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Post by apextwin on Mar 4, 2017 17:13:29 GMT
This year I will be taking part in the HSA speed championship. (Road going over 2000cc class) I plan to keep a mini diary on here of the events I compete at. But first a little bit about the car as it stands today:  The car has been prepared over the last few years with hillclimbs and sprint in mind. Mega thanks to "Bacon Sarnie" on here (Rob) for all the help putting it together!  The current spec is as follows: 1994 UK 1.8 (base model no power steering manual windows etc) Flyin' Miata FM2 turbo kit with Garret GT2560R turbo Adaptronic management FM race Cat Titanium cat back exhaust system Chassis bracing ++ (frame rails / frog arms) Carbon Fibre hardtop (soft top delete) JK composite Vx220 seats with Takata 4 point harnesses Hard Dog hardcore half cage with welded in door bars AST 5200 series custom valved dampers (949 racing xida valving) 700lb front springs 400lb rear Racing beat tubular front ARB. Standard rear ARB Depowered PAS Rack Type 1 Torsen 4.30 ratio 15x8 6ul with SG compound 205/50/15 Toyo R888 / 15x6.5 rota slipstreams with 195/50/15 Nankang NS2Rs Light weight racing battery Lots of weight saving. (shiny new dampers)  The car has got on a pretty strict diet to get it down to racing weight. Ive adopted a gram saving strategy - taking tiny amounts of weight from various areas of the car. It all adds up. So far the scales tip in at 84.18kg of things removed or swapped for lighter components. Im keen to get it up on some corner weight scales soon to see what it tips in at. Im hoping for sub 940kg. I aim to keep chipping away at the weight as I'm pretty much in the Colin Chapman school of philosophy of "adding lightness" makes the car faster everywhere.    Managed some arty shots in the new forest.   First round of the championship is on March the 25th at Castle Combe for the great western sprint. Shakedown track day at Combe last weekend which was mega fun. First time at the track with the car. The new dampers have transformed the handling. Heres some onboard from the track day |
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Post by Simple_enigma on Mar 5, 2017 11:44:45 GMT
Awesome car mate will be watching closely with this!
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Post by jackyboy on Mar 5, 2017 18:30:15 GMT
Now this is my kind of build. Turbo brg mk1 1.8, purposeful lightening and... A castle combe on board video, my favourite  and i like that it looks standard. Not some wide arch monster. |
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Post by apextwin on Mar 26, 2017 17:11:03 GMT
So... First event of the 2017 HSA speed championship done and dusted. Pleased to have come away with a class win and a new HSA class record which means maximum championship points. However, the great western sprint wasn't that straightforward... First off I was only a reserve so was not guaranteed competitive timed runs. I was allowed a practice run and would rely on people having issues to get into the main field. Unluckily for them but luckily for me people did have issues and 5 minutes before the competition runs were about to start I was given the green light to compete by the clerk of the course. My first practice run was quick but scrappy and included a grassy moment well into the meat of 4th gear. Starting from the pit lane on stone cold tyres makes the first lap very "interesting / scary" I struggled with mid corner oversteer - mostly provoked by over enthusiastic over driving and scrappy turn ins. The moment through camp at about 80mph was a bit eye opening! 150.94 seconds was enough to take the class win and set a new HSA record. I couldn't improve on my second time run despite going about it with a determination to be calmer and smoother, my car suffered fuel starvation running on near empty on the left part of the Essess and Bobbys chicanes, causing a major stutter and pause in forward motion. Lesson learnt for future track sprints - more fuel in the tank! Currently sat typing this up knackered / on the come down from a long day at the track. Sprints and hillclimbs may be short on "track time" but they make up for it with a hardcore hit of adrenaline that nothing else gives.  |
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Post by apextwin on Apr 4, 2017 7:33:08 GMT
Gurston Down test day is always a fantastic opportunity to dial the car and driver in at the beginning of the season. Last weekend was clear and dry so ideal constant conditions to play around with settings and get dialed into the track. I managed to get 10 runs in during the day, with one being red flagged due to a suicidal pheasant! Im pretty happy with the balance of the car now on this particular hill. Time wise I feel there is more to come, particularly as a lot of regular competitors were complaining of how dusty and slippy the track was. Some were one second off their personal bests. Still finding the car tricky to get off the line , I'm no faster than standard mx5s in that department, one competitor in a ITB 1800 NA was running 2.3 second first 64ft times compared to my mainly 2.8s...... Something to have a think about. I set a new PB on my last run before lunch of 37.67.  After lunch I made some other car setup changes and found the car more planted on the exit of slow corners. Sadly this didn't translate to a faster time due to a missed gear towards the finish. 37.79. Taking away that error I make that a theoretical best of 37.29. (data shows missed gear cost exactly 0.5seconds) Here is the onboard of that run: First competitive outing of the year at Gurston is the weekend of 22/23rd April. HSA championship on the Saturday and Gurston championship on the Sunday. The HSA record will be tough to beat standing at 36.52. Its held by an Audi Quattro with a fair few more ponies than I have. I think the car has the time in it on a good day but its a tough target. |
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Post by sandys on Apr 4, 2017 8:56:54 GMT
Good time, I should sign up for that weekend in April, don't stand much chance against some of the hardcore Gurston people though.
I quite like having the HSA times as targets to achieve, it like an additional meta game tacked on to the event, some are tough though, I was miles off the Rockingham one but know how easy I was taking it after a near collision with the wall after a spin.
I take it Dean with the stickered up mk1 was doing the good launches, I think he has traction control listening to the sound of his car as he was launching in front of me at Rockingham, that said I was doing 2.8 in the wet/moist last year at Gurston and in my one dry run a 2.6 which seems pretty quick but you are going down hill I guess, I do have another couple of 100kgs to shift and a lot less power.
How old are your boots, Is it perhaps new rubber time for you?
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Post by apextwin on Apr 4, 2017 9:10:23 GMT
This was brand new R888 SG compound 205's on an 8'rim.
My best launch last year was a 2.77 if i recall.
Was a very green track.
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Post by sandys on Apr 4, 2017 10:56:51 GMT
Hmm, there goes that theory, suspension setup a bit stiff perhaps so not getting the desired rear weight transfer maybe? seems like it should fire out of the traps with such a light car and big power, the spring rates sound about right for that car, how’s the weight balance, have you had corner weighting done? Concrete block in the rear perhaps |
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Post by apextwin on Apr 11, 2017 8:34:35 GMT
It could well be the relatively high springs rates I run. Keen to get her on some corner weight scales, there is a local hillclimb prep garage who built Paul Webster's beast so will get it booked in there to get it weighed / corner weighted.
Managed to lop off another 5kg in weight off the front of car since the Gurston test. Bringing the running total to 103.998Kg of gram saving.
Ive added back the roll cage which is approx 19kg + 5kg door bars = +24kg approx.
So net loss of around 79.998kg....
So some guestimation.... 990kg base car? +25Kg of turbo stuff? -79.998kg = 935kg
Time to find out for sure soon. The scales don't lie! I'm prepared to be disappointed as these cars always seem to weight more than they should! (except bacon sarnies car!)
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Post by baconsarnie on Apr 11, 2017 13:23:00 GMT
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Post by howardb66 on Apr 11, 2017 14:05:13 GMT
Good effort at Gurston, that was quick, I don't think you could've carried any more speed into Karusell(?). I recon you were turning in a little early at Combe- but hey , I'm no expert.
Had the NBFL on the scales recently & was shocked how heavy it is - 1092kg (heavier than my Griff).
I suppose the SC, rollbar, intercooler, oil cooler doesn't help.
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Post by Vindi (Russell) on Apr 12, 2017 12:55:04 GMT
I think the 'quoted weights ' were dry, so add 20kg for fluids for a start... most were over 1000kg from memory, apart from the early 1.6 cars with less bracing and generally less kit
Russell
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Post by baconsarnie on Apr 12, 2017 14:29:53 GMT
I think the 'quoted weights ' were dry, so add 20kg for fluids for a start... most were over 1000kg from memory, apart from the early 1.6 cars with less bracing and generally less kit Russell Exactly why my '89 is so light  |
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Post by apextwin on Apr 12, 2017 15:46:55 GMT
Soon we will see what she weighs.
More scope to improve braking into the bottom of Kaurosell with the bias valve tweeks. Too easy to lock the fronts at the moment.
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Post by apextwin on Apr 25, 2017 8:26:55 GMT
Two amazing sunny days at Gurston Down, my "home hill". Saturday was a round of the HSA Speed championship and Sunday the first round of the Gurston Down hillclimb championship.  The two days confirmed to me that I am well and truly hooked on this sport. The feeling you get in the top paddock after a on the limit run must be akin to intravenous class A drugs. Saturday began with 2 early morning practice runs. My "out of the box" time was exactly where I wanted it to be and left me feeling confident of getting some good times later in the day. Oddly the HSA class runners were running in a different class to me. (their own HSA class) My main actual class (road going over 2000cc) (confused yet?) rival would be a freshly prepared for 2017 400bhp Impreza. I had my work cut out as always but thats part of the challenge. The HSA class runners consisted of two other extremely rapid Imprezzas and a very smart Elise 250 Cup. Gurston is pretty unique with its downhill start which leads to the super fast "Hollow bend" the "Eau Rouge" of British hillclimbing. This is the view from the start line.  I lost out by 0.18 to the Impreza running in my event class meaning a 2nd in class. I was really pleased with a PB of 37.21. I couldn't get anywhere near the two HSA championship scoobies but pipped the 250 Elise and got reasonably close to the HSA record to score decent points. Im starting to loose enthusiasm for the HSA championship. The event turnout number of actual HSA competitors seems low, and mixing of classes dilutes the championship atmosphere, and the points scoring structure imho is pretty flawed. Moving on. Day 2 and the first round of the Gurston down championship was again bright and sunny. This time I made sure to put some sun cream on as my face was bright red from Saturday! If you have ever been to Gurston Down you may be aware of Stephen Moore, the current Gurston down champion, an Evo enthusiast and a man who can seriously pedal. His latest car is a 6 GSR running 580BHP and perfectly setup on Ohlins dampers. He and the car are unbelievably rapid. For this reason I set my sights and target of getting a second place in class! Again the 400Bhp Impreza of Shaun Fudge would be my main opposition. I wanted to set a really fast first timed run to put the pressure on him to try and better me on his second run. However I put too much pressure on myself which led to an over driven run with understeer in places and oversteer in others. I wasn't happy. Shaun set a 37.17 , now the pressure was all on me, to set a PB, except it wasn't. I relaxed and went about the second run with a far more chilled mind set. It worked, I pulled out a new PB of 37.07 to take the second place by 0.1 of a second!  As you can see from the onboard I got too excited coming out of Ashes on the run to the line and missed third gear..... I thought id blown it! Thoroughly amazing weekend. Well done to BaconSarnie (Robin) improving all weekend and setting a great time on Sunday in his stunning ITB 1600. Nice to meet with the usual MX5 lot and to meet some new people involved in the sport. So much advice to take in and use to help improve future times.  |
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le sigh