[R53-Luke]

Full GT circuit which was actually quite easy to learn after 3-4 sessions. Plus so big you never really experienced traffic.

That GT86 was pulling away from me ever so slightly on the straights. I did have my dad sitting in as a passenger so like to put it down to his extra weight. But still!

 

[Loui]

The GT curcuit is quick with some big brakes. I ended up with my fluid exiting my ressovouir is got it that hot lol. Being an August day probably didn't help either lol

 

[R53-Luke]

Take it easy on me....first track day 'n all.

 

[JakeMiCo]

That BMW is an asshole


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[Loui]

Take it easy on me....first track day 'n all.

You got out there and did it, that's the main thing in my view

 

[R53-Luke]

PICS!!

Bedford 1 by Luke Lloyd, on Flickr
Bedford 4 by Luke Lloyd, on Flickr
Bedford 2 by Luke Lloyd, on Flickr
Bedford 6 by Luke Lloyd, on Flickr
Bedford 11 by Luke Lloyd, on Flickr
Bedford 8 by Luke Lloyd, on Flickr
Bedford 10 by Luke Lloyd, on Flickr

 

[Led sandwich]

Looks really good mate, bedford is a really fun track with plenty of run off. Fuck knows what that bmw driver was on.

 

[R53-Luke]

I wish I had rear facing cam....next time. He was sliding out of every corner trying to catch up again after.

 

[R53-Luke]

Going forward:

- Head upgrade
- Cam and tune
- Engine rebuild
- Janspeed manifold
- Track wheels/tyres
- Possibly upgrade seats

 

[Andy Redz]

Looks propper Luke love the way your car sits .. I live 25 mins away and I've never been to Bedford track ...

 

[Hudson]

Going forward:

- Head upgrade
- Cam and tune
- Engine rebuild
- Janspeed manifold
- Track wheels/tyres
- Possibly upgrade seats

I know you won't listen to me but I really wouldn't bother the the head and engine rebuild. Spend your cash continuing to track it, you'll have just as much fun with 20hp less.

 

[R53-Luke]

Always open to advice. Equally attracted to shiny metal things. I do need the rebuild due to engine age and a damaged piston, just makes sense. The head is something I really want to do and it makes sense to do it at that time. Financially though it is a bit of a wild move and £1500 is like 7 track days.

 

[Hudson]

Always open to advice. Equally attracted to shiny metal things. I do need the rebuild due to engine age and a damaged piston, just makes sense. The head is something I really want to do and it makes sense to do it at that time. Financially though it is a bit of a wild move and £1500 is like 7 track days.

Fair enough on the rebuild then, if it needs taking apart anyway then you might as well.

In my experience ( <----- That right there is the important phrase, I'm not saying this always happens), when I had an r53 and the engine was really wringed out up to 240+whp on a normal M45 charger, I spent every other week with the head off and never actually got to track it before I got sick of the repair bills and took it to pieces :lol:

Equally I'm sure there are many builds where there has been no such issues, I may have just had a lot of bad luck.

 

[R53-Luke]

Care to divulge or should I stop being lazy and go read a project thread??

 

[Hudson]

Care to divulge or should I stop being lazy and go read a project thread??

What I said is pretty much all there is to it, I don't think I actually had a project thread for that car. I bought 'The Power Ranger' just over a year ago which had a 240whp engine an was a full track car - you might have seen in mentioned on here before. First track day it melted a piston, from then onwards it cracked I think 3 cylinder heads in about 2 months. I just wished I'd had that car with its awesome suspension and chassis set up but only with 200whp and reliability - I would have had much more fun.

Also worth noting, that even with its extra engine mods (cylinder head, meth injection, standalone ECU...) in a side by side drag race rolling start I had absolutely nothing on an R53 with the normal cat cam injectors and tune.

 

[R53-Luke]

Hmmm. There must be something there. I know dyno graphs seem impossible to come by for most heads but seems logical that enlarged valves and better flow are going to free up some performance.

In terms of reliability again who knows like you said yourself could just be your experience, I think plenty of people run bigger heads. You do have me questioning myself now though. Without the expense of the head I could book 1320 tomorrow to go for the tune and cam. But I worry that I'd always look back and think damn should have fitted the head at the time. On the flip side like I already said, £1500 is a lot of track days and I had a pretty fucking big grin on my face after regardless of stock power.

 

[Hudson]

Yepp, all true. I'm not even saying that the head was the problem, it obviously wasn't because the car kept breaking even stock heads. I'm just pointing out that it's easy to go down the route of chasing more power and then having things go wrong when in reality you don't need it and you'd have been much happier just driving the thing! Easier said than done though I know, the temptation of shiny things is all too real :lol:

 

[Alhambraman]

100% agree with Tom and I loved my 'race' mini in 2010 Time Attack . But it broke as you get to a limit where the heat is just too much for it.

Stick a newman cam in a jcw head and forget it .

Then get your handling sorted as going through the corners properly is much more fun
Here's mine now and it never works for more than a week

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[R53-Luke]

Handling is good. Even on the V1's. It felt stable and planted at the weekend, the only time I provoked a spin was late braking into a corner near apex in wet the end result was pretty obvious. I did get a shed load of understeer which I think could be helped with some stickier rubber and a much better driver. Will have a think, thanks for advice boys.

 

[R53-Luke]

eBay wheels in the shopping trolley.....off to Lepsons they go..........

In the meantime, just spent 3 days working in the Brecon Beacons, 2 of which I spent in the passenger seat whilst Ben Collins ex stig whizzed us around the single carriageway surrounding a reservoir :thumbup1: Amazing fun, lovely guy! Got some nice A road hooning in on the way back too with the snowy mountains in the background. Winning all round.

https://flic.kr/p/DQu5gLhttps://www.flickr.com/photos/lukelloyd/