35 replies to this topic

[Allrounder]

So how did you get on. Did you enjoy it. Do you have any results yet??

[Allrounder]

Hi Allrounder- that video is great! Looks quick. Do you have a 'special' car or just your normal roadgoing mini? I see you have a wheel with the 'turney knob'

I have booked an autosolo at grands hatch in sept. I think this might be more my thing.

My car is a bit of a modified special. Road car yes, but because I use it for multiple disciplines it has some extra features. ATB diff, power steering and a torquie engine as well as the jockie wheel you spotted.

But still has all it glass, interior and steel body so not light weight at all.

Think you'll really enjoy the solo, not done the bands hatch one as it's the wrong side of London for me but they are extremely good fun and not as hard on the car as a grass autotest (unless their using the rally stage as on YouTube).

Hi Allrounder, yeah the car looks really good. I saw at the AutoSolo that you can make the rear have positive camber to make it more likely to step out. Have you done this as well? His car certainly behaved totally differently to mine which has horrendous understeer. What final drive do you have?

Anyway - yes thought the AutoSolo was great and will be doing it again. Did I remember you mention the Abbingdon CARnival? I would like to do that next year and see the other events too.

I tend not to adjust the suspension set up at event other than the damper stiffness as checking it would be too much effort for the benefits. I never had positive camber but did run some toe out on the rear. Turned in lovely at autosolo speeds but a nightmare on the road so now run a small amount of toe in with 1 degree negative.

Abingdon is a great event to do. But there is still time to put a entry in for the oxford event at finmere on October 7th.

[Trissy B]

I finished the event in 31st out of 64 cars, but only 43 seemed to finish. Happy with that.

 

In theory I was third in class but there were only 3 in class A!

 

I agree with the above and don't think I would like to do that to my car. The guy in question used it only for Autotests and Solos i believe and he lives quite locally... but wouldn't have particularly liked to drive like that on the road!

 

[/url]AutoSOLO Resultsdatabase 16-9-18 by Trissy B, on Flickr">http://<a href='http...c.kr/p/Mye1BF'>AutoSOLO Resultsdatabase 16-9-18 by Trissy B, on Flickr

[Allrounder]

Outstanding result for your first go. Keep it up.
I use a 3.44 diff in mine. Did try a 3.1 but wasn't the ideal for autotesting.

[Trissy B]

[/url]IMG_4965 by Trissy B, on Flickr">http://<a href='http....kr/p/2gAdgrr'>IMG_4965 by Trissy B, on Flickr

 

[/url]IMG_5023 by Trissy B, on Flickr">http://<a href='http....kr/p/2gAcJnb'>IMG_5023 by Trissy B, on Flickr

[Trissy B]

Farnborough District MC Bordon July AutoSolo

 

Tried to write some text for the above photos but it deleted it!!… here goes for the second time..

 

Took part in my first event of the year last weekend; AutoSolo at Bordon, organised through Farnborough District MC and a round of the regional ASCMC championship.

 

I did say to myself that I would get involved in all sorts of events in 2019 but this hasn’t really happened!! For various reasons, but I think I’ve learnt a few things for next year like a) stop working on the car and get to events and b) know what events you want and sign up for them asap.

 

Bordon was an interesting venue being a parade ground in a large MOD area. This was a single big area of old tarmac which was a bit loose and broken up it places. This was all quite different to the smooth paddock at Brans Hatch (my only other AutoSolo). The courses were really fast and not very twisty.

 

In general, I found the event pretty difficult and didn’t do well (37 out of 46 in the end!). The car was a lot more ‘lively’ than what i’m used to and as I was pushing it more and more I was getting a lot of oversteer. Whilst this was fun! It was not quick and was probably learning about the limits of grip and exacerbated by a bit of aggressive driving and loose surface.

 

The day started out OK where I got a few good runs in the morning when I was full of energy, coffee, nerves and a bit of adrenaline. This all tailed off after lunch and I got a number of wrong tests probably due to heat, tiredness and frustration!

Despite a few performance upgrades over winter (car is now running great), the driver is definitly the limiting factor!!

 

Another fairly stock mini was there doing fantastically, finishing third overall beating all sorts of MX5’s, Honda S2000’s, Subaru WRX and a Citreon rally car etc. It would have been nice to watch how he did it and the best way around, but unfortunately I was in front of him.

 

It was a bit of a struggle to keep the car cool in the hot weather, particulary when queuing up for runs – think I might need to invest in an electric fan, as well as an oil cooler which will allow me to get the sump guard back on.

 

Fun day in general and I’ve got a few other events coming up too.

Edited by Trissy B, 23 September 2019 - 07:43 PM.

[Buzzword]

Nice to hear about your experiences. I'm going to try and get my car sorted out and get to the Boanerges autosolo at Finmere in October. From what I can tell it looks a little faster than the Abingdon one (the only one I've done) so I'm not sure how well I'll do with my 998. We'll see I guess.

I also might have a go at a daytime 12 car rally, which I predict will be a disaster as it's all about navigating and timing! We'll see

[Trissy B]

Nice to hear about your experiences. I'm going to try and get my car sorted out and get to the Boanerges autosolo at Finmere in October. From what I can tell it looks a little faster than the Abingdon one (the only one I've done) so I'm not sure how well I'll do with my 998. We'll see I guess.

I also might have a go at a daytime 12 car rally, which I predict will be a disaster as it's all about navigating and timing! We'll see

 

Hi Buzzword - is that in the Oxford area? A little too North for me.. they always seem to start at 8am so it always is an early start!! How did you get on at Abingdon? I would like to do that next year.

 

I would also like to have a go at 12 car rallies. My club is organising some navigation training and beginner rallies at the end of the year so hopefully I'll have a pop at that with my friend. There is some useful information about navigating on the Southsea Motor Club website if you need some pointers. I think they give beginners a 'marked up map'. 

[Buzzword]

Hi Trissy,

 

Yeah I think I had a read of that newcomers intro guide. Honestly I'm not sure it'll be my thing, but why not give it a try?! I've joined Dolphin Motor Club based in Newbury, So the one I'm eyeing up in between Newbury and Oxford, along the ridgeway type area - (east or west Ilsley)

 

Abingdon was great, Nice tight course and not too confusing - still managed to get a couple of Wrong Tracks though. The results are from my first and only one to date - I'm normally busy the first weekend of June

 

I'm pretty keen to see if  having changed my suspension geometry will make any impact.

 

 CARnival SOLO Results June 2017.pdf   134.68K   262 downloads

[Trissy B]

Well done - 3rd in class! And its always nice to be car no. 1!

You would hope changing the geometry makes a difference, mine certainly did. Tyre pressures are the other one.

I recently changed to a 14" steering wheel as well, while it initially feels like you are driving a bus, it does help throwing it around tight corners!

[Trissy B]

Brands Hatch September AutoSolo

 

So, on the weekend I went to the Sevenoaks AutoSolo at Brans Hatch. This is a great event which I also did last year. The day consists of two tests in the morning and two in the afternoon, split over the rally stage and the paddock area.

 

Well, I almost didnt even make it to the event. I found out my steering rack was knackerd on the previous weekend (despite it being new last year!) and turned out to be a bit of a rush to get a new one and get it changed. Also on the way to the event, the M23 was shut and I was diverted off... and then I got stuck in a rolling roadblock then standstill on the M25! This all ment I turned up at 9:30 minutes before the breifing and starting at 10:00. Being car No.2, this didnt leave me long to change my wheels!! Lots of running around was necessary.

 

First drive was incredibly slippery, having rained overnight and early morning, it was wet and had a few fuel spill patches. Hadnt previously had time to check my tyre pressures so dropped them right down to 19psi front and 22psi back. This made an amazing difference, despite having a “moment” after the last chicane. All runs just got better and better as the track got drier.

 

The rally stage was great as well, such a good laugh and having done it before, I was getting fairly good times. It has two steep elevated sections and coming down these in the wet was a bit hairy at times!

 

I got some good results (for me) finishing 25^th overall out of 45. Top in historics and I beat the other mini. The main thing is that I improved on my time on all 4 tests and didnt get any “wrong tests” or penalties. Really happy with the results and having done so poorly recently in the afternoons, I was glad to buck this trend. I think the slighly damp conditions meant that I couldnt over push too much and had to be much more carefull in general, searching for and trying to keep grip.

 

Next up, I’ve got my first ever 12-car rally coming up in October and hopefully will get another Autotest and another AutoSolo in before the end of the year.

 

[Trissy B]

Sump guard is back on and the new oil cooler is keeping.... the oil cool.

 

[/url]IMG_20190807_111153 by Trissy B, on Flickr">http://<a href='http....kr/p/2gSY93z'>IMG_20190807_111153 by Trissy B, on Flickr

[KTS]

sounds like it's a lot of fun and very addictive 

[Trissy B]

Sure is. Only about £50 to go on a Autosolo and its loads more fun than a track day!

 

On the start line to the rally stage.

 

[/url]IMG_20190922_112111 by Trissy B, on Flickr">http://<a href='http....kr/p/2hkmCLq'>IMG_20190922_112111 by Trissy B, on Flickr

[Buzzword]

The engine bay looks fantastic! That rally stage looks like really good fun too, shame it's on the wrong side of London for me, otherwise I'd be up for that next year.

 

Let me know how that 12 car goes, I'd be interested to know if its spirited driving or clock watching.

 

I went to that autosolo at Finmere. The key words I took away were "if it breaks, it was going to break anyway" 

The course was a little rougher than Abingdon with a couple of drainage channels which were enough to do my car in a bit.

That said I'd known my arches rubbed a touch when cornering at a certain angle, I just didn't put 2 and 2 together and with a tight corner over a small ditch, the wheel managed to hit the arch - bending it out of shape and shredding a nearly new Yoko tyre...    The damage popped out and isn't too noticeable now other than the tyre. I also had a problem with the clutch system letting air in somehow - a small leak I guess, which meant I almost lost the clutch and had to bleed it between runs!! Not to mention the window partially falling off it's runner over a rut   What a shambles!  Anyway - some jobs to keep me busy. 

 

There was also a guy doing really well in a standardish mini. He looked very tidy and close to the cones on his turns. I was hoping to have a chat with him, but the clutch took up the lunch break. I found it difficult to know how hard to try and push the car. Going in, I was very conscious of having a 998, I thought I would have to go at the corners quite hard, but it would just result in understeer and wider lines if keeping on any power. I think I need to try to get towards the limit of grip without any power through the corners, then on the power nice and early. Easier said than done I guess. Being careful over bumps cost me some time too, especially after the arch incident.

 

Anyway, I managed to come 43/55, so pretty happy with that, every place is like a victory with the 998!!. Came 4th out of 10 in class - a long way off 3rd though. However, that would drop to 6th out of 12 including championship contenders

 

Hope you don't mind me posting in your thread... maybe you or someone else can learn from my mistakes!!

 

 2019 Boanerges Results Spreadsheet.pdf   303.29K   584 downloads