Well it’s been a month since the last meeting at MIRA, yet something has always seemed to get in the way of me writing a little update.
But with batteries recharged by the unexpected sun on Islay, I’m finally getting around to it.
Round 3: MIRA Sprint on the Dunlop Dry Handling Circuit
This should be somewhere I’m alright as I test at MIRA at least once a week and we have a couple of workshops on site; yet I’ve never tested on this particular circuit, indeed I’ve never even driven around it – so much for local knowledge!
MIRA, stands for Motor Industry Research Association. It was set up back in the 50’s I think and like so many tracks/test sites in the UK is built on an old airfield. Basically it’s a test centre for pretty much any part of a car, from full size aero testing to crash tests. In other words if you work for a UK automotive company that doesn’t have it’s own facilities (which is most of them) then you’ll end up at MIRA at some point.
There are a lot of different tracks around the site, from a banked ‘bowl’ to a little city course, with wet handling/braking surfaces, durability and noise tracks and all the other sorts of tracks you could imagine. For the sprint the dry handling circuit is repurposed as a short (1.6miles?) course, with a couple of 90deg turns coned out in the middle to mix it up a bit and slow things down – this is a very fast track if you get to carry all your speed through the middle complex!
The Track
I must admit I was a bit underwhelmed when the track layout came through in the post, but as it turned out it was a longer and more challenging course than it first appeared, being a good minute long even though it was pretty fast (max speed of about 100mph).
I’ll get the rubbish starts out of the way now – they were either really rubbish, or a 2nd gear launch that still wasn’t great. Can’t wait till I get a 4 speed in next year with a decent 1st gear ratio, rather than having the choice of too low or too high.
Driving from the start, it was best to line up pointing away from the start of the turn, so that you could launch in a straight line, from there it was a full throttle accel into 3rd, and then a case of trying to accelerate the whole way round – by about ¾ of the way around the curve the rear would get lively. Pretty much at the exit of the turn it was into 4th and them more full throttle action through the gentle left hander I was maxing out 4th before the 90 right which ment the car was very, very lively!
Through the speed trap at about 100mph and then hard onto the brakes for the 90 right, a short sprint to the 90 left, bit of braking (and plenty of space to have a little fun here) and then another hard accel to the final turn. This left hander was much like the first in that you accelerated around it, but being much tighter it was generally a tail happy place.
The problem with being on a secure industry site was that photography is banned – due to the prototype cars that frequent the place. But there was a sanctioned snapper so I got myself one shot from the day
So how did the runs go? Well the good news was I improved by 1 to 1.5s a run – which maybe highlights how slow my first run was?!
But much as before I had a massive lockup on my fastest run into the 90 right, and goodness was it all very messy. Couldn’t find a gear, got all crossed up etc. but I was still up 1.5s so could have gone faster still.
Overall, well I was 4th in class, and the 3rd fastest car – being beaten by a Hayabusa 7 (with two different drivers) and a Lotus Elise. There’s not a cat in hell’s chance the Capri will ever match a powerful 7 on a sprint, so won’t even dream of getting close, but I was close enough to the experienced guy in the Elise to be happy ;D
In the end though I actually really enjoyed the track because it was the first time I’ve really been able to open the Capri up and drive it on the limit without too much fear of hitting anything hard. It clearly needs some setup work, but it’s actually pretty balanced on the limit and easy to drive quick.
The only thing that really needs work is the brakes, looking into it I think the grooved discs are making things a bit digital (i.e. all or nothing) and the pads are very bitey too. So I see a set of plain discs and Mintex 1144’s in the near future – maybe even by the next round at Prescott since I locked up there as well!
To finish, have a shot of the car in full livery, going to meet it’s inspiration – Bruichladdich Distillery. I’m not sponsored, I’m not that good!, but I’m not running low on whiskey any time soon either!
