Home Mechanics / Kit Car
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Awesome mate. Well done. Now to not try and kill yourself.
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The Caterham is live and on the road! It has been for a while, but I've been slack.
I've only got 4,000 rpm to play with at the moment (engine revs to 7,500 with powerband from 4-7.5) so its all about bedding in before I get out there and start to get the real enjoyment. Other negatives are that the clutch is a right shit to get used to, and the brakes are quite poor (part of the running in apparently).
But the drive. Oh the drive. It's absolutely sublime. On the drive back from the factory (about 35 miles), I was getting very frustrated with all the aforementioned issues. Then I came round a corner saw some open road, chucked down a gear and maxed it to 4k through 2-4th and into 5th ... it was just an amazing feeling.
I drove a Ferrari 458 last year and I would argue the drive is better. Obviously not as refined or quick, but for real driving feel, the Ferrari isn't even close.
Long way to go, but early signs are fantastic.
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##Warning - Car Nerd Post##
First track day done!
I've had a lot of fun on the roads with the car, but nothing compares to what it's capable of on a track. Nothing. I was one of (if not) the slowest cars out there but for me, it was absolutely insane.
Was a four-seasons in one day, and had everything. First two were dry, and by the end of the second I was absolutely flying. Passed a few cars of same power, and had the arse out a bit around a few corners. Instructors taught me the racing lines and how to drive the car/track and it was utterly brilliant. I've driven a 650hp Corvette and stock Ferrari 458 on a track before, and hands down the Caterham was more fun than either. Easily.
Then the rain came before the next session. The Caterham guys were really clear about what to do and said respect the track, but don't be scared of it. So I took that to heart. Then it got really heavy and I was (I thought) accelerating out of a corner and around she went. Perfect 720 degree spin ending up the grass (wasn't going fast enough to get near a wall)
Confidence. Gone.
So went out with an instructor again who showed me what I did wrong ... and it was .. not going fast enough! But with confidence shot, it was really hard to push the pedal harder. He explained that Caterhams are light over the rear, so you need power on at almost all times to keep the back planted. I had lifted off after the corner which had transferred too much weight to the front of the car and around she went. Anyway, we worked on it over the session and I picked it up.
After the lunch break we had blue skies and dry track so I was back to pushing harder again, although unlikely as hard as at the end of session two. All the other slow cars had bailed after the massive rainstorm, so was only fast cars left and I was easily slowest on track - but I didn't give a shit. Doing 95 mph with the needle at 8,000 rpm, then smashing into fourth and feeling the power hit even further with your arse 3 inches off the ground really is, for me, the ultimate rush.
As went back into the pit lane at end of last session, the guy with the fastest car came over and shook my hand to "welcome me to the club". Wasn't sure what he meant but he just said, "your slowest on track, your confidence is down, but you far and away have the biggest smile here ... every single one of us was you once".
A truly memorable day which put all the other parts of the [John Mitchell] Caterham journey [/John Mitchell] together.
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@MajorRage Sounds fantastic mate. Getting instruction for the track is a must, though it seems you've been given a fair bit more insight than I've previously received. Smile was probably the same though.
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@Catogrande said in Home Mechanics / Kit Car:
@MajorRage Sounds fantastic mate. Getting instruction for the track is a must, though it seems you've been given a fair bit more insight than I've previously received. Smile was probably the same though.
Yeah, especially where I was at Brands Hatch. The racetrack is basically build around a gully (small valley) so the camber on the corners is all over the show. Ironically, the one corner I'd say I 100% read it correctly was the one I spun it at!
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@MajorRage I used to live in the village adjacent to Brands and as kids we used to hop over the wire all the time. Back then you could wander free around the place and on race day (not GP!) you could just saunter into the paddock and watch the guys working on the cars and bikes. Did you get to use the whole circuit or the smaller one?
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@Catogrande smaller (Indy) circuit.
You need racing licenses to use the GP track.
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@MajorRage said in Home Mechanics / Kit Car:
Confidence. Gone.
It comes back all too soon.
"your slowest on track, your confidence is down, but you far and away have the biggest smile here ... every single one of us was you once".
Yep.
I took out a pinetree in a rally years ago. Felt terrible about it, took mates and me weeks to fix the car. Was slow as fck on about 2 stages of the next rally, before I was outdriving my talent again and frightening the shit out my co driver.My smile would have been the same as yours though. Loved it and did get slightly better but was never going to win anything - you might though and if your grinning you are winning anyway. It's not always the other way around.
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Watch a Porsche 911 GT3 RS Roast Its Clutch Trying to Drag Race a Shelby Cobra
If you're gonna poke the bear, you better come prepared.
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@MajorRage said in Home Mechanics / Kit Car:
Just signed up for a track day at cadwell park .... this cater ham has much more power than mine, but check it out. Track looks amazing.
You are going to love that. Very consistent times, so driver must know the track, which indeed, looks amazing. Agree with @Crucial that downhill left hander is pucker up or shit yourself time.
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One for you to ponder...
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@catogrande She's going on Wednesday to pastures new unfortunately ...
Great experience, great fun, thoroughly recommend to everybody. But it is time for me to move on.
