Trackskills at Kirkistown 22nd August

[nigelmcg]

Hi Everyone

Missed the last couple due to being away...

Definately going to this one though, anybody else on here going...???

After looking them up on the internet the last couple of track days seem to have been reasonable quiet, are people going off them, I remember last year they used to be fully booked...

The cost of the day has only gone up £4 compared to last year, so is it because there are just to many to do them all, so people are picking and chosing which days suit them...???

Regards

Nigel

 

[svensktoppen]

Finally got the Lotus gear linkage back together again on Saturday! Reversed out of the garage, and then drove back in again

I have missed all trackdays this year. First because of knee surgery, then because of clashes with holiday dates, and finally a broken gear cable which has taken ages to sort out.

Attendance has been discussed quite a bit in previous threads. Seems the number one reason for most who usually drive is the economy kicking in.

There was a bit of confusion over noise limits early in the season, but I honestly do not see them stopping anything short of an unsilenced race car.

 

[mr porsche 944]

trackdays!!

ONLY HALF the grids of Last season.
Even the cheaper TSCC T DAYS ARE DOWN IN NUMBERS!
£100 is a wee bit steep

 

[nigelmcg]

I agree £100 isnt cheap but it is less than £5 more than last year...and as svensktoppen said I believe the economy has a bit to do with it...

The £100 entry fee isnt the only cost for the day, two knackered front tyres and a tank or two of fuel normally...

But I have two nearly worn out tyres to get rid of before I fit new ones for my Nurburgring trip next month so I will definately be there...

 

[svensktoppen]

Not long to go now

 

[nigelmcg]

Renault have my car putting a new seat in it under warranty as the carbon fibre shell cracked in the old one...passenger seat too, not the drivers seat...strange...

But should have it back before the weekend...fingers crossed

By the way the seat was a £3,400 claim by Hursts against Renault warranty...

 

[AIRFORCE1]

Hi Everyone

Missed the last couple due to being away...

Definately going to this one though, anybody else on here going...???

After looking them up on the internet the last couple of track days seem to have been reasonable quiet, are people going off them, I remember last year they used to be fully booked...

The cost of the day has only gone up £4 compared to last year, so is it because there are just to many to do them all, so people are picking and chosing which days suit them...???

Regards

Nigel

I think the noise limit is having an effect aswell as the economy. I know there is a very very small percent of the evos we build that would pass. I know out of the 4 cars I own the only one that would definately pass is the smart car and I'm sure people don't want to get there cars ready and make the trip just to risk getting turned away on noise.
Only an opinion and I appreciate the noise limit is down to moaning neighbours who thought it would be a good idea to buy a house beside a race track and then complain about it.

 

[chrisd1]

I think the noise limit is having an effect

x2, definetly not helping, it is a shame though...maybe it will change in future..

 

[Amos]

How do people know how many decibels there cars are, if they never come to the trackway to find out. I seen some VERY loud cars go through the test...!

Also turbo cars are at 4000 rpm, due to not being on boost.... The organisers only want a reading at 4000 rpm...!

 

[Graham]

The noise thing is scaring people off, if a WRC Impreza, C4, Focus etc can pass 98dB then a lot of road stuff will, think of the BDA escorts, they are a crazy sounding thing and rather loud at it and still pass the same regulation that has been placed on the track days.

People need to come and see for themselves if the car will pass.

As for this Sunday, I am on flag and radio as usual and it'll be great to see some of the regulars back out on track again

 

[chrisd1]

@ G, what is the dB limit at Kirkistown now?? Interesting

 

[Graham]

for the track days its 98 mate

 

[chrisd1]

ahh thats not as bad, same as most then i was lead to believe it was stictly 95dB limit...

 

[Phil_D]

How do people know how many decibels there cars are, if they never come to the trackway to find out. I seen some VERY loud cars go through the test...!

Also turbo cars are at 4000 rpm, due to not being on boost.... The organisers only want a reading at 4000 rpm...!

Cool so what your saying is that as long as i can pass a static 4k test it doesnt matter how noisy it is on full chat with the screamer pipes etc.If thats the case then thats easy to kill the noise at one point in the map.

Jonathan using the wrong username again

 

[Amos]

Cool so what your saying is that as long as i can pass a static 4k test it doesnt matter how noisy it is on full chat with the screamer pipes etc.If thats the case then thats easy to kill the noise at one point in the map.

Jonathan using the wrong username again

BINGO...................Lad....!

 

[Phil_D]

BINGO...................Lad....!

That sounds even more stupid then, why even bother measuring them

Works for us tho.lol

 

[svensktoppen]

Cool so what your saying is that as long as i can pass a static 4k test it doesnt matter how noisy it is on full chat with the screamer pipes etc.

Spot on It is a static test, 0.5m, 98dB. And 98dB is very loud. I have a dB meter at home if anyone wants to test their car.

As Graham said, it is exactly the same as the standard MSA test on rally cars. Anyone having a road car that loud really needs a silencer anyway. And probably hearing aids too

This level is enforced on just about every UK track I know of, bar possibly Knockhill.

Mondello has a drive-by noise limit on some parts of the track, as does Brands Hatch. Drive-by limits are usually easier to pass though.

A lot of tracks explicitly ban screamer pipes at trackdays. This is not the case at K-town (yet).

 

[Graham]

That sounds even more stupid then, why even bother measuring them

Works for us tho.lol

That is how all MSA approved sound checks are carried out mate, nothing daft about it

(as realistically it's easy enough to pass so therefore not daft)

 

[Graham]

As Graham said, it is exactly the same as the standard MSA test on rally cars. Anyone having a road car that loud really needs a silencer anyway. And probably hearing aids too

Here here, easily get a sore head in a rally car after a full day and that's with a helmet on which kills a lot of the noise...

 

[j44nty]

never done this one yet but it is on my hit list. can someone tell me what track time you get through the day. cheers

 

[kurgan]

never done this one yet but it is on my hit list. can someone tell me what track time you get through the day. cheers

you are guaranteed four 15 minute sessions (around 10 laps a session). usually you would get more if you want / car lasts, as numbers tend to reduce as the afternoon goes on. last time out i got more than 60 laps.

 

[svensktoppen]

never done this one yet but it is on my hit list. can someone tell me what track time you get through the day. cheers

On a normal day, easily 100-150 laps. Could get around 200 if you are keen.

Usually busy in the morning, then clearing up after lunch as people run out of petrol/talent/spares/etc. Towards the afternoon it is usually virtually open pit lane. Just queue up after the session ends, and go straight out again in the next one.

All down to you, and the car

 

[V8]

Noise

Hi Guys,

Let's clear some points up here.

Noise: There was a written complaint to the Ards Council from a distant neighbour towards the end of last year. Because it was written, they had to take action. I believe, though can't prove, it mainly concerned bikes. However, we run bike engined cars so we can't be complacent.

The upshot was, after some confusion, that we were slapped with the current noise regulation which is a static test of 98dB at .5 meters from exit of exhaust at a 45º angle at 66.6% revs. (Note: not 4,000 revs!)

All of the Megabussas just scrape in. Quite a number of Evos and all Imprezas that we have tested make it. Some Evos haven't.

Those who know Keith and myself know that we don't want to turn people away but we do not want to jeopardise future events for ourselves or anyone else. (Bear in mind that our "Boss" on our days is Fel from the TSCC, who also run Sunday track days.) If somebody is obviously too loud on track because they have somehow circumnavigated the static test, we will take action.

To date this has not been necessary.

Fees: Yes we put our prices up for 2010 by 4%. This reflected the 5% increase in track hire imposed by the 500 MRCI.

As someone has already pointed out in a previous thread, if we reduced our price by £25, apart from going out of business, the cost to a participant would only be reduced by 10%. [£25/( Tyres £100, Fuel £100, £50 wear & tear) x 100 = 10%]

I do think that the current economic climate has affected the numbers and this is borne out by the number of participants who now go home after going through 1 tank of petrol whereas, in previous, better times, they used to go out, fill up and come back in again.

There may well be too many track days now.

Lastly, we have switched our next date with the TSCC. We will be running on Sunday 5th September rather than Sunday 19th September.

For anyone interested, here is a list of what is coming on Sunday.

 

[AIRFORCE1]

Awesome, cheers for the clearing this up and giving us the actuall facts on the noise limits/testing.
I did wonder when previously told im this thread that actuall noise on track did not matter as long as the static test was passed. This made no sense at all.

 

[Bronk]

what time this start tomorrow.. might go up and have a nosey?