david nelson Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 I had a great time a MIRA but my 64 foot times were slow, the fastest was 2.58sec. The tyres ar 32R ss in a standered SL 1.8K (140BHP. I did try diffrent styles but still loosing time. I have on the other sprints used about 3.5K and let the clutch up and push the load pedal at the same time. I was geting lots of wheel spin so I backed of the gas abit till the tyres bite and then pushed on the gas again. I have not got any of my times from the other sprints so do not know if this has been a problem since starting sprinting at Llandow. Advice and help please thanks David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Ranson Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 Is that not in the ballpark for a Caterham on road tyres? IIRC most people who get serious about this type of thing end up with a Quaife 4 speed (or equivalent) and about a 60mph first gear. What happens if you start the car in second? Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickaddison Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 No helpful advice as such David, but a nice low angle shot of what looks like a decent start from outside the car has made it into the MIRA DVD edit (along with the obvious I'll bring a copy to the next meet for you!) Scream if you wanna go faster! Caterham FireBlade NJA509 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david nelson Posted June 22, 2004 Author Share Posted June 22, 2004 Nick the obvious? was that my spin . it would be good to look at what I am doing at the start. see you at the next meet. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonycaterham Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 David, I too was suffering from slow 'start' times and went down to the start line to watch various techniques. There seemed to be two methods and both were adopted by the 'quick boys' one was to spin the wheels off the line but not excessively and the other was to gently launch the car with virtually no wheel spin. I spoke to Dale Cordingley who was very quick off the line. He launches at about 3,500rpm, but with soft springs ( 120lb approx) on the rear the car just squats down, grips and just goes. Unfortunatly I could not take the gamble of trying both methods and risk posting an even slower time than the 53.73 I managed on the day. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robmar Posted June 23, 2004 Share Posted June 23, 2004 David - I was always in the queue behind you and every start it appeared that you got bogged down off the line and almost stuttered maybe the marshalls where holding you back a little too hard rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom7 Posted June 23, 2004 Share Posted June 23, 2004 The startline at MIRA was very slippy. I managed a 2.46 on 8.5inch wide A048's by letting the clutch in with 2500rpm and getting minimal spin. To compare this with the 2.32 I could get at Curborough with 70bhp less on standard Avon ZV1's puts it in perspective. Even the slick-shod boys were no better than 2.3? I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Perry Posted June 23, 2004 Share Posted June 23, 2004 I find trying to explain how to do it right is very difficult because I find a good start 'just happens' . I did a 2.31 iirc at MIRA on Saturday just the once, and as high as 2.7 on all the other runs which is bad for me as I normally average about 2.3, where measured, on my 1a tyres. My brother in the same car has a much higher average of about 2.7 and rarely gets it below this in spite of him sitting in the car with me several times watching what I do. Its all very strange. Effectively I think I just set the revs at 4000-4500 and feather the clutch and throttle simultaneously to minimise the wheelspin. When its right it feels right and you know you have done a good start. Edited by - Graham Perry on 23 Jun 2004 14:02:10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Robinson Posted June 23, 2004 Share Posted June 23, 2004 I don't think your times are that far out from the class average David. Mine was varying between about 2.4 and 2.6 I think so you're not losing much if anything to me. Not sure about how quick the driving Gods at the front of class 3 are though... FWIW I just go on feel, using about 3,500 ish rpm and feathering off the throttle if the wheels spin too much. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robmar Posted June 23, 2004 Share Posted June 23, 2004 i also seem to recall that you where one of the fastest throught the speed trap in class 3 103mph (I only managed 100 once), so you are making up for any startline issues with that large 1800cc engine of yours 😬 rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Plato Posted June 23, 2004 Share Posted June 23, 2004 I found that MIRA startline was a bit slippy and gritty , plus the fact that tyre warming ........ Hmmmmmm , was not allowed meant that my launch method had to modified . I had some crap starts unable to find traction and I think my times were around the 2.45 > 2.7 area .Whereas normally I can get 2.10 > 2.30 at many other venues . I found the best way for me on the day was to trickle off the line at 2000 rpm and then boot it . Starts and launch method is one of the best kept secrets in sprints and hills , and its all dependant on weather , temperature , course , engine type and power , rear suspension , engine mapping , diff etc etc etc 😬 All good fun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Williams Posted June 23, 2004 Share Posted June 23, 2004 David, Rich made a note of the class 3 start times, I'll mail them to you. Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver 21 Posted June 24, 2004 Share Posted June 24, 2004 David As with Steve I think you are on the right pace for the class, at somewhere like MIRA being slow off the line does not mean your time will be bad as there are others places to gain time (control Tower Braking (or not) springs to mind) It has far more effect at places like Curb where the first lap is critical, I wouldn't worry about it just keep practicing until you feem right, I drop the clutch at 3500-4000 revs depending on conditions Graham Competition Secretary 2004 Speed Championship - 9 events Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelspeed Posted June 24, 2004 Share Posted June 24, 2004 I've noticed that my 64ft times are always slower at MIRA than other venues as well. Always thought this was strange as it's one of the few downhill starts so you'd think that would tend to give you a gravity launch assist. So don't worry about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Ranson Posted June 24, 2004 Share Posted June 24, 2004 A Stack image of my maddest recorded start is here (it's a 230kb bmp, I don't have any jpg creation software on this laptop...). Anyway 1.91 seconds to 64 feet uphill at Shelsley. I wouldn't normally be so brutal but it was warm. At this venue this is about as good as it gets. I believe that if you see revs dropping and speed increasing then that's a good thing, but the amount of wheelspin involved in this start is probably excessive except on a well rubbered track on a warm day with sticky tyres. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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