Some Phillip Island pics

[Ross Nicol]

Hi craig
Thanks for the comments, the front wheel offset if your interested is 4" outer and 5" inner, does tend to limit steering lock somewhat.Wheels are 17" 3 piece and have a 265/625 17 Dunlop slick mounted.We are allowed 40"total wheel width for Marque Sports Racing and I have 9" front wheels and 11" rear with 15mm spacers.Good luck with the new tyres and rims.

 

[Malcolm]

Hi Ross

Thought an update might be of interest. I was driving at Donnington Park last Friday in monsoon conditions in the morning and then dry by late afternoon. Just a track day. When we first went out we had zero steering capability as the front end push was making the car impossible. Came in immediately. We disconnected the front anti roll/sway bar and it was as though we had got into a different car! The steering came back and driving became fun again. No other adjustments were made to tyres or dampers etc. This extra roll made a huge improvement.

But we also left the bar disconnected for when it was totally dry. The balance on the car was excellent and allowed us to exit the corners with some lovely drifts, very controllable. This is contradictary to my previous ideas on setup so I need to do some re-thinking of my set up strategies now!

I plan to try the car this way at Goodwood soon where I can make a fair comparison as I know that circuit better than any other.

What was also interesting was that I was able to use the throttle to get some turn in. With the front end pushing, a dab of throttle brought the back end round and then with a balanced throttle the car did go round the corners. I have read of guys doing this in books but never really experienced it myself. It was very satisfying to do. However I did get in wrong once and had to be rescued for the first time ever from a gravel trap!

I like wet conditions, they keep you concentrated!

 

[Ross Nicol]

Hi Malcolm Very good info, sounds like your bar is providing more than just final balancing of the car.Is it a large diameter bar and is it adjustable?I have had that understeer in the wet too but tyres make so much difference that I learnt early on expensive tyres means more grip, less understeer= faster lap times.Those laps that felt good may have been slow especially when drifting/oversteer. Your knowledge of Goodwood and times will be useful.I found go karting good for learning balance but I don't let the 40 drift too much.When it starts to let go I'm going so fast that the 2 round objects between my legs are telling my brain "be careful".I have raced in the wet quite a bit and the quickest thing to put you off the track is rear wheel compression lock, from not equalizing revs on downchange.The old adage applies in the wet use a higher gear at all times.Sounds like you had a lot of fun and found the gravel trap (like they say in golf).The worst thing in the wet has to be visibility, when the spray from cars in front causes a white out and there is armco either side it's sometimes frightening putting pedal to metal.
Ross

 

[Malcolm]

The bar I use is a 20mm GTD supplied bar with the ends cut off and an adjustable link fitted. You slide the fitting up or down the bar to soften or stiffen as required.

I use Dunlop Post Historic tyres which are next to useless in the wet, but I only have one set of rims so they have to do. A proper drift (when I get it right!) will allow me to carry more corner speed so exiting quicker than if all wheels are in perfect grip. Modern 17 inch tyres or slicks may not be the same in this regard.

The reason for the kitty litter experience was that I had chronic push as I turned in, went to "boot" the throttle to get the back round but because there had been zero change in direction as we were seriously aquaplaning, the car just went off that little bit quicker! All at well under 40mph at the Old Hairpin for those that know the circuit.

Ron was runnning his video in car so we do have video of 5 laps when I spun twice (Old Hairpin again!) and used the escape road (Melbourne Loop) once. Paul has said that if he can get copy he will post it on the GTD club website. There is also allegedly a moment when Ron was driving with me in the pits when he got his arms a bit twisted so I look forward to seeing that clip.

Charles was following me for a few seconds in his car and he runs 17 inch Goodyear F1 tyres. He just didn't have the same problems as his tyres can shift water very very well. Anyone planning 17 inch rims, these are the tyres for you for road and track day use.

I know what you mean about compression lock. I used to get it quite a lot whilst I learnt the car and played with pedal set up. I now have an adjustable throttle position and I have it so that when I am hard on the brakes with my foot straight across onto the throttle with the clutch depressed, the engine jumps to 4000 rpm (roughly). Took three days of mucking about to get this but it seems to seriously reduce instances of compression lock.

Visibility was terrible as you guessed. The cars in front were producing 15 ft rooster tails of spray! We played around with wiper position on the screen but even then the turn in for Redgate meant that you were looking through part of the screen that was never going to be covered by the wiper blades. Bring out the RainX!

Going back to tyres, looking at the cars in the background of your pictures indicates that you are also up against modern cars. Unless you run modern tyres of larger diameter you might as well go home. I run the 15 inch rims for period looks. The Dunlops I run are floppy sidewall cross plies. These are similar to the tyres that the cars at the Revival meeting run at Goodwood and the professional drivers there always seem to be in a slide in one direction or another. That is what makes driving the car more fun as an experience compared to up to date machinery. And more fun to watch cf F1! Charles and I took out the guys running a BMW 645 csi. They may have been minutes a lap quicker in the wet but we were having a lot more fun. In the dry my tyres kicked in and they were nowhere.