Bedford Autodrome Am I Getting Quicker On Track? MSV Track Day

[@blackcaterham310]

Thanks James

[@ACaterhamCalledFern]

No problem anytime 😊

[@steverabbits]

More random thoughts.... don't forget air temp can make a lot of difference to lap time as does having a passenger. I know it's obvious but make sure you are comparing like to like before getting disheartened or being too hard on yourself mate. Well done on the sub 3 mins! That lap actually looked pretty good mate, practice makes perfect, repetition is the mother of skill etc etc. Great job 👍

[@ACaterhamCalledFern]

Thanks. Yes I agree with what you say. I had in my head that I wanted to beat 3 minutes and I'm chuffed that I did. I didnt think I did till I was editing the video. Still time out there which i can see let alone a racing driver. I'm getting there though and good that I'm getting quicker, or at least so far 😆. Consistency is key as well. I can do the odd good corner but its stringing them all together and then doing that consistently. Temperature definitely it eas a very hot day and the cooler evenings Fern loves. I'm really enjoying track driving and I'd love to do some kind of competition when i can afford it. Donny which will be a video coming soon was ace and I had a special guest with me. I just wish I could do track days all the time.

[@stevehoward314]

Another great video, James. I had 6” front and rear on my last car and have 8” on my current one (Sigma). I know exactly what you mean the car seems so nicely balanced on 6”. Whether than means a faster lap, I am unsure but it about the fun. My next set will be R888R which might be a nice compromise with 185 fronts and 205 (instead of 215) rears.

[@ACaterhamCalledFern]

That would be a good comparison swapping 6s and 8s on the day. I dont think I'm consistent enough, but I know someone that is. My special guest at Donny could help I'm sure. From what I've read you will have to bend the wingstays when switching to toyos. I wish Nova would let us know what they were doing.

[@stevehoward314]

@@ACaterhamCalledFernI didn’t need to bend the stays on my last car with R888Rs and this one looks like it will be ok too. Because they are a different size to Avons it means tweaking the setup. I too hope that Nova continue the ZZS production.

[@ACaterhamCalledFern]

@stevehoward314 oh that's interesting. Which do you prefer? Or is it too early to say?

[@stevehoward314]

@@ACaterhamCalledFern I prefer ZZS but R888Rs are good. For a mix of road and track, dry and wet I really like ZZS. ZZS are more expensive but lasted longer than R888R on my car.

[@ACaterhamCalledFern]

@stevehoward314 my current set even though the wheels are a mish mash will last me till the end of the year if not longer I'm sure. I've also got 4 new zzs tyres all 6 inch so I should be ok for next year if not longer. I guess it depends how many track days I can afford 😆

[@nickclapham3689]

Nice video! Out of interest do you get your speedo in your video from gps or from fern? What do you use to add gps and speedo to your video? Thanks!

[@ACaterhamCalledFern]

Hi thanks. GPS through the gopro at the moment. It's not very reliable though. It seems to be sods law alot of the time that the GPS hasn't worked properly on the gopro on my best lap. I would like to buy a GPS logger at some point. My friend brought his when he came to donny with me. You will see in a video coming soon some of the benefits of that.

[@nickclapham3689]

So I tried reading vehicle speed from my sigma ecu but from what I've seen it's only get a sensor on the rear axle to the gearbox/speedo, and not to the ecu, but the duratec apparently has front sensor which connects to the ecu so I'm trying to find out if I can use the same with the sigma... Like you said, it's typical the lap you forget to record is the fastest.

[@ACaterhamCalledFern]

@nickclapham3689 it is always the way. I have a gopro on Fern alot of the time. It's always a day when I don't have a camera that something interesting happens. Are you after GPS data to add to videos? I would think a data logger would be the beat way. Probably not the cheapest but probably the most reliable. When funds allow I'll buy one, but there is lots on my shopping list at the moment. The problem now is most things on the list are expensive. I mean £50 each if my wife is reading this 😆

[@nickclapham3689]

@ACaterhamCalledFern 🤣 you never know who could be reading!! Yes of course! I just don't want to spend "all that £50" on something if I don't need to... although my ecu is locked so would probably need an ecu swap which kind of defeats the point... anyway it's mainly speed I'm looking for so I can compare laps. Steering angle and brake pressure would be awesome, but need to walk before I can run... Looking at a racebox mini for now to see how easy that is to match against video.

[@ACaterhamCalledFern]

@nickclapham3689 the hardest part is syncing things together. Vbox looks like a good option. Looks like video and data all together, but not cheap. You get what you pay for I guess. I'm not sure how much track driving you have done. For me a gopro is enough at the moment as I'm not consistent enough at all. When I can get consistent then I guess it comes down to finer details. Just from the video and no GPS data I can see where I can improve at the moment. I think my donny video will be a good one. I think you will appreciate it.

[@blackcaterham310]

James, out of interest do you know the difference in top speed between aero & standard screen?

[@ACaterhamCalledFern]

Hi good question. That would depend on how much power you have as well. Fern has 140bhp and you can tell in top speed, but also more importantly acceleration. I can't give you any figures as I would have had to have driven a track with the screen and then again with the aero. I can tell you it feels alot different and the windscreen probably isn't the best for aerodynamics, but I'm not an expert. If you do track driving with the screen I would definitely advise for you to try aero on track so you can see what its like. You might even be able to borrow one off sometime.

[@bustab8649]

One question about changing the size of your wheels & tyres: does that not affect the calibration of the speedo? The original owner of my Caterham had fitted smaller diameter tyres at first, but then switched to the ones I have been using since (about 6% larger diameter). A year or so after I bought it, I discovered my speedo reads about 5mph too low, which I reckon is down to the change in wheel diameter. It also means I have to be extra careful when driving past a speed camera!!! It may be worth checking the calibration of your speedo, although it's likely to read higher with the smaller wheels.

[@ACaterhamCalledFern]

Hi yes the speedo reads higher and it did a bit before, so it's even more out. I'll hopefully fix it at some point.

[@DarrenCheesbrough]

Did you have the LSD for your lap last year James?

[@ACaterhamCalledFern]

Hi Darren. Good point no I was open diff. There was quite a few changes for the better. At donny my friend brought his data logger with him. It's great to compare laps. It's on the shopping list. I could put them side by side to see where the gains are.