MR Tuning Track Day
Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2015 8:54 pm
Attended my second MR Tuning track day today and despite a car that could not be dríven over 6,000 RPM for most of the day managed a 1:07:23 on the clubman. Putting into context my JapNat time was 1:06.68. Max speed down the straight was 168/154 and into turn 6 160/150, plus using different gears due to RPM limit issue. JapNat was mainly 3/4 whereas MR Tuning was 5/6. For the national managed a 1:36.70, previous was 1:32.19 but again the max speeds were a lot different 167 as opposed to 184 down the back straight.
Since the car could not be dríven above 6,000 RPM I had to focus on new brake points and gaining corner speed by breaking later and less of it (words of wisdom from Warren Luff). So spent the day working on turn 1 and 2 on the track and changes in the engine bay. Out of the 9 x 20min sessions I managed 8, car was almost undriveable by the end of the day due to the miss.
However not focusing on the miss, rather driving a car that was vastly different power wise. The advice from Warren was spot on and it contributed to me being able to go through turn 1 and 2 with more speed than previous, plus left foot braking on turn 2 also saw time picked up. Goes to show that even with less power on the straights you can go through corners faster and don't need heaps of horsepower. The car was not fast in a straight line and could not be dríven out of a corner on its torque curve however a change in style produced some remarkable results.
More words of wisdom for Warren again, when settling in for a long race and you are conserving fuel it is surprising how fast times are, it is a case of getting into a groove and driving the car with consistency. It is all about carrying as much corner speed as possible by braking later and less of it (rinse and repeat).
Example:
Turn 2 turn in speed - 120/119 (JapNat/MR)
Apex 119/127 (MR 0.21 secs quicker)
Turn 3 (brake) 143/143 (MR 0.31 sec quicker)
Turn 3 Apex 65/70 (MR 0.50 sec quicker)
Many thanks to the MR Tuning pit crew. It is great to have somebody that adjusts your tyre pressures (32 hot) every time you come in. Plus, Cameron for making suggestions to narrow the miss down and not giving up. Warren for advice and video reviews, he tried to help with the miss issue as well (added humour), however his advice for the track made it all worthwhile (despite the lack of power).
Car is going to Plus tomorrow for some more investigation into the cause. Notwithstanding I personally believe that next time the car is 100% I will be able to drop even more time at QR.
Was it value for money... YES!
Since the car could not be dríven above 6,000 RPM I had to focus on new brake points and gaining corner speed by breaking later and less of it (words of wisdom from Warren Luff). So spent the day working on turn 1 and 2 on the track and changes in the engine bay. Out of the 9 x 20min sessions I managed 8, car was almost undriveable by the end of the day due to the miss.
However not focusing on the miss, rather driving a car that was vastly different power wise. The advice from Warren was spot on and it contributed to me being able to go through turn 1 and 2 with more speed than previous, plus left foot braking on turn 2 also saw time picked up. Goes to show that even with less power on the straights you can go through corners faster and don't need heaps of horsepower. The car was not fast in a straight line and could not be dríven out of a corner on its torque curve however a change in style produced some remarkable results.
More words of wisdom for Warren again, when settling in for a long race and you are conserving fuel it is surprising how fast times are, it is a case of getting into a groove and driving the car with consistency. It is all about carrying as much corner speed as possible by braking later and less of it (rinse and repeat).
Example:
Turn 2 turn in speed - 120/119 (JapNat/MR)
Apex 119/127 (MR 0.21 secs quicker)
Turn 3 (brake) 143/143 (MR 0.31 sec quicker)
Turn 3 Apex 65/70 (MR 0.50 sec quicker)
Many thanks to the MR Tuning pit crew. It is great to have somebody that adjusts your tyre pressures (32 hot) every time you come in. Plus, Cameron for making suggestions to narrow the miss down and not giving up. Warren for advice and video reviews, he tried to help with the miss issue as well (added humour), however his advice for the track made it all worthwhile (despite the lack of power).
Car is going to Plus tomorrow for some more investigation into the cause. Notwithstanding I personally believe that next time the car is 100% I will be able to drop even more time at QR.
Was it value for money... YES!
