First time on track in my S2000 - Castle Combe

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Watched those vids its a quick car, quite a lot faster than my motor on the straight, I need that engine :)

Lots of blipping on downshift, yourself or computer? What rubber were you running?
 
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My MX5 race car felt very sharp today, even at 75% throttle as I am running in the engine. This does not mean I drove it around some country lanes today, not at all, never, that didn't happen.

Do you actually race MX5's Housey or is it just a track toy? I've seen you reference the car in the past but not really seen it posted :)
 
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Do you actually race MX5's Housey or is it just a track toy? I've seen you reference the car in the past but not really seen it posted :)

I have raced it but frankly when I started it was the wrong time in my life for many reasons I won't bore you with. However, I plan to race it next year, just not in a championship, more 1 off endurance races with mates is the plan.
 
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Lol, what a bell making gestures like that!

Agreed. I used to drive a N/A MR2 on track, so I experienced that sort of stuff all the time. At the end of the day, you're always going to meet the other driver in the pits at the end, and unless you're very, very confident and can "handle yourself", making gestures like that really isn't a good idea.

It's much better to just back off for a couple of laps - your car will thank you, and once you've calmed down you'll be able to put a few quick ones in and just blast past him, which is incredibly satisfying.

It'a highly unlikely he was holding you up deliberately anyway - he probably just thought you were both having a good time keeping pace with each other.

If you're genuinely much quicker than the car in front, you should be able to pass them anyway, whether they let you or not.
 
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I had a similar problem with a driver at Bedford, I was in a Honda Integra SiR with a few mods to make it about level with a Type R, came up behind a Subaru Impreza, he could pull away slightly on the straights but held me up in every corner, he seemed to think that because he could pull a little gap on the straights that he didn't need to move out of the way, I got him eventually with a huge lunge through the chicane, he saw me screaming up behind him and finally moved over.
 
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When he wasn't behind the GT86 he was >20mph faster in the straights and much higher speed in the corners but you can't torque past it like you could in something with more power and turbo.
 
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Car sounds awesome.

One thing to bear in mind with regard the situation with the GT86, if you just sit on someones bumper it can be hard from them to appreciate how much faster than them you are, they can't really tell you're nowhere near your limits and might just think they're involved in a nice closely matched tussle.

I find it's more effective to take a cool down lap, drop way back behind them, then drive at full pace to catch back up to them, makes it more likely that they'll see you coming and get out of the way. If that doesn't work I pull in to the pits and let them get on with it, frustration leads to bent cars.

This is the most sensible post in the thread. It's a track day, not a race.
 
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Nice vids. Any info on the ep3?

That Renault Magane looks a weapon on track.

The GT86 guy was obviously in the wrong, but I don't think he was that much slower, which surprised me.
 
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Looks like a good day. I love a good vtec, even when N/A!;) Glad you enjoyed it and no damage!:)

I like Combe. Friendly people, near me and the screaming Atom usually does the business there!:cool:

Sadly you always get some tool who thinks he can is racing you and following the Combe rules of no overtaking in the corners AND the braking zone (as defined by the lead car!), its often hard to get past safely.

It doesn't get any better as you get a quicker car either. For some reason people try even harder to keep you behind. Ridiculous tbh but its pretty common. I have no qualms in the Atom letting people by if they are on a quick lap and catch me up. Its not common but on the next straight I still indicate, and lift to make it quick and safe FOR BOTH OF US. Who knows about the other drivers skill level?:eek:

Plenty of Combe vids here if your interested > https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2dfLlhrRQPvSUujUCab3wA
 
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Nice vids. Any info on the ep3?

That Renault Magane looks a weapon on track.

The GT86 guy was obviously in the wrong, but I don't think he was that much slower, which surprised me.

Stock there's only a second between them 0-60 (6 vs 7), so they're not a million miles apart. Unless of course that isn't a stock s2000?
 
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The S2000 is modified but the power difference isn't huge (its maybe 50bhp difference in favour of the S2000, I dont know which is heavier either), really if both cars are trying then you need a quite substantial power differential to just 'breeze past' somebody!

Yes you will be faster, but to go past something like its standing still you need a really big power advantage if the other car is going for it in a straight line as well.

People talk about cars and how something with maybe 30-50bhp more than another car will 'destroy' another car in straight line performance, all things being equal, reality is the difference in a straight line drag race will be smaller than you might think. 100+bhp difference with similar weight and aero characteristics and it gets a lot easier.
 
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It also looks that the S2000 is 'off cam' a lot of the time, which we know is something that doesn't show it at it's best. I suspect if it was in the range it would also have made the difference more obvious.
 
Man of Honour
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The Leon was around 300 bhp, the Evo that got past I actually chased down in an earlier session. Straight line speed isn't the S2000's greatest strengh compared to some cars.

At the end of the day, you're always going to meet the other driver in the pits at the end, and unless you're very, very confident and can "handle yourself", making gestures like that really isn't a good idea.

As I've said, I did go and speak to the driver. :D

Lol hilarious!

Seems like there was plenty of opportunities to over take on the straights. But were you really that much faster than the gt86? At some points like leaving a corner it sounds like your going full pelt and only just about keeping with him.

First time on track in RWD and first UK track day, I'm not going to start racing people. End of the day he could have clearly seen I was behind him so should have moved over like many other cars did for me.

Nice vids. Any info on the ep3?

That Renault Magane looks a weapon on track.

The GT86 guy was obviously in the wrong, but I don't think he was that much slower, which surprised me.

As above, I wasn't racing him, just waiting for him to move. You can't see it in the vid but once I got past I was 3-4 corners ahead within a lap.

It also looks that the S2000 is 'off cam' a lot of the time, which we know is something that doesn't show it at it's best. I suspect if it was in the range it would also have made the difference more obvious.

My map has VTEC coming in at 3850 so it was on cam, but I'm not going to drive it hard when I'm waiting for someone to move out of the way. If I drop into 2nd on some of the corners where I'm revving up in 3rd I may end up putting too much torque into the rears and end up slidy slidy. The back end was quite loose as it was going through Quarry earlier in the day on cold tyres.

Watched those vids its a quick car, quite a lot faster than my motor on the straight, I need that engine :)

Lots of blipping on downshift, yourself or computer? What rubber were you running?

What car do you have? The blips is heel and toe on downshifts. Tyres are AD08R.

Also someone asked about instruction, there was free instruction on the day so I did a session with one of the instructors. He gave me some good tips on lines and which gears to be in hence early shifting on a few corners.
 
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I'd love to do a track day but in a bone stock MX5 it will be like I'm going backwards and while I'd be as observant as possible as to whats going on behind me I'm sure I'd upset someone at some point and I don't take too well to being called a ******...
 
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I'd love to do a track day but in a bone stock MX5 it will be like I'm going backwards and while I'd be as observant as possible as to whats going on behind me I'm sure I'd upset someone at some point and I don't take too well to being called a ******...

I had no issues at all taking -westy-'s stock mx5 around Llandow for my first day a couple of years ago...some hilarious body roll photos in the corners. :D
Just keep an eye out that someone may want to pass and don't race them, ease/let off the throttle a touch if you want to ensure they get past and you don't annoy them.
 
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Were the hand gestures really necessary? It's not exactly the sign of a driver who is calm and in control, especially as you really didn't get held up for that long.

Things can go expensively wrong on a race circuit if you let the red mist take control.
Enjoy the track day, accept there will be some idiots occasionally who lack awareness and stay calm. You'll be much more likely to come home with the car in one piece and a big grin.
 
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