First track day in the 200....

[tommy s]

As title says, did Oulton yesterday, was an awesome day, weather a bit crap to begin with but dried out nicely for late morning. Was absolutely s**tting myself at the start, felt way out of my depth with all the lads trailering in their track weapons and getting the spanners out, while me and my mate just sat and waited, obviously with it being the daily drive we had no prep to do in the morning, pressures and fluids were already checked! During the sighting lap I was still terrified, but after that went out with my mate who's a well experienced track day man(got a 600bho evo vi for his track car) to show me the lines. Felt much better after that, and by the end of the day I was flying, Managed to beat some of the track prepared cars, and absolutely loved it.couldn't believe how well the car went as well, I drove 200 miles up there, did 150 miles on track giving it absolute death and 200 back, she didn't even use any oil let alone anything break!! Love the car even more now, and for a standard road car it's so capable, like I said embarrassed a supra, a track prepped e36 BMW to name a couple!!!

Awesome day.....here's a few pics....

Also saw a silver 04 172 with Clio sport stickers on who was on track too, and there were 2 of the 200 cup cars, omg I want a sequential box!!!!

And if your wondering why some have plates and others not, I took em off in the morning but had to put them on again to go out at lunch and couldn't be bothered to take them off again!!!

 

[JCC]

Sounds an awesome day out. A cupped 200 is epic on the right road, so well set up straight from factory. I reckon mine would have run rings round my old 172 on track, and it had 188BHP and was properly set up on Bilstein B14s, was running DS2500s etc.

 

[tommy s]

Sounds an awesome day out. A cupped 200 is epic on the right road, so well set up straight from factory. I reckon mine would have run rings round my old 172 on track, and it had 188BHP and was properly set up on Bilstein B14s, was running DS2500s etc.

It was mate, u gonna track yours?? Gonna book up again soon do brands in April I think. Sorted out some slicks today, just need get some wheels for em.

Anyone know the best coilovers for the 200? Been told AST's are the best but they're £1500, anyone tried Kw's?

 

[Sir_Dave]

Anyone know the best coilovers for the 200? Been told AST's are the best but they're £1500, anyone tried Kw's?

Whats wrong with the standard setup? Describe the issues you are facing so we can advise

 

[tommy s]

Whats wrong with the standard setup? Describe the issues you are facing so we can advise

Nothin really considering its standard, it's epic. But want it lower for a start, and to cure the minor under steer mid corner, slicks should all but sort that on track, but just want the whole thing tighter. For a standard car it is amazing though, but with some improvements Il be able to give my mate a run in his evo.

 

[BIGASH]

Pictures look great mate I used to have a R27 and used it often on track and it was awesome!

and to cure the minor under steer mid corner, slicks should all but sort that on track

Absolute minefield in my opinion if you fit full slicks to the 200 you will be forever chasing issues such as uprated bushes, increased wear on lot's of parts and don't forget that most trackday companies insist on you having a cage if your using slicks.

No offence at all but from my experience I would just stick with the standard cup chassis as mine was. It really is great and I think you will end up with a money pit if you go down the slicks option. To get coil overs that are stiff enough to eliminate the body roll on track from the grip of the slicks it would make it pretty undrivable on the roads.
Sorry if that isn't what you wanted to hear mate but thought I would share my experience from a similar scenario

 

[JamesBryan]

I was there taking a few pictures on Saturday.

Might have a few of yours, not looked at them yet though.

 

[tommy s]

To be honest mate, it isn't really what I wante to hear no! But seems sensible, hadn't thought about the cage problem on track nor the increased wear to be honest, reason I was thinking of getting slicks is purely due to £, the r888's are about 530 for a set which is obviously what most people run, and through a mate I can get a set of part worn slicks for 100, clearly the better option. But maybe I need a rethink. As regards coilovers and road use I'm not too arsed, it's not like I do a great deal of miles on the road, and can use the missus's Beemer if it becomes an issue. Definitely want it lower and any improvement from the already amazing handling is more than welcome.

 

[tommy s]

Yeh have a look mate, where were you?

 

[BIGASH]

I can totally understand why you want it to be lower mate and I did too with my R27 but it was too much of a compromise for me so I just left the stock suspension on. I looked into the slicks and coil overs but you then need all the rest to go with and for a road car which is what mine was at the time it just isn't practical. To get the car working well on slicks it would have to be pretty rock hard and I doubt either the KW's or H+R's would be sprung or valved hard enough off the shelf to make the most of the slicks and stops masses of body roll.

With regards to the tyre prices yes R888's are expensive back in 08 I used to pay £114 a tyre but I can imagine they have gone up as you say, I used to get a lot of track days out of a set though and the R888's a perfect compromise for me as in the wet or dry with stock geo settings it just handled great! The other thing to think about with the slicks is that do you know how many heat cycles they have gone through? as after they have done a certain amount of cycles they lose a lot of grip and even though they may have plenty of life left to the markers they will not give the grip expected and this was something I didn't want to go experimenting with on my near 20k daily that was uninsured on track.

Sorry it isn't what you wanted to hear but I am just trying to save you money in the long run even if the R888's are more expensive to start with Also have a look here http://www.racecarnewmedia.com/bmtr/news.asp?NewsID=45 i'm not sure if they do a clio fitment but they are pretty cheap and supposedly a decent track tyre. Hope that helps

 

[tommy s]

Thinking more on slicks, if I'm doing a track day every other month, the wear probably ain't all that much to worry about, and no worse than on 888's which I'd run alternatively. Have to look into the cage issue but still not dead against slicks, and at £100 a set I think il have to try and see for myself!

 

[tommy s]

Cheers for ur advice mate, good to talk to someone with real experience!!

 

[JamesBryan]

Yeh have a look mate, where were you?

I was just walking around with a few mates with my camera. We knew the guy who was in the white Sierra Cosworth.

 

[MikeLYR27]

My kw v3's with 888's are amazing!!! The grip is unreal, and its amazing standard!

 

[Tony Hunter]

I would just leave it alone and drive around it.

 

[Sir_Dave]

I would just leave it alone and drive around it.

Same. By fitting R888's and/or slicks you are simply masking the problem.

My suggestion? Learn how to drive around it, and/or modify your driving style so that the problem doesnt occur. Perhaps try trail braking into the corner to get more front end grip/less understeer mid-bend? Or even a cheeky lift mid-bend - a bit of lift-off oversteer is always handy when trying to quell understeer i find ...

Do they do a Whiteline rear ARB for the 200? Worth a try if they do.