Lunchtime at snetterton 300 (@NickD 's event with Mazda on track)
First time on this track and my little NC holds on relatively well vs the club race mx5s and everything else going about. Managed a 2:46 earlier this morning (stock sport tech suspension & road tyres) maybe i can shave off a few more seconds after I learn the track a bit more.
I really like the track but the only weird thing is that big yellow blob in the sky, middle Feb in the UK … weird… 
gotta be honest i didnt expect any of the track days before may to have good wether!
which is why i havent booked on any!
That’s a decent time for Feb. I managed around that with a stock Mr2 in October on quite a dry day.
You should have come and asked for a passenger ride
I saw your car mate but not seen you around… darnit 
next time If I see your car I will lurk by the garage until you turn up 
I’ll be at cadwell in April
I booked Donnington evening june 20th and again in November with nick. I will see if I can do cadwell as well 
I’m going to have to make a credit account with you mate
This was my fastest lap. Funny enough I didn’t think this would have been my fastest lap but heyho I guess
Is that the 14th? I might be able to make that. Suspension has gone to top of list so keen to have a chat. Will you be running club races there?
Very smooth.
Dont shuffle the wheel, if the car kicks, you would be like the red one.
Thanks. To be honest i wasn’t really trying to get a better time during that lap so i was surprised it was my quickest - and i double checked the logs to confirm that )
But I was surprised how much grip he other guy had ( I guess up until to the point he didn’t) so when i went over to see how he was and have a chat he said it was a standard NA but i saw he had track tyres (looked like avon zzr but not exactly sure it was them. It had deep forward grooves like the avon that i can remember)
I think i need to get some track tyres for the next trackday. Getting there would be a concern to wear them down though as i don’t have a trailer so i have to fit them on the car the day before on my spare wheels and drive there.
@NickD Any recommendations for track tyre to fit 17x7 nc wheels?
I would suggest the red one fell of because he carried braking into the corner which left the back end light, and instead of balancing on the throttle, got concerned and fully lifted, hence the back end coming round.
Tyres. Here you go.
Thanks dude, will get a set next week or so.
The MRF are very good tyres by all accounts but I think you are still on standard sports suspension and the sticky tyres will put it under a lot of pressure. The track bug is a difficult to shake off once bitten. Do the tyres first though, because if you don’t push to hard it will be ok. Be ready to re visit your suspension post though.
We are travelling along a similar road if you know what I mean.
Here you go, my daily drive.
The guy behind me on the NA was on track tyres and stock suspension and he could keep up with me extremely well even if I had a more powerful car compared to him. I focused on getting my entry into the corners smooth and try to have a clean line but I didn’t do late heavy braking braking stuff and I wasn’t really focused on being the quickest on the track - there were a lot faster cars about.
Unfortunately changing the suspension would change the primary use I want the car to work in, and I do not want a track focused MX5. I don’t know if Ohlin’s can do magic in their suspension offerings but if you want to firm the car and improve the track performance up you will have to lower it and change the spring stiffness and damping and ride height and antiroll bars and bla bla… and I remain to be convinced otherwise. I’m planning a trip up to Paul Roddison for a chat at some point this year - if I dont see him on the track sooner.
There are tricks you can do to change the car dynamics, braking then lifting and power on will change the car from an understeering condition to oversteering (which in many ways if you cannot control the drift - going too fast for example - will cause you to go for a spin). Sticky tyres will allow more grip and as long as the grip levels is progressive this is my definition of good tyre.
I look at trackdays as driving experience enhancement, a place where you can enhance your driving ability and push your boundaries and your car in a safe environment. You can change your car to be the quickest thing on the track, if that’s what you want - but I think you don’t really need to change your car to enjoy a trackday.
the Clio of noise indeed 
That’s cool. Like I said, if you are not pushing to hard it will be fine. I agree with you, trackdays are for what you want from them, there will always be someone faster. See you on one sometime.
