A New Year and a Change of Pace.

It’s been a minute since we made an update here so what better way to kick things off with a new car in the stable. Since the last update the MK7 Golf GTi has gone back and I decided to scratch the ‘M’ badge itch with a 2017 BMW M4 Competition, in Sakhir Orange.

It all started with a casual browse through the classifieds, as many searches do. I had a rough idea of what I was looking for in my next car but I was also open to see what else the market had to offer at the time. A few F Series M3’s and M4’s were shortlisted along with a couple of interesting C63 AMG wagons. The C63 wagon ticked a lot of boxes but ultimately I wanted a car I could also take on track if the opportunity presented itself, and felt although the C63 is a very capable car, the M cars were more suited towards the handling side of things and not to mention a bit lighter. So with the C63’s cleared off the shortlist I was left with an M3 or M4. As I started to make enquires over both cars a Competition spec M4 came on the market within budget, FSH and low mileage. Without hesitation I jumped on the phone and arranged to go and see the car a few days later. A couple of tire kicks and test drive later I was hooked. I made an offer and the car was mine.

A few weeks have now passed since I took delivery and the M4 hasn’t disappointed. I have had a few RWD drive cars in the past, namely the VXR8. Both of these cars seem to share the same nervous disposition in anything but bone dry tarmac. I know what you are thinking, It’s a RWD car with over 450BHP and similar torque, what do you expect when you are asking the rears to grip under heavy load on a damp surface, and you’d be right of course. Its more the surprise of it when it breaks traction at low speeds, even with the lightest of throttle applications. I have kept the traction control on but have noticed that it will allow a certain amount of slip until it takes over, much like the M2 Competition that has the variable slip function, although clearly in the M4 its either on or off as far as I’m aware. A twitchy rear end aside that little bit of slip is glorious when you can anticipate it powering out of a bend.

As far as the straight line pace and acceleration goes the M4 really gets up and going when you get a clear open stretch. The way it thunders through the gears (in the most aggressive mode) is really impressive, the changes are quick and ferocious. Changing down is just as impressive, with a nice throttle blip between the gears. I’ve kept the exhaust valve setting mostly in Sport Plus so far, which gives you a nice throaty note over the efficient setting. It also activates the most sporty of the throttle maps which I prefer over the others for the feel. The efficient setting does get used, mainly on a long motorway drive just to keep the exhaust noise down a bit and improve the fuel economy.

The cabin so far is a lovely place to be. The M Sport seats are comfortable, even on longer journeys I’ve not had any complaints, and that’s from a 6ft 5 oaf. Also the controls are sensibly laid out and easy to use. I’ve previously used the I-Drive media system on other F series BMW’s and its very easy to navigate and get the hang of in my opinion. So looking long term plans wise with the car, I’d like to get some genuine carbon wing mirror caps to match the roof and boot lip spoiler, I may also look at getting a spare set of wheels to run track day semi slicks on for when I get out on track with it. I am also toying with the idea of fitting Recaro Pole Position bucket seats and harnesses. I’ve seen a few Euro/Jap styled cars and its a style that really appeals.

For now, its time to get some more miles under its belt and usher on the dryer weather of spring and summer.

Living with a Golf R32.

The VW Golf R32 had a relatively short life with only the mark 4 and mark 5 models being produced. However as we know, VW went on to introduce and replace the R32 with the mark 6 Golf R, ditching the NA V6 for a lighter and cheaper 2 litre turbo engine. Many R32 enthusiasts decided to hold on to them though, favoring the character of the V6 howl over the relatively muted sound of the forced inducted 2 litre in the R. Having never owned or driven any R32, only a mark 7 GTi, I turned to an old friend and enthusiast who has had the pleasure of owning a mark 5 for a while now. Here’s what he had to say about the V6 hatch.

“Having owned a 2005 BMW 320d M Sport for just over 7 years with 180,000 miles on the clock, it was time for a change. I was looking for something more fun to drive, exciting, and a car that would put a smile back on my face, but was also going to be my daily drive. I decided to buy a 2008 manual VW Golf R32 mk5 covering 66,000 miles in the lovely deep blue pearl colour, the best colour and most recognized I feel. I knew this car would cost me a fair amount of money to run and maintain but it didn’t put me off as it is a car that you rarely see on the roads these days, becoming a modern day classic and of course the last of the naturally aspirated 3.2 litre V6 ever being produced in a golf. I like owning that rarer car, something different and the compliments you get from people saying how well the car is kept is really nice to hear. After nearly 2 years of owning the car I still find it really difficult to stop putting my foot down when I drive it, just the noise of the the V6 sound is incredible and still puts the biggest smile on my face, it never gets boring. With living in Milton Keynes I never get a decent mpg as my speed is not a constant, so I get an average 23 mpg, which isn’t great. At the moment (September 2020) it costs approx £65 to fill up and I would get around 300 miles to the tank if I was lucky. Thankfully I only do approximately 7000 miles a year so isn’t so bad. But as they say it’s smiles per gallon not miles per gallon.

The R32 is a quick car even despite its heavy 1541 kg weight. With 250 bhp to play with you can use all the power but not feel like you will lose control at any time. The throttle response is quick and will keep going until it hits 7000 rpm. It has good torque where you can sit it in 6th gear and still travel at speeds of 35-40 mph without any hesitation of it stalling or struggling which is nice not to have to change gear constantly at lower speeds, but still have the pull when needed. It is a comfortable car when travelling longer distances and quiet when you want it to be. It’s handling is very good indeed and is fun to drive in the countryside on the winding roads. The 4 motion system works really well keeping you stuck to the road and can almost give you a “being on rails effect”. Giving excellent traction and better handling especially in the wet, resulting in no understeer or wheel spin. Roll on the winter so I can get out in the snow and see how well it performs!!

The body-styling is fairly subtle which I do like, it’s not in your face and isn’t much different from the GTI. The centered valved chrome twin exhaust pipes look stunning when polished up and gives it that sporty look . Also that rasp at certain revs, the valve opening up the second pipe to create that unforgettable R32 noise I’m all so fond of. Another nice subtle touch is the chrome look front grill and the rear boot spoiler. Inside there are nice touches with sort after Recaro wing back bucket seats which continue the same cloth pattern into the rear of the car. This is a very sort after aftermarket option installed by the previous owner. The aluminum race flag embossed pedals really give it that sporty look and feel when you pop yourself inside the cockpit of this iconic car. 10/10!!  The entertainment system is a factory fitted touch screen media with sat nav.

There will always be a downside to owing a 12 year old car and one with a performance engine. I have serviced it once a year or near enough every 7000 miles with a VW specialist. As I’ve only had it 2 years both services each have been around the £840 mark, service and replacing various worn out parts. Expected from the age of this vehicle.  Every year it goes in for a service there is always something else that needs fixing, seems to be a never ending list that gets bigger and bigger but you try your best to get them done when you can. Another downside is of course the high road tax. This years road tax is £580 which is a lot of money for something you don’t get much from. It goes up a small amount each year but will the R32 be pushed off the road with the continued increase of tax. Fingers crossed it doesn’t!!

All in all the R32 is such a fun loving, iconic car to drive, the noise, the great handling, the looks. It will for sure be a classic in the future and one I am proud to have owned”.

Words from our latest contributor Jonny Fields.

Project RX8 Race.

Myself and my good friend Jonny have been car enthusiasts as long as I can remember. We also love pretty much all things motorsport. A few years ago after many pub discussions we got around to entering the Club 100 karting series, which you can read more about in earlier blogs. Although the karting was hugely enjoyable we always had a dream of actually getting out on track in a proper race prepared car racing against others on the tracks we all love and know such as, Silverstone, Cadwell Park and Brands Hatch. This is a dream I feel many enthusiast have but due to family commitments, lack of funds, no time etc. etc. there’s usually something that stops you from actually getting out there.

Over this last 6 months we have had plenty of time to think about how we would get to the point of racing. Jonny owns an ever growing fleet of Mazda RX8’s (another story) and 1 of which he was recently planning to restore back to OEM and then sell on to free up space. However as with many car projects he had started to loose his direction with it and wondered if he could simply strip the weight out of it, add some safety gear and go racing. Although technically the answer was yes, the car would be racing in a series surrounded by much faster cars, and due to the regulations and lack of funds there wasn’t much you could do about it. So now with the options of racing in a series where ultimately you wouldn’t be competitive or just carrying on with restoring to OEM, restoring was the better of the option.

This wasn’t to be the end of the story however. Whilst looking in to other racing categories we stumbled across the one make series for the mark 1 RX8. A series designed to keep things cheap and all competitors on a level playing field. The only drawn back was the RX8’s Jonny owns are the limited edition PZ models. These wouldn’t be eligible for the series as only the series 1 231 bhp models are allowed. Now to build a basic car that would match the entry reequipments for the series you were looking at a rough cost of £5000 including the car, although depending on the cost of the car it could be more or less. Once again it felt like 1 step forward and 2 steps back as neither of us could afford the investment, especially during these COVID times.

Facebook to the rescue! Something you don’t often say, but it was to be our saving grace. Jonny had signed us up to the Facebook group of the racing series and a few weeks later a part built race car had come up for sale at a very reasonable price. All the main expensive things had been done including the roll cage and weight reduction. A phone call and visit later we now appear to have our first race car build! The work left to do is probably only a couple of weekends worth and then we can take the car out for testing. As we are already towards the end of the season the car will be hopefully ready for next year and the first round if all goes well. The format of the racing dictates that there must be a mandatory pit stop half way through a race so we will be sharing the driving duties throughout the season.

As soon as the car has been collected and back at the garage we can start working on it and I will be doing updates on here as and when they happen, including race reports and videos of all the action.

Watch this space!

Bicester Heritage Classic Drive-In Weekend.

Bicester Heritage once again opens up it doors to the public for its Classic Drive-In weekend. My friend Jonny decided to take the dust sheets off the S2000 and head down. Here’s what he had to say.

I’ve committed the ultimate car show sin! I forgot (never have the time) to clean my modern classic! So faced with the dilemma of turning up in the daily family wagon or possibly worse, turn up with dirty car, I chose at least to get the S2000 out for one of the last few times of the year before it gets tucked away for winter.

So my son and I headed out, taking care to cover our faces to avoid embarrassment. As we parked up on the outskirts of the airfield we could already hear the glorious sound of straight 6’s, V8’s and the familiar burble of boxers rumbling around the hangers. It feels like a very long time since I’ve been to a car show and first impressions certainly made me feel like it was worth the wait.

Prodrive had brought along their famous collection of Impreza rally cars from the era in which they did so well. The classic GC8 series from the 90’s had influenced a lot of my own choice in modern classics, so seeing a fleet of them in the flesh was very special. It was also great to see Road Rat magazine, now settled in to there new home on the airfield.

As usual at these types of car events the public car park can reveal many hidden gems, and this classic drive-in didn’t disappoint with a weird and wonderful collection of some of the most cared for cars in the country. After a good wonder around we grabbed some food from a local friendly pizza stall and headed over to the drive in cinema area of the airfield. The film on offer was Le Mans 66, it’s a great film which really captures the passion of building, driving and winning in a racing car (not that I’ve had the pleasure of the last one of those.).

It did occur to me that running a drive-in cinema at an event largely attended by classic car owners, some of whom may not have car stereos may have been a bit short sighted, however luckily for us I had recently reinstated my OEM stereo in the S2000 and got it working again so we were able to watch the film properly. It was a first outing for my son watching a grown up film in a retro classic car, and I must admit it was for me also, but never the less a very enjoyable experience and I hope to do it again soon.

Now if only the recently postponed (twice due to COVID) Sunday Scrambles could actually go ahead, because after all these are the meat and potatoes of the heritage centre for meets and in my opinion amongst the best of the gatherings in the UK.

Behind The Wheel of a V8 Race Car.

My steed for the day, a post 2010 Ford Mustang GT race car.

If you one day decide to get on a plane and fly for over 24hrs southeast(ish) from the United Kingdom you eventually reach New Zealand, specifically the south island. A few hours drive north from Dunedin brings you to Highlands Racing Circuit. Now I didn’t literally fly from the UK to New Zealand just for this, that would be commitment, but I was actually working and this happened to be a day off. After being away from home for nearly 5 weeks I was craving, amongst other things some motorsport. So after a quick google search and a call to the booking line I was set for my time on track. At the time of visiting the cars on offer to drive were the Radical you see pictured above behind the GT and the big Ford V8. I really wanted the Radical but with being amongst the height gifted population (6ft5’’) I was advised that I was too tall, but would be fine for the Ford Mustang race car. So with my choices now limited to nothing or the Mustang, I took the Mustang. After one of the most breathtakingly scenic drives from Dunedin (honestly you must try this drive is you are visiting) I arrived at Highlands Racing Circuit. As I pull up there is plenty to catch your eye. First up a track focused Ferrari 458 next to a line of Subaru Impreza’s. Then to the other side a 997 Porsche GT3 race car pulls in followed by the Radical. Then sat waiting is the Mustang race car. I’ve seen plenty of Mustang GT’s on the road and have read many reviews on them, they are big old cars, heavy in road form, and I was a little worried that my experience to come might not be quite as I wanted. Never the less I headed in to get registered and to get kitted up.

The 458 ready for its next passenger ride.

Once ready I headed out to the trackside balcony to watch the session that was currently happening. There was a privately owned fully race ready Mazda RX7 going around for either some testing or practice laps making the most amazing noise. I’d quite forgotten how cool a rotary racecar on fully chat can sound, coupled with sequential shifting, heaven! All too soon the Mazda was back in and I was called over for my briefing. My instructor, a guy probably half my age (he said behind gritted teeth), talks me through the safety side of things and then what the plan was once we were out on circuit. I had paid for a certain amount of time and then once that was over you could pay a little extra to get a few more laps if the instructor was happy with how you handled the car. Once the briefing was over we headed over to the car and got strapped in. I have to say when they said I would fit it was still a squeeze to get in, mainly due to the full roll cage. Now strapped in the first thing I notice which I may have missed somewhere in the website was the car was an automatic! My worries about the car not offering the thrill I was after were coming back. Looking ahead to the steering wheel I also notice a large lever that comes up from the brake pedal to the passengers side console area. It was a brake override, incase of a emergency the instructor could simply yank the control and bring the car to a stop. On the center console there was also a map settings toggle switch to allow the instructor to dim down the power or give you the full beans from the V8, clearly almost everyone I would assume starts on the lowest setting.

The 997 passenger thrill ride race car. If only this had been available to drive.

We trundled out the pits and started to slowly make our way around the circuit. I’m told to weave a little to start to get some tire temperature as well work on the brakes to bring them up. The next lap around I’m told to start building up the speed and to listen/look out for when and how hard to brake, what sort of line to take and when to bring in the throttle. As the first few steady laps go by the instructor lets me know he is happy so far with how I’m doing and says we can now start to push on a little more. The engine map hasn’t changed as far as I know yet but as I start to brake harder and later, and get on the throttle earlier, its clear to see the big Ford is no slouch. Now over halfway in to my time the instructor shouts over to say lets have a cool down lap for me to give you some pointers and then get back up to full speed. He is now making me brake much much later than before and I’m trusting the brakes much more than I’m used to, putting lots more pressure into the pedal. I’m now getting the thumbs up to get the throttle to the floor and on lift off and brake on command. I look over and see his hands are no longer hovering over the emergency brake and instead switching the map to a higher setting. We start the next lap with only a few more laps left to go and we are really moving now. Out of a tight left hander I floor the throttle, then lifting slightly for a quick left right and back on it round a left kink and then heavy on the brakes in to another tight left. As we roll out of it I’m now stamping on the throttle instead of rolling on to it and this time a tad early, not giving a chance for the front wheels to straighten up and the rears light up for a second before I quickly let off and then get back on the throttle again. I get a wry smile from the instructor. All too soon the time is up including the extra laps which I’m told I’ve been given a little extra time on top of that.

The Impreza fleet.

My worries about the car were clearly not needed. As a former racecar the car was very well setup for the track. The braking was phenomenal, probably not surprising given the massive AP Racing calipers and discs. I also really didn’t miss the manual gearbox, something I thought I’d never say! I think its because I was so focused on getting my lines right, listening when to brake and how hard, and when to use the throttle and how much of it to use. If you add gears in to the mix I think there just would have been to much going on in the small space of time you had and it would take away from the experience for a relatively new person to track/race car driving. The way the car built speed though was very impressive, the noise wasn’t bad either! If you ever find yourself in the south island of New Zealand and want to get your motorsport fix I can’t recommend this experience highly enough. Until next time then.

Club 100 Karting.

With motorsport now mostly back on our screens it had me thinking about my time racing in the Club 100 UK Karting series, the UK’s most competitive arrive and drive series. Me and my friend Jonny had always been in to karting and attended local karting sites around work and family life when the time allowed. Jonny had found out about Club 100 and asked if I wanted to give it a go in there newly formed (although gone now) quadrant series. The format was relatively simple, although you could run as a lone driver. The idea was to have a team with a minimum of 2 drivers. There would be 4 races in the day made up of a 5 minute warm up and then a 20 minute race. The grid was divided into classes made up with elite drivers at the head of the field, club drivers in the middle and the novices bringing up the rear. Each group would have a random grid position but you would always start at either the front, middle or back of the grid depending what class you were in. So an elite driver would never start at the rear or middle of the pack and the same goes for the reverse. With 2 drivers in our team we each would do 2 races in the day. We also usually optioned for a test session the day before to familiarize ourselves with the new circuits, of which all were new to us. Now jumping from the type of karts you get at most arrive and drive centers (the 4 stroke type) to a direct drive high performance 2 stroke kart is quite the learning curve, especially when your very first test day at the start of the year is on a track you don’t know, which is slowly defrosting from the overnight winter conditions. Never the less we cracked on with it and after many many spins we did start to get a feel for the kart, all be it in the worst possible conditions. Things could only get better right?

The race report below was one I kept round by round so I could share the experience with other potential enthusiasts who were looking to get in to the next level of karting but were maybe put off by the level of talent (which was generally pretty high) or were just unsure what the racing might be like.

Pile-ups, Pizza & Passes.

Round 5 Ellough Park.

This months round took us east towards Ecceles. Another long distance trip for most much like Llandow meant the turn out was a little down on numbers but on the up side it did bring out some new faces to the series.

Again me and my team mate decided to go for the testing hour the day before to familiarize ourselves as much as possible with another new circuit. We would be in for a bit of luck also with part of the track having just been freshly resurfaced which kept my ribs happy for at least 10 minutes.

June 2017, Ellough Park Circuit. Me turning left in to a right, a tricky corner to get dialed.

Heat 1.

With another randomly allocated grid we found ourselves starting mid pack for the first race. My team mate took the duties on this occasion and after the usual 5 minutes warm up the grid was formed up and the lights went green. Keen to stay out of the first lap elbows out my team mate held station for a moment until being tagged from behind and spun off the circuit. Now it was all to do running from the back of the pack and some several seconds off the nearest kart. As the laps went by he settled in to a rhythm and began to catch the nearest driver. A swift pass and then it was on towards the next who happen to be in a small group. As the time and laps went by he did manage to gain 2 more places before the flag came out to end the heat. We ended up loosing 3 places from our start spot in the end which wasn't bad considering.  

Heat 2.

I found myself lined up 6th on our next heat and hoped I could at least hold station for most if not all of the race, however things don't always play out how you'd like...So the flag dropped and I kept to the outside trying to avoid the bumping and pushing on the inside for the first 3 corners. At this point things were going well until we all hit the heavy braking zone for a tight hairpin left. I ended up on the inside line with enough space, I then felt a tap to the rear which I caught but the second one I had no chance. In to the braking zone the back came around, ahead half a dozen other karts had come to a stop with spinning out and one was right on the apex which I connected with sideways rather firmly. Ouch, well F*%k it was probably more like it. After getting the kart straight and being push started I was looking around for a aborted start but no such luck this time. It was time to play catch up once again. I managed to put a few consistent lap times in and started to catch the pack. Soon after I made up my first place and hoped the next wouldn't be to far off. It took nearly the remainder of the race to eventually catch my last pass annoyingly but as the flag dropped I had climbed back up to 6th having not known that some of our other rivals were caught up in the first lap chaos.

Passing a driver in to the tight right hander at the back of the circuit.

Heat 3.

Again my team mate took to the circuit hoping to find a bit more luck this time around, and starting from the back of the grid we wouldn't say no to any help at this point. The first few laps went by and things were going ok for us, staying out of any first lap madness and getting stuck in to making up places. Again things didn't look like they were going our way this time. Whilst battling with a pack of our class runners my team mate made up a few places, however whilst making one of the passes the marshals had deemed that he had made enough contact during the pass to call a passing by contact penalty which automatically drops you back 4 places after the race is over. A really tough penalty especially after look back over the GoPro footage and struggling to see where the contact was made. However the decision was final and although the rest of the race went by without incident we were eventually dropped back down to 2nd from last. 

Heat 4.

My last race of the day and we were gridded again towards the rear of our field with it all to do. The green lights went and this time I kept well away from any lurking trouble on the first lap. I quickly settled in behind a small pack of the faster drivers in our class and started to put in the laps. After following for a few more laps I couldn't hold off the attack from behind and a faster driver went past, however he wasn't to get far and I stayed with him for most of the race. He slowly started to pull away towards the back end of the race be was pulling me along nicely which meant we both caught up to a couple of karts ahead. We both made the passes and pushed on. By this point we had 5 laps to go and he had now gone further down the road and I was quickly coming up on another of our rivals. I stuck with him for the remainder of the laps looking for where I could make a move and coming in to the last hairpin on the last lap I dived down the inside and cleanly took the place. After the flag dropped I had made 5 places in all. 

So not such a good round for us, much like part of Llandow to actually. The next round is Clay Pigeon in Dorset later in the month. 

Video of Heat 2 attached, I didn't get my final race as the GoPro played up, again annoying!

Enjoy and thanks for reading.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8Cpm5zHal8

Reading it back now brings it all back, good and bad but ultimately a fantastic experience and I hope to jump back in to the racing seat in the very near future.

Cheshire Classic Car & Bike Show

One of a couple of Lancia Delta Integrale Evo 2’s on show.

Sunday August 30th was the Cheshire classic car and motorbike show at the wonderful Capesthorne Hall. A relatively small local event but attracted a good mixture of cars, bikes and a few other things between. As I understood it anyone could bring along there pride and joy and display it on the lawn. The cars were mainly grouped together by make nearest the hall but towards the rear of the field they were in more of a random order. Starting closest to the hall and indeed in the driveway we had a group of Mercedes ranging from 80’s C Class’s to more modern SLK’s, all very neatly turned out and taking pride of place beneath the main entrance. Then moving away from the hall you entered the main paddock/field where you had food and drinks stands to your left, which carried on in to small car parts dealers and other vehicle related merch. Directly in front of the food and drink was the roped off showground where cars and bikes were invited in and the owners would get the chance to talk a little about there vehicles to the crowds over the PA. The first row of cars was from the American contingent, Mustangs, GT’s, Chargers and some large 50/60’s cruises that were so clean you could eat your dinner off. Just behind them was a couple of nice examples from Germany and Japan. First up was a almost standard looking Subaru Impreza RB5 with what looked to be GB270 or RB320 alloys on and next to that was a Porsche 964 Targa, actually one of the first ever Porsches and sports cars I ever sat in when growing up. Then a row further was the BMW section which had a couple of gems including the pictured below super clean E46 M3 in Imola Red, which to this day is still my favorite color for the E46.

E46 M3 in Imola Red.

Behind the E46, which you can just see in the above picture was also a lovely 850i which sadly I didn’t get a shot of but certainly stood out from the crowd for me. Moving a little further on we came to the Audi A2 owners club, which was a new one for me to see, however good to see these little eco boxes are still very much being used and loved despite there marmite looks. Now moving over the path to the other side of the field the first car we come to is an Audi Quattro S1 followed by a Peugeot 205 GTi, both very much 80’s royalty these days. I remember a 205 GTi not long ago went under auction and hit over £37000 which sent prices through the roof in the used market for them. I digress, moving further along the next car that stands out to me and hard to miss quite frankly but nevertheless a modern classic in my eyes, a bright yellow Lotus Esprit. I’ve always had a soft spot for the Esprit ever since they were released, I would even choose the Esprit over the Diablo on the original need for speed on the Sega Saturn even though actually the big lambo was the quicker car. A glance to the right of the Esprit then brings up some show winners. First a car that I don’t feel gets much love but its a proper old school pocket rocket, the Fiat Uno Turbo. This particular one was immaculate and looked in great condition, a real tribute to its owner for the time spent keeping it that way. Next was an early 90’s classic, a fatory fresh looking Lotus Carlton. The 3.6 twin turbo inline 6 super saloon commanded a fair bit of attention, and who can blame it. My final highlight of the show was a gorgeous looking Lancia Delta Integrale Evo 2. In fact there were 2 at the show, 1 was a rally replica and the aforementioned one was the standard road car. Superbly turned out looking very much OEM from the outside, yes they had done well with this one. Walking further towards the car park there was a section for replicas and kit cars which had a nice Ford GT40 and Cobra kit car, not to mention the little Westfield my son took a liking to, good lad! There was also a few supercars namely, a Lamborghini Urus, Ferrari 458, Ferrari 458 Aperta and a McLaren GT series car, possibly a 540 but don’t quote me.

Lotus Carlton

At this point lunch was very much calling, so we made the walk over to the Hall and grabbed some coffee and sandwiches form the café. After we had a leisurely walk back through the show towards the car park to eventually jump back in the family wagon and make the journey home. A nice morning out had by all and a good turn out for a small local show.

Lotus Esprit

Subaru Impreza RB5

Porsche 964 Targa

Fiat Uno Turbo

Audi Quattro S1

Peugeot GTi 1.9

VW R32 sitting pretty in the car park.

Time for a little Sim Racing.

Project Cars 2.

Being a car nut I have been in to car racing games since Need for Speed on the Sega Saturn. Over the years I have drifted from console to console but ultimately stuck with Microsoft’s Xbox. For many at the time the racing sim game of choice on the Xbox was Forza Motorsport. Although I did briefly try the Grand Turismo platform I never got on with it like I did with Forza, the game physics just felt a bit odd to me. For me I always used a game pad, mainly because I didn’t have the room to setup a sim style rig. Roll on several years and E-Racing has become a massive thing, especially during this year with people forced to stay at home to protect against the spread of COVID.

Now over the last few years my old Alienware laptop has been slowly dying of old age and I’ve kept putting off replacing it until recently. Now on a modern (for 5 minutes at least) machine with the latest RTX card I’ve been exploring the world of PC sim racing. I’ve downloaded a few titles, Assetto, Project Cars 2, Dirt 2 to name a few. The first thing that strikes me about all these games is the higher level of detail compared to the console games, but then I guess that is to be expected when most are designed on PC’s. When it comes to game play on console sims I nearly always option for the behind the car view, just so I can see what the car is doing and more of the road ahead. As I’ve learnt over the last year of watching some online sim events, nearly all use the cockpit or drivers seat view, obviously it gives more added realism, but with the addition of a wrap around or large screen and a driving seat with wheel and pedals it must really immerse you. With VR really taking off in the world of sim games I thought it was time to give it a go myself. A phone call to my pal Jonny later and we booked ourselves into Rush VR at the Milton Keynes Xscape Centre.

Arriving at Rush VR you are greeted by a two car VR sim rig setup with optional motion enhanced seats. The game of choice by Rush VR was Project Car 2, which handily enough for me was a game I was starting to get to grips with on the new gaming rig at home. We paid for an initially 30 minutes which roughly equated to 3 races at 4 laps long. Rush VR run a weekly or monthly competition where you have to set your best time on a specific circuit (for us was the Redbull Ring) whilst racing against the person in the other sim rig. You’re fastest lap time then gets taken and put on a top gear style lap time board with everyone else who options to try it. Then at the end of the month or week the top 4 times are awarded a £10 voucher to spend at Rush VR. We however decided to start on a familiar track, (Sliverstone GP) which luckily for us was one of the few tracks as a option to choose as this copy of Project Cars 2 is designed for arcade type setups where it I guess tries to avoid giving you too many options and then missing the multiplayer link up timing out. So with this in mind when it came to choosing cars we were again only given 3 options, a Mclaren F1 GT, a Formula X car and a little formula ford type car, which on the tracks available would be very slow. So we both go for the GT and I set about my first time racing with VR. The first thing that strikes me once the car has loaded up is my arms, stay with me here. In my head I know my arms are holding the sim wheel but for some reason looking down at my arms in the VR rig and seeing them in a full race suit holding a race wheel seems mental. With no real practice time or qualifying its straight in to a race with bots set at a fairly easy level I’d say. The thing I really struggled with when we got going, which Jonny picked up on was braking harder and later. Although I was braking late I clearly wasn’t putting anywhere near enough pressure into the brakes. Once I had made a mental note of that I started to get to grips with racing from the view of the drivers seat rather than from outside behind the car which I was used to. I should mention that the equipment of choice there from what I could work out seemed to be the Logitech G290 Wheel and pedals. Back to the racing, the issue with running the in car view in my opinion on a normal TV screen is there’s so much car structure often in the way, and although there is often a button you can press to quickly look over one side or the other, you can’t keep doing that throughout a race. You also can’t turn the drivers head to look in to the corner like you would naturally do in real life, although in Project Cars this does happen slightly on the helmet cam view. By the time that first race had finished I felt a lot more comfortable using that view, no thanks in short to the VR I’m sure.

This is how the sim rigs used to look, they are now side by side and surrounded with a goal post truss with projectors on.

The next race was to be our chance to set a lap time at the RedBull Ring to see if we could get anywhere near the lap times on the leaderboard. A big ask for only our second ever go on the rig but never the less we began the race. A bit of luck was to be on our side with the car having to be exactly the same as the previous race but ultimately we didn’t know the circuit really at all so it was to be more or a voyage or discovery than anything. By lap 4 or 4 we started to get our eye in and set a couple of times split by a second and around mid table on the leaderboard. The final race was back at Sliverstone in the Formula X cars. Neither of us had driven these before, and coming from GT cars we both preceded to brake way to early for nearly every corner on the first lap. The view from the open cockpit was stunning I felt, I was relying on the rev indicator for changing gears as none of the rigs sadly had headphones so it was often hard to determine whos car needed to change gear if we were close to each other. That aside having the extra grip and downforce did make the race very enjoyable with the knowing that you could chuck the car in to the corners at silly speeds and it would stick, most of the time..All to soon the race was over and so was our first 30 minutes. After we headed for a quick lunch and chat about the experience before we would head back for our final half an hour.

Once we had wolfed down some of Wagamamma’s finest noodles we headed back in and decided with the limited car and track options that we would stick with Sliverstone and just rotate between the Formula X car and the GT. Once we had come to the final race Jonny asked about the limited car selection and why there were no other car options. The Rush VR operator then explained that actually all the cars in the game were available, its just laid out this way to, again speed up multiplayer linking and give you 3 different levels of performance. That being said he did then go in to the game settings and allow us to choose any car from the game which was cool of him. So for the final race it was Porsche GT3 RS’s at Silverstone, which was an eye opener coming from the Formula X cars and the higher powered GT car. The final lap came, again well to quickly, although maybe not quickly enough for some eh Jonny…

This experience really has gained another champion for VR in myself. The way you are visually immersed, the graphics and to an extent the seat motion really brings out the best in the game, in our case Project Cars 2. Coming back to the seat motion, we were pretty divided on this. Jonny really didn’t feel it brought much to the game as these particular motion rigs were a few years old and didn’t really do a great job of keeping up with the physics of the game. I must admit in the slow corners it did seem to over compensate which did feel a little odd. Once the car was at speed I actually didn’t mind it and thought it did an ok job. A chat to the guys reveled that these motion rigs were about £9000 each, and although they would love to have more they just couldn’t afford them. This is fair enough I think for a small independent company who has to cater for all types of gamer from the casual to the experienced sim racer. I’m sure there are motion rigs out there that cost double, even triple and will easily keep up with the physics of the toughest sim racers but its just not financially viable for such a small company who doesn’t specialize in just sim racing.

Overall a very enjoyable experience and one I look forward to visiting again in the near future. So no small surprise now that my search history is now filled with VR headsets, sim rigs and the cost of extended a house.

An S2000 In The Dales

MK1 Honda S2000

A impromptu trip to the Yorkshire Dales to let the VTECH sing.

With the current lack of anything fun to drive in the household an old friend comes to the rescue!

Jonny and me have been friends since our school leaving days and both have a common interest in, amongst other things performance cars. Lucky for me he owns several, the MK1 Honda S2000 being one of them pictured above. He mentions the plan of heading off to the Yorkshire moors for a weekend of driving on some of the best roads the our isles have to offer. So a date is booked, insurance paid for me to drive and we hit the roads. With only our over night stay as our destination we headed north from Derbyshire in to the Peak district. Once past the hustle of Matlock the road opens up and Jonny, whos currently in the driving seat, opens up the Vtech for my first experience. Having never been in any Vtech powered car its great to be able to hear that you can rev the engine all the way up to the red line and the car will thankyou for it. We soon pull in to a layby so we can swap driving duties, then its onwards towards Mam Tor. The roads were mostly to busy around the area to push on so after a quick coffee stop we decided to head straight up towards Buttertubs pass in the Yorkshire Moors. The traffic soon became lighter and I found myself with some open road to let the little Honda stretch its legs. I drop down a gear and then push on right up towards the red line with the engine screaming away, snatch the next gear and it just wants to go. Thankfully the brakes were all working fine as I then have to slow for approaching traffic, but what a noise! Now clearing Bradford way we start to head in to the southern area of the moors and the scenery starts to really open up. We head towards Long Preston and then up to Langcliffe where the views are just next worldly. It also brings some great twisties and with that I throw it in to some corners and come out smiling the other side. It’s such a nimble car and loves to dart from apex to apex at relatively low speeds. The seating position isn’t ideal for a 6ft 5+ human but then again they were probably never built for such height gifted types. The lack of steering wheel adjustment is the real bug bear if you are tall especially. Ideally both of us would have had the wheel closer. Jonny mentions you can get a steering wheel boss than does bring the wheel closer but he wants to keep the car as OEM as possible to preserve the experience how Honda intended it to be, and I do get that.

We keep heading towards Buttertubs pass when we are stopped by a closed road, which happens to be the only road the sat nav can find that will take us to the pass from the south. Realizing this is now not going to happen we set the nav for our overnight stay and the heavens decide open.

After one of the most peaceful nights kip in the quietest village I think I’ve ever been in we make for our first stop of the morning, coffee and a sausage sandwich whilst we decide on our route. A quick google later and a route suggested by a few sites pointed out that the road between Pickering and Whitby on a quiet run can be a joyous thing. With that in mind we headed back to the car with me at the wheel for the first run over. Now by this time in the day it was mid morning and traffic had already picked up so for our first run over the moors it was very steady, also very foggy at the highest point. However the road itself was not bad at all. Hairpins, crests, dips and smashing views (when the fog allowed) showed how this road maybe at the crack of dawn could be a peach to drive. With the drive over to Whitby pretty uneventful we pulled in before we hit the town and made a driver change and a U-turn back over the moors on the same road to start our lengthy journey home. Halfway over the moors we ended up behind a convoy of caravans, luckily for us just over a rise the view opened up and so did the road. Jonny didn’t need a second invitation, dropped down a gear and made short work of the convoy. This was pretty much to be our last proper moment enjoying some of Yorkshires finest roads and giving the S2000 a good gallop, after this it was steady going for most of the journey home.

For our first unplanned UK road trip I’d have to say I really enjoyed it. Forget we’ve been in lockdown and the fact I haven’t had a performance car to call my own in quite a while, it was just a joy to go out and drive a sports car on some fantastic roads. The S2000 really wants you to get those revs in to the red and its all the better for it. Its just a joy to rev out a car these days that was made to do so. I must say though after a day with the soft top down and that engine screaming my voice was shot! Pretty sure my ears were ringing slightly to? Never the less I wouldn’t change anything about the weekend, bring on the next!

A Dream Realized.

MY04 Subaru Impreza WRX STi UK Widetrack.

Realizing the dream of owning and driving on the track with a childhood hero.

My love affair with the Impreza started like many back in the years of the RAC rally and 90’s WRC. Watching Colin Mcrae throw the blue and yellow saloon through the narrows and twisties of the worlds hardest rally stages at impossible speeds was utterly captivating. Fast forward a decade or so and Subaru had decided it was time to totally update the GC8 chassis to the GDB or ‘newage’ model. The first to see a rally outing was the aptly named ‘bugeye’, which at the time was piloted by, amongst others, Richard Burns. For me Burns took over where Mcrae left off, having now moved over to Ford. Burn’ Burns’ approach was no less flat out than Colin’s and he eventually won the overall WRC that year and cemented the latest evolution of the Impreza as an all time great. The newage Impreza was no less attractive in my eyes, the flared arches, the large bonnet intercooler scoop and the massive spoiler, basically every teenagers dream at the time. Roll on several years and Subaru was approaching the end of the GDB chassis with its final hawkeye facelift. The following GR chassis ended up as a hatchback, which at the time didn’t win many fans, including myself, although ironically my wife did eventually buy one with my blessing, sshhh! With Subaru initially showing no signs of bringing back the wide arched saloons I told myself I had to get one someday soon.

My WRX and my wife’s 2008 WRX STi Hatchback.

I found myself now having left school with no real direction but needing a job to get the funds for my dream car. I managed to secure a job working in a local bicycle shop which paid a steady wage and would ultimately allow me to fund a car. This wouldn’t be my first car though, at the time I had a cheap Fiat runaround which served me well, all be it when its clutch exploded on me whilst joining a motorway. My commute to work at the time happened to take me past a Subaru dealership which often had the odd Impreza parked outside of their service bay and sometimes a couple for sale in their used area. I decided I couldn’t take the temptation any longer, so one weekend I went to visit the dealers. At the time I had no idea if I could afford one on finance, being that that was the only way at the time I could clearly fund one. A talk with the salesman later and I was a lot more optimistic about my chances. The following day as I past the dealers I noticed a new car in the used area. A blue late 2004 WRX with gun metal grey alloys. At that point I knew once I had got to work I had to arrange a test drive. The following weekend I taken out for the test drive, grinning from ear to ear as the salesman planted his right foot on the throttle and takes off through the gears. In my head its sold already, where do I sign! And so It came to be, my first Impreza. Although I would have dearly loved a STi version, the insurance companies would not quote me happy at the age of 21. Never the less I was over the moon with the car and had realized a dream which had been in the making for over a decade.

Coppice corner at Cadwell Park.

The thing about modding a car is, well it can get out of hand very quickly. This was to be the ultimate fate of my beloved first Impreza during its lifetime, which in hindsight now I would have changed. However at the time for a young guy in his 20’s with his first performance car it was like trying to tell a child not to press the big red button, it had to be done. Remaps, coilovers, alloys, STi parts, exhausts and a turbo later it was time to move on, and now being closer to my 30’s with full no claims I could look at getting the real deal, the STi. After a lengthy search on forums and used car sites I managed to track down a low mileage, 2 owner model with BC Racing BR Coilovers, UK Prodrive performance pack and a Roger Clark Motorsport WRC spoiler. The car was completely stock other than the spoiler, Coilovers and the PP pack. The test drive revealed how good a properly setup OEM (ish) car could be and I had to make an offer, which was happily accepted.

I had been wanting to try a track day for a while and now that I had a properly setup car I looked in to booking my first. Cadwell Park it was to be, I’ve also heard it been called the mini Nurburgring for its hills, dips and narrow track design. Undaunted by this (having made friends previously with the barrier at the ring in my WRX) I took to the track and preceded to slowly build up the speed and confidence. Right from the off my overriding memory of the car is how well it handled. The tires at the time were some Yokohama Advan AD08 R’s which gave phenomenal performance, along with the the fast road/track suspension setup. Towards the end of the morning session I was gaining in confidence, so much so I felt almost on the edge of grip going in to Coppice a few times which is probably one of the faster corners on the circuit. I never felt scared though, even in that situation the car felt well balanced, almost 4 wheel drifting to the point where if it did break grip I felt like I could regain control without the need of an extra set of underwear. As the day went on I kept learning more about the track, car and my driving, also managing tire temperatures and pressure to get the best out of the grip. I have to say, the car performed faultlessly, and once the day was over it was just as happy to settle in to a 2 hour drive home. For me driving that car on that track (have driven others since) was a day I probably wont forget. Everything was right, from the weather, reliability to the performance.

As the years have passed family duties have taken over with the arrival kids. It eventually came to the day when the Impreza had to make way for a more child friendly oil burner. That being said I have thought now and then about maybe getting back in to Impreza’s in the future. With good early GC8 models now commanding decent money I’m sure it won’t be to long before the newage GDB models start to become more collectable.

Going over Mountain, Cadwell Park.