Prawn and BigAls A3 Track Car

[Sam_]

330x28 at the moment Sam.

i'm going to do some experimenting with fitments, but hopefully when we replace these we'll squeeze a set of 343's under the rims.

That's the plan at least

Cool. They look huge! I guess it's the larger bell. You should be able to get a larger disc under there. Even my goliath calipers have more room diameter wise with the 334x32. The AP's are much better from memory for clearance.

 

[Prawn]

yea, the calipers are fairly slimline, so fingers crossed!

To check on disc size, you can just put a few washers under the caliper bolts and space the caliper out and try a wheel on.

343-330 = 13mm, /2 = 6.5mm, so if I put 7mm of washers under the caliper bolts and the wheel still fits, I know it'll go

I'm fairly sure I'll have 6.5mm radially to play with, if not much more. I'll offer the hub and caliper assembly into a spare Rota this weekend and see what kind of room I'll have

 

[daz-20vt]

Hi mate, purely out of interest. What brand of seat were your originals that broke?
Any update on the brakes?
Although the weather is making progress hard and almost pointless at the moment.

 

[Prawn]

The seats that broke were RMD maximum protection seats from Rally Design Daz, to be fair, they were a lovely seat, ultra light, and very comfy.

I'm not really sure where I stand on those at the moment, although they did break, the incident was somewhat extreme, and I was pretty huge at the time which wouldn't have helped matters. My seat broke considerably more than Pierres due to my weight I'd think.

If I were to use them again I'd strip off the covers and remake the captive nuts inside the frames using much MUCH larger spreader plates. For the money they were very nice though.

Progress is soon comming on the brakes, I have a new set of AP disc bolts now, and I just need to use AndyP's pillar drill tomorrow night to drill my bells out to 6.35mm from 6mm for the AP 1/4'' UNF bolts. Then they should be going on this weekend

 

[daz-20vt]

Awesome! So by what your saying did they break when you had you collision at the ring or am i missing something? Scary if so.
So have you used a set of these ap's before or will this be a first real test?

 

[Prawn]

Ah sorry mate, from your post I assumed you were talking with regards to what happened.

This happened to them:



Note: the jaunty angle, caused by this:



All things considered, I think they did OK, but still, becoming detached from the car at 150mph isn't preferable! I think with a custom made spreader inside combining both mounts on each side the problem would be overcome nicely though.

As for the AP's, I've not used them myself, but Bill has been running these calipers on the BadgerWagon for 6 years, with the same sized 330mm rotors for much of that (although he's not on 335). Hydraulically, they're a fantastic match for the LCR brembos which give such good pedal feel, with just 7% additional travel, compared to about 28% more travel I had with the forge brakes. This, combined with a stiff light caliper should give more hydraulic power than the LCR's, retaining a good pedal feel, and the pads are larger, and thicker too, so better value for money.

When the times comes to replace discs, I'll be going as large as physically possible inside the 17's, on a floating bell also to really make the most of them.

 

[daz-20vt]

Good plan. Give you time to sort what works / fits. Not to mention more cost effective as you seem very good at spending money on the car lol. (Jealous really)
You guys never stop.

 

[Prawn]

*Non audi related post warning*

Took both the cars out for a spin with Jardo on Sunday evening.

Was still light when we took Mini out, so we got a few pics.

It’s looking a little tired after 2 years in the garage, and this was after it’s first very light clean. Going to need some proper work on the paintwork to get it looking it’s best again, but I’m sure Jardo can sort it out

 

[Rich196]

Love the mini looks great mate!

 

[Lewis583]

Any links to videos of the Mini, Nick? Bet it goes well and sounds the nuts when full chat.

 

[daz-20vt]

Arent you like 6 foot 2? Lol.
I sat in a mini years ago and it felt tiny im 5"9'
the sensation of speed must be awesome though.

 

[Prawn]

Yea I'm 6'2'' Feels more roomy in the Mini than it does in the A3 amazingly!

Little clip taken recently:

Min - YouTube

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_Qx-fAL6tM" target="_blank">

 

[Prawn]

Went round to Andys last night to use his pillar drill.

Godspeed bells drilled out from 6mm to 1/4'' for the AP 1/4" UNF rotor bolts.



And loosely assembled for now:



Just need to make sure I have the correct E8 socket to tighten these, then nip them all up to 14Nm this evening

 

[Broken Byzan]

*Non audi related post warning*

Took both the cars out for a spin with Jardo on Sunday evening.

Was still light when we took Mini out, so we got a few pics.

It’s looking a little tired after 2 years in the garage, and this was after it’s first very light clean. Going to need some proper work on the paintwork to get it looking it’s best again, but I’m sure Jardo can sort it out

That mini is wider than my sister on law...😂

 

[A3-Lee]

What engine is in that mini prawn looks cool

 

[daz-20vt]

Motorsport Events Track Days & Corporate Driving Events

 

[Prawn]

Haha, I bet that's made you a very happy man Daz, one a month from now until November

Brakes today with any luck, and maybe the new Rad if I get time

 

[daz-20vt]

Was going to wish you luck with them. Keep us posted on results of course!!
Im very envious of those brakes if im honest. Brakes are the most impressive part for me but most people seem to forget them,
As for abingdon, very excited i can say!! No idea why but had my mind set on it and it threw me when it never came up.
sorting insurance and ordering those seats today,(gulp)
Anyway the suns out you had better get on!!! Good luck!

 

[Prawn]

Prawns recipe for Saturday lunch:

Take one set of caliper carriers;



Sand down, clean off. mask off key areas for mounting surfaces, and apply etch primer:



Decide that after paying £12 for a can of etch primer, you're ****** well not paying another £7 for some satin black, so you'll find something in the garage!

In my case, a nice shade of Rover gun metal grey.

Apply top coat of your choice, followed by clearcoat.

Place the painted caliper brackets, on a pre heated baking tray, and into the oven at 100 degrees for 1 hour:



Allow to cool, remove masking, and enjoy your lunch:

 

[bigal 1]

What engine is in that mini prawn looks cool

1380 cc, fully forged internals, MED full race head, coilovers all round, Jack Knight straight cut gearbox and drop gears, modified gear linkage and KAD quickshift with extended gearlever. Mapable Megajolt ignition system. Revs to 8,000. It's quick.

 

[bigal 1]

And more.

 

[daz-20vt]

So 2 days and you managed to spray the brackets?

 

[Prawn]

Feck off

I'll update later

 

[Prawn]

So, I started today with some fairly tired looking brembos. Still in good working order, but past their best looks wise.





These were soon removed, to make way for these



They fit really nicely, very happy with the brackets. And LOADS of room behind the OZ Super T's





So, keen to look ahead to bigger and better things still, I decided to find out just how large a disc I could get away with in the future.

I lined up 7mm of spacers, which would take the caliper out to the effective position for a 344mm disc (330mm + 7x2)



Fitted like so:



Obviously you could never run like that, but it puts the caliper in the right place to check disc fitment.

Clearance was a bit on the tight side, but still around 2mm in there, and I'd gain a little more room by going for a commonly available 343mm disc:





I tried on a Rota also to see if they would clear as well. need to check all wheels to be sure before making any decisions.

LOADS of room behind the rotas







Pads in:



And they're done



Road wheels back on:




Road test results: Pedal feel is fantastic, power seems absolutely top notch, it's hard to say whether they're better than previous setups, but I've always run aggressive pads that can easily overcome the tyres anyway, and that still occurs, couldnt' ask for any more power.

I've got a slighty bit of judder at the moment under light braking, probably caused by old discs with old pads all needing some time to settle down. I might look into having them skimmed if anyone knows of anywhere in hampshire.

Over all, very happy with them, just need to sort out the mild judder and get it on track at Bedford GT next month

 

[Prawn]

Drove it to work this morning, brakes seem to be cleaning up nicely. Still a little bit of a vibration on light application around 40-50mph, but otherwise fine. I think it'll clear up in time.

it's raining, so here's a needlessly edited picture or two

 

[bigal 1]

As we thought and hoped then. Partially used pads on a used disc.

 

[daz-20vt]

What date are you hitting bedford? Bet you cant wait to give the brakes some real stick!!

 

[Prawn]

What date are you hitting bedford? Bet you cant wait to give the brakes some real stick!!

I would answer your question, but I'm just so shocked that someone replied to an update that I'm almost lost for words

 

[daz-20vt]

Hahaha. Dont be a girl. Anyway i prob shouldnt be on your thread as often as i am, its a bad influenece.
Seats ordered and im having them fitted in a couple of weeks and all i can look at at the moment is ****** brakes!!
And i still havent done a track day yet!!!

 

[Prawn]

haha, I thought you were waiting until you'd been out in mine this weekend before making any rash decisions Awesome stuff.

There are some brembos in my garage not doing a lot if you fancy looking at brakes

Bedford is March 17th with CGTI can't wait!

 

[daz-20vt]

Dont!!! I was going to ask about the lcr's but the boss would kill me!!
Altough looking couldnt hurt lol.
Well those seats went up a tenner each and i panicked.
And i searched on google about stripping an s3 and came across a thread i posted a year ago about seats and thought i better get on with it lol.
Would still love to see the car though for sure if ok.

 

[Prawn]

Sure man, just let me know I'll clean the brakes before you come over, just to up the temptation levels a bit!

 

[future]

Brakes look awesome! In the process of getting a new track car at the moment, so if it comes off I may be up to join you at Bedford in march might be cheeky enough to ask for a passenger ride if you have time?

 

[daz-20vt]

Hi mate thanks again for the blast in the car today. Was really good to meet you,
Still absolutly shocked how fast that thing is, ive never been anywhere near that fast in a car and yet it feels so secure and planted. Was just the perfect set up. Been in loads of fast cars but nothing like that. You guys have built a real track car there. Simply brilliant.
Made my s3 feel like a milk cart on the way home. (No joke)
what a top man you are. Thanks again. Daz

 

[Lavis89]

Bring it down to see Plymouth next time you're down these parts, I want to see what a fast car feels like compared to my tank of a TQS

 

[daz-20vt]

I cannot express how fast it is buddy. And the grip!! Its not a lot for fwd its a a huge amount full stop. Honestly staggering. Just mental. 370bhp and pretty much full use of 3rd in the wet. What a testament to prawn and bigal. Who needs a haldex lol
More comfy than my s3 at low speeds and absolutely raw at speed. Just awesome. Wish i had half these guys ability.

 

[bigal 1]

That's a great compliment, thanks. Maybe one day try it in the dry with slicks. That's totally another ball game.

 

[daz-20vt]

Its entirely justified. Maybe im naive but i was not expecting anything like that. I actually asked him to slow down lol. Not my most macho moment pmsl!!
Very keen to get my car ready to track and would love to see you guys on a trackday. Try and get some vids made up to demonstate the difference .

 

[Prawn]

Was good fun, cheers for popping round mate. It's shame it was wet really! It's more impressive in the dry when you can really work the brakes properly

Nice to put a face to a name and have a good chat over a cup of tea

Because I'm so rock n roll, this afternoon I fixed my broken window clip:





Only been broken a year, so it's really rather nice to be able to open it again!

 

[MIGGZ]

lol you sound like ashley now his window has also been broken for over a year!