Coming Out Of Retirement - Just One Last Time
#16
Just one last time? Who was I kidding - the TVR was never going to make life that easy, so last week the 928 was back at The Ring again for the two day DN13 track day.
And this time I have a video with sound, it's not a lightening fast lap, but it's perfectly OK considering I'm on road tyres. Hope you like it!
And this time I have a video with sound, it's not a lightening fast lap, but it's perfectly OK considering I'm on road tyres. Hope you like it!
#18
You are absolutely right.
I am sure many of our Japanese contributors will confirm that although they are a RHD country, like the UK, the aficionados prefer cars that are configured as per the manufacturing country. In other words they value LHD German cars and RHD British cars, that's because there are always unpleasant compromises when a car is 'converted' to LHD/RHD. In the case of the 928 the throttle cable is the most obvious example, as throttle pedal feel is horrible on RHD cars (because of tbe cable routing), less importantly so is the bonnet release.
I am sure many of our Japanese contributors will confirm that although they are a RHD country, like the UK, the aficionados prefer cars that are configured as per the manufacturing country. In other words they value LHD German cars and RHD British cars, that's because there are always unpleasant compromises when a car is 'converted' to LHD/RHD. In the case of the 928 the throttle cable is the most obvious example, as throttle pedal feel is horrible on RHD cars (because of tbe cable routing), less importantly so is the bonnet release.
#20
#21
One last time? Who was I kidding...
Last April the 928 was back at the Ring, but just for a single track day
The heavens opened by about 10:30am so I only managed a handful of laps before retiring - I have no intention of trying to learn how to drive on track in the wet, while at the Ring
It was my first opportunity to try the car on track with 17" wheels and AD08 tyres, it felt superb
Once again the Cerbera is out of commission, so I'm taking the 928 back to the Ring again in a month's time
Hopefully the track will be dry and I'll get to push the AD08 a little harder than last time when I was just feeling my way around
Last April the 928 was back at the Ring, but just for a single track day
The heavens opened by about 10:30am so I only managed a handful of laps before retiring - I have no intention of trying to learn how to drive on track in the wet, while at the Ring
It was my first opportunity to try the car on track with 17" wheels and AD08 tyres, it felt superb
Once again the Cerbera is out of commission, so I'm taking the 928 back to the Ring again in a month's time
Hopefully the track will be dry and I'll get to push the AD08 a little harder than last time when I was just feeling my way around
#23
Several Silly Mistakes that Ended The DN19 Nurburgring Trackday Early for Me
My first trip to the Ring was in 2006, but for the last seven years or so I've been doing Track Days at the Ring rather than Tourist Laps
I planned to retire the 928 from track day duty when I bought my Cerbera, but the TVR spends most of it's life on axle stands so the 928 has been back to the Ring several times
I did all the obvious prep work like getting car aligned, going for a shakedown in Wales
Then th week before leaving I fitted new Yellowstuff all round and flushed the old Racing Blue with new ATE TYP200
While checking fluids I noticed that the aircon belt was a little loose, but the compressor needs new seals so the aircon isn't working
Perhaps I should cut off the old belt, maybe later. Mistake #1
We decided to stop off at the Schumacher kart centre on the way to Adenau, and had a couple of sessions in the outdoor karts
I'd forgotton that I usually go karting after the track day, not before because my arms really suffer the day after. Mistake #2
We still managed to arrive in plenty of time, so I took the car to Tyre Trade Centre in Meuspath to get all four wheels balanced, and we left the car there and went to the registration and briefing
There were no obvious vibration issues, but I really like having freshly balanced wheels and they are very good at TTC
When we came out of the briefing and picked up the car, I immediately noticed that there was something wrong with the power steering
It had been fine all the way to Germany, but it most definitely was not after the wheels were balanced
There was absolutely no way anything TTC had done could affect the power steering, so I simply drove back to our apartment, swearing about how horrible it was to drive
I assumed there must be a problem with the fluid level, even though when I left London the level was perhaps a little high. Mistake #3
When I checked the fluid level it seemed fine, so I checked the belt which seemed ok and no sign of contamination, perhaps it could have been a little tighter. Mistake #4
There were no belt slip squeals, so the belt couldn't be slipping anyway. Mistake #5
I decided there was nothing more I could do, perhaps there was a heat soak issue and it will fix itself by morning
In the morning it was just as bad as the day before, manourvering in and out of parking spaces was almost impossible
Once moving things improved, but I was still fighting the steering all the way up to the TF car park, and not just on the hairpins
I went out for sighting laps and found myself fighting the steering on track, that was the last thing I wanted
However by the end of the sighting laps it seemed to have improved a little, so I went out after 9am
By the end of the first lap it seemed to have fixed itself, and when I came in to park it was fine
I continued lapping with breaks until about 11am, and then on the exit of Bergwerk I heard noise and lost all power steering completely
About a minute later as I was returning wounded the track was red flagged
I went straight to Meuspath and on opening the bonnet I could see the PS belt had been thrown off, and there was belt debris all around
Unfortunately I don't carry spare drive belts. Mistake #6
How was I going to find a new belt?
Eventually I found myself in Raeder Motorsport who kindly checked with Porsche and located a belt in Limberg
There was the possibility that I could get there and back in a couple of hours, and have the belt fitted within an hour
Perhaps I could be back on track by 3pm - not a complete disaster
Actually I didn't get back until 3pm, and I still needed to fit the belt
However when I got to work under the car it became clear that the old belt was fully intact
It had been thrown by the aircon belt that had shredded
So I'd wasted about 4 hours finding and buying a new belt. Mistake #7
Eventually I managed to fit the new belt but it was a two man job
Finally I got the the TF car park at 5pm in order to return the transponder
My theory now is that the overfilled PS reservoir contaminated the belt, which caused it to slip
However it only slipped under heavy loading, such as when parking, or on hairpin bends
It didn't squeal because of the contamination, but it dried out during the sighting laps, effectively fixing itself
Unfortunately the apartment where I'm staying doesn't have WiFi, and my 3G won't connect
So I didn't post here on Rennlist or on 928OrgUK about the PS issue on Thursday evening. Mistake #8
If I had I am sure someone would have told me that the belt was slipping, and I just needed to tighten it
It just goes to show how much I rely on Rennlist, 928OrgUK, and other forums, and the wisdom that others are willing to share
I'm glad the laps I did that morning were so rewarding, as even with all my stupid mistakes I still had a great time
Big thank you to the organisers and marshals for another great event
I planned to retire the 928 from track day duty when I bought my Cerbera, but the TVR spends most of it's life on axle stands so the 928 has been back to the Ring several times
I did all the obvious prep work like getting car aligned, going for a shakedown in Wales
Then th week before leaving I fitted new Yellowstuff all round and flushed the old Racing Blue with new ATE TYP200
While checking fluids I noticed that the aircon belt was a little loose, but the compressor needs new seals so the aircon isn't working
Perhaps I should cut off the old belt, maybe later. Mistake #1
We decided to stop off at the Schumacher kart centre on the way to Adenau, and had a couple of sessions in the outdoor karts
I'd forgotton that I usually go karting after the track day, not before because my arms really suffer the day after. Mistake #2
We still managed to arrive in plenty of time, so I took the car to Tyre Trade Centre in Meuspath to get all four wheels balanced, and we left the car there and went to the registration and briefing
There were no obvious vibration issues, but I really like having freshly balanced wheels and they are very good at TTC
When we came out of the briefing and picked up the car, I immediately noticed that there was something wrong with the power steering
It had been fine all the way to Germany, but it most definitely was not after the wheels were balanced
There was absolutely no way anything TTC had done could affect the power steering, so I simply drove back to our apartment, swearing about how horrible it was to drive
I assumed there must be a problem with the fluid level, even though when I left London the level was perhaps a little high. Mistake #3
When I checked the fluid level it seemed fine, so I checked the belt which seemed ok and no sign of contamination, perhaps it could have been a little tighter. Mistake #4
There were no belt slip squeals, so the belt couldn't be slipping anyway. Mistake #5
I decided there was nothing more I could do, perhaps there was a heat soak issue and it will fix itself by morning
In the morning it was just as bad as the day before, manourvering in and out of parking spaces was almost impossible
Once moving things improved, but I was still fighting the steering all the way up to the TF car park, and not just on the hairpins
I went out for sighting laps and found myself fighting the steering on track, that was the last thing I wanted
However by the end of the sighting laps it seemed to have improved a little, so I went out after 9am
By the end of the first lap it seemed to have fixed itself, and when I came in to park it was fine
I continued lapping with breaks until about 11am, and then on the exit of Bergwerk I heard noise and lost all power steering completely
About a minute later as I was returning wounded the track was red flagged
I went straight to Meuspath and on opening the bonnet I could see the PS belt had been thrown off, and there was belt debris all around
Unfortunately I don't carry spare drive belts. Mistake #6
How was I going to find a new belt?
Eventually I found myself in Raeder Motorsport who kindly checked with Porsche and located a belt in Limberg
There was the possibility that I could get there and back in a couple of hours, and have the belt fitted within an hour
Perhaps I could be back on track by 3pm - not a complete disaster
Actually I didn't get back until 3pm, and I still needed to fit the belt
However when I got to work under the car it became clear that the old belt was fully intact
It had been thrown by the aircon belt that had shredded
So I'd wasted about 4 hours finding and buying a new belt. Mistake #7
Eventually I managed to fit the new belt but it was a two man job
Finally I got the the TF car park at 5pm in order to return the transponder
My theory now is that the overfilled PS reservoir contaminated the belt, which caused it to slip
However it only slipped under heavy loading, such as when parking, or on hairpin bends
It didn't squeal because of the contamination, but it dried out during the sighting laps, effectively fixing itself
Unfortunately the apartment where I'm staying doesn't have WiFi, and my 3G won't connect
So I didn't post here on Rennlist or on 928OrgUK about the PS issue on Thursday evening. Mistake #8
If I had I am sure someone would have told me that the belt was slipping, and I just needed to tighten it
It just goes to show how much I rely on Rennlist, 928OrgUK, and other forums, and the wisdom that others are willing to share
I'm glad the laps I did that morning were so rewarding, as even with all my stupid mistakes I still had a great time
Big thank you to the organisers and marshals for another great event
Last edited by UKKid35; 05-29-2018 at 06:19 PM.
#25
Here's a link to a lap in the 928 from last week
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1uo...QdE5_bofxLGBXY
Word of warning, this is not compressed, this is standard GoPro 720x25 quality, so you need to download it and watch, rather than stream
It is a fairly slow lap, I make no apologies for that, I do like to be able to drive home afterwards
Apart from a couple of laps last year, this is the first time I've had a chance to try the Yokohama AD08 on track, so I am still getting used to them on the 928
I've been using them on the Cerb for years, but it is about 400kg lighter, so I'm still feeling my way around
The great thing for me was that everything was working perfectly during these last few laps, power steering, brakes, tyres, engine, no vibration anywhere, it was a real pleasure to drive
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1uo...QdE5_bofxLGBXY
Word of warning, this is not compressed, this is standard GoPro 720x25 quality, so you need to download it and watch, rather than stream
It is a fairly slow lap, I make no apologies for that, I do like to be able to drive home afterwards
Apart from a couple of laps last year, this is the first time I've had a chance to try the Yokohama AD08 on track, so I am still getting used to them on the 928
I've been using them on the Cerb for years, but it is about 400kg lighter, so I'm still feeling my way around
The great thing for me was that everything was working perfectly during these last few laps, power steering, brakes, tyres, engine, no vibration anywhere, it was a real pleasure to drive
#26
TVR still in a thousand peices, so I was back at the Ring in the 928 last Monday
Sadly I had to retire the car when the steering rack blew its seals
Looks much better with headlights down, had to do a last minute dim/dip mod as lights are mandatory on track
Sadly I had to retire the car when the steering rack blew its seals
Looks much better with headlights down, had to do a last minute dim/dip mod as lights are mandatory on track
#27
Once again the Cerbera, which I spent months preparing for last weekend's trip, decided to try to self destruct on Saturday morning, this time one hour in to the journey to the Ring - No Oil Pressure
I had the car recovered, and we swapped in to the 928, which I had prepared as a backup again just in case
It behaved wonderfully!
Here are some photos from the Monday and Tuesday track days
I had the car recovered, and we swapped in to the 928, which I had prepared as a backup again just in case
It behaved wonderfully!
Here are some photos from the Monday and Tuesday track days
#28
Here are a couple of laps in case you are interested
The first is yellow flagged because of a live recovery just after Bergwerk
The second lap is clear, so there's no excuse for my laptime
As you can see, there is very little traffic, that is the beauty of a private track day with strictly limited numbers
On the other hand that means many of the participants are driving GT3 RS costing upwards of quarter of a mil
As my mate remarked, we seemed to be the slowest car on track (as well as the oldest and the highest mileage)
#30
There was a track prepared 968CS there, but I didn't see it in any of the photos, so I don't think it made it out on to track on either Monday or Tuesday
The 968CS was accompanied on the trip from the UK by a friend in a Citroen SM (which did not go out on track) so they definitely had some style even if things didn't go as well as they hoped
The 968CS was accompanied on the trip from the UK by a friend in a Citroen SM (which did not go out on track) so they definitely had some style even if things didn't go as well as they hoped