Well due to it costing too much money to justify tracking this…

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y125/Jonnyst/P1010383.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y125/Jonnyst/P1010384.jpg

I’ve moved onto a joint purchase with my brother.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y125/Jonnyst/P1020902.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y125/Jonnyst/P1020897.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y125/Jonnyst/P1020899.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y125/Jonnyst/P1020909.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y125/Jonnyst/P1020895.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y125/Jonnyst/P1020887.jpg

As the title suggests, it’s an MK Indy R1. Ignore the free advertising, they need to be peeled off!

Spec:

-2003 chassis completely updated in 2006 with new engine, diff, suspension and panels
- Uses Sierra IRS LSD diff and brake calipers
- Gaz 20 way adjustable coilovers
- 2001 Yamaha R1 engine (baffled), approx 150bhp and revs to 11750rpm
- Bailey Morris heavy duty prop
- Drilled/Grooved discs & greenstuff pads (plenty with only 500kg to stop)
- Total weight 500kg
- Pro Race 1.2 wheels

These cars are light because of the bike engine, which only weighs 70kg. It uses the bike gearbox, so it’s sequential and in this car is on a paddle shift.

Here’s the car in action at Anglesey in 2007

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UIPi58h0MQ&feature=channel

I’ve not tried out the handling myself yet, but as you can see it’s pretty quick in the corners…

Speed wise the car is relentless up to it’s top speed of 120mph. limited by the gearbox It’ll get to 100 very quickly and doesn’t take much longer to 120. Torque stats predicts 0-60 in 4 seconds and 100 in 11 seconds. It can’t be far off from that. With the diff and gearbox settings it is ready to go in pretty much any gear and the changes are lightening quick.

We may put some carbon fibre seats in and it needs a quieter exhaust for some tracks. There’s also no aeroscreen at the moment, so that may need to change as well! Also we need to decide what route to go down with tyres- slicks, 888s etc.

Anyway roll on the trackdays.

Looks fantastic, Jonny! It should be a real laugh around the track ... hope your driving is up to catching the backend at each and every corner

Those seats definitely need changing. They don't fit in with the car ... they look far too comfy!

Looking forward to seeing it in action around Mallory. Will that be your first track day in it?

Are you keeping it at yours? Any chance of a quick road outing soon?

The back end isn't that loose , it's just his driving style and the fact he's absolutely nailing it

Might be doing a track day soon, but it may well end up being the first one.

It's not at mine just yet, waiting for a guy to come and collect my old parts 75 from my spare garage at home. But when the weather's good I'll let you know if I'm going to take it out

jonny

always fancied a bike engine 7 alike

if only for the noise alone

how do you get the power to the back wheels?

Looks really good fun. I would love something like this.

How much was it?

Frary- Engine and gearbox are at the front, then prop to the diff at the back. The noise is fantastic, really gruff low down and hard edged up top. It pulls very well from 3K rpm as well.

MattM- We paid £6,500 for it. You can pick up car engined ones from £4K and Fireblade engined ones from £5K. Though this is winter prices... There are plenty of makes of car from very cheap up to very expensive (Caterhams!). You just hadve to do your research as cars can vary hugely in spec, quality etc.

I've just took it out and joined a new club- every biker I passed gave me the nod

The acceleration with just me in the car was It's about 260bhp/ton then so it should be Also you have to factor in very quick gearchanges. To be honest it's just a short period of time from whatever 20,30,40 to

Shame it started raining then hailing

Looks like great fun! Being bike engined, how does reverse work?

Errm there isn't one You can get electric reverses but they weigh about 30kg.

Can't you get a reverse box for it? The bike-engine kit I saw being built had one - not very big.

That looks awesome (and very rapid!) Jonny - look forward to seeing it at Mallory. What's the massive pink thing on the accelerator pedal of the Alfa - giant pedal cover to help heel and toe?

I'd keep the seats (they look fine with the rest of the car I think) spend the money on tyres, although presumably given how light weight it is, it'll be very light on tyres and brakes, even if you rag it? Just remembering discussions Dave and I had discussions with an R300 owner at Brands.

We could get a reverse but we're not really bothered at the moment. Easy to push around, but if it's a pain then we might.

Neal- yes a big pedal

The driver's seat could do with replacing anyway TBH. We're debating what route to go down with tyres now. We got two sets with the car and my brother's got some spare that probably fit too, so just deciding what to get. It is very light on everything really apart from fuel when on track...

Right, fibreglass seats, exhaust and aeroscreen soon to be ordered

Seats and aeroscreen (particularly) sound sensible ... but why an exhaust? You're not going to make it louder, are you?

Current exhaust is 103db and we also have a 120db can... Need something quieter for some tracks!

Hi Jonny,

Oops, I forgot to add to this thread having read it all .

Looks amazing, I think it's going to make my car feel and look very slow! The video clip is great.

Doubt it, you have to take the driver into account Obviously it's quicker accelerating in a straight line, but as you know plenty of time is made on the brakes and in the corners Either way we're going to have some good fun

The video is great, and the previous owner and his brother could really peddle it along

The new seats, aeroscreen and wing mirrors:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y125/Jonnyst/P1030001.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y125/Jonnyst/P1030007.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y125/Jonnyst/P1030009.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y125/Jonnyst/P1030010.jpg

Plenty of tyres

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y125/Jonnyst/P1030020.jpg

The 13" capri wheels (very light )

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y125/Jonnyst/P1030021.jpg

Shame the weather has been cr@p

Looking really good, Jonny

Those seats look much better ... and those are great harnesses

Have you started a tyre franchise? How many set do you think you'll get through?!!

There's a 15" set and the rest are 13", so we have a choice One set of slicks should last all year so I've been told but who knows

I was chatting to a guy with a R300 Superlight at a track day at Brands, and he'd had the same set of Avons on for loads of track days, and road miles. He drove the car very hard, but the car was so light that it just didn't wear the tyres under braking or cornering!

So, yes, I'd expect them to last a while ... but I suppose it depends how much time you spend sideways

Hmmm what about heat? I.e do loads of consecutive laps wouldnt they get a bit hot and wear out faster? Or maybe that applies more to road tyres?

Yes as you say, road tyres aren't designed to get very hot, slicks and other motorsport designed tyres are. Also with the weight of my car, it'll struggle to get maximum heat into them anyway. Tyres, discs and pads last forever as they are often only dealing with 1/3 weight they were designed for...

I can only comment about that particular day, as I've not got any other experience. However, on the day at Brands, the guy in the R300 was staying out at least as long as us (>20mins at a go), and was going quite a bit quicker than us ( see here, @ 8:15, to see how hard he was trying! ), and yet when he came in his tyres were barely warm

My coupe, on the other hand, was busy melting its rears and shredding its fronts!

Looking good

Did you buy those Michelins from Sticky Slicks? If so they are the same as the ones I use to race - ex Formula Renault 2.0. Mine are already a season old, plus have done 8 races and qualifying on the Caterham as well as trackdays and have still got loads of meat on them.
The more important things with the slicks is the number of heat cycles the tyres go through rather than the amount of 'tread' left (mine are too old now).

They weren't from Sticky Slicks but they are the Formula Renault tyres- £10 for 6 slicks and 2 wets on Ebay

So for those who haven't seen it, this was Mallory Park a couple of weekends ago:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7qQO5x3zlA

Though the 15" slicks we bought were useless:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y125/Jonnyst/P1030043.jpg

This definitely wasn't helped by the fact the rear brakes were barely working Looks like the handbrake has been overtensioned at some point.

The circlip for the clutch cable came off the on the motorway on the way back, so a new spring has been ordered for the clutch cable- £2 repair

We're re-positioning the thermostat as it's rubbing on the bonnet and causing the pipe to fail.

Finally I corner weighted the car last night:


Front left 114 118.5 130
Front right 111 127 132
Rear left 136 154 184
Rear right 127 165.5 185

Total 488 565 631

Front 225 46% 245.5 43% 262 42%
Back 263 54% 319.5 57% 369 58%

First measurements are just the car with a full tank. Second is with me as driver and third is with my brother as passenger.

So around 480kg with half a tank

Those slicks must have been really bad as I was expecting you to be quite a bit quicker. I can see you were feeling your way into the car though which is the sensible thing to do rather than bin it. Should be lightning quick on proper rubber.

They were REALLY bad The right-left before the hairpin was just complete understeer If we'd have known the car beforehand, I think we'd have realised straight away. Still if it is that quick on canvas, with us just cruising round the bends...

We have the 13" slicks which are in much better condition and we've just ordered some 888s to use if it's damp.

I'm doing the car limits action day with LOT next month so that'll give me some time to get used to how it reacts.

Absolutely - you'll know you're getting it right when you're absolutely destroying cars OUT of the corners. On trackdays, there's a strong argument for late-apexing in any case. That gives you the fastest exit speed which, since you can only overtake on straights, is what you are after. There's little point on sitting on the bootlid of a car through the corner but better leave some room, take the corner quicker than him and with a late apex and swing by on the next straight.

The other thing that's worth doing (and I found really useful) is to talk to the motorsport department of whichever tyre manufacturer you are using. They'll give you a great idea on tyre pressures and geometry. I discovered I'd been running my tyres too hard (as had half the paddock) and that I could add even more front negative camber.

Yes I'd never really thought about it, but that's what I used to do sometimes in the 75. It was as quick or quicker than most cars through the corners, but just didn't have the grunt on the straights.

I've got all the info for our cars on the 888s as a few guys have talked to Alan from Toyo's motorsport department. Really helpful guy I'm sure I've seen some data on slicks kicking about too.

Cheers.

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.

Sounds good Jonny, looking forward to seeing it on track again.

Academy cars are the slowest of the racing Caterham, with only 125BHP, 5 speed (awful ratios), full screens (air brake!) and significantly, the cheapest, nastiest Avon CR322 van tyres which could probably last 5 years of racing! I drove a Caterham with similar tyres on Monday, an owner wanted my opinion of the car. Well, I was polite, but suggested if he wanted to enjoy the car and survive in the wet I would change those tyres!

That explains the poor braking

There was a powder blue CSR that was flying. A 2.3 Cosworth Duratec for those that don't know. 260bhp Running 9" slick too

Car sounds awesome Jonny, looking forward to seeing it at Keevil. Why are procomp suggesting more ride height - more weight transfer?

Essentially yes. You won't find a 7 type car running as low as ours

Fair enough. Presumably you "slammed" it for more street cred on the Birmingham croozin' scene?

I'm coaching a guy that has a Dynorod Orange CSR 260 on Monday at Combe. He's happy for me to drive it so will let you know just how slow it makes mine feel! Looks like rain for Monday sadly.

Definitely like to hear about it Dave - sounds like it'll be a bit of a beast/interesting in the wet.

Yes, Im still trying to source the front fogs, daytime running LEDs, 21" wheels and underfloor neons

I wouldn't worry about the weather yet. The forecast changed 3 or 4 times a day leading up to yesterday...

I now have a great image of you picking up a local "lady" from McDonalds, and her spending 10 minutes fitting into the car, then having her make up ruined by gravel/windblast

One thing I have noticed about non-Caterham kits though (seems to afflict Westfields especially) is the installation of oversized/awful wheels. Weird.

Careful Neal ... I think you'll find 20" chrome spinners suit my Westie perfectly

Dave - just wondering if you would be up for giving my brother some tuition sometime. Delivery of his MK must be due any day now...and he's gone for the most mental spec he can!

Maybe drop me a PM when you have a moment.

Good to hear you are having some nice, reliable fun on track Jonny.

You will have pm shortly

The video wasn't very good with the new rear view mirror in the way, so here are the fun bits:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9YccBae4Po&feature=channel_video_title

Wow - that has a surreal 60's feel to it - mirror and helmet in focus and track & other cars out of focus (is there something going on with the aspect ratio too?). You probably couldn't have managed it if you'd set out to do it...

Yes the camera does decide the ratio itself sometimes It is a standard JVC and has taken quite a pounding over the years. Need something solid state really.

I quite like the video as I can remember the fun on the day. Though for others, I can appreciate 10 minutes of it would be boring It does work quite well as you say.

Footage of my brother was even better probably, as he had a clear visor. Though he wasn't driving that quickly, so it got cut

Autofocus on the mirror, there...

Well I have taken a deposit on the MK and it's off to it's new owner next week My brother doesn't really have the time any more and we now have no trailer etc etc. I didn't want to run the car myself as it's just a bit too much hassle off track. On track it's been an angel

BUT if anyone is ever considering wanting a real track car, in my view a kit car is the only way to go. Great fun and fast. Oh and the best bit- over 20 track days it has cost nothing other than consumables. And those are pretty limited; a couple of sets of tyres and oil/filter changes. That's it.

It will be missed.

Now to find a new track toy