Yup - it's a lesson I've learned in racing. My car is quick through the corners but still lacks power (something I need to fix). If you watch any of the videos of this season you'll see me pass the 3 litre Capri in pretty much every single one (he always gets me off the line). In nearly every single pass I employ this tactic. You'll also see me close on the Elan out of Clarke in particular - don't quite have the power to take him which is very frustrating.

It feels a little counter-intuitive to back off a car you want to pass but if you're faster through the corner, it's the only way to carry the speed through. It's particularly important on corners before long straights where you can really make the higher exit speed pay.

Jonny and I did a Lotus On Track activity day yesterday (£30 = bargain), he in his MK and us (Beth, Dad and I) in the BMW 330D and the 1400 Caterham.

Perfect weather, if a little chilly for those not driving down in a warm tow car .

Format of this day was using two smaller circuits in the morning, pub lunch and then the full sprint circuit in the afternoon, against the clock.

Most of the other cars present were Elises and Exiges, with a couple of Ferrari, an M3, a Stuart Taylor kit, VX220 Turbo and a couple of MX5.

This was the first time driving on track for Dad since that wet Cadwell day years ago in my Clio. I had been working hard on the Caterham for the last week, fitting a tall roll cage, so JUST managed to wedge Dad in (he is 6`4"). We all had a good time, and the BMW was surprisingly good, although without a limited slip diff it would spin up one wheel out of corners. I managed to get Beth to experience spinning for the first time ever which was part of the plan. Next up is to teach her how to control it!

Anyway, on to Jonnys MK Indy. First off, it sounds fantastic, although you could tell from the outside it is set up to be very stiff, as the revs were rising and falling over every bump at speed. After lunch Jonny kindly let me have a go! What a difference to my Seven; no gear lever, just paddles, a rev counter set in the centre of the dash which rises to 12,000rpm+, a larger steering wheel with lighter steering, much wider track - the wheels stick out much further than my narrow track Caterham, and more space with a feeling of being a little exposed.
A quick run down of the gear change technique left me a little worried - right paddle to engage first, then left paddle to go up through the gears, right paddle to go down. This is the complete opposite to every other car I've driven with paddles (I drive Auris and Yaris semi autos almost daily). The paddle also require a hard pull to get them to engage a gear.
As we edged forward to start my run I managed to stall the car 4 times, the clutch is very sensitive and the engine whilst powerful (150BHP+?) has little torque. On the start line, 3,2,1, GO and I manage to stall it again! Doh! Jonny restarts it again and I get away. First impressions are blimey, this thing is quick, with a very smooth powerband, not likely the peaky delivery of my 600 Yamaha bike. I remember to pull the left paddle to change to second, then go for third and get a scream of revs. It seems if you are too gentle on the paddles it can select neutral. Jonny selects a gear whilst I'm quickly rolling to the right, left right bends, and I'm away under power again.

Back to using full throttle again, I'm fine for the next 30 seconds, air trying to rip my glasses off my face (Jonny sensibly wearing a crash helmet), stones hitting against my body and face literally! The combination of the screaming engine and exposure to the air really makes it seem like you are flying along. The brakes need to be pressed hard, same as my car, but they didn't have as much feel. Tightish left hander was taken well by the car, with just a hint of tail out, a dab of oppo and the car was straight again, then it happened - I forgot to pull the left paddle to change up, with the result that we pretty much hit the limiter, which gave me quite a panic (I should think it did to Jonny too). Error sorted and the end of the run.

I was very embarrased and gutted I could have easily damaged the car. I think I needed a few miles of normal driving to let the gear and clutch techniques sink in, before attempting to drive full throttle on track.

Still, what I could tell is it is a very fast car with great engine flexibility, good handling and grip from its Toyo 888s, but needs more braking feel and a more compliant suspension to make it both more forgiving and stop it losing traction over bumpy surfaces. get that sorted Jonny and their is no catching you.

Where I was hopping in and out of cars, and doing a bit of 'coaching' with Dad and Beth I only managed one run in my own car by myself (a heavy passenger really messes up the handling and braking in my car). Still, my 1 min 13.2 seconds was third fastest time of day, beaten by an Exige and the VX220 T.

Cheers for the drive Jonny.

No problem, don't worry I think you just hit the limiter with the accelerator rather than by changing down. Good to get another opinion on it. Already got some softer rear pads on the way today to help

It was good to drive your car too, such a different way of achieving the same result

So off we went to Abingdon airfield on Friday, our first proper track day in the car:

http://www.motorsport-events.co.uk/abingdon.php

The weather was fantastic, sunny all day and very warm for April. The only issue we had was a snapped throttle cable on our first proper runs of the morning. I have to say a BIG THANK YOU to Senny Dave , an hour and a bit later we were back in action. For an airfield the circuit is excellent, a nice mix of corners, fun chicanes and straights. The surface is also very good.

I took my dad out a couple of times but the chicanes made him feel a bit ill My brother and I took it in turns to ferry Senny Dave round the circuit, so in all he had plenty of passenger laps and his neck is a bit sore now

My first proper session out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ysolYgPUD4

Good fun, still getting used to the car, but with proper tyres on it really felt good.

My next session out getting into it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh04DVKJGF0

Nice little spin , and just getting into it when we get black-flagged in error. Didn’t quite get long enough, with the problem earlier in the day, but we came away feeling like we made some progress.

Now that the rear brakes have been sorted they feel amazing. From cold they are poor, but after a few hard stops they are fantastic, needing half the distance of most other cars and the car’s very stable too.

The engine is fantastic, plenty of pull from low down and just loves to rev. Sounds great too. We only just scraped the sound test at 99.2db static though so we may need a quieter exhaust.

The car is lovely and controllable, a joy to drive. You really have to be ham-fisted to spin it Tyres are barely marked, but it’s expected when the car only weighs 460kg with the 13” wheels on…

Overall a great day, made even better because my brother was the one driving the car up and down the motorway

Looks awesome - passenge ride next time for me!

Great videos Jonny It's absolutely flying round, isn't it?

Really pee'd off that I missed Friday now Next time ...

Yes you're both welcome to some passenger laps, I'll bring my shoehorn for you Si

We're getting quicker Dave

...and then hope you can move your arms.

Here’s some new video of our recent track day at Silverstone Stowe with Lotus On Track. It was a fantastic day; well run and with courteous drivers on track.

These were two of my sessions after lunch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHzaKkK9gfE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je0BisxZsbc

Unfortunately Youtube has cropped the video when it's been uploaded so you can't see the front of the car.

We softened up the suspension, which made such a difference As ever the car didn’t even break into a sweat, even running 15-20 minute sessions back to back. We did around 10 sessions on track and there’s no discernable wear on tyres, brakes etc. The braking forces it generates still make me laugh

We still miss the odd gear change when we’re getting tired and it really does take it out of you mentally driving it hard. So much more concentration is required than in any of my previous cars. Plus there’s still a long way to go in getting anywhere near the limits of the car. Tuition is on the cards now we’re getting used to it.

Even with clutchless change-ups and ever increasing rev usage, it still managed 14mpg on track It was similar in pace to the Exiges and we managed to stay with some of the slower driven R400/R500s during the day.

Roll on the next day

It's starting to look really good, Jonny. The car seems to brake well for the corners (no light back-end moments) and then hang on well round them

It looks like real fun to drive!



Slightly different to a coupe then?

No there's no comparison to 1200kg+ cars really The 75 was the same.

The car is absolutely planted under braking and is definitely huge fun to drive. I smile every time I think of being on track.

Where's the :jealous: smilie when you need it?!

It looks like I'm going to have to work harder to convince my wife that a Westie SEi is a good idea

he he he - good luck with that one!

Well off I went to Castle Combe with DaveT last Friday. Here's a bit I wrote on that thread:

It's the first proper track that we've been able to stretch the car's legs It was such fun everywhere and so quick. The only problem was that we had to ease off going up to Avon Rise to avoid running on the limiter. Hence Dave gains quite well there I used my little camera in the morning and it vibrated too much to get decent video. Then my brother drove the afternoon with my other camera.

My brother couldn't come until after lunch, and he just nails it from the start I use him as a benchmark to go quicker as I'm a bit of a pussy. Still I usually manage to be quicker in the end Not this time though. So after around 1 hour on track Ed did a 1:20

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=MKIndyR1R#p/u/0/KuWnP66_T58

Great fun and I'm really looking forward more fun with Dave at Silverstone.

Once again the car used no brake discs, pads or tyres.

Great stuff Jonny - that car must be a hoot to drive.

It is Mike. If you can get along to Silverstone in July, you can see what it's like

So we went to Silverstone on 16th July:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ3_lL4Ve-4

Great fun but since going to Oulton Park on Saturday I’ve realised the slicks we have have plenty on tread but have had too many heat cycles. Makes for lots of sideways action, but not very quick

So here’s Oulton with Toyo 888s on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4QS5tVg8TE

It is amazing the difference between running with and without a passenger. Though it appears I’m still pretty slow through the chicanes

We’ll buy some fresh slicks next Spring

2 or 3 more days this year, then we've got some upgrades to make- gear change improvement, gear indicator, possible roll cage etc.

nice - looks like it's going well.

Looked like a lot kof fun from about 5.20 in that vid.

Not watched the vids but its really great you're actually using the car alot, I think mnay people intend to when buying a car like this but never end up doing so.

The lighter the car, the more difference having a passenger makes. Normally they are SO much more fun on your own. They tend to slide a little bit more predictably at the limit too.

It certainly gets used Shabba Maybe Donington at the end of the month and Castle Combe next month

300 bhp/ton just the car, 260bhp/ton just me. 220bhp/ton with a decent sized passenger

It slides pretty well with or without a passenger. But Suba made it slide especially well at Silverstone. He really stuffed the corner weighting up, but it was worth it for a lovely 3 second slide at 80mph

I'll sit on the roll bar next time!

Another great day at Donington even though there were about 8 red flags, two hours of rain and we got black flagged for noise twice… An additional silencer and a max of 9500rpm on the pit straight was the only way we didn’t set the meters off. Though they were over-reading – 108dB I think not.

So even though we had to creep past cars on the straight, we still had a fantastic time. I’ve missed Donington sooo much. It was such a different experience in the MK rather than last time in the 75; you really appreciate how the circuit flows in a car like this.

The car was faultless as usual and even Craners couldn’t make any real headway into reducing the tread on the 888s. Any more than 100mph and the camera cut out though So here’s a few laps, not the greatest or fastest but still good fun.

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

The video is taking ages to process...

I'll have a watch at lunchtime Jonny - glad you had fun!

So, we've had the first run of the year in the car. A few changes and the arrival of a new addition to my family has meant things have been slow. The changes have been a full roll cage, gear change indicator, softer brake pads and finally some slicks that work...

So off we went to Donington yesterday. What a great day It wasn't looking good per the weather forecast, but we only had a few spots of rain. I'm actually sunburnt today

It didn't start well with a black flag after two laps for noise The exhaust has just been repacked as well. With an additional silencer and limiting the revs to 10k on the main straight only, we were good for the rest of the day

The car as usual, was faultless. By mid morning the slicks were working well and the car was flying. Being a Bookatrack day, the cars were slightly more upmarket than some days. There were a few Radicals, Sakars, the odd Elise and Exige, an M3 race car, some Funcups and lots of Caterham and more specifically Academy cars.

The new brake pads are better from cold and much easier to modulate With the slicks warmed up the car was sliding on demand The Academy cars were good for working on our lines, but it didn't take much to catch them up. The bit of extra power and quicker gearchanges show, along with the tyres and surprising, we can brake much later. Some good fun was had Driving standards were brilliant with only one stoppage all day... Bookatrack are highly recommended.

Senny Dave came up and enjoyed some passenger rides and JBT turned up for a few laps too.

The car continues to amaze. It barely stopped all day between myself and my brother. Never got too hot in terms of tyres, engine and brakes. It's just such good all round fun. The only problem was the fuel usage

Video on it's way once I get chance.

Roll on Keevil

Sounds like you had another great day out Jonny! Any videos?

And a new photo is needed in your sig, with your new ProComp cage

I'm desperate to get back on track now ... work keeps getting in the way

Hopefully we'll get a chance to do a side-by-side comparison before too long

Should get chance to look at the vids this weekend. Not sure how good they'll be as the new rear view mirror is in the way

It'll be good to compare. Your straight line speed will be quite a bit better, so I'll need to use experience in the car to keep up

Slicks vs T1R's should tip things your way quite heavily!

To be honest, our car isn't really heavy enough or aggressively set up (or driven hard enough )to utilise the slicks. We'd be quicker on the 888s, but the slicks are only £20 per corner Rears were quite warm yesterday, but the fronts weren't. Also Procomp explained we need much more ride height to get the heat into them.