General 100HP on a track day

[Dan Friel]

Very very jealous of the weather!

 

[deltaforce]

Haha... I know I probably sound like an arse when I say this, but the last couple of trackdays here have been too hot. Air temperatures in excess of 30 degrees Celsius, and track temperatures must be close on 45 or 50 degrees Celsius. Tyres don't last long in weather like that

 

[Dan Friel]

I've done a few track days in Dubai in August.. they were hot, but ran into the evening so became more civilised - tyres took a beating though!

Bit of difference from a wet Brands in January..

 

[deltaforce]

2 nice circuits though

 

[Rooflessdriver]

Apart from the damp track, looked like a good day at Brands Hatch Dan.

I was there last Weds(20th feb), with my mk1 mx5 and the 100hp as support car.
Was tempted to empty the panda of toolboxes, tyres, jacks etc and take it out, but there was some right idiots out on track, so I stayed in the cheap lightweight MX5.
(If it gets damaged, it's cheap to fix n only used for track days)

 

[deltaforce]

So I've taken the Panda to quite a few trackdays this year, so much so that it's beginning to get respect from drivers of much heavier metal. I have now added full slicks to the front, which has made me just shy on 2 seconds a lap quicker than before. Fun and confidence factors go through the roof!

Here's a snappy of my HP on race rubber...

I have another 2 slicks lying in my garage, which will go on soon enough. Then we'll really be shifting :devil:

 

[BT52]

What have you done to the suspension to cope with the slicks?

Think you are asking for trouble personally. The Panda is not exactly the most roll-resistant shape out there.

Trackday organiser said: Road cars are not designed to have that much lateral force. I've seen cars roll just by nudging a kerb when running slicks. The difference between a decent set of slicks and track day tyres like R888's is greater than the difference between a cheap road tyre and the R888's.

BAT won't even allow you out there on slicks unless you have a cage fitted.

 

[deltaforce]

What have you done to the suspension to cope with the slicks?

Think you are asking for trouble personally. The Panda is not exactly the most roll-resistant shape out there.

BAT won't even allow you out there on slicks unless you have a cage fitted.

The front suspension is stock standard. Perhaps if you were going through Eau Rouge over and over there may be problems, but the quickest corner on my local track (Killarney in Cape Town) is around 80mph, and I don't believe sufficient lateral g-force is generated to cause any concern.

I've probably done 100 miles round the track with the slicks fitted, and honestly the Panda has not put a foot wrong. When the trackday is over, I put the road wheels on and it becomes my daily driver again.

Having done trackdays with normal road tyres fitted, it quickly becomes clear that the grip offered is the difference between going quickly safely and fighting with road tyres that can't cope with more than 5 or 6 hot laps at a time. In my mind, too little grip is far more dangerous than too much grip. As the HP is not particularly quick, the only way to improve lap times without turning it into a racecar is to improve the handling. Sure, semi-slicks would be great, but they're hellishly expensive, so these used Polo Cup slicks work just fine on the car.

 

[BT52]

Your choice. But beware of the Panda's high centre of gravity.
The Panda is the only car Andy Walsh has seen roll over on his training days, trackday organisers see cars roll due to them and the general consensus on the Elise forums is that even the Elise's suspension components are not strong enough to handle slicks.

Just seems like a Darwin Award waiting to happen to me.

 

[deltaforce]

Thanks, BT52... you're absolutely right, it is my choice. As I've mentioned, I have had no issues whatsoever, and not a single person has said that running slicks on a low-powered car like the 100HP is a bad idea. Not that I don't expect any parts degradation eventually, but that's part and parcel of trackdays anyway.

Here's a pic taken last Saturday of the car going through one of the tightest corners at Killarney. As you can see, it's just about to roll over

And here's another older pic of the car (on road tyres) going round a cambered 50mph hairpin on the circuit:

 

[ode]

Interesting thread - nice to see a few of these unlikely track day cars being used properly. Good photos too!

I've done a fair few track days in previous cars and look forward to seeing if I can make a few "more capable" cars look a bit silly in my 100HP. It'll probably be next year before I get chance, unless I get tempted by an end-of-season bargain somewhere

 

[deltaforce]

Nice one, ode... you should definitely get your HP out on to the track. I'm sure there is better representation in the UK, but the Italian flag is unfortunately very rarely flown at trackdays down here in SA. More often than not, I'm the only one representing the tricolore.

And, you're right, you can make "more capable" motors look twice in their rear view mirror in the Panda. I get the "what's in that thing" and "dang, that Panda is pretty quick" comments all the time on trackdays. Straights are painfully long, but corners are where it really snaps at the heels of the big dogs!