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Bedford Aerodrome - 13/05/2019

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Scott560
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Bedford Aerodrome - 13/05/2019

Post by Scott560 » Thu Mar 07, 2019 1:05 pm

A couple of friends and I are going to the open pit lane track day 13th May at Bedford aerodrome.

booked via trackdays.co.uk , £159 but looks like a big track, and its the full circuit on this day.

Not sure if anyone else is hankering for a track day themselves, or anyone in the area fancies a visit/passenger trip.
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Bedford Aerodrome - 13/05/2019

Post by Scott560 » Thu May 09, 2019 11:43 am

Car nearly all prepped - new oil and filter, new air filter, brakes flushed and bled (self bleeding valves make life easy!), tyres rotated (fronts were down to 4.5mm , rears at 6), air intake insulated with foam and foil, gearbox oil arrived today for a quick change at the weekend too. Clutch bled aswell, fluid was black! swear i did it before but getting mixed up on which lude has had which work done now.

Might have a look to see if the old decat can go on this weekend too - but suspect bolty McRustbolt will put an end to those plans.

Friends will be there in his mint DC5 type R and another in his Megane RS (older one).

Weather looks ideal, not too hot and no rain forecast!
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Bedford Aerodrome - 13/05/2019

Post by Scott560 » Mon May 13, 2019 8:34 pm

Good day out today at Bedford - car performed almost faultlessly , did 175 track miles over the day (1 3/4 tanks later!) and the only problem were the brakes - no overheating or shuddering or anything untoward, but I still don't have the best pedal feel - always required a double pump so some slack in the system somewhere - or need to use the (I assume) larger accord master cylinder to match the larger calipers. Or perhaps the rears aren't adjusting properly, or maybe ds2500 don't feel good when they are warm...

Think i might have exceeded the ludes manual on oil consumption, had to top it up twice, but I know I'm leaking a tiny bit from the crank seals so not overly concerned.

No chance of keeping up with my friend in his DC5, those cars just track weapons. lighter, more powerful, shorter ratios. Had a passenger ride in a strangers DC2, and that was pretty similar.

Did see a group of people with a 'rent a track car' EP3 type r, was able to keep up with it and eventually overtake.
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Bedford Aerodrome - 13/05/2019

Post by Scott560 » Wed May 15, 2019 9:46 pm

One of the good things about the Javelin Trackdays is they now upload all of the photos to a flickr album. You don't have to pay for them (unless you want high res without watermark) and you can share/embed straight off the site. Makes some marketing sense rather than pay 30quid for a handful of shots then never upload them. Instead get them all uploaded for free and everyone will share them = free marketing = more sales. Makes sense to me...

Entire album is here https://www.flickr.com/photos/javelintr ... 0420112588 , over 1200 pictures! Friends were in the DC5 and R26 megane. i took a passenger trip in the white dc2 which was very impressive, and the DC5 owner had a trip in the i30N and said that was also impressive.

Even managed to get a decent snap of the DC5 for my friend - not enough time to indulge in too much photography however which is a shame, as its an easier hobby than working on cars for sure.

http://scottwoodcock.co.uk/DSC_0023.jpg

a few of the better ones for the lude - it doesn't photograph well from the front on a long lens. To me the narrowing of the nose and the inset nature of the headlights looks amplified beyond reality , it almost looks fat (in a bad way). Sides and back are much better proportioned if you ask me... In real life the 5th gen looks long and slender naturally.

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Bedford Aerodrome - 13/05/2019

Post by tom023 » Wed May 15, 2019 9:52 pm

Awesome pics @Scott560 ! It looks like you had a blast, that "centered" rear shot of the Lude is my favourite. It does look like the car is rolling sideways quite a bit in some pics, what suspension set up are you running? Perhaps it's just me not used to seeing the car corner from the outside!

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Bedford Aerodrome - 13/05/2019

Post by Scott560 » Wed May 15, 2019 10:52 pm

Its running TEIN Flex Z coilovers - i set them up as per the manual, but suspect some trial and error is required. you can set the spring preload and height/length seperately - but havent had much need to faff around.

there are 16 settings for damping - i think they were set relatively soft somewhere in the middle but you need some feel and some compliance to make it easier on your self.

It does lean quite a bit, but then im getting more grip out of the federal semi-slicks than uniroyal rainsport 3 or whatever i had last on the red lude - toyo t1r's or similar. Best investment for track day by far (they were about 75quid a corner). The DC2 was one some extremely sticky rubber and that was a level above...
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Bedford Aerodrome - 13/05/2019

Post by Drax » Thu May 16, 2019 8:08 am

Looks like a great fun day out! 8)
What type of federal tyres are you running? I'm always interested to know for replacing my t1r's which I hate lol
Imo h22 preludes are quicker than stock ep3's, and better on track too but yeh I see why the dc5's are difficult to try and keep up with, as you say they are excellent on track which they are as I've driven one, but I was bored that day wishing I was in my (at the time) slightly slower prelude having much more fun :D
Glad the day went well for you though :thumbup:
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Bedford Aerodrome - 13/05/2019

Post by Scott560 » Thu May 16, 2019 8:19 am

Im running Federal RSR 595's , which are at the cheaper end of the scale. The grip is slightly improved over road tyres, but more importantly, they do not go soft when the laps start piling on.

I can't recall my longest session, but even towards the end the tyres weren't dropping off like you would experience on a road tyre which can start to get a bit soft after 3 or 4 laps.

The EP3 had a fart can with a bung in it, and there was very little difference in it. Once the later ludes go into 4th though, you lose the benefit of that short 3rd gear, and other cars start to pull away on the straight a little. I hadn't stripped the car out other than the boot contents, and its by no means a race car - there are no engine mods for example (stock intake/air filter/exhaust/still has the cat).

At a previous track i had driven the DC5 (and on the road the day before) and you really have to be a freaking insane driver to get the most from it. After driving each others car, its clear the lude is a more relaxed and cruisery affair - with the DC5 being the more racey - not as enjoyable on the road at all.

As soon as i can sort out the pedal feel for the brakes, i will be happy. I have no idea how best to set up the suspension however, trial and error seems like a lot of hassle. The manual doesn't really give you any 'process' by which to make adjustments. All it says is non-us , set them at this, and that's it.

Other than that, the car performed fine - so another track day will soon be on the cards.
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