Prawn and BigAls A3 Track Car

Time off over xmas surely? brakes are gonna be immense. Hope you like blood shot eyes lol
 
Have a word with Andy Lang, he's a real whizz when it comes to aero.

He might have some 'calcs that will help you out.
 
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jamiebennett81 said:
Are those calipers bigger than the Brembo's?
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They are indeed Tony, Fractionally larger pistons for more hydraulic power, but not so much as to upset the pedal travel / feel like some I've tried, a larger pad area, as well as a thicker pad from new so better value for money on pads, and no dust seals on the calipers which can break up with extreme heat during track use and cause issues.
 
Do you use the car on the road much? I was always under the impression that with road cars it was better to have the dust seals.
 
I do yes, but proper calipers don't generally have dust seals, as they just can't cope with the heat generated on track.

For something expected to do many thousands of miles on the road in all conditions then a dust sealed caliper is definitely advisable. On a track car it's just a pain in the **** though. Generally the car is only used in nice weather for fun :)

I really want to get back out on track soon! Once the AP's are on I'll be booking up some winter days whilst they're still cheap :)
 
I didnt think teack days really staryed again until april. Am i wrong?
 
daz-20vt said:
I didnt think teack days really staryed again until april. Am i wrong?
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On this occasion, i think you'd be surprised Daz!

This is the list for just a 4 week period between Jan - Feb



the other months are just as rich with choices :)
 
Wow. I looked in november on this site and the first one was april.must have updated.was hoping to do abingdon as my first. Im goona check these out though.thanks for the heads up!!
 
I'm running 6pots on my daily with no dust covers and iv been doing 1000km a week since last year october and no issues on mine
 
On your road Lupo Bill? I guess things have changed then. Can't do much harm to have them though. Even if they go soft.
 
Decided it was time to dig the old beast out of hibernation, thanks to lots of nagging from Jardo :laugh:



50 miles down some great roads, £20's worth of V-power, half a tank of meth, and thoroughly enjoyable!

Roll on the warmer weather!
 
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Love it so much.

I want the weather to get better so we can really start getting things done, I am really excited about the underfloor and **** end aero.

Somebody needs to put this K04-064 on an S3.
 
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Car looks great. The splitter makes it look aggresive which is good. The a3 and s3 need a little something.lcr splitter looks good but wont add anything and everyone has one. Could side skirts be made to add aero?
 
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Not side skirts, but a horizontal extension under the sides, from the under car floor aero , perhaps some 50/75mm to prevent air being sucked back under the car from the topsides. Skirts are possibly to much because if the car lifts on a bump or crest you can loose all downforce. We know of circumstances which support this. It's all new at the moment so experimenting this year is the goal. Watch this space. The animal is great at the moment but we feel that there are more improvements that will not cost to much. Anyone with loads of cash can sort things out fairly quickly but that is not the idea. The idea is to prove that low cost improvements with common sense and good engineering basics can be within the reach of most enthusiasts.
 
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What he said ^^^ :)

Skirts were originally part of the plan, as per nige's golf, but the risk is that an untimely bump at the wrong place (Like Churches at Thruxton - 120mph flat out at the Apex) could result in a sudden loss of ground effect and a nasty occurence.
 
120mph in the bends must take some building up to. The thought of it scares my senseless. Been going through your build thread again for motivation because my mind keeps wandering to something jap. Post number 27 on page 1 made me chuckle.
 
daz-20vt said:
Post number 27 on page 1 made me chuckle.
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Prawn said:
You know, I'm really not sure if it would be of any use on this thing!

It's currently on michelin Pilot sport 2's, not the most grippy tyre in the world, but it really struggles to put the power down already out of the bends with just 230bhp. I think having 300bhp+ in a FWD track car would probably be pretty pointless.
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I read that one back sometimes and have a chuckle too! We've come a long way since then, chassis mods and mapping to get the delivery how we want it, and it's really rather useable. it is funny looking back though how times change!


daz-20vt said:
120mph in the bends must take some building up to.
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It does a little! Folly at Combe is just over 120mph taken absolutely flat out in the dry, in something fairly slow it's not a really a corner, but at 120mph when you're right on the limit you feel some serious G-force around there and the ONLY option is to hold your foot in, backing out at that point is never an option!

There are a few other places that require big commitment also, Craners at Dony is just over 100mph down the Hill, the banking at Rockingham is interesting at around 115+ and there are quite a few absolutely flat out kinks on the ring that don't even appear to be corners until you're going much much faster.

Would love to get back to Spa in the dry to be able to take Eau Rouge properly at 100mph +, we were touching almost 100 up there in the wet and it was beyond terrifying!

it's all part of the fun though :racer:
 
100mph up Eau Rouge, and 130 mph along the start straight after that. What you have failed to mention is that it was raining cats and dogs and we were on semi slicks. That's terrifying.
 
This year will be all about air.

Making air flow where it needs to flow in order to keep the cool things cool and the hot things hot.

This new voyage didn't start out too well, with my heater motor packing up yesterday :laugh: So that's first in the list of making air go where it's needed!

I'll be moving things around at the front, relocating the oil cooler, as well as moving the rad and IC slightly to bring them together to act as one unit in terms of airflow through them, and also tucking the IC core in a bit at the bottom so I can fit a new and less broken front valance.

Whilst I was having the entire front end apart, it seemed a shame not to fit something shiney to make all the effort feel worth while, so after a few beers on new years day with Big Bad Dad, we put in a rather cheekily low last second bid on an auction, and to our surprise, we came back as the winners!







Twin core, much thicker, larger capacity end tanks, and generally very shiney. Hopefully this, coupled with some appropriate ducting will keep the coolant at sub 100 degrees for extended track sessions :)
 
Very nice and shiny, I like haha. Is that a straight fit or do the end tank fittings need modifying?
 
Straight fit dani, it has all the stock mounting lugs and everything including OEM end connections and the sender positions. It's just a thicker core and has larger end tanks so hopefully the increased capacity and more water through the core will help :)
 
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Prawn said:
Straight fit dani, it has all the stock mounting lugs and everything including OEM end connections and the sender positions. It's just a thicker core and has larger end tanks so hopefully the increased capacity and more water through the core will help :)
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i bought 1 of these for the build too :) great bits of kit and a damn good fit too.
 
The heater was annoying.

The drivability of the car in the wet was amazing, on low boost.

We had a right good drive in the wet the other day. I missed A3 a lot.
 
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Prawn said:
That's good to hear Airs :) Cheers man
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No probe mate, just make sure you put the rubber/plastic mounts in the correct place as they are a pic to get back off if you do, not that i did or anything :p lol
 
I've had one person mention that his rad didn't seal up fully when he fitting it re-using his old O-ring on the push fit connectors.

To be safe I think i'll order up some new O-rings from TPS, and possibly a rad tap too given my recent mystery tap opening event!
 
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Prawn said:
I've had one person mention that his rad didn't seal up fully when he fitting it re-using his old O-ring on the push fit connectors.

To be safe I think i'll order up some new O-rings from TPS, and possibly a rad tap too given my recent mystery tap opening event!
Click to expand...

I can definitely vouch for this radiator. I fitted one to my S3 and during 45c-48c ambient temps the coolant temp would sit at 88c-90c while driving the car relatively hard. My radiator fan burnt out and I was still confident enough to drive the car home (15km), just turned off while I stopped in traffic.

Fitment is great but since its thicker it does interfere with that A/C tank thingy. Just needed to be persuaded out the way a bit more.
Flanges on the other hand are a pita. I tried new o-rings, 2x o-rings but still got some leakage. In the end I sealed up the flanges with 1 o-ring and sikaflex, its my new best friend when it comes to coolant leaks :)


* something that has crossed my mind. You know how there is a tap on the bottom flange. It might be a good idea to fit the same type of flange to the top of the radiator, that way you could bleed the coolant system :)
 
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Scullies said:
I can definitely vouch for this radiator. I fitted one to my S3 and during 45c-48c ambient temps the coolant temp would sit at 88c-90c while driving the car relatively hard. My radiator fan burnt out and I was still confident enough to drive the car home (15km), just turned off while I stopped in traffic.

Fitment is great but since its thicker it does interfere with that A/C tank thingy. Just needed to be persuaded out the way a bit more.
Flanges on the other hand are a pita. I tried new o-rings, 2x o-rings but still got some leakage. In the end I sealed up the flanges with 1 o-ring and sikaflex, its my new best friend when it comes to coolant leaks :)


* something that has crossed my mind. You know how there is a tap on the bottom flange. It might be a good idea to fit the same type of flange to the top of the radiator, that way you could bleed the coolant system :)
Click to expand...

sounds like a good plan to bleed it all up a lot easier, as for the zircon, that got ditched a while ago, at least on my car it did :p
 
Why Prawn? Just spent forever reading through from the link thread on NR. Must have seen you as a participant on and around the country. Last Donnington open track day, watched so many who have it all done for them. Nice to see a few campaigners still play with the oil themselves. I'll look out for the a3? Not slow but careful!
 
Cheers BYD.

For us, it's not about having the single fastest car in the world at all costs. It's about going as fast as we can, and having fun, in something that's been home built and developed rather than just handing over a bundle of cash.

There's nothing more satisfying than feeling a genuine gain in performance, and knowing it was a result of your own design, ideas, and hard work.

The front splitter is the single best example of that, and probably the best mod on the whole car.

Not a huge deal going on here at the moment, still gathering parts and have a load to do, but with the weather we're having lately, it can wait!
 
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How did I ever have a mini engine in my mum's kitchen? Let my son try anything like that, I'd kill him. Still recall Keith Ripps off on the bank at lydden hill? That was all fun, scary as hell, couldn't see a ****** thing.
Son's recently been pushed and dropped his bike, caused incredible cost damage all just plastic fairings. They drove off? No one stopped to help him just manouvered around him? What are and who are all these idiots. Is it uninsured don't care?

Keep up the good work!:salute:
 
Ah, you bought that Rad then Nick! Nice, should be nice to have some piece of mind in the cooling system. Any progress on getting air out of the bay a bit more efficienty?

I saw this and thought of our conversation over christmas ;)

101_MOTORSPORT_2051N-800x533.jpg



Also, something similar to this should help get rid of what's stuck above the under-tray a little when you do the floor/skirts:

101_MOTORSPORT_2176-800x533.jpg
 
That's a very cool idea Robin, I like that.

It might be a bit limited with the chassis rails, but I guess i could try some near the front to aid wheel arch clearing, and some that run a little further back beyond the chassis rails to clear engine bay nastyness. Worth looking at for sure.

Massively exciting super interesting progress here last night!

I measured and marked up my old broken scuttle, in readiness for fitting my new '400bhp' scuttle, from no less than the original TufftyWagon.





Pretty Rock N Roll ey? :laugh:
 
Just drill holes through the firewall! You get the air out and keep warm at the same time I see it as win win!
 
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