07/10/2004 19:24:29 ChalkyWhite May I be one of the first (on here anyway) to congratulate the organisers of today's track day by MGoT sponsored by Luffield Cars. I found it so much more enjoyable than Silverstone because of (a) it being dry and I could scrub those retched NCT3s, and (b) the view going down from Redgate is superb - excilerating, especially if you don't brake at the bend before the Old Hairpin. :D My Dad commented how professional the whole day seemed, and extremely well organised, despite a coolant spillage and off by the Lotus 340R, caused by a pipe failure. Car seemed fine, other than grass cuttings all over it!! Some of you may have noticed our F VVC hitting the rev-limiter going past the finish line on each lap? That was my Dad on his first day driving the F (he drives a more sedate Skoda Octavia Turbo normally - sorry Dad ;) ), and it took him a couple of sessions to get the gear change just right. You were masterful on the last session. Totally safe, totally fast, totally fun day. Many thanks! Tony

08/10/2004 07:55:28 fishert I would also like to add what a great day we had, very well run & organised by those involved/volunteering. The rain held off, despite a slight shower travelling to Donington early in the morning!

08/10/2004 09:27:28 NickPS Here, here! Just wanted to add my thanks! What a fantastic day... Rain held off, very well organised, lots of track time. Finally got round to uprating my suspension on the B the night before, just finished in time for Thursday. David, thanks again to you and all the team, it's much appreciated. Nick

08/10/2004 11:17:23 Rob Bell My face is still aching from all the smiles! :D Brilliant day! I just didn't want the event to end...

08/10/2004 12:27:13 Ed_harasym Felt a bit left out being the only Rover there, but there is life in the old dog yet! Excellent day here too, just wish i hadn't had to end my final session early due to brake fade, which was actually end of pad life! Wish i could have been in the racing Tomcat, but at least the road one had a blast even if it does roll around like a ship. Ohh and the guy in the silver F R* VVC, you where class, really enjoyed being on track with you, awesome car control in that F:D , even when you where half way on the grass out of Redgate, excellent! Wish i could have stopped to chat, but brakes buggered:( Ed [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v379/Ed_harasym/Ed_final.jpg[/img]

08/10/2004 14:29:32 Steve Hill [QUOTE=Ed_harasym]Felt a bit left out being the only Rover there, but there is life in the old dog yet! Excellent day here too, just wish i hadn't had to end my final session early due to brake fade, which was actually end of pad life! Wish i could have been in the racing Tomcat, but at least the road one had a blast even if it does roll around like a ship. Ohh and the guy in the silver F R* VVC, you where class, really enjoyed being on track with you, awesome car control in that F:D , even when you where half way on the grass out of Redgate, excellent! Wish i could have stopped to chat, but brakes buggered:( Ed [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v379/Ed_harasym/Ed_final.jpg[/img][/QUOTE] Left out! Not at all Ed, it was good to have you along. The view of your Tomcat closing in from my rear view mirror was quite something. MGoT is for all MG/Rover track enthusiasts, hope to see you again at our next one.

08/10/2004 14:58:47 Paul Nothard Gotta say that that was the best trackday I have been to ever. Period. The organisation of the day was 2nd to none. All the organisors (you know who you are) should be very very proud of yourselves. Thanks for a realy fantastic day. [QUOTE=Ed_harasym]Ohh and the guy in the silver F R* VVC, you where class, really enjoyed being on track with you, awesome car control in that F:D , even when you where half way on the grass out of Redgate, excellent! Wish i could have stopped to chat, but brakes buggered:( [/QUOTE] Thanks. I went looking for you after that session to say sorry if I'd sprayed you after that mild off - was too busy talking to my passenger about "that cool Tomcat" - Oops! (note to self: don't talk, just drive!). Thanks for such a good time on the track. Thoroughly enjoyed it! Was really really tricky to catch you, but many thanks for being so curteous and letting me by when I did eventually catch you up. :-) P.

08/10/2004 15:10:19 PHolley [b]Fantastic day[/b] It was indeed an awesome circuit and the organisation was spot on so thanks from us as well. Grip at first seemed a bit interesting but once the sun, and all of us, dried it out a bit it was an absolute hoot. Spectating, the sight of a white Midget catching Luffield's 280ZTs was class and I did wish that a few more risks would be taken with the SV but then seeing as I went home after lunch on a flatbed truck I guess I'm probably not the best judge! We still left smiling from ear to ear though. Looking forward to the next visit.

08/10/2004 15:50:59 FRY Another superb day, due to no small part by the people working hard behind the scenes! Thanks to all on and off the track, good to see/meet old and new faces alike. The drive home on the M1 felt like I was just pottering about which is always the sign of a good day out.

08/10/2004 18:18:50 Caroline [QUOTE=Ed_harasym]Wish i could have been in the racing Tomcat, but at least the road one had a blast even if it does roll around like a ship. [/QUOTE]If that's what the road version can do I shudder to think what the race spec one is like - you seemed pretty quick in it to me! :D Thanks again to all and especially to Norman for letting me drive his car for a session - having never driven a TF and never driven Donington before that was quite brave of you it has to be said! ;) Caroline

09/10/2004 07:40:33 norman [QUOTE=Caroline]If that's what the road version can do I shudder to think what the race spec one is like - you seemed pretty quick in it to me! :D Thanks again to all and especially to Norman for letting me drive his car for a session - having never driven a TF and never driven Donington before that was quite brave of you it has to be said! ;) Caroline[/QUOTE] No problem Caroline, glad you enjoyed it. As I said on the BBS the expression on my face, which was taken for a permanent grin was, in fact, a grimace. ;) Just kidding ... you were beginning to get quite quick at the end of the session. I could tell you were really into it when you weren't slowing down on the chequered flag lap. :eek: I missed your leaving, when I came off of the last session your car was gone. I assumed you had already left. It was a pity I didn't get the chance to use that 'dustbin' of a lens. Could have done with a bit more speed as my 500mm max aperture is 5.6. Hope you got it back OK with no adverse effects on your Credit Card bill. Wouldn't mind seeing a RAW file or two from your 20D, unless they are too big to email. Norman

09/10/2004 08:00:51 Caroline [QUOTE=norman]No problem Caroline, glad you enjoyed it. As I said on the BBS the expression on my face, which was taken for a permanent grin was, in fact, a grimace. ;) Just kidding ... you were beginning to get quite quick at the end of the session. I could tell you were really into it when you weren't slowing down on the chequered flag lap. :eek: [/QUOTE]Hehe the session didn't seem to last long enough, that's the problem! Another session or two and I think I might even have finally got Coppice sussed too :D Oh well, I will just have to go back to Donington some time when I'm not the official photographer! [QUOTE=norman] I missed your leaving, when I came off of the last session your car was gone. I assumed you had already left. It was a pity I didn't get the chance to use that 'dustbin' of a lens. Could have done with a bit more speed as my 500mm max aperture is 5.6. Hope you got it back OK with no adverse effects on your Credit Card bill. [/QUOTE]Aaaggh! I hadn't actully left - in fact I didn't leave until almost 5pm in the end. The car wasn't there because I had driven to the other side of the circuit to take pictures from the infield near the Cramer Curves - I just couldn't face walking over there with that big lens again! :eek: I've still got it at the minute as I'm hoping to use it at the Caterham festival this weekend too, I've just got to make sure I remember to take it with me when I go back to work on Monday!

09/10/2004 09:33:36 Ed_harasym Ha ha, nah the car was nice and clean, so there was no mud on it at all. I really liked your F, i know they handle well, the guy i bought my racer off has moved onto a racing F now, and its probably slighty quicker than the Tomcat on corners. I had silly amounts of brake fade in that session, so had to pull off. The best thing about being on track with you lot was the track manners, lots of after you, no after you :D The racer is way better than the road one, and on slicks is mind blowing. Ed

09/10/2004 12:00:06 don k [b]Excellent day[/b] [color=black][font=Times New Roman][size=3]Hi all, another big thank you to all at MGOT for an excellent track day. For me, apart from the North weald activity day this was my first track experience in the F. At North weald I found that there was something wrong with the set up on my car, New shocks, A trip to B&G's for lowering knuckles and suspension set up correctly.....now driving a completely different car :D I opted for an instructor which turned out to be for the first session, excellent . :) My second session a thank you to Bob for riding shotgun. Really can't wait till the next track day, waiting to find if I can get the day off work, fingers crossed. See you all soon don[/size][/font][/color]

10/10/2004 11:31:37 Dave I enjoyed myself too :D There's never enough track time at Donny ! It's just a great circuit - and what brilliant weather! - who sorted that out then? :) Thanks to all of you for coming along and making the day successful and above all fun. The track etiquette, the pit-lane chat, the variety of MGs (and the odd Rover ;) ), old friends and new faces - that's what makes MGoT what it is. Thanks also to Paul Golding and the SELOC guys. We've learnt a lot from the Lotus peeps over this last year or so and they are a great bunch to share days with. I must also thank Dave Woods of Luffield Cars for his generous sponsorship of the day. I hope his customers enjoyed it also. Maybe one or two will even join MGoT! For those of you that can afford another day off work and are prepared to risk a drive to South Wales in the hope of another fine-weather day at this time of year, then look at Pembrey on 26th October - £90 for another 6 x 20 min sessions on track and in the company of MG Sport & Racing :cool: It's a steal! Also, don't forget your suggestions and thoughts for 2005 - see [url="http://pitlane.mgs-on-track.com/forumdisplay.php?f=19"]http://pitlane.mgs-on-track.com/forumdisplay.php?f=19[/url]

11/10/2004 11:44:45 Ralph A great day! Many thanks to the organisers, who did a grand job. Phil, hope your ZT is okay now. Ralph

11/10/2004 14:01:52 PHolley [b]Heart transplant for the ZT?[/b] [QUOTE=Ralph]A great day! Many thanks to the organisers, who did a grand job. Phil, hope your ZT is okay now. Ralph[/QUOTE] Well ... it's been karted off for major surgery but I think they'll cut their losses and give it a transplant. Shame ... I don't think a V8 will fit in sideways! At least the Midget is getting some exercise now ... for some reason the wife doesn't seem keen to lend me her car!

11/10/2004 14:27:27 Rob Bell Caroline, perhaps now is time to buy a cheap MG to bring along to the track! Actually, thinking about it, don't - we'd miss your superb pictures!!! ROFL

11/10/2004 15:33:24 Ed_harasym I missed what happened to your ZT, i saw you catching me in one of the early seesion, and followed you in another, was impressed at how the car handled, seemed very little roll from it at all. Ed

11/10/2004 17:00:23 Dave [QUOTE=Ed_harasym]I missed what happened to your ZT[/QUOTE] Me too - what happened to it Phil?

11/10/2004 17:58:08 Ralph Dave/Ed, here's what I know: Phil came off track just behind me in one of the morning sessions. His engine was sounding very clattery. Inspection showed that there was little or no oil in the engine. Phil went off and bought a can of oil from the garage at the track at lunchtime. When I came back from lunch Phil had added the oil but the engine was still making quite a racket. When I came back in from the next track session Phil had gone. [QUOTE]Well ... it's been karted off for major surgery but I think they'll cut their losses and give it a transplant. Shame ... I don't think a V8 will fit in sideways! [/QUOTE]A chance to get a 190Ps engine, though!;) On another matter, has Tim retrieved his coat and other posssesions yet? Ralph

12/10/2004 11:23:50 PHolley [QUOTE=Ralph]Dave/Ed, here's what I know: Phil came off track just behind me in one of the morning sessions. His engine was sounding very clattery. Inspection showed that there was little or no oil in the engine. Phil went off and bought a can of oil from the garage at the track at lunchtime. When I came back from lunch Phil had added the oil but the engine was still making quite a racket. When I came back in from the next track session Phil had gone. A chance to get a 190Ps engine, though!;) On another matter, has Tim retrieved his coat and other posssesions yet? Ralph[/QUOTE] Yes ... I'd already been looking at turning it into a 190 once the warranty was over. Apparently it's just a case of programming the engine management. Don't think I'll ask the garage about it now though. Basically something horrible has happened to the bottom end of the engine; probably the bearings. Lots of oil setting out in the morning, none after the 3rd session & lunch and then too much on Friday morning. I'd suggest only trusting dipstick readings from first thing in the morning Ralph ... seems to be a bit of a lottery! I think it must have been a short shift slowing down for the chicane. I reckon I must have shifted down too early with the brakes fading under the heat and put a few too many revs through it. Whoops! After lunch we stripped it of the stickers and limped it to the M1 services where the RAC happily took us home. Now waiting to hear from our local dealer but consensus seems to be that I'll be proud owner of a new KV6 lump soon. Naturally I haven't told the dealer about the visit to Donnington. I even took sandpaper to the tyres to get rid of the feathered tread on the tyres! Was having a great time though. You are right about the handling Ed ... considering that I've never touched the suspension it does indeed handle in a fantastically neutral way that makes it an absolute hoot on track. Just as well really ... as North Weald proved, with all that weight it can be a bit troublesome if you lose it ... one reason I always insure for track days. Shame it doesn't cover mechanical damage, perhaps I should have just belted into the barriers rather than limping to the end of the session!?

12/10/2004 13:52:03 Ed_harasym Well i got brake fade terrible, from the tiny weeny Turbo Discs. Never even thought about it as the racer never has it, and you can lap Dono at Trackday speed all day in that with no probs. The road car though was terrible, bit scarey at times especially when your approaching someones arse end at the chicane. Anyone else get the same probs? What are the Trophy 4 pots like for fade, want to be one of the first to try and fit a set to the road car. Ed

12/10/2004 16:04:37 Dave [QUOTE=Ed_harasym] What are the Trophy 4 pots like for fade, want to be one of the first to try and fit a set to the road car.[/QUOTE] I have Trophy 4 pots and 304mm discs on the front with Mintex 1144 pads and Roversport grooved discs with standard calipers on the rear, but again with Mintex 1144 pads. I don't have fade problems with this setup - just wallet problems ;) I had to have the front pads changed at Donny - thanks TechSpeed :)

12/10/2004 16:07:01 Dave [QUOTE=PHolley]Basically something horrible has happened to the bottom end of the engine[/QUOTE] Sorry to hear that Phil, but really glad you are under warranty. Let us know how you get on and what you think may have been the cause.

12/10/2004 16:07:52 Dave [QUOTE=Ralph]On another matter, has Tim retrieved his coat and other posssesions yet?[/QUOTE] Unfortunately not Ralph :(

14/10/2004 11:59:23 Ralph [QUOTE=PHolley]Lots of oil setting out in the morning, none after the 3rd session & lunch and then too much on Friday morning. I'd suggest only trusting dipstick readings from first thing in the morning Ralph ... [/QUOTE] Phil, I can't remember where I read this, or who told me, but the best way to get an accurate reading on the KV6 when the engine is hot is to use the following procedure: [list=1] [*]wait at least 5 minutes after stopping the engine [*]remove dipstick and wipe [*]wait at least 5 minutes [*]insert dipstick slowly into dipstick tube [*]remove dipstick and check level [/list]This technique has worked for me, except for the first week after changing the oil. When the oil is clean and new it is impossible to see on the dipstick. I believe that MGR changed the colour of the stick at some point to make it easier to see the oil. Ralph

14/10/2004 14:57:51 PHolley [QUOTE=Ralph]Phil, I can't remember where I read this, or who told me, but [/QUOTE] Yes, shiny black stuff on a shiny black plastic measure isn't really isn't the best design in the world. Maybe a new engine will have a bright orange measure or something ... it'd definately help. Thanks for the tips though. With the tangle of pipes and plastic under there it's not exactly user friendly. It's bad enough packed into the ZT but it must all spill out the sides when you pop your bonnet!

18/10/2004 11:25:35 Rob Bell How's the car now Phil - what's the latest?

19/10/2004 21:21:48 PHolley [b]Dead KV6[/b] [QUOTE=Rob Bell]How's the car now Phil - what's the latest?[/QUOTE] It's now in a sorry state at our local dealer with wires and hoses all over the shop awaiting delivery of the new V6 lump. I'm getting them to put a fresh clutch plate on at the same time and it could be back at the weekend but probably more realistically early next week. Thankfully they're working under warranty so the worst pain will be laying off the throttle to run it in!!

20/10/2004 12:33:40 Ralph Great news to hear that its all being done under warranty. Sorry, though, to find that you are still not back on the road. Two weeks is quite a time for a new engine to be organised - I hope they've given you a courtesy car. Ralph

20/10/2004 15:05:53 Rob Bell Hopefully you'll be back on the road soon :) Hmm - that old KV6 of yours... is it going to the tip? Only ask following that report in totalMG of a KV6 in an MGF! :D