Magpie wrote:It all started with a comment about inside wheel unloading at QR on the sprint circuit. From this a chain of events Automotive Plus installed a 2 way diff into the MX5. This was NOT on the list of things to do in 2016, rather the plan was to make minimal changes and work on the driver. It should be noted before this my plan was working and times reflected this, finished 9th fastest in round 1 of QR Street Sprints, something never done before.
With the words of Captain Ramius echoing in my head
"It reminds me of the heady days of Sputnik and Yuri Gagarin when the world trembled at the sound of our rockets. Now they will tremble again - at the sound of our silence. The order is: engage the silent drive" I approached the weekend at Morgan Park with all the confidence that every parent has that their child will grow up to be a doctor, astronaut or another Mother Teresa. How wrong I was....
After the first run on the Saturday I found out that a smoke screen maybe good for hiding from the enemy, but BAD on a race track. No need to go into the rest of the details they are public knowledge
Anyway, made it back to the track for 2 runs on Layout E.
OMG, the car sucked BAD understeer everywhere, brake points all screwed up, nothing felt right. This was similar to attending Lakeside with an aggressive alignment that the car had never been set up with, very scary to drive! I persisted with the handling and just made it worse. In the end Saturday finished, car loaded onto the trailer, confidence shattered, ego destroyed and my sanity questioned.
After dinner with good company, where I was surprised to find a person that used more sarcasm than me, had a sleep ready for Sunday.
Arrived, unloaded the car and went about normal track things, checking oil/water/leaks and tyre pressures. Notice that the tyres were higher than their normal cold pressure. Adjusted accordingly, added 6 clicks to the front dampers.
Time to hit the track, damm that 2 way makes some chatter driving it slow is not fun... Took a completely different approach than on Saturday, went easy out and 'felt' what the car wanted to do. Came in adjusted pressures based on comments from SDT. Rinse repeat another 3 times.
Then onto Layout E. First session went at it like a bull in a china shop (mythbusters debunked) and the Saturday issues came back. Next session changed to early braking, no trail breaking get everything done in a straight line, nail the apex and then 100% throttle. OMG this is fun, only change was a PSI in the tyres and the drivers thinking. Everything started to fall into place, no fast laps yet, but so much more confidence. The big spin at T2 the exception.
Slug_dub jumped in for a few passenger laps at lunchtime and, like others, commented that I brake a lot earlier than he does, further I enter the corner slower BUT at the apex my exit speed is a lot faster.
After lunch started to push a little more, still everything in a straight line, BUT braking later (getting used to the VERY HIGH initial bite of the W6.5's). Even got to the point where could enter T1 in 4th and get the gear change to 3rd in before T2 (the cause of the big spin before lunch).
Whilst not setting the world on fire with my times, over 1 sec was chopped off my previous PB on Layout E. Looking at the logs I was never exceeding 1g of braking/cornering so this alone shows that a lot more time can be found!
What have I learnt about a 2 way from my first experience?
1. Can make any part of the corner under-steer
2. Requires a high level of skill in trail/threshold braking to get the most out of it due to the inherent under-steer the 2 way causes.
3. Under deceleration the car has a tendency to go straight ahead as the rear wheels resist the change in direction
4. Car resists turning under brakes
5. In a corner when the arse end starts to rotate turn the wheels where you want to go and nail it. This is not the fastest way around a corner but when you have stuffed up lap up makes for some fun
Final comment is from Keeley Motorsport who were out helping set up SDT's track cars, that was, a 1.5 way maybe more suitable.
Do I agree? Can't say as I'm still a 1.5 way virgin
However, provided the brain is engaged I think the 2 way was a good move. Will find out on 10/04/16 at general practice and street sprints round 2