Papps Black R26 Standard to Fast Road & Adventures along the way......

haha - thats just a pre wash with VP citrus, and a 2 bucket and dry; the ceramic coating I had applied means its effortless and very quick to clean.

 

1st ever outing on track as well this week:



Definatley given me the bug to do a lot more track work...

Had to go very easy on the brakes as they are totally std atm....

Here's a little clip of 3 'hot' laps if you can call them that on my 1st attempt lol - early lift-offs on the straights....

[video=youtube;L-S6B4Gpvcg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-S6B4Gpvcg[/video]




Ordered some calliper pins from Mr Pink, either going to get DS1.11 (JJC is they supply the discount), or DS UNO (They are £200 from DT, but with the EURO atm its working out at £137 ex delivery from France, so may order from them)

Braided lines & better fluid (RBF600?) ; maybe a 2nd set of alloys and a set of Cup 2's - they are only 141 a corner on oponeo now......

 

News toys starting to arrive....more to come

 

Update time:

The car had DS1.11, HEL lines, uprated brake fluid, and a service all done at Rentec in Edinburgh...

Managed to pick up a 2nd hand set of red .R alloys with R888s on them off a chap on this, which was ideal!

Here's what the car looks like with them test fitted:



I've used them a couple of times on the road, they are really loud, and also make the ride even worse with the BC's - putting the Pilot Super Sports on again for the road was a breath of fresh air lol

This week saw my 2nd 2 hour track night at Knockhill - much busier this time and quite a few red flags meant I only managed around 25 laps or so all night - my clutch overheated with around 30 mins to spare, and although it returned to normal within 5 mins, I decided to quit while I was ahead as I'd already had a great night. Time to get the clutch bled. The coilovers were set harder this time at 16 Front and 10 Rear (vs 10 Front and 8 Rear for 1st TD)

Here's the car in the pit lane at KH with some of the compact cup boys who were in attendance:




The extra confidence I had this time was night and day, I had done my homework and viewed plenty of -jamie- s laps and also Mark. had reviewed my laps from last night and given me pace notes! haha Biggest confidence booster was the new braking set up - the R888s give such a great feel on track due to how stiff they are also.

The cold pressures the next morning were 24psi front and 26 rear - which was around 32 hot all round on the night.

The best clean lap of the night was this one here:


[video=youtube;gdf3kL8aTCQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdf3kL8aTCQ[/video]

Need to work on the bad habit of resting my left arm clearly, need gloves now as well, my hands were getting pretty sweaty and led to a missed gear change once which is very rare for me....

The thing I never realised till I got home is that this time I never got taken once, which is credit to the R26, an unbelieveably capable car.

This was my 2nd little stint of the night where I had my 1st chance to see how the meg stacked up compared to a WRX Impreza:


[video=youtube;ukagfMTa2tk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukagfMTa2tk[/video]

Have some good pics on the way from the night so will post them in due course!,

Next on the list now is gloves, a reverse tracknight in 2 weeks to kill the remainder of the tread on the R888s then Mike's KH night on the 3rd should be a blast.

Thanks for reading!

 

Yeah mate - come along for sure!, would be great to get your input - need to get on a TD your booked on soon. Getting input from people in the pits etc has been a great help, there's so much to remember, having you there would be great mate - be interesting to get your take on the Geo I have atm as well, its very understeer heavy on the exits, but thats good for my confidence.

Yeah the outright grip on the R888's wasn't as much as I'd hoped for If I'm honest (they are pretty shot already) - what made the big diff was the steering feel they gave it might just be me, but when you've got a helmet on and you can't hear as well, it kind of robs you of some of the feeback you get when driving, these reversed that trend and allowed me to push on - also having PSS with 6mm on I was weary of destroying them with uneven wear etc. They'll be getting used when its really bad rain, leaning towards AD08R for the semi given hot wet KH is, Mark. and others have suggested this route to go down.

The R888s aren't my cup of tea on the road at all - would never use them now tbh for that

 

Cheers mate,

Yes - its the Ktec Shortshifter I have - same deal as the one 'boardy' can make if you send him your linkage for a fraction of what I paid! - probably my fave mod tbh

 

Car been off the road for over 3 weeks now.

SMF and .R clutch all fitted, hubs and wheel bearings done. Needed a new Lower arm, on back order at renault and a calamaty of supplier issues

Here's some of the pics from August on track I never got round to updating on this...Meg's

















and probably the all time favourite pic of my car...this will be tough to beat..

 

Cheers mate

 

Cheers bud - the part was meant to be arriving today again lol fml but hasn't - this time its the powerflex ones, we are 99.9% sure they will fit - but I give up mate.

Literally as soon as I'm in the drivers seat with the keys most likely I will book it - will let you know asap - would be a lot more relaxed than the 2 hour sessions - they go too fast - plus gives us a chance to enjoy the new layout of the track more.

Some of the good clio boys are booked on as well.

 

haha good work! - I saw 7 places last night, now only 4 left...eeek, no parts came today though, I'm thinking of taking the risk and booking lol

Thats really kind of you mate!!, to be honest a couple of laps in the pax seat would be more than enough for me mate if my car isn't ready , I can bring my supplies as well..

Do you have a socket for your wheels? a worrying amount had sheared bolts after the last track night

 

Update Time:

Got the car back after some powerflex bushes finally turn up: So it now has black series front arm front bushes, and pure motorsport front arm rear bushes, as well as the new hubs and wheel bearings...

Needed to get the alignment done again therefore.......used CLCM in Edinburgh and was delighted with the service and results,

The big change is toe out - I should of had this in the 1st place, much more neutral on exits now and allows to get on the power much earlier and with more vigour.

The car was aligned using a John Bean machine



Printout of the vital stats: probably will dial in more camber as track confidence increases next year....



As I had a bit of disappointment about missing Mike265s KH tracknight I was eager to get a session out of my system - luckily an op presented itself this week, this time for the Reverse Layout at Knockhill (The wrong way lol) - the R888s had very little tread on them, but were fine all night. First time being on track with some mega power machines as well, which was a bit of an experience.

Feel fortunate to have been able to see and hear this being driven at 150+ as well................droooooooolllllll



and in action......



Having the meg with a more neutral set up was brilliant, but made heavier braking really complex - a great challenge.

Cramp took its toll badly, so I went fastest around half way in when still learning the lines and braking points - later on I wasn't as on it and was enjoying flying round in a nice and clean manner.

Shocker rocked up after work and had his 1st experience of an R26 which I think he enjoyed - his biggest comment about the car probably was about how good the map was on it.......RS Tuning, take a bow

Here's a shot from the evening of the meg on the home straight.....



Here's the best time of the night - I had much better sectors in varies points, but due to traffic and or making sure the faster cars had clear laps to enjoy as well.


[video=youtube;FGsx8DCmFmY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGsx8DCmFmY[/video]


and the one that you all really want to see/hear - the overtake of the ferrari.....

[video=youtube;P0tXI4cYji8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0tXI4cYji8[/video]

and what I thought was a bad moment at the time, but looking back not so much - but just shows you what a split second lack of concentration can do, slightly late on the brakes, meaning higher terminal speed, didn't apply enough pressure on the brakes, one tyre goes slightly off line and its like a skating rink lol - thankfully its only a bit of understeer in the end and not a ring bill for armco repairs!

[video=youtube;73TEl5LKAzs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73TEl5LKAzs[/video]


Cheers!

 

Yeah mike the reverse is scotlands 2nd track we've been craving - the braking into Clarks is really really tough going, takes a brave man to leave it late and keep it together before the turn in - easy to get out of shape, but its so much fun driving it.

The the entry to the chicane is so much fun and the bends that follow - its really satisfying throwing the car at the apex at Duff's and trying to get a good sling shot to overtake the slower cars - I was hitting the limiter in 4th as well which never happens in the normal direction.

Cheers for coming Shocker - it was a pleasure to take you round for a bit and reciprocate all your generosity from the week before a little. Def see you at the next one, I may even book before payday. Thanks for the kind words about the driving, still not really had a lot of miles under my belt with the coilovers on, and still need to work on applying more pressure with the brakes - need a couple of jerry cans as well now haha and some new tyres lol

 

Some nice pics from Knockhill last week......

Think I may have to get a few of these for wall

 

Cheers mate!,

Hope the recovery is nice and quick, a bit like your Meg around KH no doubt haha

 

Cheers mate!

haha do it!!, I was starting to get some big bills and tracking it just makes every single penny I've spent instantly worthwhile

 

Cheers!, nothing booked yet, last chance looks like Oct 31st, Sunday 12-4pm normal direction which I'm very keen for,

Are you thinking of doing organising one for April time or that ?

 

Fixed back buckets now fitted in the Meg.

2nd hand Ktec Subframes and OMP side mounts - along with Sabelt GT-140 seats in Large size.

They have massivlely lowered the driving position - at least by an inch - which for me has made a huge difference - even a little thing such as the change in the angle of attack on the gearstick is great.

They are very very snug lol - a lot of people may struggle to fit - oh well lol

Had the lap strap and crotch strap fixing points drilled into the chassis with spreader plates and eyes.

Completely changes the way the car feels - need to be careful as won't have falling out of the recaros to remind me that I'm maybe loading up a bit too much through the bends.

Chat of a fully custom welded rear cage for £400 next on the agenda - then I can start removing the airbags etc.

 

Cheers mate! - and likewise with your car!!, great to hear your really enjoying it as well.

 

Thanks mate!,

Sadly not, I paid too much for the item direct from Sabelt in the UK - they had to source it from Italy - it was rather pricey given what it is, but apart from the R26.Rs I've yet to see it in another car!

 

When I get it in the ramp this week I'll take some pics for you.

The garage I used, drilled into the chassis (removing centre section of exhaust, heat sheielding also - then they welded in a spreader plate for the 'eye' top go into) - they mounted this parallel to the positioning on the seatbelt bolting position opposite.

Hope this helps a bit,

The real PITA is the crotch straps - as they're positioned near the brake and fuel lines (may not be the case on the LHD car), I only had those done on the drivers side.