Please be seated

We finally got Knob (Knackered Old Banger) , the car-list 924s, to EMC Motorsport in Dudley. They confirmed that our diagnosis of a failed head gasket was correct, but thankfully there appears to be no damage to the bores, head, pistons etc.

In fact they repeated their view that it was a good solid old car, so it made sense to replace all of the coolant pipes and the cam-belt while the head was off. And Mikey completely failed to resist the temptation to get some seats and 4 point race harnesses installed.

Fair enough, the standard drivers seats was in a bit of a state, and you really were hanging onto the steering wheel for grim death when the Pilot Sport Cups were on, but right now my bank balance is in the same state as the old head gasket.

Anyway, a certain amount of wheeling and dealing was done, and Knob will be returned with two Sabalt GT2's for driver and victim. Oddly enough, EMS also found an early 944turbo rear anti-roll-bar in the boot. For only a small consideration they matched it with a front, and they will also be put on the car. I think that probably only leaves a roll-cage and another set of 16" D90's from the original wish-list.

Roll on the next track-day; currently a mid-October Bedford date.

SS7

PS: Seats not available so look for a repeat of the b*ggers death grip at Bedford!

Still Loving it!

Pictured near Goodwood house recently, I'm 4,000 miles to the good and still enjoying every mile!

SS7

Smokey

I'm always a bit surprised at how hard these airfield days are on a road car (its much easier on a 6-700kg Elise or Seven). There were a number of casualties on our day at Abingdon; a Noble with engine woes, a Radical-alike kept overheating, a 250bhp turbo Hyabusa engined Caterham broke its diff, and KNoB's engine decided it preferred retirement in Anglesea to being thrashed around an old airfield.

Mikey put it better than I could:

"I'm not sure we had quite the day SS7 and I planned on Friday but it certainly lived up to our intentions as a shakedown run for Kn0B. I got to Abingdon around 9:25, just in time for the drivers' briefing. Our mate J was already there in the RS4 so I had some company whilst C waited in a traffic jam somewhere on the A34.

After the briefing, we had three sighter laps to get a feel for the circuit. It consisted primarily of 90 degree left-handers with some little coned left / right chicanes dotted around to keep you honest. There was a lot of run off in areas where you needed it although SS7 and I both collected a small shrub in the same spot on the nearside front during an early outing :-) There was an interesting mix of cars, from a new Radical-a-like to a racing Mini Cooper (original one, not the small house on wheels), via things like a Noble M12 GTO, K plate M5, new FocuST, couple of Boxsters (one a lease car whose engine expired in the afternoon), lots of se7ens of various forms, a few Elises and VX220s, a Scooby, Evo VIII (I think), 997 S, and older 930 Turbo with very interesting bodywork.

SS7 arrived after the sighter laps but had to wait to have a briefing so J and I went back out for a few laps. I was pretty messy at first, not really getting the lines right and still trying to go too quickly in all the wrong places. I put it down to lack of experience driving on a circuit, although others may blame incompetence!! At least I didn't hit anything, spin or do anything too stupid.

After my initial outing with J, we switched to the white 16" wheels fitted with lightly used Pilot Sport Cups. It took a while to fit them so we didn't have a great deal of time before lunch. SS7 was about to go out but found the throttle was sticking open, which was hardly ideal. We enlisted the help of a friendly mechanic supporting Team Mini but it took a while to get the throttle to the point where it was usable, albeit still a bit sticky. SS7 bravely took the car out with James to warm the tyres and get a feel for the heap. He seemed reasonably happy with it after a few laps so came in and let me have another run.

The PS Cups were a revelation after the rubbish PremiumContacts that I used for the first few laps. It was very kind of SS7 to clean up the wheels and get rid of the marbles first :-) The grip levels were phenomenal; you could pretty much lean on the tyres as hard as you dared and they just stuck. Hugely impressed but I'm not sure I could see the point of them on the road. You'd have to be going foolishly quickly to unstick them but if you hit a patch of something greasy, I'd imagine you'd be stuffed.

By this point it was lunchtime so we headed out in J's RS4 for a spot of lunch at the Ock Mill pub in Abingdon (more of which later). Got back just after 2pm and SS7 went out for another run. On his own (iirc) 'cos J and I weren't looking. He was pushing a bit harder and locked up the brakes in the final corner a couple of times (evidence above). He said the traction levels seemed lower without a passenger! I had another run with J and started to feel a little happier other than the frequent bodged heel & toe downshifts.

After leaving the car to rest for a bit, SS7 then took over again with J. He seemed to be having a ball at this point, going much quicker and pushing the car harder. I was really looking forward to a further session in the afternoon 'cos SS7 seemed to have the car working really nicely. He locked up on the way into the final corner on a quick lap, claiming a car fault rather than driving fault (hmmm...) so took to the pit lane and went for a little trip down the runway to cool the brakes.

The car started to billow white smoke from the exhaust at this point, suggesting it might have had enough for the day. The verdict seemed to be head gasket failure. Now this might explain why the PO had about 5 litres of coolant in the boot!!

Throughout the day, I was rushing my driving, going too quickly before getting my lines sorted out. J offered some good advice, telling me to leave the car in third and get my lines sorted. I started to get some of the corners reasonably consistently but I found it hard to judge the correct line into the chicanes. However, I did start to feel more comfortable in the final session before SS7 temporarily wounded Kn0B. I was actually managing to keep people behind me when I wanted to although J accused me of being "too nice" by letting people past me and messing up my own rhythm. That's probably true so I'll have to be a bit firmer next time. I was able to lose a new FocuST and hold a VX220 and Megane Trophy thingy behind me, which isn't too bad considering I haven't done a track day other than the NS since 2003. SS7 was able to chase the Noble through the twisty bits but then he's a better driver and was trying a lot harder than me. I guess he didn't have to worry about how he was going to get home if Kn0B expired.

After the poor thing did give up, we had a "now what?" kind of discussion, deciding to switch the wheels and see if the car could make it anywhere near home. OK, so I was feeling particularly optimistic, but that's just the way I am! Removing the white wheels proved much more challenging than expected 'cos the enamel had almost melted onto the hub. After a lot of tugging we'd managed to remove three of them and replace them with the balloon-tyred 15"s. However, the driver's front wheel was proving unwilling to move until J came up with the brilliant idea of pushing the car with the lock on to see if that freed it up. It did, and rather more quickly than I expected so we only just stopped the car before the wheel fell off. Which would have been funny, in an ironic kind of way.

Anyhow, wheels replaced, car loaded up, and I then tried contacting a few friendly specialists to see if I could leave a sick 924 with them. I tried Northway, Machtech and Autofarm. The former two claimed "no room at the inn" whilst the latter offered a price of around £1,500+VAT as they really didn't want to do the job in the first place. The car was really not happy about going far, spewing clouds of smelly white smoke. We agreed that SS7 may as well go home while J and I set off for Abingdon to (try to) return to the Ock Mill pub so I could ring for a rescue vehicle from somewhere less suspicious than an airfield track day!!

I'm not sure how much damage I did in the two mile journey, but the car was really not happy. As my breakdown cover only covers me in the 968, I had to take out a policy with the AA to cover me in Kn0B and any other car. I'll ditch my other policy if I can as I don't really need two breakdown policies. So £170 lighter, I was told that a man with a van should arrive before 7pm. He did, which was impressive. Unfortunately, it was a new transit with a fold-away trailer built in and the AA man ("Mike") didn't seem that keen on loading a lowered 924 onto the trailer so he called for a low loader and left us to wait. I sent J home at this point and settled into the Ock Mill pub with a Leffe and a bit of work I needed to do.

The low loader arrived around 8:45pm and we hit the road around 9pm. Unfortunately the bl00dy thing was speed limited to 89kmh so the trek down the M40 / M25 / M1 took about 2 hrs instead of an hour if I'd been driving :-( I finally got home at 11pm and deposited Kn0B outside the house, where it will stay until SS7 and I agree what we're doing next. We have a number of options to consider, only one of which doesn't involve spending any money, unfortunately. J did a fantastic job as pit crew, lunchtime taxi service, ballast to assist the handling on the circuit, and company whilst awaiting the arrival of the man with a van. A big "thank you" for not deserting me (unlike some we could mention :-D ) Rose has had a brief explanation of the day, and the car belongs to SS7 :-) "

SS7

PS No it doesn't!

No Paddles

I suppose its about time I mentioned more about the accidental 924S.

After a bit of too-ing and fro-ing, the boys at EMC Motorsport in Birmingham collected the car from its far-flung corner of the British Isles and checked it over. Their prognosis was that it had a few more miles yet, so bullets were bitten and they got the go-ahead to fit their Gaz race suspension, and fettle the brakes. 'Fettling' turned out to be 4 new discs, two 'new' callipers, race-spec pads, steel flexible hoses and good old ATE Blue race brake fluid. At the same time we were shamelessly tempted by the offer of some 16"x7" D90 wheels and faintly pornographic Michelin Pilot Sport cup track-day tyres. Funnily enough they fit inside a 924 perfectly.......

During this time, my mate Mikey somehow convinced me to let him make a financial contribution to the project, in return for seat time. Which was an excellent idea all-around as it meant we could share all the costs and general hassle. I'm also able to deny ownership should it become strategically necessary.... The other potential candidate for our co-operative had to decline, as in his dotage he's realised he's now unable to drive anything without gear paddles and a queerbox.

In addition, the thing appears to have now been Christened 'KNoB' for very good reasons I can't recall at the moment. [edit: Apparently this is to save us typing Knackered Old Banger everytime we want to curse it in writing]

The EMC boys did a good job; in addition to the coil-overs, they set the suspension geometry and re-indexed the rear torsion bars. As a consequence the ride height went from "You could limbo under the b*rstard" to "Its running lower than a snake's belly'. Mikey bravely collected the car and brought it down the M40 to the Great Wen. This highlighted another practical issue that you don't consider when buying a car after 1/2 a bottle of red; where to keep an old Porsche that wives don't exactly know about. However, it appears that we're not the only ones to face that problem; in the large underground car-park of Mikey's employer lurk a number of dusty old motors, so it made sense to quietly add to the collection until we sort out something more permanent.

His initial driving impressions were encouragingly positive, but did report 'bouncy' suspension on the fat 15" wheels and balloon tyres. This has since been resolved by changing the suspension setting to about halfway stiff. I did make a brief acquaintance with KNoB on a short ride around local roads and first impressions were that it went quite nicely for a tired old nail.

We had discussions over a beer later, and plotted our campaign for the season; an airfield day shake-down, then Bedford, then possibly some 'real' circuits if we still feel good about the car, with the ‘Ring for pudding in the Autumn if there was any car left to take.

It was very tempting to also think about ways of making it faster/lighter/better/safer, but as all these would have the effect of making us poorer we'd put ambition on the back burner for now. Carbon seats, cages & harnesses will have to wait: the CG Lock is a decent 1/2 way house & we do need to get some miles on it; right now total costs/mile are (purchase price x 3)/zero.

One feature we did feel needed addressing urgently was the driving position. The 924S retains the original '76 interior of the 2litre 924, and with that comes a steering wheel positioned low down between the knees of a normal shaped human being. In an effort to improve this by lifting the wheel up and towards the driver, I've acquired a tasty Momo steering wheel with a 90mm dish, plus a suitable hub.

Other than that it was simply a matter of collecting together the usual bits & pieces you needed (you know the type of thing: new lightweight trolley jack, spare oil, water, wheel brace, various tools, tank tape, more tools, something water proof etc) and we're ready for the first track-day.

Which is tomorrow.

Sorted

After months of garage time, the A2 is finally sorted. It appears that there is a common fault with the early generation Audi Fuel Stratified Injection ('FSI') engines, which can caused cokeing of the cylinder heads and inlets. The remedy was an old fashioned de-coke and gasket set, which my good friends at Slough Audi jointly funded with Audi UK.

It now runs like a good 'un, giving nice smooth power and 45mpg's as it used to. Slightly annoyingly, it then lunched its alternator, but once that was replaced and the radio aerial sorted out its back to 100%.

But sadly, as I can't run to a 3.5 car fleet at the moment, the A2's for sale. Linky here http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/183159.htm

SS7

Hype?

Well after the initial enthusiasm it looks as if I haven't posted on the blog for a few weeks.

Oh well, I'm the victim of a well known syndrome; the hype cycle :-)

"Gartner's Hype Cycle, introduced in 1995, characterizes the typical progression of an emerging technology, from over-enthusiasm through a period of disillusionment to an eventual understanding of the technology's relevance and role in a market or domain."

Here's looking forward to the slope of enlightenment and more posts in 2007!

SS7

Play Time

So I’ve now done the ‘Porsche Driving Experience’ at Millbrook.

After an uneventful run up the M25/M1 from work, I arrived at the Hotel meeting point with time to spare. Out front there were a couple of 997’s, two Caymans (‘S’ and vanilla), and some huge off-roader with a 996 front. I met my instructor, Jeremy, over a light lunch and chatted – I took the opportunity to ask about the Band G issue of the 6 speed 2.7* - and we planned our afternoon.

It involved driving their red Cayman 2.7, first on an extended road run, then to Millbrook – http://www.millbrook.co.uk/ which is just a gigantic playground for petrol heads! The other three PDE ‘guests’ were a young guy with a 997S on order, and older guy with something called a ‘KN’, and an attractive woman from Cheshire who arrived in a 997 cab/tip.

Heading off, I was surprised when after 5 minutes Jeremy asked me when and where I’d had driver training. Perhaps the clue was in that moment when we’d screamed through the ‘S’ bends at 140mph, braked, blipped down to 3rd and drifted around the roundabout at 90.

Actually, it was all pretty sedate; I did get a bit of chance to make progress, but there was plenty of traffic around, and he just gave me a few tips (rather esoteric ones; e.g. out of town a lot of overhead power and telephone cables into a property follow the line of a driveway, so can give warning of a hazard should you see one in the distance). BTW he told me only 0.3% of UK drivers have had any professional training after taking their licence. If this government really gave a sh*t about road safety this would be changed.

After following a convoy of 7 AM V8’s into the Millbrook, we first headed to a large open area, and played at sliding the car around, inducing over and understeer, with PSM on and off. I’m surprised how much latitude the system gives you, but enjoyed wearing out someone else tyres, although as it was damp it wasn’t too bad. Jezza noted that the 19” wheels do give more grip but he prefers the cars with smaller wheels. I was using my left foot on the brakes which he spotted. He’s a part-time rally driver, so when I told him I’d been taught by Pentti Arikkala to lfb he was rather impressed! After that we had a blast down the 1 mile straight; the Cayman reaching 134mph or so at the ¾ mile braking point – 997tt’s hit 170! Then some emergency braking and avoidance stuff on the return trip, but from 80mph, not 40mph as you normally get.

After that we headed to the banked 2 mile bowl, where I was encouraged to take my hands off the wheel in the top lane at 100mph. That took a bit of nerve! It was strange to see the ‘130’ signs in the red circles – and to find that was mph, not kph. So we ran to 130mph and-a-bit, but it was very bumpy and pretty boring. The thought of 170mph+ up there is frankly terrifying! Oddly, after the top speed run, we dropped back down to the lower section of the bowl, and ran around looking for the exit. At 75mph it felt slow enough for me to step out and walk!

Finally we ran a number of laps on the hill route. This is what happens when your favourite ‘B’ road is squashed across the side of a mountain – it was incredibly steep, with blind switch backs, hairpins, fast dipping corners and blind brows; even better/worse than the ‘Ring and no Armco! Slamming into a blind cambered corner with a blind exit at 60mph purely on the say-so of the guy sitting next to you takes real faith, but on the final lap I had all 4 wheels off the ground over the blind brow, and reached 75mph down the dip. BTW it was all 3rd gear in the Cayman, so I was able to lfb again, which really helped. A final demo from Jezza on the outer handling circuit, and it was time to return to the hotel.

As we arrived I saw their 997 GT3 RS parked outside, and asked for a ride. Jezza went in to find the keys, and as he came out he said “Fancy driving?”. Does the Pope sh*t in the woods???! The thing is an animal; I’m still digesting my impressions, at first it felt pretty familiar; an interior just like the Cayman’s (albeit with Satnav) seats like the 968, and a rollbar like Jimmy’s climbing frame. But it was all man-size compared to the Cayman; heavy clutch and gear linkage, and an engine with what seemed like no flywheel at all. The ride was ok; first we bumbled along the main-road until we reached a turning onto a quiet back road with little traffic. Full throttle in 3rd, and the world just exploded; within a heartbeat I was looking for 4th, and the speedo reading began with a ‘1’. A couple of ‘S’ bend were despatched and then another longer straight in 3rd and 4th, before we caught back up with planet earth and other traffic at normal speed.

All I need then is £95k….

BTW The last section of road to the hotel was around 3 miles of broken, patched, rough old tarmac, with manhole covers and various other lumps and bumps. In fact just a regular UK road.

The PDE car, which was a red, on 18's but without PASM, and 30 minutes later I was driving back down the same road. Without any shadow of a doubt, the ride, particularly over the larger bumps was worse; there were more shocks through the seat & wheel, more noise and the car was moving around more, I was consciously trying to steer around the worst of the impending obstructions to save my spine and the car.

So there you have it conclusively; red cars don't ride as well as white ones.

SS7

* The 6 speed gearbox put the 2.7 into band G because the test are run in 4th gear. As 4th is lower in the 6-speed box, the revs are higher and the car uses more fuel and emits more CO2.

So for a stupid technical reason I get to give £200 more to that robber Brown.