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build diary October 24, 2004: Track day at Pueblo! I usually drive to the track instead of trailering unless I'm crewing for the Flyin' Miata race team. Since I was towing this time, my crew instincts kicked in. The back of the Jeep was full of spare tires, brake fluid, alignment tools, electrical parts, fuel line clamps, an air tank, lots of oil, jackstands, a race jack, tools, more tools - and there was 10 gallons of extra gas on the trailer. Did I need all of this? No, but a few other people did as I helped out with various problems over the day. What about the Seven? I'm getting there, be patient. This track day was at Pueblo Motorsports Park and run by the Peak to Peak Miata club. It's very informal, with no cornerworkers and no run groups. We had perhaps 12 cars in attendance. It's a perfect setup for shaking down a new car, as with only a few cars on the track at any given time, you have lots of room to go quickly or slowly. Everyone is very smart about their driving - unlike the carnage I witnessed at Laguna Seca a few weeks ago, almost everyone stayed on the track. The worst casualty was a new Mazdaspeed Miata that slid off sideways and popped a couple of tires off the wheels. In all, an excellent group to share a track with. I was the only person who wasn't in a Miata. Okay, the Seven. After cleaning the poor dirty thing off a bit, I went went to reaquaint myself with the track. It's not a world-class track but it is entertaining enough and has a couple of spots that do demand a certain level of confidence. Checking the tires on the first return to the pits, it was obvious that I wasn't using the inside of the front tires. I popped off the upper control arms and put in a bit more negative camber. That seemed to help, planting the front end better in the fast sweepers and accentuating the car's turn-in. The overall balance seemed excellent so I started to bring up the pace. Last time I was here, I had a good time playing with Dave. I had a bit more power but he was quicker through the tight sections. Over the past couple of years, he's put a lot of work into his Miata including some 235-series Hoosier tires and an engine transplant. He took me out for a ride and it became immediately apparant that I was just goofing around on the track. He was far more committed and much faster. So I went back out and turned up the heat a little. Dave came out at the same time and we were an almost perfect match in lap times. I still couldn't match his commitment through turns 2 and 3 but I did find myself running up on him on the front straight. That surprised me because of the car's aerodynamics. We had a good time chasing each other around and there was a turbo Miata that was also quite quick. I'm not sure just how fast I was going on the front straight, but I did see 5300 rpm in 5th at one point. That's about 103 mph according to my calculations based on tire size. It was fast enough that my helmet was starting to generate some real lift and I was being beaten pretty hard. I'd always thought that aerodynamic helmets were a bit of an affectation but I've changed my mind! I also ended up duct-taping the hood shut to stop the lifting at these speeds. I need some louvres in the hood. The rest of the day was spent just playing. The car proved hugely entertaining and very quick, flattering my driving to no end. Coming out of turn 7, I had the option of hitting a line on the inside that would pull me around like the Carousel at the 'Ring or going a bit wider and just painting a pair of big black stripes on the pavement as I accelerated. The latter was obviously the fun choice. Turns 5, 6a and 6b fwere much faster than they appeared thanks to a nice compression and a smooth line. I'm still a chicken about hard braking but that's not the car's fault. The Seven ran cool and without complaint. The exhaust is not all that subtle at full throttle and after spending the entire day at 6000+ rpm, I was regretting my lack of earplugs. It's a perfect race car sound with a little crackle when I blip the throttle at idle. I was thinking about quick-ratio steering racks that are so popular amongst the Caterham/Westfield community. I'm not sure why - there's certainly no room for flailing elbows in a Seven cockpit but I like the ratio of my own. Good thing that's what I own then! It wasn't a perfect day, though. On my last session, I noticed the clutch pedal was starting to feel a little odd. At the end of the straight on the same lap, nothing. No clutch. I managed to match revs well enough to throw it into third (while entering turn 1 at a high rate of speed) and limped back into the pits with a terribly slipping clutch. I could just maintain speed. By the time I got to the pits, the clutch pedal was moving freely. A peek under the car showed a puddle of clutch fluid below the slave cylinder. My theory is that I had too much clutch pedal travel and was moving the master cylinder too far (something I'd been meaning to change). The high pressure on the system every time I changed gears eventually blew the slave cylinder seals. I hope so - that's an easy fix. I was ready to leave anyhow so we just pushed the car onto the trailer and it's sitting in the garage now. I'm a little sore but really glad I made the effort to go. It was a great day. There's just one problem: I jumped into my Miata this morning to move it and the brakes felt so soft, the steering numb and the clutch too light... entry 639 of 1439 |