Anyone planning another Pod trip? The summer is nigh so isn't it about time to get another session sorted?

Who's up for one?

sounds good, i'll certainly come and watch at the very least...don't really want to junk my super-duper helix clutch !

Im planning to go on May the 17th,to try and put a time in for TOTB

May 17 sounds good - I also need to put in a time for TOTB (although I don't believe there is a qualifying time published yet)

Begbie - any news?

think its under 13seconds Nigel!

It was 13.0 or better last year - I hope they keep it at that level, as I'll struggle to get much better than 13.0 without stripping out a fair bit of weight (or running race fuel on a remapped ECU, which I can't afford at the moment)

^ Slicks?

Still the same time for qualifying

Ah good - in that case, a little bit of weight saving and my trackday tyres with 20psi should suffice for a 13.0

I'll put it in my diary

Anyone else fancy a day at the Pod?

I'll check my diary

im coming but my cars completly standard and ran 14.4 last time so dont think ill be gettin under 13s by takin out my spare wheel
andy

The 17th is a Peak Performance Test & Tune Day,so not strictly a straight RWYB,its £50 for the signing on fee,in advance(£60 on the day) and its limited to 100 cars with unlimited runs

Im going to go anyway as i imagine a normal RWYB would have mile long queue's

Sunday 18th is a full RWYB

As with Taffy, I might still do the Saturday, as I hate waiting an hour between runs

IIRC, they also treat the track, so there's a good chance of some decent launches

Anyone else going to this?

AS long as the weather holds, I should be there on the Saturday, complete with race seats and treated trackday tyres

Im going,I booked my tickets on thursday and i was told there were 70 places booked up to now

so what happens if its rained off?

There is no such thing as rained off...

Ross

at Forza Italia I'm sure they didn't let people run in the wet?

sod it - booked it

If it's completely rained off, they usually allow the tickets to be used for another Peak Performance day

Are you guys serious???

@crail, if its wet, its wet.

The only time they have stopped people running is when there was ice and the test jeep went from one lane to the next...

Ross

Santa Pod has a rubber track not concrete, any water on that sits there as it totally non porous. You only have to spit on the track at the pod for them to close it down and get the jet engine dryer out for half an hour!!

Ah right. Never knew that

Well if any of you guys fancy putting a real time down on concrete, let me know

Ross

been there, done that, didn't like it. Elvington is concrete and pretty difficult to get a clean launch - either bogs down or spins up for ages. At Santa Pod, the wheelspin usually results in enough heat to gain traction again

I know where "wheelie strip 1" in MK is. Free. 1/4 mile. Tarmac (good drainage). Flat. Straight. Abused. True. Timing is manual, however. Start is at the wave of a hand. And any lights that are not red mean go as fast as you possibly can...

if there was a dwyb aswell id be interested.

eh - dwyb?

DWYB - drifting?

Drifting yes

At the pod? Is this before or after the finish line?

after the finish line!

I've been to the pod a few times and they have a drift section to the far left of the strip, near the toilets (no jokes about skid marks please )

weather is looking pretty good - cool and cloudy

There's a chance that Paul and John from Motormech may be dropping in after lunch

I'm aiming to get there for about 11:00 - no need to get there early now I've paid in advance

I might pop along for moral support

Oh Ar$e

Got there about 11:30, as planned. However, that was about ten minutes after the rain started

It finally stopped raining at about 3:00pm, so they set about drying the track. Just short of 4:00pm, the track was looking very dry, the inspection had been done, they even sprayed the surface with the sticky traction-aid. Then it started raining again , so I left.

180 mile round trip - £30 worth of fuel, plus a tenner's worth of octane booster.

hopefully I'll get most if not all of my money back, as it will probably be classed as a rain-off.

However, I now have to go back tomorrow and queue with the masses to see if I can post a TOTB qualifying run

Good to see a few more Coopsters there - shame we couldn't get to show them off a bit

Yeh bit gutted for you all Nigel. The track seemed dry to me, and if that one big could hadn't of emerged at 4pm then I'm sure you'd had another hour of dry

Some lush cars there too, shame we didn't get to see them down the strip.

Thats more like it

Three runs today

12.7035, then a bogged-down 12.8405, then I surprised myself with a.....

clicky for time slip - right-hand lane, car No19

Cant view photobucket at work ...

Ross

Fantastic set of runs Nigel, consistent and fast! Your 12.38 @ 115mph really goes to show how important the 60ft is... 2.01 seconds

I have been meaning to ask you to add your car to TorqueStats Now seems like a good time to feature your car especially in the 1/4 mile and Hall of Fame tables

Sweet Nigel! Road tyres + stripped out?

All runs done on trackday tyres - best run was with the fronts at just 17psi

Car was partially-stripped - front seats replaced with a pair of race seats, rear seats removed, boot trim removed, spare removed - that's it. Its normally a lot more stripped for TOTB

The first run I did, I slipped the clutch way too much - the video shows a lot of clutch smoke, but I still managed a 12.7. Sorry for the extra-loud PA system spoiling the noise of the car, but the end result speaks for itself. Trounced the RX7 Infini thingy in the nearside lane though, which was satisfying

On my best run, I was getting the FWD equivalent of axle-tramp - wheels were bouncing around - I reckon there's a bit more to come with the damping set harder, but seeing as I'd already done a 12.38, I decided to take mercy on the clucth and I called it a day.

Fantastic time(s) Nigel, and as Leighton said - that 60ft is amazing.

Well done Nigel

Well done Nigel, go get 'em.

Wish i had been there on Sun as well to see that!

(Still drying out from Sat)

T

Excellent time Nigel

I managed to get another 2 runs after you left on Sat but couldnt get under a 14.0

Dunlops? With a burnout to warm them up or just from cold Nigel?

No - Yokos on the front (softer sidewall), Dunlops on the rear, with a decent burnout

unfortunately, the rear of the car is so light that the handbrake won't hold it, so even with the fronts on a wet patch, I simply spin away up the strip with my rears locked up

well done Nigel!

Looking quite short for TOTB though aren't we?

Yes we are - c'mon guys - there must be some more cars capable of a 13.0

Not sure I'll want to enter if I'm the only Coupe

What's Flea up to?

I'd love to be there - but I wont make the 13 sec time. Even if I could make the time I'm out of a job at the moment, so would not want to risk running the car and not having the money to fix it if I break bits.

Anyone thinking of a regular cheapo RWYB group-hug type day?

Good times Nigel. Would love to get mine to that level. What mods/power?

Lots and lots of mods

take a look at the entry in the Coupe hall of fame