Right I've been on this forum for a while now and thought it was about time I got a little place of my own to dump all the little bits and pieces I have done and experiances I enjoy with my FR TDI.
Ok so the story began a long time ago when I got a new job 40 miles away. I had a pony astra at the time and as with most new jobs you get a little bit more cash to spend. I went on the hunt for the fastest and most economical car I could afford. Looked at a 320Ci, nah, not qwk enough and not really into B' Ems (unless they're of the M variety).
So I got this
It was just over a yr old and had 17k on the clock. Got it relatively cheap as well (looking at that pic now emphasises how much of a tractor it once was!)
Anyway while it was still under warranty I didn't do anything to it. I went through all the dramas of wiring looms & sensors going pete tong. Then an injector died in the middle of morning rush hr while on the M1, that was fun. I've since had them all replaced etc as per the millions of posts on this subject.
Then along came this
It had a milltek exhaust, TD 1.2s (17s on the front, 18s on the rear) and toyo R1Rs. It was a crazy little car, enjoyed it for the summer and then the pain of looking after 2 cars without a garage got to me and I sold it (for what I paid for it
)
I then thought why can't I turn the A-to-B car into something I could use on the track as well??
First off, new wheels.
A new set of Oz Ultraleggers were ordered, in matt graphite
and then it paid a visit to chesterfield where it had a de-dpf, remap and eibach pro street s coilovers.
it then looked like this
I was happy with this for about 3 days, then the clutch started to slip. I'd done about 90k miles on the original clutch so I thought ok time for a new one.
Went for a Helix stage 2 clutch with SMF. This clutch lasted about 3mths as the return spring in the drive plate came loose and screwed it up. I have since got a replacement drive plate and alls been good so far (15k miles on it so far).
Next on the list was a new exhaust. I wanted something different from the standard milltek ones and plumped for an STR/Scorpion system.
At the same time I got a whiteline rear ARB installed
This made a very nice improvement to the handling, got rid of the understeer and made it nice and "pointy" when turning in.
Next up was to give it a blast on track. Bedford autodrome was the chosen destination (close to where I am, I'd been around it before and its a pretty safe track)
A few pics from the day
and a small vid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7-5Iml7vi8
I had a great time but as with these days you just find something else that needs fixing.
So I had a new set of front discs put on (previous ones had warped), goodridge braided brake hoses, dot4 brake fluid and a whiteline front ARB.
The front ARB has also made a big positive change. It now goes 'round the bends very flat, gives you loads of confidence. Would defo' recomend it to anyone wanting to improve their handling.
Now while I was at bedford I had a bit of tuition from an instructor (if you're new at track days make sure you also sign up for this, very useful) and we had a bit of a chat about what would give me the biggest gain on track, the porsche brakes were put on hold and I was on the hunt for a second set of wheels and some slick tyres!
I ended up getting some TD 1.2s in white?
and they came with mich' PS3s which I've kept for my next set of road tyres
and I got some pirelli RS compound slicks
today I stuck 1 one the car to see what it looked like
I also got hold of a contour roam HD camera and mount so I can capture on track shenanigans
anyway thats about it for starters, can't promise this RR will get updated too often as there's not a huge amount more I want to do to the FR. More likley to get a few more pics and vids of track days (this coming sat' is the next one, bedford again)
Ok so the story began a long time ago when I got a new job 40 miles away. I had a pony astra at the time and as with most new jobs you get a little bit more cash to spend. I went on the hunt for the fastest and most economical car I could afford. Looked at a 320Ci, nah, not qwk enough and not really into B' Ems (unless they're of the M variety).
So I got this
It was just over a yr old and had 17k on the clock. Got it relatively cheap as well (looking at that pic now emphasises how much of a tractor it once was!)
Anyway while it was still under warranty I didn't do anything to it. I went through all the dramas of wiring looms & sensors going pete tong. Then an injector died in the middle of morning rush hr while on the M1, that was fun. I've since had them all replaced etc as per the millions of posts on this subject.
Then along came this
It had a milltek exhaust, TD 1.2s (17s on the front, 18s on the rear) and toyo R1Rs. It was a crazy little car, enjoyed it for the summer and then the pain of looking after 2 cars without a garage got to me and I sold it (for what I paid for it
)I then thought why can't I turn the A-to-B car into something I could use on the track as well??
First off, new wheels.
A new set of Oz Ultraleggers were ordered, in matt graphite
and then it paid a visit to chesterfield where it had a de-dpf, remap and eibach pro street s coilovers.
it then looked like this
I was happy with this for about 3 days, then the clutch started to slip. I'd done about 90k miles on the original clutch so I thought ok time for a new one.
Went for a Helix stage 2 clutch with SMF. This clutch lasted about 3mths as the return spring in the drive plate came loose and screwed it up. I have since got a replacement drive plate and alls been good so far (15k miles on it so far).
Next on the list was a new exhaust. I wanted something different from the standard milltek ones and plumped for an STR/Scorpion system.
At the same time I got a whiteline rear ARB installed
This made a very nice improvement to the handling, got rid of the understeer and made it nice and "pointy" when turning in.
Next up was to give it a blast on track. Bedford autodrome was the chosen destination (close to where I am, I'd been around it before and its a pretty safe track)
A few pics from the day
and a small vid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7-5Iml7vi8
I had a great time but as with these days you just find something else that needs fixing.
So I had a new set of front discs put on (previous ones had warped), goodridge braided brake hoses, dot4 brake fluid and a whiteline front ARB.
The front ARB has also made a big positive change. It now goes 'round the bends very flat, gives you loads of confidence. Would defo' recomend it to anyone wanting to improve their handling.
Now while I was at bedford I had a bit of tuition from an instructor (if you're new at track days make sure you also sign up for this, very useful) and we had a bit of a chat about what would give me the biggest gain on track, the porsche brakes were put on hold and I was on the hunt for a second set of wheels and some slick tyres!
I ended up getting some TD 1.2s in white?
and they came with mich' PS3s which I've kept for my next set of road tyres
and I got some pirelli RS compound slicks
today I stuck 1 one the car to see what it looked like
I also got hold of a contour roam HD camera and mount so I can capture on track shenanigans
anyway thats about it for starters, can't promise this RR will get updated too often as there's not a huge amount more I want to do to the FR. More likley to get a few more pics and vids of track days (this coming sat' is the next one, bedford again
)
). Grip through the bends is great as you'd expect but the impressive bit which I didn't think about is that you can brake so much later and turn in later without any dreaded understeer. Time and time again I'd brake very late and think I'd never hit the apex and I'd surprise myself. Wheel spin is still present but thats just me being impatient.
