UPDATED Driver experience and training 18th April

Mike123 · Post by **Mike123** » Tue 21 Mar, 2006 14:51

Hi
Just registered. I'll be at Warwick on the 18th. Looking forward to it!
Mike

garyw · Post by **garyw** » Tue 21 Mar, 2006 19:08

Mike123 wrote:Hi
Just registered. I'll be at Warwick on the 18th. Looking forward to it!
Mike

Firstly welcome to the board, drove through Leamington tonight and saw a few Zeds, no ///M's though.

Great to have you along for the 18th, not far for you to travel,...

Being new to the forum, have a read about the new members meet/cruise on the 02/04/06 at Gaydon....

all the best

Garyw

Mike123 · Post by **Mike123** » Tue 21 Mar, 2006 19:20

Thanks Gary

It's well hidden!

I've had the car since October, and driven 7k fun miles so far through the winter - I've already found that you need to keep the side windows clean! Hoping to learn about tyres, suspension upgrades, etc. from the Register.

Mike

garyw · Post by **garyw** » Mon 03 Apr, 2006 08:50

Been talking to Big John today,he has informed me of the following
-------------------------------------
Just to let you know that the final instructions for the 18th will be going out this week.

There are 3 people yet to send a cheque:

Jay Zee
Lee Stenning
Spokey

If you can contact John, incase a cheque has got mislaid or if you can no-longer attend..

cheers garyw

stu · Post by **stu** » Mon 03 Apr, 2006 18:14

thanks for the reminder and e-mail Gary. Cheque book in hand, job'll be sorted in a jiffy.

Phil · Post by **Phil** » Mon 03 Apr, 2006 18:52

Rode passed the circuit on my bike this afternoon and could hear some cars out playing. Cant see anything from the road though. Looking forward to learning something from this day.

garyw · Post by **garyw** » Mon 03 Apr, 2006 21:07

Thats the spirit Phil....

see who gets the most fustrated on the skid pan

very much the bit of training I'm looking forward to...

Stu, what are you coming along in ?

garyw

garyw · Post by **garyw** » Tue 04 Apr, 2006 17:52

Mike123 wrote:Thanks Gary - been away, cheque now sent. See you all there!

Mike

cheers Mike..see you there for coffee

garyw

Mike123 · Post by **Mike123** » Tue 04 Apr, 2006 17:55

Thanks Gary - been away, cheque now sent. See you all there!

Mike

garyw · Post by **garyw** » Sun 09 Apr, 2006 13:08

Final instructions have been posted out over the weekend to those who have paid... You should receive them the start of this week, if not then let John know ASAP

John is still awaiting final decisions from 3 people..you know who you are

see above

garyw

stu · Post by **stu** » Sun 09 Apr, 2006 17:32

garyw wrote:Stu/Sylv, what are you coming along in ?

The Z. Will probably change the wheels/tyres for the old ones though.

Alfie · Post by **Alfie** » Tue 11 Apr, 2006 21:18

Hey Guys....

Finally managed to confirm the day off work, so.....

Alfie and RED ///M will be there!
Confirmed with John this afternoon.

Looking forward to a few tasteful pirouettes....

Will they be playing Debussy?

Anybody planning to stay over?

A.

Phil · Post by **Phil** » Wed 12 Apr, 2006 06:42

Good news Alfie -- see you Tuesday --

stu · Post by **stu** » Wed 12 Apr, 2006 08:50

Alfie wrote:Alfie and RED ///M will be there!

Will they be playing De-Bussy?

Bloke · Post by **Bloke** » Wed 12 Apr, 2006 08:59

Alfie wrote:Hey Guys....

Finally managed to confirm the day off work, so.....

Alfie and RED ///M will be there!
Confirmed with John this afternoon.

Looking forward to a few tasteful pirouettes....
Will they be playing Debussy?

Anybody planning to stay over?

A.

So you going to shred the tyres on Red already

Bloke

garyw · Post by **garyw** » Wed 12 Apr, 2006 09:11

Bloke wrote:So you going to shred the tyres on Red already

Tyre wear will be no more than a usual hard days drive

Great news Alfie...

Unless people want to get away early after the event, I'm sure its a good idea to go out to dinner...I should imagine the majority will be hungry after a hard days work

I'm sure between Phil and myself we can come up with somewhere suitable...

garyw

spokey · Post by **spokey** » Wed 12 Apr, 2006 17:53

I think I'll have to skip this, although I'd love to go!

garyw · Post by **garyw** » Wed 12 Apr, 2006 18:42

spokey wrote:I think I'll have to skip this, although I'd love to go!

Phil · Post by **Phil** » Wed 12 Apr, 2006 18:58

I know places to eat, of course.

garyw · Post by **garyw** » Sat 15 Apr, 2006 13:22

Weather looks great for Tuesday (at the moment) in fact sunny weather all over the bank Holiday

Was anyone interested for dinner after the event....??

garyw

Phil · Post by **Phil** » Sat 15 Apr, 2006 19:55

I might feel peckish -----

Alfie · Post by **Alfie** » Mon 17 Apr, 2006 10:20

garyw wrote:Was anyone interested for dinner after the event....??

Yep.

A.

///M_aniac · Post by **///M_aniac** » Mon 17 Apr, 2006 10:50

All this talk of food is making me hungry....just after 3 weetabix too.

dario · Post by **dario** » Mon 17 Apr, 2006 10:57

I fancy a get together meal afterwards!

Alfie · Post by **Alfie** » Mon 17 Apr, 2006 18:26

So fellas....
Something was mentioned earlier about a meet at services on the M40?
Where are we meeting and what time?

I've trawled the Prodrive and Drivetrain websites and I can't find a map.

A.

stu · Post by **stu** » Mon 17 Apr, 2006 19:16

Alfie

I have the following directions from Big John;

Exit M40 J15 and follow A46 towards Warwick & Coventry.
BP fuel on A46
First exit off A46 onto A4177 towards Solihull.
Shell fuel on A4177, 1mile from A46.
Follow A4177 for approx 4 miles, then turn right at roundabout staying on A4177 towards Honiley/Kenilworth.
Past Honiley Court Hotel on the left, then approx. 0.75m & turn left, signposted Fen End.
Approx 0.75, & turn left at cross roads into Oldwich Lane East, signposted Leisure drive.
Entrance to Prodrive is 0.5m on the left, just before right hand bend.

We're coming from the M42.

See you all there - in a Diseasal!

Phil · Post by **Phil** » Mon 17 Apr, 2006 19:20

That'll get you there- just dont miss the bend into the track

Phil · Post by **Phil** » Mon 17 Apr, 2006 19:55

What sort of meal does everyone fancy?

garyw · Post by **garyw** » Mon 17 Apr, 2006 19:57

stu wrote: Exit M40 J15 and follow A46 towards Warwick & Coventry.
BP fuel on A46
First exit off A46 onto A4177 towards Solihull. (left) also signed Wariwck Parkway)
Shell fuel on A4177, 1mile from A46.
Follow A4177 for approx 4 miles, then turn right at roundabout staying on A4177 towards Honiley/Kenilworth.
Past Honiley Court Hotel on the left(Corus Hotel), then approx. 0.75m & turn left, signposted Fen End. (junction is on the bend just before the rubgy club)
Approx 0.75, & turn left at cross roads into Oldwich Lane East, signposted Leisure drive.
Entrance to Prodrive is 0.5m on the left, just before right hand bend.

See you all there - in a Diseasal!

Change of plan Stu

a Diseasal

Alfie I will PM you my number incase of the need for directions..

Optimax was 97.5p the other day

See you all there in the morning....
garyw

Alfie · Post by **Alfie** » Mon 17 Apr, 2006 20:06

So that'll be the directions in the instructions Jon emailed us then.....

Thanks chaps.

Looking forward to it!

A.

garyw · Post by **garyw** » Mon 17 Apr, 2006 21:21

garyw wrote:Weather looks great for Tuesday (at the moment) i

How it changes in this country

Weather same as today...

garyw

Mike123 · Post by **Mike123** » Tue 18 Apr, 2006 16:48

What a great day!
Thanks Gary for organising.
I hadn't realised that Zs can actually go round corners (even on worn Dunlops)!
Mike

Phil · Post by **Phil** » Tue 18 Apr, 2006 18:01

Good to meet you and yes a fantastic day out .
If they werent worn before they will certainly be worn now!!!!!!
Cant wait to see some pictures of my multiple pirouettes on the skid pan.

Tourniquet · Post by **Tourniquet** » Tue 18 Apr, 2006 18:57

Definately well worth it, although my engine started making a knocking sound after the second round on the adverse handing track (seemed to clear itself up after I left though)

The attrition rate seemed pretty high. 4 cars out of sixteen out for one reason or another.
(out of curiosity does anyone know anything more about what happened to the other three? A 944 with bonnet problems, a sickly M5 and a silver z3 with busted left wheel)

Can't say I liked the high speed track all that much (could have something to do with the smoke that curled from my brakes afterward in protest) but all the other events were a blast

stu · Post by **stu** » Tue 18 Apr, 2006 19:08

What a birilliant facility and a great day we had, almost all the way through.

Thanks Gary for organising.

Photobucket it presently down, but when it's up there'll be lots of pics.

Nice to meet everyone. Happy our Zeddy beat that new Impreza STi through the autotest!

Our 'busted wheel' was a failed bolt mounting for the n/s strut lower. Car's at the garage and the standard suspension's in the boot of the diseasal ready to drop off in the morning.

The black 944 turbo was a siezed alternator.

The M5 was a clutch.

Phil · Post by **Phil** » Tue 18 Apr, 2006 20:18

Alfie dont tell everyone about the food everyone will want to go there --
great to see everyone there today.
Cant wait to see the piccies, having left my camera at home

Alfie · Post by **Alfie** » Tue 18 Apr, 2006 20:27

Great day guys!
Thanks Gary for organising.
And Thanks to Big Jon and his very capable team for taking us through it.

I'm knackered, my tyres are significantly smaller than they were this morning, and RED is resting after a VERY hectic day.

The instructors were quite shocked at how many cars had problems today. Apparently it's really unusual to have 3 cars go out in one day, and apparently the Scooby was asked to stop coz he was just too loud for the neighbours! Good job Jay and DavidM weren't there!

If you weren't there, you missed a great opportunity to learn about your car, your driving abilities and your personal limits. IMHO, far more instructional and worthwhile than just belting round a track all day.
It wasn't a cheap day out when you add up all the costs, but money blummen well spent I say!

But I did get scampi and chips for just a fiver afterwards!

A.

stu · Post by **stu** » Tue 18 Apr, 2006 20:59

A few pics from the 'Real Red group'.

and the end of our day.......

Sig should now read

"bust baby, BUST!"

Alfie · Post by **Alfie** » Tue 18 Apr, 2006 21:04

Excellent Stu!
Looks like I actually knew what I was doing!!!!

Thanks!

A.

PS...
How come you're home already?

garyw · Post by **garyw** » Tue 18 Apr, 2006 21:22

Thanks to everyone who attended todays event... even those last minute surprises (Spokey).
Hopefully everyone enjoyed themselves and had as much fun as I did

Great to see some new members attending, the likes of Jonathan and Mike joining in and committing themselves fully

The adverse handling possibly scared me the most, but I got the most rewards from it at the end of the day...
The skid pan was hysterical

first time I had ever spun a car and knowing it was in a controlled environment didn't help the first time

but after a while drifting along became a hoot... also great to see the big smiles of the people at the end of the run...

My thanks to Big John for putting together a great day for us and to those who attended..

As ever the lunch table conversation was of the highest order

I hope everyone gained knowledge from the day and realised the potential of our cars..

I sure did....

high toll on the day....

M5.. clutch (already on the way out)
Scooby.. noise
944 ...alternator
Z3s....

total shocker/lady abuse
Pheasant (total loss)

garyw

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last standing of the original Red Group

dario · Post by **dario** » Tue 18 Apr, 2006 21:25

What a fantastic day out. thanks to those who made it happen.

i will get the vids posted as soon as possible

Dario

spokey · Post by **spokey** » Tue 18 Apr, 2006 21:26

I have an odd mix of photos...

Alfie, just before the door fell on his foot:

A dancing Scooby:

Stu and Dario get their hands dirty to a chorus of helpful advice... :

While Dario loves negative camber, Stu insists on positive camber:

Gary, thanks for putting us onto this, it was a great day out!

garyw · Post by **garyw** » Wed 19 Apr, 2006 09:19

I have spoken to the other Porsche guy there on the day (silver one) he will let me have a copy of his video also when he has editted it down...quite a bit of the Skid pan

looking forward to seeing Dario's vid

garyw

dasherdiablo1 · Post by **dasherdiablo1** » Wed 19 Apr, 2006 16:52

Glad you all had a good day.

I was at Biggin Hill yesterday having a helicopter lesson and I mentioned to my instructor about there being a meet on and she let me fly over!

Wish I'd had a camera so she could have taken a pic for me...that would have been really cool! Unfortunately we were too high and I was concentrating too hard so I couldn't make out the type of cars.... although I did see what looked like imola Red rushing round so was that you Paul??? I was at about 14:15hrs.

There looked like a sensible number of cars on there (about 15 -20) so hopefully you had plenty of space to play around.

spokey · Post by **spokey** » Wed 19 Apr, 2006 17:15

dasherdiablo1 wrote:although I did see what looked like imola Red rushing round so was that you Paul???

Could have been Paul or Mike.

How was the port, Mike?

Alfie · Post by **Alfie** » Wed 19 Apr, 2006 19:11

Hey Dasher....
OI! I'm ALFIE around here!

A lesson in how to use a chopper, eh?
Didn't think you'd need that.

Must've been great fun mate.
And I WISH you'd had a camera....
That really would've made some cool shots.

Yep, there were two Imolas there, RED and an S50 belonging to newbie Mike123. If there was dirt and gravel flying out from the rear end, then that was him! Nutter!

Didn't see you, obviously, coz looking up would've been a bit silly!

A.

Jon Miller · Post by **Jon Miller** » Wed 19 Apr, 2006 20:07

Looks like you all had a great day - very jealous...

Stu - was your mishap near the end of the day?

///M_aniac · Post by **///M_aniac** » Thu 20 Apr, 2006 19:20

Looks like this was great day.

stu · Post by **stu** » Thu 20 Apr, 2006 19:45

Hi John

Mis-hap was about 2.30 pm, after Sylv had been skidding and panning for another whole half hour (getting pretty useful at it too!).

That was the end of the day for our driving, so we lost about 1 hour only.

Car's back on standard suspension (nearly) now, so looking a little higher again, but still just as fast.

Gary, is there a link for those video's of the skid pan session? I seem to remember managing a wave out of the side window of the Z and also having a bit of fun in yours too

garyw · Post by **garyw** » Thu 20 Apr, 2006 22:32

Stu, he's not posted the videos as yet, I have chased him and you'll be the first to know...

Glad the cars alomost back together...

garyw

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UPDATED Driver experience and training 18th April

Prodrive 18th April

Re: Prodrive 18th April

Re: 18th April

18th April

Prodrive Day Warwick