hrd-hr30

you didn't miss much anyway. i was hoping something would happen with all the extra fuel and longer stints on the tyres - you know like tyres going off or some cars getting faster than others with the decreasing fuel loads, but nothing happened at all. except for a dodgy spark plug it would have been a complete procession.

we'll see... personally, I'd rather have the better handling car for the majority of the race than just be able to do 1 fast lap on empty tanks. 150kg of fuel has to alter the car's behaviour. Alonso in the fezza is pretty exciting. The team mate battles in Ferrari, McLaren & RBR are going to be interesting. And see how the self-confessed rusty old man goes. Qualifying 7th and only a couple of tenths off the young gun teammate is not bad for his first competitive drive in 3 years if you ask me. I can't wait for the race!

I agree, vettel burnt up his rears a couple of times last year, in not very long stints. with the extra weight and heat over there, I doubt he'll last long up the front. will qualifying pace even mean anything about their race pace with all that extra weight?

if your track work is sprints, than I'd stick with 225/50. 245 on an 8" rim will be less responsive and be difficult to get pressures right to optimise the contact patch. I'd also recommend selecting another brand of semi slick - I'm not at all impressed with R888s.

Sledgehammer it is! If it all goes pear shaped there's always widebody gaurds! lol Here's Sunday's runs. The first one is a shocker- so bad I gave up! 2nd was my fastest I think and the other two are a couple of tenths slower. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLDhEUlorRo

I've never used a gaurd roller, or even seen them used for that matter. Are they just for lipping the edges or can they actually form a flare? I need about 2" to fit the rears on. The panel work is pretty strong back there too... buying wheels with the right offset would be the easy way out, but I like the Regas

better tyres will help. I've run a few different types of semis over the years, and my current R888s have been the least impressive of the lot. RE55S are very popular on GTRs for a reason. Dunlop DZ03 are faster, but also more expensive. you will also benefit from more aggressive alignment settings than those recommended for street cars in the group buy.

nah, I better not wear out old mate's front tyres before I hand them back! Need to get the hubs, and either another set of wheels or flare the rear gaurds like the old car before it gets back on the track. I might have to find my sledgehammer!

I do rate the climate controlled comfort while sitting in the starting queue! hehe yeah, diff gears are somewhere around 4.4, but its only an R180 currently. I want to get an R200 in there before I destroy this poor little thing! The front end is a real compromise at the moment. I couldn't source new 5 stud hubs in time so last weekend I reverted to the standard S13 4 stud hubs and brakes, and borrowed a set of wheels and tyres off a mate just so i could get out there to collect a few points in the series. Suffered with plough understeer all weekend on the 5yo 2nd hand front tyres though. You can just about make out the chatter from the plough understeer it had in turn 1 in that vid. But even so, it led the class in the wet runs, but when it dried out a bit on Sunday (still wet in the tree covered loops at the top of the hills) I got my arse whopped by a little Triumph GT6 on Avon hillclimb slicks. Hopefully it will be a different story when i get my proper front end in and a new set of rubber. Thinking either RE55S WT compound or a set of slicks... Still managed 2nd in class, so not too bad for a first outing. There's a fair few suspension changes from the old car but hard to make any calls on those changes running on mis-matched rubber, and in those very changeable conditions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lgo4Tihfy4 A run from today's wet hillclimb, the first round of the 2010 series. Also first drive of my road reg 180SX, so I'm really just feeling the car out at this stage. The plan is to push a bit harder tomorrow...

you're best off using whatever car you already have when starting out. no sense buying a track car before you've even started. run in what you have, and spend your money on doing as many different types of events as you can, as often as you can. You'll learn heaps. you don't have to spend much on mods or have a track car to do track days.

well the first round of the hillclimb series is this weekend I only just got the new 180SX fired up for the first time on Saturday, and drove it for the first time yesterday, so I'll guess it will be another example of working till the wee hours of Friday night getting it ready. Its not exactly finished - ran out of time & money to get everything done, so to get it going in time for round 1 I had to swap back to the standard 4stud front hubs & brakes with borrowed wheels & tyres. Combine that with the suspension changes I made while swapping all the gear over from the old car and anything could happen this weekend! At least it will be out there to hopefully collect some points for the series. Looking forward to another run at Mt Cotton as I haven't been there since 2007 in the old Datto 1200.

vid of Oran Park's opening race meeting, 1963... things were different back then http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=70645

I have room for that at my place too Ben... love the wheels! but I prefer the standard front bar. looks nice though.

sub 50 at lakeside... what else do you need? hehe

I do actually...

hell yeah! sounds like a bit of a steal to me

isn't that Friday the 21st? competition Saturday 22nd?

you'll always strugle to balance out the handling with mis-match front and rear tyres. personally, I'd refit the standard rear sway bar and buy those KU36 rears before your track day.

its a billiard table compared to QR Noel! And looong...

only on predetermined corners??? whatever that means... that's a rule just asking to be broken!

harden up guys, its a rally... As a stage safety officer on the Suncoast Classic up here a couple of years ago I got numerous complaints about rocks/loose gravel/dirt on the road. Got sick of explaining to competitors that those are the kind of changeable conditions you experience in a rally that no amount of pacenoting, let alone a roadbook, can comment on. Same as ruts and loose stuff on the outside of a corner in forest rallying will never be in your roadbook or notes. No one like driving in ruts either, but its part-and-parcel of forest rallying.

yeah it looks great. Will make a massive difference to the place.

there's some pics on morgan park's site: http://www.morganparkraceway.com.au/trackext.htm http://www.morganparkraceway.com.au/trackext2.htm

it was last year too...