TOTB - AP-Tuning Takeover
I think that the boys have done well 
It looks like Logan came third in the handling with Gary coming sixth beating some big names and some bloody fast cars
Gary also ran a 10.6 in the drag racing which is pretty superb knowing the Mu rating at Elvington!
Well done guys
No Ross in the results though........
All results to be confirmed as the official times are difficult to find (or were for me) I'm sure the lads will confirm.
It looks like Logan came third in the handling with Gary coming sixth beating some big names and some bloody fast cars
Gary also ran a 10.6 in the drag racing which is pretty superb knowing the Mu rating at Elvington!
Well done guys
No Ross in the results though........
All results to be confirmed as the official times are difficult to find (or were for me) I'm sure the lads will confirm.
http://www.auto-genie.co.uk
07733 527430
stuart@auto-genie.co.uk
Valeting, detailing and undersealing
07733 527430
stuart@auto-genie.co.uk
Valeting, detailing and undersealing
Stuart wrote: Looking forward to the report from Danny (with pics please) as there is no way that Gary, Ross or you will write much
I'll try my best Stu- although I'm having to rob other people's pics as we ended-up a bit busy, and no time to fit and swap the GoPro about either.
Finishing off the Ford 
Ten of the Best 2012
The weeks preceding TOTB 2012 were as manic as ever, and made worse-still with the Scottish round of the MLRSS just 7 days before. Gary and Ross had announced their availability to run as part of the MLR months ago, but the team list was changing right up until 12 hours before the Sunday as various cars dropped out with issues (including Norris' infamous Bogey and Madmac's twincharged, erm, "Tiddles"), and the lack of other high BHP monsters meant the slots were filled by Sprint Series cars. A strong team for the handling course, but distinctly lacking for the Quarter and Top speed.
APT were going to be busy on the day, obviously with Gary's and Ross' car's, but also supporting Antony Lidster's 700+bhp 2.3l GT35 VI, Paul Martin's 700+ Sprint/Hillclimb VI and an unconfident Logan in his 600+ 2.0 GT30-powered VII (considering Team 22b were fielding Andy Forrest's 3.8 flat 6, paper-thin Scoob running twin GT30's). We were also unofficially supporting Kenny Wylie's feather-weight Red VI sprint car built by Momentum Motorsport, weighing under the magical 1000kg's wet, along with a squirt of NOS to propel it along.
Ross' prep was fairly simple, since the car had done little since last year's event, plus no runs at 30-130, so only some dialling-in of the launch control was needed, along with a quieter exhaust system. After a morning of testing and plenty of calls to MoTeC, Gary got the engine singing and plenty of flames from the screamer pipe protruding through the bonnet, just in time for Ross' neighbours to voice their dissatisfaction!
Logan's car was ready to rock, except for some cosmetic damage from his off at the Kames Sprint.
Some patching-up and a bit of polish later, the VII looked a lot tidier again.
APT were going to be busy on the day, obviously with Gary's and Ross' car's, but also supporting Antony Lidster's 700+bhp 2.3l GT35 VI, Paul Martin's 700+ Sprint/Hillclimb VI and an unconfident Logan in his 600+ 2.0 GT30-powered VII (considering Team 22b were fielding Andy Forrest's 3.8 flat 6, paper-thin Scoob running twin GT30's). We were also unofficially supporting Kenny Wylie's feather-weight Red VI sprint car built by Momentum Motorsport, weighing under the magical 1000kg's wet, along with a squirt of NOS to propel it along.
Ross' prep was fairly simple, since the car had done little since last year's event, plus no runs at 30-130, so only some dialling-in of the launch control was needed, along with a quieter exhaust system. After a morning of testing and plenty of calls to MoTeC, Gary got the engine singing and plenty of flames from the screamer pipe protruding through the bonnet, just in time for Ross' neighbours to voice their dissatisfaction!
Logan's car was ready to rock, except for some cosmetic damage from his off at the Kames Sprint.
Some patching-up and a bit of polish later, the VII looked a lot tidier again.
Finishing off the Ford
This year it was the turn of the APT Evo to be the difficult child in the final week.
The braking issues that caused the rears to lock were fixed by swapping the master cylinders around, and the short throttle travel was corrected by repositioning the linkage. The front bumper was replaced for a copy of the Voltex kit and the wider rear arches were attached to the car by Chris at H-Tech. Unfortunately the body modifications over-ran massively, and a plan with ex-APT Chris to create a 'proper' rear diffuser had to be pulled at the last minute, and the rear bumper cut-back to reduce drag. With the rear-end change came a redesign of the exhaust, with it now exiting through the rear of the driver's side sill.
Gary had always had issues with the hydraulic lifters pumping-out when using launch control for more than a couple of seconds, which would hold the valves off their seats and leave the engine spluttering for a short while. After removing the rocker cover to fit a modified oil regulator for the top-end, we found more deep-seated issues with the valvetrain that could only be quickly solved with another cylinder head. A call to Ross later, a CNC'd and wire-rung head was winging it's way over to hopefully cure the problem.
With the engine back together, it was time for some tweaking on the dyno for the revised head the day before we were due to set-off. With the bottom part of the map checked, it was on to the first full throttle run- and an almighty bang as it neared the limiter, with the unmistakeable sound of metal shrapnel bouncing around the cell.
From what we could work out, a spare rachet strap beside the dyno had been blown about by the new exhaust and dyno fan, causing it to be dragged into the rear roller retarder, winding itself around the bearing until it reached the metal rachet before exploding, along with the bearing carrier, and punching the side of the dyno out by an inch. So that was it, no chance to fully exploit the Evo's full potential, or try the recent NOS addition, leaving Gary the only option to run a safe race fuel-only map for the event.
Nevertheless, he consoled himself with some practice launches in the yard.
The braking issues that caused the rears to lock were fixed by swapping the master cylinders around, and the short throttle travel was corrected by repositioning the linkage. The front bumper was replaced for a copy of the Voltex kit and the wider rear arches were attached to the car by Chris at H-Tech. Unfortunately the body modifications over-ran massively, and a plan with ex-APT Chris to create a 'proper' rear diffuser had to be pulled at the last minute, and the rear bumper cut-back to reduce drag. With the rear-end change came a redesign of the exhaust, with it now exiting through the rear of the driver's side sill.
Gary had always had issues with the hydraulic lifters pumping-out when using launch control for more than a couple of seconds, which would hold the valves off their seats and leave the engine spluttering for a short while. After removing the rocker cover to fit a modified oil regulator for the top-end, we found more deep-seated issues with the valvetrain that could only be quickly solved with another cylinder head. A call to Ross later, a CNC'd and wire-rung head was winging it's way over to hopefully cure the problem.
With the engine back together, it was time for some tweaking on the dyno for the revised head the day before we were due to set-off. With the bottom part of the map checked, it was on to the first full throttle run- and an almighty bang as it neared the limiter, with the unmistakeable sound of metal shrapnel bouncing around the cell.
From what we could work out, a spare rachet strap beside the dyno had been blown about by the new exhaust and dyno fan, causing it to be dragged into the rear roller retarder, winding itself around the bearing until it reached the metal rachet before exploding, along with the bearing carrier, and punching the side of the dyno out by an inch. So that was it, no chance to fully exploit the Evo's full potential, or try the recent NOS addition, leaving Gary the only option to run a safe race fuel-only map for the event.
Nevertheless, he consoled himself with some practice launches in the yard.
Finishing off the Ford
The long drive to York was a tiresome one, stuck behind an endless queue of caravans, trucks and tractors, but we arrived in time for some practice on the Saturday.
Ross took his VI for a gentle run up the strip with the NOS off, managing a mid-10 sec, and Gary took to the handling circuit. The layout was particularily more monster-power car friendly than last year, and Gary quickly found himself upto second place after a handful of attempts. The immortal words of "just one more" lead to a rear transmission failure off the line.
Chris and I drove back to begin the investigation while Mr Hayward chin-wagged his way back. It turned out to be a lack of drive to the o/s/r shaft, meaning either a broken diff or shaft joint. Pulling the shaft out revealed an inch-long section sheared clean-off inside, so we dropped the diff and stripped it to remove the broken pieces. The rest of the internals appeared ok, so only a new driveshaft was needed once everything was back in place, and the car was ready again for the main event.
In the morning, the plan was a gentle run up the strip to warm the transmission through, before attempting any launches on one of the Handling runs or the Quarter mile. Gary and Logan returned and set off for one of their 5 attempts on the circuit, but Ross came back with an issue. After running through the 4 drag ratio gears and the stock 5th, he could now no longer select first. With the 'box in neutral, you could clearly hear the tops of the dogs clattering as if partially in-gear, and we quickly found a small piece of the selector mechanism must have come adrift and found it's way into the spinning gears. Chris managed to fish out the mangled pieces, but the damage had been done- there was no way of doing a competetive run without first gear. Ross' day was over before it even got going.
The circuit for Sunday was much tighter, meaning big turbo's wouldn't be as much of an advantage as on Saturday. Logan was struggling to get a solid lap of the bland, coned area together, and Gary was having issues with what felt like a sticking throttle on his first two runs. After studying the logs, Gary found his issues were in the shifter being slightly too sensitive to his hand movements over the bumps and triggering a false gear-cut. A change in driving style saw him leap to the top of the circuit leaderboard in time for a brief rain shower to effect an early lunchbreak.
Once it cleared, the times began to tumble, with Gary dropping down to 5th, Logan finding his mojo and pumping in a 3rd place, and Antony Lidster knocking Gary out of the top 5 in the dying minutes. This meant the two of them joined Kenny Wylie and two Scoobs, including Andy Forrest and his well talked-about aero addition for the shootout final-
Logan was low on race fuel, and still using his soft rally tyres- just about able to hold up for one lap of the rough concrete, but the shootout called for two laps in quick succession and would rip them to shreds. A long time queueing meant the first run was blighted by some lairy moments from the cold rears through the chicanes. The second run was more promising, but as he neared the end, the front tyres could cope no more, and he washed out wide in both parts of the final chicane.
Kenny laid down the quickest time to date to pip Andy F, but we were all surprised when his time was smashed by the fat bloke from Barnsley- with Lidster taking the handling trophy for the MLR!
So an up and down TOTB 2012. Gary was pleased with what he'd achieved with little prep or seat-time (and as it turned out, no extra timing advance for the race fuel), Ross was truely distraught at a simple failure wrecking his day, and Logan was surprised and proud to have made it into the shootout with possibly one of the most heavy and "standard" cars there.
Ross took his VI for a gentle run up the strip with the NOS off, managing a mid-10 sec, and Gary took to the handling circuit. The layout was particularily more monster-power car friendly than last year, and Gary quickly found himself upto second place after a handful of attempts. The immortal words of "just one more" lead to a rear transmission failure off the line.
Chris and I drove back to begin the investigation while Mr Hayward chin-wagged his way back. It turned out to be a lack of drive to the o/s/r shaft, meaning either a broken diff or shaft joint. Pulling the shaft out revealed an inch-long section sheared clean-off inside, so we dropped the diff and stripped it to remove the broken pieces. The rest of the internals appeared ok, so only a new driveshaft was needed once everything was back in place, and the car was ready again for the main event.
In the morning, the plan was a gentle run up the strip to warm the transmission through, before attempting any launches on one of the Handling runs or the Quarter mile. Gary and Logan returned and set off for one of their 5 attempts on the circuit, but Ross came back with an issue. After running through the 4 drag ratio gears and the stock 5th, he could now no longer select first. With the 'box in neutral, you could clearly hear the tops of the dogs clattering as if partially in-gear, and we quickly found a small piece of the selector mechanism must have come adrift and found it's way into the spinning gears. Chris managed to fish out the mangled pieces, but the damage had been done- there was no way of doing a competetive run without first gear. Ross' day was over before it even got going.
The circuit for Sunday was much tighter, meaning big turbo's wouldn't be as much of an advantage as on Saturday. Logan was struggling to get a solid lap of the bland, coned area together, and Gary was having issues with what felt like a sticking throttle on his first two runs. After studying the logs, Gary found his issues were in the shifter being slightly too sensitive to his hand movements over the bumps and triggering a false gear-cut. A change in driving style saw him leap to the top of the circuit leaderboard in time for a brief rain shower to effect an early lunchbreak.
Once it cleared, the times began to tumble, with Gary dropping down to 5th, Logan finding his mojo and pumping in a 3rd place, and Antony Lidster knocking Gary out of the top 5 in the dying minutes. This meant the two of them joined Kenny Wylie and two Scoobs, including Andy Forrest and his well talked-about aero addition for the shootout final-
Logan was low on race fuel, and still using his soft rally tyres- just about able to hold up for one lap of the rough concrete, but the shootout called for two laps in quick succession and would rip them to shreds. A long time queueing meant the first run was blighted by some lairy moments from the cold rears through the chicanes. The second run was more promising, but as he neared the end, the front tyres could cope no more, and he washed out wide in both parts of the final chicane.
Kenny laid down the quickest time to date to pip Andy F, but we were all surprised when his time was smashed by the fat bloke from Barnsley- with Lidster taking the handling trophy for the MLR!
So an up and down TOTB 2012. Gary was pleased with what he'd achieved with little prep or seat-time (and as it turned out, no extra timing advance for the race fuel), Ross was truely distraught at a simple failure wrecking his day, and Logan was surprised and proud to have made it into the shootout with possibly one of the most heavy and "standard" cars there.
Finishing off the Ford
Youtube vid featuring Mr Hayward at 1:09-
<iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Z--zI7mA4rc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Z--zI7mA4rc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Finishing off the Ford
Top reporting sir
You forgot to mention my love of my launch control....its awesome!!! So awesome the first time I used it on Sunday I overshot the first corner!
I just hope my drive shafts last longer than Gary's!!
Kenny Wylie's Evo is a proper weapon....a rather impressive machine!
I'd of loved to get through to the final shootout but it wasn't to be.
The impressive thing is even with the breakages, the APT supported cars gained a larger percentage of the MLR team's total points!
Massive thanks to Danny for patching up my car so well to allow me to make it in my rather "normal" Evo!!
You forgot to mention my love of my launch control....its awesome!!! So awesome the first time I used it on Sunday I overshot the first corner!
I just hope my drive shafts last longer than Gary's!!
Kenny Wylie's Evo is a proper weapon....a rather impressive machine!
I'd of loved to get through to the final shootout but it wasn't to be.
The impressive thing is even with the breakages, the APT supported cars gained a larger percentage of the MLR team's total points!
Massive thanks to Danny for patching up my car so well to allow me to make it in my rather "normal"
Evo!!