It has been a month of going round in circles. Thankfully, this has been both productive and by choice. So why going round in circles? Welcome to test track driving.
It was splendid to be invited to a track day at Castle Combe race circuit. What a venue to go round in circles. Great organisation by the circuit staff and ‘MGs on Track’ kept everyone safe and the weather was beautiful. The car wasn’t half bad either. An MG ZS180 with a few choice modifications was a great car to passenger and then drive.
The Castle Combe circuit has a fabulous selection of corners, with the high speed ‘blind crest’ approach to Quarry being a particular challenge. The car needs to give the driver plenty of confidence by being controlled over the crest and tolerant of making a direction change at speed, with some braking to be done in a hurry. It was great to be reminded of just how competent the ZS180 is at this kind of manoeuvre. I found myself thinking back to the press launch at Pembrey race circuit and tuning ‘work’ at Bruntingthorpe and the Nürburgring. It was all worth it.
My client was keen to make sure his modified ZS180 would tolerate high speed direction changes especially when subjected to lift off/braking inputs. I was happy to check it out and was rewarded with a responsive yet forgiving chassis. The rear axle could be provoked to rotate the car, but it was easy to keep up with and manage the yaw with ‘mere mortal’ steering inputs. No need for a Jean Alesi driving style. Going round in circles, without fear of going round in circles….. Accessible oversteer.
I recently picked up a copy of the book ‘How to Drive’ (by the original Stig, Ben Collins) from our local charity shop. It is a fun read, with generally sound advice. One section struck a chord with my memories of the aforementioned press launch at Pembrey. We did a test day with the Press Garage team to check out the cars. Great fun. Challenging work. One of the guys was following me in a ZR and on a particular corner I could hear his front tyres howling as he closed up to my rear bumper. After a few laps, he commented on my ‘slow in’ approach. I commented on his now semi-slick left hand front tyre…….
According to the Stig, a certain J Clarkson was doing the same to him. ‘’You are going too slow into Chicago and it is making my car understeer like a pig’’ (paraphrased, to keep it clean). Slow in, fast out. I’m with the Stig. It works for a quicker lap time and you get your money’s worth from the tyres.
It does help if the car is working well. Our track day ZS180 was one of the quickest at Castle Combe and probably the easiest to drive at the limit. A job well done. Oh, and did I mention that it has also had some treatment by VHS Ltd? Increased front camber, Xpower springs and Bilstein monotube dampers. Going round in circles, without fear of going round in circles, courtesy of decent vehicle dynamics.