EdinburghCSL
23-05-2010, 11:36 PM
Hi Guys and Girls
Trust you have all had a great week end soaking up the sun and exercising your CSL's! The sunshine even reached Scotland and 7 hours standing around at Knockhill resulted in well sunburnt face and arms!
I posted a few weeks ago as a newbie and with a few miles and tankfulls under my belt thought Sunday evening was a good time to get on my laptop!
I went up to the Scottish Motorfair at Knockhill yesterday and was invited by the organiser of the super car demo team to join the various exotica that would have two half hour sessions in front of the watching public. We were instructed to be sensible which all bar a Diablo spinning at the hairpin we adhered to.
This is my second CSL. My first an ultra low mileage minter and my present a higher mileage ( still mint!) but with all the right track toys (Milltecks, 100 cell cats, KW Clubsport, Thorney Stage 2, AP's Recaro Profi's and a nice harness bar and Schroth belts)
I use hand controls so a good brake is vital to any fast road or track use. Having warmed the engine, tyres, and brakes up I started to proceed at pace ( Can't let the CSL reputation down in front of spectators and various exotica can we) and the car on the whole is awesome and quite different to a standard model.
So after a rather long entry to this note I now would really appreciate feedback from you track experts onto my problem which may be linked. Some of you know Knockhill so will have experience of the track and maybe a similar sitiuation at Knockhill or other circuits.
Driving flat out at say 125/130 mph along the main straight and then braking very hard for Duffus Dip initial braking was good but then the brakes pulsated and the car did not continue to decelerate as I would have expected AP's to. I came in rather disillusioned with what I expected to be dream brakes. The car has not been on track or severe driving for a few months and the brakes could be glazed although I would have thought a few laps may have sorted that! I spoke to Mark (Mark CSL) today and he suggested cleaning up the pads. Another track driver suggested that I need to get more compound on the disks. A similar situation happened under very heavy braking into the hairpin.
The first session was rushed and therefore I had no time to check tyre pressures which may have contributed if they were wrong.
My own and hopeful conclusion is that the brakes are fine, that it was the abs coming on and that the Good Year Eagle F1's (lots of tread left) did not have enough traction to decelerate the car that quickly!
Does this scenario ring any bells with anyone? It was only braking on those two corners that caused the problem every other one was Ok, but entry/approach speeds were less.
Initial thoughts are to try and clean up pads, try cup tyres, check pressures..... or even consider braking earlier before the corner ( last resort) Should reasonable road tyres run out of grip braking in a straight line in the dry when not trying to lock them e.g emergency stop?
Should some new rubber be the answer I have read some posts re Toyo 888 v Cup Sports. Quite a mixed opinion. I would like the CSL to be perfect on track for 10 lap sessions at say Oulton and Knockhill yet be safe to use on the road for a blat in the dry which concerns me slightly re cups. I hear the 888's are good for lighter cars and can overheat quickly.
If I were buying some spare wheels do I go for 18" or 19". I see that Thorney sells some 18" wheels for a reasonable price.
If anyone has a spare track day set and wants to clear some garage space please drop me a line. I live in Edinburgh.
Lots of questions there! Feedback on any appreciated.
For those in Scotland or anyone fancying a trip to Knockhill I am going to the Hot Marques (cars over £15k) evening on 1st June. It would be good to meet up.
Jonathan
Trust you have all had a great week end soaking up the sun and exercising your CSL's! The sunshine even reached Scotland and 7 hours standing around at Knockhill resulted in well sunburnt face and arms!
I posted a few weeks ago as a newbie and with a few miles and tankfulls under my belt thought Sunday evening was a good time to get on my laptop!
I went up to the Scottish Motorfair at Knockhill yesterday and was invited by the organiser of the super car demo team to join the various exotica that would have two half hour sessions in front of the watching public. We were instructed to be sensible which all bar a Diablo spinning at the hairpin we adhered to.
This is my second CSL. My first an ultra low mileage minter and my present a higher mileage ( still mint!) but with all the right track toys (Milltecks, 100 cell cats, KW Clubsport, Thorney Stage 2, AP's Recaro Profi's and a nice harness bar and Schroth belts)
I use hand controls so a good brake is vital to any fast road or track use. Having warmed the engine, tyres, and brakes up I started to proceed at pace ( Can't let the CSL reputation down in front of spectators and various exotica can we) and the car on the whole is awesome and quite different to a standard model.
So after a rather long entry to this note I now would really appreciate feedback from you track experts onto my problem which may be linked. Some of you know Knockhill so will have experience of the track and maybe a similar sitiuation at Knockhill or other circuits.
Driving flat out at say 125/130 mph along the main straight and then braking very hard for Duffus Dip initial braking was good but then the brakes pulsated and the car did not continue to decelerate as I would have expected AP's to. I came in rather disillusioned with what I expected to be dream brakes. The car has not been on track or severe driving for a few months and the brakes could be glazed although I would have thought a few laps may have sorted that! I spoke to Mark (Mark CSL) today and he suggested cleaning up the pads. Another track driver suggested that I need to get more compound on the disks. A similar situation happened under very heavy braking into the hairpin.
The first session was rushed and therefore I had no time to check tyre pressures which may have contributed if they were wrong.
My own and hopeful conclusion is that the brakes are fine, that it was the abs coming on and that the Good Year Eagle F1's (lots of tread left) did not have enough traction to decelerate the car that quickly!
Does this scenario ring any bells with anyone? It was only braking on those two corners that caused the problem every other one was Ok, but entry/approach speeds were less.
Initial thoughts are to try and clean up pads, try cup tyres, check pressures..... or even consider braking earlier before the corner ( last resort) Should reasonable road tyres run out of grip braking in a straight line in the dry when not trying to lock them e.g emergency stop?
Should some new rubber be the answer I have read some posts re Toyo 888 v Cup Sports. Quite a mixed opinion. I would like the CSL to be perfect on track for 10 lap sessions at say Oulton and Knockhill yet be safe to use on the road for a blat in the dry which concerns me slightly re cups. I hear the 888's are good for lighter cars and can overheat quickly.
If I were buying some spare wheels do I go for 18" or 19". I see that Thorney sells some 18" wheels for a reasonable price.
If anyone has a spare track day set and wants to clear some garage space please drop me a line. I live in Edinburgh.
Lots of questions there! Feedback on any appreciated.
For those in Scotland or anyone fancying a trip to Knockhill I am going to the Hot Marques (cars over £15k) evening on 1st June. It would be good to meet up.
Jonathan