Hi,

Just saw this post..Congrats! Had a friend w/ a Radical as well; Gulf livery....
Ran NASA Enduros and kicked a lot of butt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tZEy...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maYU-YiomKc

 

Vic, I know you sent me pictures before, but the one you posted here looks realllllly gooooooddddd!!!

Have fun, buy a couple extra splitters.

Does the car bottom out or scrap at Ego Check or the dip after the hairpin going CW?

 

I liked your write up!

 

Thanks Pete! She's a looker alright.

No scraping, but if I go off it's like 1K$ Consumables are cheap, bodywork is not.

 

Can't wait! I get to drive her this friday, if I get over this damn flu

 

I bet you still miss the good ol' 6GT3!

In all seriousness - congrats. Car looks awesome and I can only imagine how she runs!

 

I miss her dearly, but I am glad she is in good hands and she's getting regular exercise.

What's this you posted that you're stripping/caging her? Wow, cool! Talk to Mooty, he's done it and can guide you

 

Which engine have you got? See quite a lot of these on uk trackdays. They are a bit of an annoyance tbh as the speed differentials are a bit ludicrous!

Very tempting though, and I bet driving a GT3 after one of these, the GT3 seems easy its all so slow.

Would you try and run it without onsite track support? I've heard they require a fair amount of constant fettling?

 

Hey Dan, It has the 1500cc. I feel like a traitor passing GT3s like they're going backward.

As far as track support, it's nice but it's not needed, just watch the temps and you don't need much. You can change your own tires pretty easily. Support is 250/day so totally reasonable and they do EVERYTHING including pump gas and wiping down the car so it's pretty. I do it if i have an issue or i'm competing. I don't like to wrench and race, I need to concentrate.

The closing speeds are insane, catches people off guard and they try to "help" by moving out of the way. You need to stay hyper vigalent as they usually can't see you and you certainly won't get a point by. The track has f1 style electronic flag system that gives them a blue flag. I don't go out with them unless it's open passing where I can set up a pass at speed. Usually I'll go out in the radical only group and it's more fun.

 

Are you lifeing the parts as per manufacturer recs? I'm trying to work out what these cost to run. A lighweight proper track car seems so appealing as it should be cheaper than the gt3 right?

 

Since this season I'm getting used to car I was advised to double the life expectancy of the parts. The engine should be rebuilt every 30 hours so that's 30 days or one year for me. It's only 5k so not bad at all. The gas is comparable it uses 100 octane which costs double but the gas mileage is like triple the GT3's. Tires cost the same and last about the same since it's so much lighter. Brakes last a season and a half if not more again due to the lightness. Oil changes every 6 hours but I will be doing 6 days. That's what I was told by Radical west. I do a "race prep" a few times a year. They change the oil, bleed the brakes nut and bolt everything and inspect everything for wear. So overall it's less then tracking the GT3.

 

Interesting! Keep us updated on how it works out. For some reason I thought tyres would last a lot longer on something so much lighter but I guess the downforce cancels that.

 

It's not the weight it's that they're slicks and cycle out about the same amount of HC's as the porsche.

 

Heat cycles? I drive until the tread is gone and it still stings paying the equiv of 2000USD for a set of cups!

 

your other option in the uk is the 2-11.
not as hardcore, but less bespoke for maintenance
won't get support though.