Looooong time since I updated this thread. Well, lot's been going on but not really GTR related so I'll keep it on topic.
Unsurprisingly my intention this year was to get lots of track time in as "the car is now behaving itself". Even more unsurprisingly it hasn't quite worked out that way....
First outing was Snett along with Daz and Steve Linton in the newly built and co owned RX7. Great day and no real issues other than that my Data Logger was dropping out so I wasn't able to do quick session reviews which was annoying. The logger put the reason down to loss of power which can only mean the loom problems are expanding as it's hard wired in so glad to have got the new one from RK. Having said that it still hasn't been fitted....
Second was again at Snett which was an absolutley superb day. Went with another lad from GTROC with a fast R32 and had much fun tearing round right up to the last session where the inevitable BUT appears....
Long and short of it the OS Giken gearbox let go. Regulars will recall i only bought this last year because there was nothing costing money on the car at the time and the box was the weak point so I thought i'd future proof it with a complete 1-5 OSG box with centre plate etc, supposedly unburstable at my power. Well that turned out to be bollox!
Lot's of back and forthing, finger pointing and blame throwing resulted in me footing the bill for a full rebuild which I won't go into but suffice to say wasn't cheap and pissed me off
Still, I now have it back and am looking for trackdays to get it out and use it again.
I also treated myself to some new Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres which according to michelin give .8 secs a lap in the dry, over a second per lap in the wet and 50% more lapping than the originals I currenlty have. If true this will be very impressive so I'll report back when I've put them on, the next day should kill the current set - which I have to say have been excellent, as much grip as the 888s but slightly more warm up required, yet night and day better in terms of dealing with temps and wear so I think very much worth the extra money. That said, where I paid over £1000 for the originals, I managed to get the sport cup 2 for just over £700 from tyreleader.co.uk in Germany which makes them the same price as 888s in the UK - no brainer! I really rate the michlins.
I've also bought some new pads. AP told me that the porterfields I run are very hard on the discs and causing the cracking and hazing. In consultation with them and also circuit supplies (very knowledgable) we settled on some ferrodo DS UNO which are used in Endurance racing. Not on the car yet but again, look forward to trying them and they'll go on after the next day kills the current portys. Slightly cheaper than the portys at £470 for a set, but I had to have the rears cut by 3mm which cost £40 so roughly the same price wise. However, a far newer pad material and also recommended by those who should know so let's see.
SO, a report back once I've tried it all out. I'm aiming to kill the existing consumables and have the stuff hung on for the silverstone classic in July where I'm joining the gtroc as it's the GTR anniversary event and we will be doing a parade lap on the saturday. It's not proper track time but the mrs is coming and will be her fist time out in the GTR oin a curcuit so hoping she'll suddenly find inspiration to pinch the keys and take it to the ring...
In other news, the long serving RR Sport Tow Car/jack of all trades may finally be being replaced. I can honestly say it's the best car I've ever owned and even as I test drive some pretty tasty metal I'm really struggling to find something that gets the "i want I want" kid in me reaching for my wallet. I get back in it and realise it still does everything just as well as it did in 2008 so whats the point in changing it?
In the same breath as having spent £500 on pads for the GTR, the nigh on 3 tonne 420bhp range rover which when not towing the GTR is being driven like a hot hatch back is still on it's first set of discs after 8 years!!!! what a car! And 100% reliable. Fuck it, I'll keep it
However, now I have the logger and can lap consitently (thanks to some bloke who gave me a few pointers.......) it will be interesting to see if they improve things at Snett for example.
