Day out to Woodbridge - Take 2
 

As some of you know, the only other time apart from yesterday I took the car to Woodbridge, I blew the T16 engine.

Know under test with the VAG 1.8T engine, I was hoping to spend longer than half a day drive. The car held up to the abuse it received and still drove home 30 miles to home.

Also, as some of you know I had the accident some time ago in the Marlin. Shook me up and was still a monkey hanging on my back while going round. Carefull not to loose control. But Steve maange to skid and shake the car out of all control. Though scared at the time, it was something I needed to go through in the Marlin.

All ended up being a fantastic day. Near the end of the day, rain, crap budget tyres and 260lbft of torque was not a good sign! Steve managed a 360 spin will opening the throttle on a straight (not full throttle). Then came in as it was dangerous!

Car on the striaghts was awsome. Just kept pulling hard up the the red line and pinning you in the seat. But in a very smooth fashion. Kept think when is this thing going to stop pulling!

Now need to get the suspension sorted!

Enough talking and me babbling on. Here are some pictures!

Nice picture of Matt's 5EXI in the background. Only time he was behind me as my driving is not fast at the minute!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...0_exposure.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...5_exposure.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...2_exposure.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...4_exposure.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...2_exposure.jpg

Good work! Proof that the re-build was worth it.

You desperately need lower seats!

Cheers John.

Elise S1 seats collected and ready to be installed!

Steve has kindly sent me some more pictures on mine and Matt's cars in the paddock.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...s/DSCN0342.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...s/DSCN0341.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...s/DSCN0340.jpg

Holy cr@p that's a big wing on Matt's car!

The bodywork on Matt's does look very impressive. Just needs a proper diffuser (one with a decent angle, rather than the Marlin curved item) on the back, and it'd look very neat.

Wing might be big, but it's the wing that big Marlin seem to say works best with the car. Full width of the car. And Matt's certainly goes round like it's on rails. And on the original mk1 suspension.

It's funny how some on the mk1 suspension seemed ok???? Mine and Matt's included.

Next Steps....
 

Hi John,

Glad to hear that the new engine is meeting your aspirations! If I can be as bold to recommend a few safety improvements.....

From your report on Woodbridge I would STRONGLY recommend that you invest in some new tyres....that extreme amount of power and torque in an exi on old, budget radials is a disaster waiting to happen...and I know you don't want another off.

Don't underestimate the importance of good rubber...at the end of the day it is only these that keep you in contact with the road! My experience on my Kumho V70's has been great..but maybe yoko / 888's / goodyear would be better for your extra power....any suggestions anyone?

Also...have you set up the suspension now (toe / camber / cornerweights)...again, all absolutely critical in my opinion now you have all of the extra horses.

Don't want to teach you how to suck eggs etc......but just want to see the car and you stay in one piece!

ATB

Rich

Interesting comments, and here's my angle...

If the budget tyres are correctly speed rated, they're not inherently dangerous, and in some ways there's value to having lower levels of grip when trying to learn the car on a track / an airfield. On an airfield with lots of run off, as long as you keep safe distances, it shouldn't be a problem if you spin. If you run lower grip tyres, you can reach the limits earlier and play on the edge of grip / driver talent with less of a consequence should you get it wrong.

The difference on an airfield, where you shouldn't really be presented with the same issues as the road (random tractor pulling out, surprise wildlife / potholes / debris / oil), is that with tyres that offer more grip, you drive at the same skill / grip threshold, but when doing so you're going much faster, and things happen quicker when the talent bottle dries up.

My first track day in the 5exi was in heavy rain, with low November ambient temperatures. It was a brilliant day for low speed slides, and learning the behavior of the car on the limit.

By contrast, on the road I'd always opt for a premium tyre (and do even on my daily driver diesel tank), as I want to have the best available grip should the unexpected present itself.

That said, 888s are pap for the road, as they're too fidgety (stiff sidewalls) and drone like mad, so I'd go with a set of premium deep treaded tyres for the road, with a set of 888s or even proper slicks, for the track.

As for geometry, I've experimented a bit with my car, and so far my current settings are my favourite.

Rear
-2 deg camber, 30 minutes toe-in.
Front
-15 minutes of camber, and 15 minutes of toe out. Not sure what the caster is, other than not much!

As my camber sweep is very different to the stock 5exi, and when in bump the camber ramps up quickly, so what works for me, may be quite unsuitable for a standard car.

You can see the differences quite clearly when comparing John's photos above, with these that were taken of my car on Saturday:

http://www.photodirectuk.com/www/gal...WRX/index.html

Cheers Guys.

John hit the nail on the head above. I only intend to use the crap budget tyres on an airfield to help get used to the car. Nothing to hit except a cone. Which ended up being the case!

The day was mainly intended to get used to the car and me to give the car a good shake down and test for reliablility.

Steve kindly drove it back 30 miles on the road (as I wanted to drop the trailer off on the way). On the road, the tyres are quite frankly dangerous just using moderate throttle. And in the wet (on the airfield), car could not stay in a straight line using moderate throttle.

And I agree. I always usually use premium tyres on the road on the daily drivers etc.
I have the Toyo's T1S on the "road tyres" at present as I don't intend to be using the car in really bad weather (though Mallory park could change that!)

For the track, I was looking at these intermediates.

http://www.toyo.co.uk/productdetail....&product_id=67

Those the goodyear Eagle F1's are recommended on a road car, not sure about hard compond on a 5exi.
http://eu.goodyear.com/uk_en/tires/r...F1AS/index.jsp

Suspension wise I intent to get it all set up. The Elise settings seems to be a good starting point from what I have read a couple of times.

So I intend to have a word with these guys.
http://www.sinclairemotorsport.com/

Though I would love to take the car to get set up by TD, they are a little far away at present just for a setup etc. Long term maybe....

As far as road tyres go, Eagle F1s are quite soft. I thought only the GSD3 is available in 15" though, with the asym starting at 17".

Looking at the goodyear web site, both GSD3's and f1's are not available in 195/50 or 55/15.

Only "Eagle NCT5, Economical and environmentally conscious" or the Goodyear EfficientGrip.

Damn.