Another great weekend at Loton Park Hillclimb, with a 1st in class on Saturday and a new PB of 57.27s, with rain at lunch time, then on Sunday I improved on my first practice run to record a 56.1s PB, but rain over lunch time, and further rain in the afternoon meant we only had one timed run, and I put two wheels on the grass after the first left hander, resulting in a very slow 59s run, and no award.
Prior to the event, Jason at Life connected to my ECU over the internet, to update the firmware and give me access to the latest calibration data. The reason for updating the firmware, was because I'd never seen any Lat or Long G force data, and Jason determined that my ECU was running old firmware. After about 20 mins of faffing around trying to get a connection, the firmware went straight on, and I must say, the engine starts more rapidly, and feels more powerful to boot. So a very big thank you to Jason at Life.
Before the change, the calibration map was : V1-439_1(1)_Formula Ford_1-6L Eco Boost 200 (Car) Production 028
The calibration map is now showing as : V1-463_1(1)_Formula Ford_1-6L Eco Boost 200 (Car) Production 029A
The old firmware reported as 1.439.1, the new firmware shows as 1.463.1
No video I'm afraid, as the organisers wouldnt let me run with the GoPro self adhesive mounts, so I've ordered some tripod mounts, and I'll attach these to the body work, hopefully allowing me to continue to film my exploits. I also picked up my very first puncture on the trailer, on the drivers side front tyre, a very pointy nail, embedded well and truly in the tread block. Something I need to repair before my next event which is Aintree Sprint this coming Saturday.
The accelerometer data makes for an interesting read, I'm almost reaching 2G on the corners, which just goes to show how much grip the Avon A15 tyres generate. This graph is from my fastest run of the weekend, showing long and lat G forces.
16Aug
I've painted the garage floor, using the paints that I bought from SML Coatings. I opted for Jotafloor Sealant, which is a two part Epoxy paint, and followed it with Jotafloor Top Coat, in paris grey, another Epoxy paint, which I allowed to cure for five days before putting the car back in to the garage. Reading the paperwork, it can take up to 14 days to cure, but after five days, the paint had mostly hardened, with just a slight tackiness to it as I walk over the surface in shoes. So with the car on ramps, and the tyres wrapped so no part of the tyres are touching the paint, it should harden fully over the next week or two.
07Aug
What a great day at Loton. Perfect British summer weather, a dry and very grippy track, I started off cautiously with a 61s run, then improved by 3s, to improve again by .03s, and finally, another 1s, to record a 57s run. I was struggling for grip up the hill through Cedar, but did try to take it flat out, and aside from the buttock clenching moment when I put two wheels on the grass, had a relatively trouble free day. The car was again, perfect, with no gear change issues off the line all day. My starts may seem slow, but I have to take it steady or 2nd gear isnt possible. I'm back at Loton at the end of August for the two day meeting, and I'll continue to shave some more time off my new PB I'm sure.
Two videos of my final run, one from the front wing, the other from above my left shoulder.
01Aug
I shall be racing at Loton Park on Saturday, car #139, in a particularly tough class, with four V8 Goulds. My first hillclimb, at a great venue, so I'm hoping to do quite well, despite the 400bhp deficit to the V8's.
