second I reckon. I have always said that they were no fun to drive in comparrison and I stand by it but would like to qualify it. There is a different fun to be had in one....

The pleasure of knowing you are in total control of an extremely powerful car (albeit AWD) is mostly gone. This is due to the Active Yaw Control and other such wizardry. What you do get though is a pleasure in being precise enough to sqeeze the absolute maximum out if it in terms of lap time, etc.

It was a bloody quick car! Also much better round the circles than other 6's I have driven. Normally you have to really struggle to keep them sideways, this one was a little more balance when sideways.

later

Simon


[This message has been edited by Simon de Banke (edited 13-03-2000).]

 

Jason,

Amen to that!

I also found it to be very educational and terrific fun. When I made my trip I still had 4mm of tread front and rear, and ended up with about 2mm afterwards.

Unfortunalty I hit a drain cover while having an unintended excursion and split the sidewall on one of the front tyres. It would be interesting to compare the performance of my new S02PP's compared to the original RE010s.

Cheers,

Alex

 

Okay you guys have sold me the idea.

How does 'one' get in contact with MIRA for some sideways fun. Websites?

I take it is a large track with lots of 'hose pipes' spraying the track...

Can't wait.

 

Yeah Simon that was my mental Scoob yesterday, that's what you get if you don't have matched rubber front to rear! Great fun though, I giggled practically all the way home!!!

I'm definitely coming back when funds allow.

 

Jason

Told you I was crap with names!!!

What a top car! It is a graphic demonstration of the effect tyres have on the handling of your car. People often neglect tyre choice as a minor concern, but there is no way you could produce anything like those characteristics with mere suspension adjustments (something we all spend endless hours discussing - me included).

I spent no end of time trying to engineer slightly more oversteer into my old scoob. All I needed to do was use your patented tyre set-up!!

I had to dash off half way through my last post so didn't get to mention...

Again, your name escapes me, (really sorry) but I drove a fantastic STi Wagon.

This is one of the most driveable Scoobs I driven in ages. It is impossible to draw any "Wagon is better than 4 Door", etc comparrisons, but just to say that this particular one was wonderful. Really balanced during oversteer, felt really torquey and quick, loads of progressive grip. Slight tendency to oversteer ( ) under braking, etc. And it looked the muts nuts as well!! Why did I ever sell my WRX

Thank you to you and everyone else who let me drive their cars and it was great to meet you all.

c-ya

Simon

 

yeh, but did his tyres smoke

 

There is still only one true tyre smoker that I know of Mr Felstead Sir!

 

My thanks also to Don and Colin for a great fun & educational day. Thanks to all the group for making it fun too. Although it was all Scoobs, apart from mine, I was surprised at the range of handling depending on the car (and tyres!).

Also proved to me that the Evo isn't infallable, as Jason will testify to . Luckily the spraying systems cleaned the grass off over the rest of the day .

Nice to meet the infamous Simon too, and experience his driving, which was actually pretty tame compared to Don's outing .

Andrew

[This message has been edited by boltona (edited 14-03-2000).]

 

I coud find this out myself, but thought others might be interested..

Simon - does Don do days during the week as opposed to weekends, as I can find free time during the week much easier?...!

cheers
Night

 

Andrew

Thanks for the comment about my driving being tame in comparrison!! It is actually a serious compliment, beleive it or not. Especially if you looked at the lap times. Great car, thanks again!

Nightmare

Don does arrange special events during the week. He is basically a handling guru who is hired by many manufacturers and individuals for all sorts of things. I know he often goes to MIRA for one-to-ones but at a considerably increased cost. Best thing to do is give him a call. 01628 784911 or don@drivingdevelopment.co.uk

c-ya

Simon

 

Nightmare
If you have not heard from don, from what I understand he would be willing to do something during the week. Get six people to go and you can go for free. I will be going again this sunday and I think it will be 5 times for me. You won't be disappointed.
chewy

 

Can I thank Andrew for booking this and Don for running it.
It's the first time I've met anyone on this BBS, SIDC or IWOC, and hopefully not the last.
If anything, I was glad to discover that around the circuit, I ran out of bottle before I ran out of grip. I'm planning on doing it again real soon. See ya there.
Martin.

 

I'm booked in for Sunday 30th April. Anybody else thinking about going then?

Rich.

 

Can anyone spectate at MIRA, or is it for participants only ?

Cheers
Simon

 

Rich
You never know....

Simon
MIRA is a high security site. Anybody wanting to get on must be authorised to be there.

It is in fact quite a privellage for members of the public to be allowed on the site at all.

Unfortunately this means that casual spectating is not allowed. If you want to see what it's all about, drop Don a mail, he can every now and then book a person on as a guest, etc.

Cheers

Simon