SSCC Supersprint: Eastern Creek, 14th February 2010

Another track day, another success!

As per usual, I was excited leading up to the day and slept poorly, but the reason this time was a little different. I had a new, faster car, and a new event format - more unknowns, more things to look forward to. To make me slightly more nervous, the rain had been bucketing down all week. When I woke on Sunday, it was heavily overcast with rain threatening yet again - not great news for the track day fan, but a different challenge.

I arrived at the track nice and early, but it hardly seemed like long enough. As I mentioned in a previous post, Supersprint events are slightly more serious than the days i've been attending over the last couple of years, so there's some extra rules and procedures to be aware of. I also had my car scrutineered prior to the event - marshals check that your car is in good working order, and that there are no loose objects or dangerous items. In the excitement of the buildup, I forgot to remove my spare wheel from the boot, so was politely asked to do so. Other than that, the car went through without a problem.

The driving itself was an absolute blast. Before the day, I had decided that I wouldn't push out of my comfort zone too much, but just familiarise myself with the new conditions and make sure the car came home intact. The wet weather only reinforced that decision, so on the damp surface, I took it fairly gently the whole day. I finished with a best of 1:58.1, which is a full 8 seconds slower than the previous owner's best time. Plenty of room for improvement there.

I was really pleased with the car's performance. The suspension is superior in every way to my old Silvia - it is eager to turn in, and is very stable mid corner. The brakes are strong and don't feel as if they will fade as easily. The engine combination is excellent, and the midrange torque gives you great acceleration out of the corners. As my confidence in the car grows, it's only going to be more fun, and hopefully faster too!

The camera setup was a success too, so i've posted some footage of the morning sessions:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s00aYkAndws

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nESBko_VPH4&feature=related

It's only four weeks until the next SSCC Supersprint, so I don't have to wait too long for my next fix. The event will be at Wakefield park, which I am reasonably comfortable with, having done a number of track days there. If the weather is fine, I might just find that bit of extra confidence to push this new car closer to it's full potential!

Preparation

In preparation for my first track day in the new Silvia (coincidentally also my first Supersprint), I've been kept busy with little bits and pieces both on and off the car. When I stopped and thought about it, I was impressed with what i've managed to get organised in the last month or so!

In order to compete in a Supersprint, you need to hold a CAMS (Confereration of Australian Motorsport) speed licence. You also need to have stickers on the car to tell officials where your battery and tow hooks are in the event of an accident. The organisers also expect that you have a secondary restraint on your bonnet (i.e something in addition to the latch), so i've sourced some bonnet pins to keep it nice and secure. The old owner already had a fire extinguisher mounted in the cabin, so check that one off the list.

Inside the car, i've decided to have proper harness mounting points welded into the parcel shelf. A harness not only provides additional safety over a lap sash seat belt, but also keeps you securely in place during cornering, meaning you can focus all your attention on driving rather than trying to brace yourself as you slide around in your seat. I'm really happy with the setup, should hold me perfectly (see pic).

On the car itself, i've had an oil temp sender installed to keep a close eye on those oil temperatures, and also purchased some new race tyres which should see me through 2010. I've chosen the Yokohama A048R (see pic) - it is the control tyre of the Improved Production Racing Series and the V8 brutes. It's not the grippiest semi slick on the market, but the price was right and it will be plenty adequate while I continue to learn.

And last but not least, my brother and I designed a simple little device to mount a video camera on the passenger side of the parcel shelf, so hopefully I will have some video to share of the first outing! We dismanted a tripod, and secured it to the child seat point using a lengthened bolt and a few washers. Very simple, very effective!

Until then, it's time to study a few more youtube clips of Eastern Creek, and get those lines in my head so the course seems like second nature. Can't wait for the 14th February!

Silvia Mk3

Nearly a month after I laid down a deposit on my dream Silvia, I took delivery of it yesterday night. Was it worth the wait? Hell yes. I couldn't be happier with the car, it's just superb. I've already had a few comments saying that the car looks like it's just rolled off the showroom floor! Not bad for an 18 year old car eh?

The seller mentioned that the car previously belonged to a fastidious owner, and it really shows. Things that rarely work in these old cars like electric mirrors, dashboard dimmer lights, ash tray lights, they're all in perfect working order. The paint doesn't have a single scratch, fade, or bubble. It's how a Silvia should be, and how i've always wanted one to be. With any luck, I can keep it that way. Shopping centre car parks are going to become an even more stressful place.

All that said, I didn't buy this car because it looks pretty. I bought it because it's also got the potential to set some solid lap times. Obviously there's no room for testing the car's potential on the Pacific Highway/Anzac parade, but i'll give my initial impressions.

The car has a mean, slightly bumpy idle from the aftermarket camshafts. The exhaust is loud, but more muffled that the straight pipe i'm used to - a big plus. The springs in the coilover suspension are firm, but the shocks are far better than the ones I am used to, so the car feels very settled at low speeds. The car pulls smoothly and evenly throughout the rev range - it feels ready to go at a moment's notice. The brake system is designed to pull up the Silvia's bigger brother - the Skyline - so they should be more than capable of the task.

My brother recently purchased his first SLR camera, so we saw last night as a perfect opportunity for him to test out a few shots. We drove to a deserted car park, and took some shots with the overcast and tinged night sky behind. I've posted a couple of my favourites. Thanks again to Sean for the shots!

Third time lucky?

After a little over two years of ownership and a lot of fun, I will soon be moving on to another car. The title of the blog will still be totally appropriate, but will now refer to this amazing car!




That's right, I will soon be the proud owner of my third S13 Silvia. I just can't seem to look past their "bang for your buck", rewarding yet challenging drive, and simplicity.

Here's a short list of things I wanted to improve on the old car:

Larger brakes, Re-Paint, Improve Suspension, Remove Sunroof, Install Temp Gauges, Engine work, the list goes on...

And this is the main reason for my upgrade. On the new S13, all of the above has already been taken care of! It would cost (in time and money) significantly more to get my current S13 to the same stage, and so it seemed a no brainer to purchase a car that was already so close to how I wanted mine to be.

The previous owner of the car was involved with a group called the Southern Sporting Car Club (SSCC). The group has track days once a month, and they're slightly more organised/competitive than the private track days i've been attending for the last two years. A good next step as I see it.

I will be attending as many SSCC events as possible in 2010, and hope to continue to improve my skills behind the wheel. I really can't wait to get this car out on the circuit.

I'll discuss the car in more detail later on.

Circuit Club Track Day: Oran Park South, 29th November 2009

Oran Park has a massive reputation amongst motorsport fans. You can see the whole circuit from the grandstand, so it's great to watch from, and the course is easily the most fun of the choices in NSW. That's rarely disputed.

Over the last couple of years, I've been here to watch drift and time attack, and I just had to get on to the track before it's closure. The land has been sold to housing developers, and as of January 2010, the Oran Park circuit will no longer exist.

I was also super keen to try out the latest investment for the car: a set of track only rims, and some semi slick tyres for extra grip. The tyres on the new rims were second hand, but that suited me fine. The driving style on semi slicks is quite different to on road tyres and given the price, I didn't want to damage a new set while I was re-learning how to brake and corner.

The weather in Sydney had been great (and very hot) in the days leading up to the event, and the Sunday was no different. It was cloudy but fine, and quite hot - around 30 degrees. I wanted to get stuck into it straight away, but first session out, I took it easy while I learnt the new layout.

I pushed a little toward the end of the first session, and had a bit of a half spin from being a little too eager on the throttle. I also had driver trainer Dave Sieders in the car with me. Dave drives V8 super cars in the Fujitsu feeder series, and had some useful words of wisdom for me. He also drove my car for a few laps, which was totally exhilarating. It gave me a benchmark to chase for the rest of the day, and showed me how much potential my car has, even in it's current form!

My thoughts on the day? Fantastic, for a number of reasons. First, the track layout is fast and flowing. Once you are comfortable with the layout, you can really push yourself a little at a time to get the most out of it. It rewards a little bit more bravery, but also you're always conscious that a mistake could find you in one of the many walls that line the circuit. I can see why the track has been so popular over the years - the bumps, quick changes of direction, and constant elevation changes all give the circuit a real character. If i'm lucky, maybe i'll be able to drive the full Grand Prix circuit before it closes.

Second, driving on semi slicks (even old ones) is so much more fun than radial tyres. After two or three laps when radial tyres are starting to overheat and get slippery, semi slicks are just switching on! They feel so much more stable, and allow you to corner with greater speed and confidence. I don't think I can go back to radial tyres now!

According to the time sheets, my best was 52.3, but that was with Dave at the wheel. After seeing an individual breakdown of the times, I found my best was a 54.9, showing there's a great deal of room for improvement. Better to save that money I was going to spend on the car and enter a few more track days I think!

One final note. Today I passed a little experience milstone - my 10th track day. It doesn't seem that long ago that I was taking my humble little non-turbo S13 to Eastern Creek to play with the "big boys". On my first ever Wakefield day (2nd track day), I lapped in a best of 1:21.9. I can now do it a full 9 seconds faster than that. I guess experience does count for something.