Will post pics up when I'm home, but quick summary: My dad and I had our first runs, then almost about to begin second I discover rear left has a puncture and so are pretty much fkd lol, all tyre places close by are closed on Sunday. Thank God someone else in our club very graciously lent us his car, which is a heavily modified xjs v12 that gets 425hp at the engine and I think round about 300 at the rears, which was tons more than I was used to lol. So much more direct and precise than our stock car and was amazing to drive. Much more confident on brakes as well.
Always loved the XJS. Great to watch at the historics as they usually pump oil onto the track and make for some excitement! Jokes aside, Jags are sexy as. An E-type is high on my wish list. What were you driving prior to the flat?
Our xjs, though not modified at all so the replacement was a dream and much improved to drive Funny you say about the oil lol, the replacement car had some problem with oil where it would always end up spurting out somewhere in the engine bay (none on track lol), mainly due to the way the guy set up his engine. So we kind of uncovered a problem for him lol. Don't really know intricacies of the problem but that stopped us a bit early, but if we didn't get that car it would've been over a lot sooner lol. Got to take my mum for a steady lap as well lol. Tried to encourage my dad for an e type before they get even more expensive lol but it wouldn't be convenient and next one would defs be 4 seater.
Btw only got stopped early cos marshals saw thesmoke coming from Bay (oil was steaming), the owner wanted me to keep going lol.
Driving a well setup car is a double edged sword, it's heaps of fun, but then there is sooo much temptation to do up your own. A customer invited me to Wakefield to drive his very well setup rx7, since then I sold my mildly hotted up car and bought a car with all the fruit! 4 seater Jag... Got to get a Mk2! classy as fk!
Seen some great racing mk2s, like this one around http://aussieroadracing.homestead.com/ChrisHaighP1.html Also they had the bathurst winning xjs from 1985 on Saturday now owned by Mike Roddy. Some great photos I'd love to put up now but they're too big to upload here and will probably wait till home to sort out on pc.
Here's a vid of a mate of mine rally co-driving. They don't get to see the stage beforehand, so its not pace noted - all co-driver can do is give driver some 'clues' about what may be coming up. The old Mustang weighs a bit and is carrying a full payload of 120 litres of fuel, 2x spare tyres, tools, jacks, stands etc.. They came 2nd outright on this stage only beaten by 11 seconds by one of the leading Porsches.
Here is some Tasmanian race history from the 50's & 60's I am sure some of you guys will recognise some of the names Enjoy
Again, slightly different sort of track and wheels..... Unfortunately the video is too big for vimeo free, and the quality on youtube is poor. But this will have to do for now.
Anyone looking for a real life buzz, I'm hoping to have my little Mazda out for a motorkhana this Sunday. It's on at Nirimba tafe in Quakers Hill NSW. It's a great place to vent all your automotive stresses, and you won't get lag punted or d/c'ed! Bring any car along, kids from 12y.o can have a go as well, share the car, share the fun. Or just come say G'day! I've got a couple of cameras so if all goes to plan I'll try and get a video together.
So my camera's kinda worked.... and managed to salvage some footage from the day. Driver was rusty and the tyres were sh!thouse, but I had a blast all the same. Finished 2nd in class and 15th outright.
Went to Japnats time attack yesterday, was pretty fun out there until I cooked the brakes on my 4th or 5th lap of the first session and ended up going off track on the last corner. Will be ordering some new pads tomorrow . After that happened I was braking quite early and didn't really get towards the times I was hoping to achieve. Still need more track time to get more confident on the tyres I now have. Changed the pressures on the tyres and went out for the last session and this ended up happening in turn 1. Held it together quite nicely though. It was a step in the right direction as I did get quicker once they warmed up. Just need to keep practicing I suppose - Gonna go back to QR in two weeks time for the Street sprints.
I would look at upgrading the brake lines too mate (er if you havent already). Its just the short flexible section runs from body to the caliper but it makes a huge difference for repetitive use, gets rid of that spongy feel when the temp gets up.
That looks awesome. I would love to do something like this, closed off public roads, brilliant scenery too. Very nice.
That first section at Rotorua looked like puncture city with all that broken wood and felled trees. Damned if I could peddle for that long lol.
Was running very old Trampio R888's (Old toyo naming, bought them with my wheels). Some guy down there showed me the date they were made on the side of the tyre and apparently they were made in 2004 lol. Really would like to buy some Yokohama A050's
Have a look for Nitto Nt01s. Grippy and relatively cheap. It is a fairly soft compound, so they won't last 10 years, but they are great value. When I had the 205/50r15 nt01s on the Mazda it was a rocket, looking at them or ku36/v700 kumhos. V700s are pretty damn good too. 04 build tyres... That drift photo makes a lot of sense now
