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.

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.

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.