Cadwell future classics

[MarkK]

Congrats to EMC(Pete Morris and Alex E) on a good win at Cadwell yesterday,What a track... a car killer..,i had my first result i was not happy with(6th) but it was entirely down to me messing with the geo before the race,still had a hoot though,went off the circuit 4 times a couple in spectacular fashion,Understeer is very dangerous...,need to get that sorted pronto for the next race the darned thing just would not turn in.This racing is full of ups and downs... not just at Cadwell Park either.. it really is a tricky old game[]!

 

[PSH]

hey Mark I hadn't realised that you had gone into racing, 944?? I used to follow andrew sweetenham 12 years ago while he was still racing. It was great back then, watching our humble cars beating the best that Porsche could throw at them in new machinery ,until they finally banned the 944 turbo when it could still beat the then current GT3's... oh happy days....

It would be great to go back to the circuits again to support another fellow 944 driver...keep us in touch with race dates, i'd love to come along.....[8D]


Pete

 

[Neil Haughey]

Thanks for the heads up Mark, I will congratulate Alex tomorrow and bad luck on 6th. BTW I passed my ARDS at Castle Combe Thursday morning, just about to fill in the CSCC forms and will be ringing them as well tomorrow to see if I can get into at least 1 of the next 2 races. The period from August bank holiday onwards is mega busy for us isn't it. Sort of lucky as I have the opportunity to almost do a mini seasons despite joining very late. Mark will you be doing all the remaining races? See you track side mate.

Paul F also found it tough going at Cadwell but had a great resurgence at Silverstone.

 

[Paz]

Congratulations on passing your ARDS test Neil []

 

[MarkK]

Hiya Neil all being well planning on doing the whole season,there are plenty of races left though,i have a plan for the next Cadwell i don't give up easy[],like Paz said Congrats on passing your Ards test,roll on Mallory.How is your car coming along,when does she go airborne??[]

 

[MarkK]

Pete there are tonnes of 944s on the CSCC future classics races,i reckon Cadwell would have made good TV,the dates are on the website[]

 

[Neil Haughey]

ORIGINAL: MarkK

Hiya Neil all being well planning on doing the whole season,there are plenty of races left though,i have a plan for the next Cadwell i don't give up easy[],like Paz said Congrats on passing your Ards test,roll on Mallory.How is your car coming along,when does she go airborne??[]

Thanks Mark & Paz, the car came back from the spray shop the other week when Paz/Lali/Pete et all turned up and of course I took the pictures put on here last week or so. I believe we may be doing the test morning at Mallory on Wednesday, I need to give em a ring tomorrow to check and the MSA to check on my application. I got the standard email Friday lunchtime saying they received it and application in progress.

BTW someone could have warned me how nerve racking the test was going to be []. I had a superb instructor, John Wood, a really nice guy who did his best to make me relax. The classic line "right I am going to shut up now, just carry on doing what your doing" was promptly followed by me dropping my pace by probably 2 seconds a lap [&o]. Still though he was great, very helpful to be shown all the lines etc. round Combe, and talk about the different track sections. The advice comment on the form says "Good drive, more track time prior to first race to settle", says pretty much exactly how I felt as I was somewhere beyond nervous that day. Straights A's apart from unsurprisingly the 'relaxed driving style' element that I got marked down to B. Not just a massive relief to get it done but a massive buzz to get back on track, and now a massive desire to get out again ASAP.

See you soon guys
Neil

 

[Diver944]

6th is still not a bad result Mark, I suppose you are used to the dizzy heights of podiums now so it just seems bad []. I've never driven Cadwell but I know it's very twisty and hilly so not exactly best suited to a Turbo even if you had the perfect suspension geometry setup.

I'm going to try and make Mallory this Sunday 1st August, it would be good if we could get a 944 presence in the crowd

 

[MarkK]

Neil,suprisingly not nice having someone with a clip board next to you watching every move,i did not really enjoy mine either,it was wet at Cadwell in my 205 gti![]Might be going to mallory aswell for some testing on Wednesday myself possibly so maybe see you there,depends on if my car is back in time from being adjusted and checked after the torture at Cadwell,i will definetley be doing the next cadwell park race to see how the adjustments improve the car on Saturday's performance.

Paul []thanks for that,what bugged me most was that i didn't feel i did myself justice,i drove really well i thought considering how badly the car turned in,but i have had a chat with someone that knows what they are doing and hopefully it will be sorted.....!Would be great to see you at the race[]

 

[Big Dave]

Mark.
Im curious.
Which corners did you find the car understeering most on.??
Cadwell needs a REALY good front end on the car, otherwise as youve found out it washes wide all the time....
Ive driven Cadwell quite a lot + each time it scares me, especially the woodland section....
Its still a FAB track though...[][][]

 

[MarkK]

Hi Dave,i reduced my negative camber to -2 degrees,washed out especially badly on the downhill bends,and on the faster bends at the top of the circuit pretty much everywhere,give me oversteer anyday,never realised it would make such a difference....still very early days on the learning front[]

 

[Neil Haughey]

ORIGINAL: MarkK

Neil,suprisingly not nice having someone with a clip board next to you watching every move,i did not really enjoy mine either,it was wet at Cadwell in my 205 gti![]Might be going to mallory aswell for some testing on Wednesday myself possibly so maybe see you there,depends on if my car is back in time from being adjusted and checked after the torture at Cadwell,i will definetley be doing the next cadwell park race to see how the adjustments improve the car on Saturday's performance.

I did enjoy it quite a bit once in the car but I was so nervous prior to taking the wheel, and at the back of my mind I kept saying no need to go fast, slow down, take it easy etc. etc. which meant I braked to much a few times and trickled into the corners a fair few times, chicanes and quarry in particular, the rest of the track foot to the floor. Still though if it wasn't a test I would have just gone for it.

Well looks like you will be on your own Wednesday, my car is not quite ready and as the race is at the end of August (assuming I get in) we have agreed to test there on the 18th. On one level I don't mind as its better to test near to a race on the same track, and in one sense if I have the car back now I can't do anything with it anyway. However it does mean I will be scratching away at that itch like mad for the next 3 weeks. Would be nice to do a test day down here but I bet they are booked solid now as it seems you need a good few weeks look ahead, and I bet with the upcoming PCGB races etc. a good few ppl will want to get a test day in down here. Anyways I am back up at EMC on Saturday for corner weighting.

I thought Mark that you previously had a setup you where happy with? what changed to make it all wrong at Cadwell?
Cheers and have a good day testing at Mallory.

 

[edh]

ORIGINAL: MarkK

Hi Dave,i reduced my negative camber to -2 degrees,washed out especially badly on the downhill bends,and on the faster bends at the top of the circuit pretty much everywhere,give me oversteer anyday,never realised it would make such a difference....still very early days on the learning front[]

Mansfield is a very tricky bend. Most cars will understeer there I think. Coppice (left hander at end of start finish) is a great corner and very satisfying when you get it right. I also think its a place where you can probably gain or lose lots of time depending how brave you are...

 

[MarkK]

Hiya Neil,basically i fiddled with it myself,i thought less neg would suit the slower corners,and i got it wrong,but i would like to learn some stuff myself even if there are some mistakes along the way..still enjoyed myself in a weird sort of way.Next race will be better prepared for this last one was a bit last minute.Bet you can't wait to get out there,really curious about mallory looking forward to some testing aswell.

 

[paulf968]

Mark

still a good result considering it is a circuit where power alone does not give the best results.

as Neil said I struggled a bit there in June - eg huge amounts of time can be saved at Coppice if you have the courage to omit some braking!! as I found when a certain Peter Morris rushed past me in quali up the hill ! but I still needed to give it a dab at turn in.

whilst I would say I now know the layout of that circuit quite well, even to the point of being confident (or indeed over confident) - what is required is an attacking style that wrings every last tenth out of each corner - that I will have to work on next time out.

BTW changing the camber DIY style can also throw your toe out quite a lot -- I hope I am not teaching you how to suck eggs, never do one without the other. NB suggest you stick to something closer to 4 degrees front -ve camber for our quite heavy cars which roll a bit.

 

[Big Dave]

Mark.
I agree with PaulF about having around 3-4degr of negative on the front...
If you get a fast entry to Copice then all the way through to charlies you then can carry lots more speed onto park straight...
My guess is you were getting u/steer going through the charlies area, A VERY difficult section to get right...
Anyway, im NO expert, just trying to rely some of my limited knowledge..[][]
This racing lark is all about having FUN + learning as you go...You certainly seem to be enjoying yourself...[][][]

 

[Neil Haughey]

Mark the book on race car suspension by Alan Staniforth has a flow diagram in it that pretty much says everything one needs to know to make the correct adjustments. I have thought of copying it out as a handy reference rather than carting the book around. ISTR its a Haynes publication, well worth getting.

 

[paulf968]

Neil -- thx for the heads up on that book.

Just ordered a copy for £13.64 from Amazon delivered, it was marked down from a £25 rrp.

I am sure some more fundamental knowledge will help me along as it is easy to spend a lot of time thinking/guessing what to adjust. We only get 2 or 3 stabs at changing a set up for a circuit so better to make the right choice!

Link for anyone else if that helps:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Competition-Car-Suspension-Practical-Handbook/dp/1844253287/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1280218336&sr=1-2

 

[Neil Haughey]

That's the one, I must have read the important sections 3 or 4 times now. Its full of nuggets you just wouldn't guess such as the basic procedure for setting a base damper compression i.e. drive the car and keep increasing by say 4 clicks until each end of the car gets to harsh then back off 2 clicks, sounds obvious really but I wouldn't have thought of doing just compression first. A whole chapter dedicated to explaining roll centres for example.

 

[MarkK]

Thanks for all the advice chaps,got a plan in motion should sort out my temporary glitchs if all goes to plan,i deffo think in addition the car was substantially down on power after a new turbo was fitted in a pre race emergency after finding leaky oil seals,maybe a boost leak?,but luckily the guys at Promax are squeezing me in at short notice even though they are massively busy so i can do some testing.Awsome service like that is very much appreciated.Hopefully they can sort out the cars hyperdrive (star wars lingo[]) because she was deffo not shooting up the straights like earlier in the season,coupled with the understeer not a great combo[&:]