Guy's 02 Astra Hatch

Matt

Some nice driving there, bet it was a bit scary seeing that other Astra coming around the corner when you'd spun it :woot:

guy_27

i was just trying to start my car to get out of the way. wasn't too worried that he would hit me. there was enough room both sides of me if he needed to use it.

guy_27

pics as promised stolen from a good friend of mine.

Matt

Love seeing the pics of your car on the track

Sjdickso

Like the vid and the photos, how is your engine running now?

guy_27

Cheers guys :-)
Engine is fine, I was tempted to keep going in that session but decided against it just in case. Just needs more power now ;-)

guy_27

So I finally got a chance to look into the issue today.
rear caliper pistons seized on both sides. enough to slow the wheels down but not lock.
they seem to not like going past the 75% usage mark so i've just wound them back and put in some new pads which will get replaced at 50%.

the drivers side tyre was fully locked by the looks of it though on the spin. taken a good few mm out of it on one area. bit hard to tell in the pic but those 2 darker patches are missing around 3mm+ of rubber

I would of liked a faster time at wakefield, but with the issue i had present (and didn't know at the time) i'm not complaining with the time i got. Had to drive different to my usual style the whole day and had me constantly working to keep the car in line.

guy_27

Did another track day today. Had a blast as usual.
focused on being smooth rather than aggressive. my laps times were slower by 1 second but I felt more comfortable than I ever have putting it into corners.
Was really happy with how the car preformed throughout the day at no point did I question a noise or vibration.

Video's are uploading so will update this post but heres a pic for the mean time.

video as promised: 1st session

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr3uReUyDU8

guy_27

New road wheels have arrived. Awaiting Michelin pilot sport 3's for them.
Due to offset I may end up having to lift the front of the car 20mm if I can't get the guards rolled enough.

A brand new set of original Mk4 888 wheels. :-)

Sjdickso

Very nice wheels!

Matt

Sweet! I bet those weren't very easy to come by :cool:

guy_27

Still another set on ebay UK. Postage, fees and taxes were the killer. Costing about as much as the wheels.
Still cheaper than I can get oz racing wheels here though.

guy_27

Another track day today. Last one for the season.
Got some driver training which I should of done long ago.
Found out I was braking too softly too early, turning in too early and getting too hard on the power too early.
Ran the same times with instructor in the car and aircon on as I did 2 months ago. The sessions without him I managed to beat my pb's by 0.3s and he said there is still time to be had with better tyres and getting on the brakes even later or not even touching them for some of the high speed corners.
I never knew how well these brakes pulled up until today. 🙂

Next year they are starting night sessions and also starting a new race category so I'm aiming to have a dedicated track car for then.

Season this year was excellent. Did 5 of the 6 days and managed to take out 1st place for the year by 1 point. 😃

Matt

Brilliant update mate, they did a test on 5th Gear (TV show here in the UK), using a Clio RS. They swapped each componenet / upgrade, Exhaust, Tyres, Remap, did times laps for each, and then removed them all, and had the driver do some driver training.

Driver training is what managed to get the lap times down the most.

guy_27

Yep. for the $99 (about 60pounds) it cost me to get the instructor for the day. It was the best money I've ever spent. Classroom session in the morning and then he came out for 2 sessions and was holding the steering wheel from the passenger seat correcting all my mistakes.

guy_27

Did my first ever night time track day last night. Was very different.
Had issues seeing turn 3 and 6 in the dark. They are going to address this issue for future ones as everyone had the same problem.

Heres a video of session 1 as there was still light out. Other videos in my channel if you want to see darkness.

Had a bit of a moment at around the 7min25sec mark

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P587e-l62RI

guy_27

Gave it a quick wash today

Matt

Looking good mate (y)

MikeS

looks sweet with them alloys 🙂

Sjdickso

They do look well.

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