Engine woes

I've been to three track days in the last 5 months, and i've done all of about 10 laps.

Unfortunately, that hose I mentioned a couple of posts back has been a chronic problem. First time I gave it the benefit of the doubt, but when I replaced the hose, I had the exact same problem. Exhaust gets hot, melts hole in pipe, car runs like crap.

For a permanent fix, I got Autosport to have a look as part of the general service. Greg wrapped the pipe in heat tape and put a heat shield over it too. I guess it just wasn't to be - the heat shield didn't do it's job, and within 15mins, the pipe had a hole in it again. Day over.

I was pretty peeved with the whole thing by this stage. People had suggested a couple of solutions, one of which involved welding a pipe to the compressor to remove the silicone pipe entirely. Greg opted to rotate the turbo housing around 45 degrees or so to create a gap between the two, and add another heat shield to keep the heat off the area. The final result can be seen in the pics.

I'm a bit over spending money on track days for no result, so I think they'll take a back seat for the next while. For now, I'm just going to enjoy the car and try to stop it sucking funds from my wallet for a while.

Tunes

Got sick of driving around with no music, so I installed an MP3 head unit and some 6 inch speakers in the parcel shelf.

Fully sick!

Circuit Club Track Day: Wakefield, 13th June 2011

Monday was my first visit back to the track since my crash and unfortunately, it wasn't a triumphant return. About three laps into my second session, I heard a pressurised air sound (a bit like a blowoff valve) under throttle and immediately lost power. The culprit was later found to be a cracked silicone hose where the air leaves the compressor.

The track was very damp at the start of the day, and I had no confidence to push on cold semi slicks. Although I only did about 10 laps, I caught a few slides and got a chance to remember the lines and stuff, so not a complete waste of time. My fastest lap for the day? A whopping 1:33, and dead last! Only one way to go from there :)

Was great to finally make it to the track with Reedy too. He was making light work of some "favoured" competition in his MPS. Great car!

Pictures!

Because I have a bad habit of losing cameras, i've been a bit lazy with taking photos of the new(est) Silvia. After a quick wash, I took the car to a quiet street in Canterbury and took a couple of pics of how the car looks at present. Needs wider wheels at the rear :)