Another MCS. The track day toy.

[Saner]

Looks Good!

Also hadn't noticed the saxo behind the Trophy above. Loved that car... and like every car I love, I totaled it

 

[Sir_Dave]

LOL at how much room there is behind your drivers seat!

Ay, plenty of room. No idea why people complain about rear space in mini's. Is fine if the driver's a short ar5e

 

[Sir_Dave]

Off to Donington tomorrow, so popped over to a friends to get my R888's out of his garage - his missus has a hyper blue facelift mini one, so thought a picture would be a good idea. Love how much more aggressive mine looks, such a great little car!!!

 

[Cub.]

Enjoy donny!

 

[Waitey]

Where was my invite?

 

[Brett]

I'm at Donny tomorrow too Dave. In a silver phase 1 with "Pellet Motorsport" written on the side of it. It's a long (Le Mans related) story.

Will pop over for a chat.

 

[Sir_Dave]

And so to Donington, finally managed to do it in a car without any problems!!! Wahoo lol.
Good to see @Brett, @Feirny (Lotus nom nom nom) & @Ph1 Tom - hope you all had as good a day as we did
A couple of friends came up for passenger rides in the morning (Tom was supposed to be doing the day in his clio, but it stiiiiiiilllll isnt finished), then Sarah's parents came up in the afternoon as well. Taking your future mother/father in-law out on track? Brilliant lol.

The day started early with a very happy looking me swopping the tyres over, at 7.30am, argh so early :sleeping:

Then onto sign on & the drivers briefing, where the first giggle of the day occurred, with the instructor saying to Sarah "are you driving as well?" in a kinda of "surprised" voice. Giggles.

All ready:

First time out:

Swarms of clios!! They were literally everywhere!! Although some need reminding that a trackday isnt a race :unamused:

And then it was Sarah's turn :tongueclosed:

Nearly there:

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee:


Sarah is now addicted to trackdays lol. She genuinely loved it!!! Like proper proper loved it, knew she would, she's been passenger on pretty much every other day ive done (except her driving a little at Haynes). We then came home & looking for the next day to do, must be a weekend/half-term so she's not teaching ...

Roll on the next one

 

[JamesBryan]

Seemed to be going well Dave. I was behind you for the sighting laps.

Was sharing a garage with Brett.

 

[Matt W]

Love that last sentence. A teacher that does track days

 

[Detail Chris]

That's great, wish my wench was even slightly interested in cars! Your also not what I thought you looked like

Cars sounds well btw

 

[Ph1 Tom]

It was nice to meet you Dave. Had a great day! Weather was awesome, track never seemed too busy and the car performed faultlessly.

 

[Sir_Dave]

Seemed to be going well Dave. I was behind you for the sighting laps.
Was sharing a garage with Brett.

Ah, thought i recognised the car from CS lol!!! Hope you had as good as day as we did

Love that last sentence. A teacher that does track days :smiley:

Yup, im a very lucky guy!!! She's actively encouraging me to get another booked now ...
After i drove Feirnys' Elise, she even said i could buy one as well if i wanted, but only if i gave her the mini to use on trackdays 😂

Your also not what I thought you looked like

lol, im a a slightly older/fatter Hary Potter iirc.

It was nice to meet you Dave. Had a great day! Weather was awesome, track never seemed too busy and the car performed faultlessly.

Yes, was good to have a catch up! Hopefully see you at another trackday soon, name badges for all CS members are required though lol.

 

[JamesBryan]

Ah, thought i recognised the car from CS lol!!! Hope you had as good as day as we did

Yeah it was great. Very good standards on track compared to some of the days i've done on Oulton.

Windscreen got cracked in the top corner from some gravel that was pouring out the back of a VX220 though

Was going to come over and see you, but I was having too much fun. :tongueclosed:

 

[Gally]

Would you consider a Lotus Dave? I'm in love with Greig's one.

 

[Sir_Dave]

So, not much change with the mini as of late.

It got parked up after Donington (at the end of July), didnt get used at all through August (we were in Bali for most of it), then i tried to start it a couple of weeks ago (end of September) and it was as dead as a dodo. Jumped it off the 135i but was confronted by a lack of PAS and an alternator light. Oh Joy. Parked it up with its new friends & left it for another few days whilst i pondered what to do.

Few days later i jumped it going again, cleared all the fault codes off with INPA (there were alot lol) and whacked the alternator with a hammer.
10 minutes later the alternator jumped into life & the PAS starting working again. Winning!!

Since then ive driven it for an hour or so & the battery is charged back up again nicely, so i drove it into work today ...

Hopefully it will start later on ...

Planning on doing Brands Hatch on Sat 5th December & would still like a quaife/2nd bucket seat, problem is, that would buy me a CSL airbox for the M3 :tonguewink:

 

[MarkCup]

Did it start?

 

[Russ_16v]

Nope, he is still pushing it home bless him

 

[Sir_Dave]

Better late than never, but the December track day was awesome!!!
Actually, no in the morning it was awful as Team HARD had 30 billies flying (re: crashing) around doing timed laps in their Golf's (rather naughty), but once they had buggered off in the afternoon i got some decent laps in
Sarah was supposed to drive, but was a little weary as so many people were using it as a test-day and the driving on occasion (see above) was pretty terrible.

Apologies for the swearing, Subaru's have a habit of irritating me on trackdays 😂

 

[JamesBryan]

Looks like you had decent weather for a December day.

 

[Cookie]

Hah, Subaru c**k and a Golf with half the bodywork missing. Looked like a fun day.

 

[Jamie86]

Love that noise!

Not you shouting abuse and flashing lights that is, yob!

 

[Daz_RT_04]

I think I'd like to do Brands Hatch for real.. I'm a master of it on Forza 😅😅

 

[ForceIndia]

I think I'd like to do Brands Hatch for real.. I'm a master of it on Forza 😅😅

It's great fun!

 

[RDH]

I love how this car looks. Proper purposeful.

 

[MarkCup]

I've forgotten how bad track etiquette can be on public days, so many have a point to prove.

Looks like a good day though.

 

[Sir_Dave]

So, this morning i am pondering whether to get a Quaife fitted (circa £1050 at Lohen), or a Safety devices front/rear bolt-in rollcage (circa £750 from Orranje). I know that the car would benefit from the diff, but as i share the car with my now fiance, Sarah, safety is becoming ever more paramount.
Any thoughts?

 

[Christopher]

Safety first.

Plus, being bolt in it it's not like you can't remove it when you come to sell.

Does it struggle without a limited diff?

 

[Waitey]

Cage and facelift diff? Best of both.

 

[Djw John]

Rear cage and facelift box with diff. Probably for the same price as the quaife.

 

[JamesBryan]

I'd get the diff.

Are you really likely to bend it that much if you have a crash? Probably not.

More sensible reply: Get the cage and facelift box.

 

[Christopher]

I'd say it would bend quite well if it dug in rolled in gravel.

A womens will be piloting said car.

 

[Addicted]

Exactly, are you likely to bend much in a crash? You don't know until you crash...

 

[Sir_Dave]

Tbh, its not so much us crashing it i'm worried about, its some other muppet running out of talent!!
Was quite a bad accident at Bedford recently where someone got t-boned and made a right mess of the poor car that got hit. Potential removal is a good point re: residuals though, forgot about that.
Diff wise, it doesnt struggle without one per say, but i think it would improve it slightly with, mostly allowing me to enter corners at slightly more "interesting" LOOS angles knowing, that i could get on the power earlier to drag me out. Main cost is the fitting however, Lohen have half price fitting atm, so buying a Quaife/fitting is £1015, vs buying a facelift box/diff (£250) and normal fitting cost at £500 = £750, i.e. not that much less.

 

[Christopher]

To be fair, for that difference in cost, I'd go for the Quaife too. Fitted with a nice warranty etc etc.

 

[Djw John]

Ah yeah that does change things a bit then.
But if you're not selling then residuals also don't matter.

 

[Waitey]

Tbh, its not so much us crashing it i'm worried about, its some other muppet running out of talent!!
Was quite a bad accident at Bedford recently where someone got t-boned and made a right mess of the poor car that got hit. Potential removal is a good point re: residuals though, forgot about that.
Diff wise, it doesnt struggle without one per say, but i think it would improve it slightly with, mostly allowing me to enter corners at slightly more "interesting" LOOS angles knowing, that i could get on the power earlier to drag me out. Main cost is the fitting however, Lohen have half price fitting atm, so buying a Quaife/fitting is £1015, vs buying a facelift box/diff (£250) and normal fitting cost at £500 = £750, i.e. not that much less.

Just buy the diff and get it put into your box! Its a 4 hour job inc getting the box on and off. Should be doable for £350 all in.

 

[Tony Hunter]

Protect Lady Sarah.

 

[Russ_16v]

I can do 5% off Quaife if that helps at all Dave

 

[Daz_RT_04]

Whilst the 2005+ box has an LSD, its not really even close to the quality a Quaife would be, as I'm sure you know.

Your a fan of the longer gearing on track also IIRC?

 

[Jamie86]

You buy the cage to keep her safe, she buys dif as you are so thoughtful
Sorted!