First time on track in my S2000 - Castle Combe

ChrisD.

ChrisD.

ChrisD.

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Joined
20 Sep 2006
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Went to Castle Combe yesterday and had an awesome time. Below is the 4th session of the day I think.


The car was faultless, only major issue was driver error where I ran out of fuel on the way to the station! I had gone out on a session with 1/4 of a tank left and the car started cutting power in fast corners, so I pulled into the car park and made my way to the station. As I pulled in the fuel light came on and all the bars the S2000 has disappeared. Half a mile towards the station and the thing ran out. :D Luckily some kind track day goers rescued me with a jerry can and lift.

Already know that I shouldn't be getting on the throttle once I've turned in, my excuse I guess is that I'm still getting use to the car and the amount of grip it has.

Penultimate session of the day:

 
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If people are just being idiots on track days i'd pull into the pits for a couple of mins as once you get worked up and annoyed you'll only start making mistakes and not enjoying it.
 
He knew you were there. Either that or he needs his head checked.

It's really irritating. I was following a Z3M for a while at Oulton that just wouldn't yield. I honestly think some people have "crapper car syndrome" where they simply won't yield to you because your car isn't as good as theirs and therefore you shouldn't be passing.

Was also very surprising how slow some people were in some serious cars. Not wanting to damage their pride and joy I guess.
 
Gayjin said:
I honestly think some people have "crapper car syndrome" where they simply won't yield to you because your car isn't as good as theirs and therefore you shouldn't be passing
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This x1000! Trust me, it's even worse when you're in an estate and Mr Porsche decides that he's going to start swerving around to block you because of crap car syndrome!
 
Nice :)

I love how those S2Ks rev, brilliant. What was the little white box in the passenger footwell?
 
Gayjin said:
Was also very surprising how slow some people were in some serious cars. Not wanting to damage their pride and joy I guess.
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Some people like to go and be part of it. They can build up a little confidence and see the ability of their car without doing it on public roads. But they'd also not want to write-off/get a big bill for their pride and joy.

That GT86 guy certainly suffers **** car syndrome, especially after spending that much on a Toyota. :p
 
Diddums said:
Oh nice! Did you get anything worth mentioning or just basic stuff?
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It's just for my tuner, he wanted data from me driving the car hard so I thought where better than on track. :D I've no idea what he looks for, that's why I pay him rather than doing it myself.
 
My first time on track in my S2000 was Coombe. What a load of fun! An absolutely excellent day and, like you, found the car to be faultless. Not bad for a 15-year old example!

I almost ran out of fuel too - I think the fuel sensor must be in the left side of the tank. A few times I started out with roughly 1/2 a tank and after a few high speed right-handers, the level began to climb! Most of my 10-12 lap sessions I'd return to the pits with a 'full' tank!

Afterwards, the only ways I could think to improve my fun were:
- new brake pads - the stock ones were OK ish, but DS2500 pads really transformed the stopping power. Even on standard discs it now feels like I've hit a brick wall when standing on the anchors.
- I thought the tyres were becoming liquid after about 15 mins so I changed from Falken FK452s to Toyo R888s. Here I'm less impressed. I find they last about the same time before the handling starts to go iffy, although you can corner much harder (MUCH harder) in the mean time. For the drawbacks (aqua planing a real issue with standing water) I don't think I'll bother next time.

Anyway - glad you had fun. If you liked Coombe, Thruxton is a decent shout too. Not too far away and you should squeeze under the noise limits (mine blew 87dB - limit is 90). My only mod for volume has been a K&N FIPK intake.
 
Car sounds awesome.

One thing to bear in mind with regard the situation with the GT86, if you just sit on someones bumper it can be hard from them to appreciate how much faster than them you are, they can't really tell you're nowhere near your limits and might just think they're involved in a nice closely matched tussle.

I find it's more effective to take a cool down lap, drop way back behind them, then drive at full pace to catch back up to them, makes it more likely that they'll see you coming and get out of the way. If that doesn't work I pull in to the pits and let them get on with it, frustration leads to bent cars.
 
I'd have nudged him, that's what you do on road rallies when people don't get the message :p

Car sounds fantastic at full chat.
 
MrFunex said:
Anyway - glad you had fun. If you liked Coombe, Thruxton is a decent shout too. Not too far away and you should squeeze under the noise limits (mine blew 87dB - limit is 90). My only mod for volume has been a K&N FIPK intake.
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I didn't think Thruxton had public days? Mine tested at 86db static so should be fine on most tracks. It does get quite loud as the revs rise though.

kaiowas said:
Car sounds awesome.

One thing to bear in mind with regard the situation with the GT86, if you just sit on someones bumper it can be hard from them to appreciate how much faster than them you are, they can't really tell you're nowhere near your limits and might just think they're involved in a nice closely matched tussle.

I find it's more effective to take a cool down lap, drop way back behind them, then drive at full pace to catch back up to them, makes it more likely that they'll see you coming and get out of the way. If that doesn't work I pull in to the pits and let them get on with it, frustration leads to bent cars.
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Yeah in the future I'm just going to pull in and go out on another session.
 
Gayjin said:
Was also very surprising how slow some people were in some serious cars. Not wanting to damage their pride and joy I guess.
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Can be lots of reasons - I've got a friend with some very nice cars who is completely ok with me driving (most of) them - but I still treat them with kid gloves (that and I'm very aware of my own limitations when it comes to driving).
 
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