Donninton and Oulten October

Strictly for tarmac whores
User avatar
Ferg
Posts: 3936
Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2009 11:56 pm
Location: Auld Reekie

Re: Donninton and Oulten October

Post by Ferg » Wed Oct 31, 2018 7:45 pm

Great videos Kinger 👍

User avatar
robin
Jedi Master
Posts: 10525
Joined: Mon Mar 27, 2006 1:39 pm

Re: Donninton and Oulten October

Post by robin » Wed Oct 31, 2018 7:50 pm

I loved Donnie. Much more so than on any previous visit. Not sure why, but the corners just seemed to flow much better.

Oulton Park is always good. Wet -> dry transition was perfect with the last 30 minutes before lunch seeing lap by lap speed up and definitely I ran out of balls before I ran out of grip, though I did find some slightly larger balls after lunch, I was nowhere near the limit in Druids on any lap I think - whereas in Egor I definitely have been.

For my car, Donnie was the better track because the suspension is better suited to the corners. Long medium speed corners are really hard to get working in my car. Generally speaking you get better turn in by dropping down 4->3, but you really need to be committed to do that because the engine braking removes the need for a lot of the foot brake action ... but that means braking later than your brain will allow. If you brake as normal AND drop 4->3 then you end up slower at the apex than you would like. So you leave it in 4, but whenever exit speed is 80mph or less, you know that being in 3 would give more acceleration at the exit ...

So at Donnie that's just Redgate (first corner), but at Oulton that's Old Hall (first corner), Cascades (long left downhill before the lake), and Druids (long right double apex).

If only I had a 3.5 gear :-) overdrive anybody?

Also the suspension is a bit wibbly when pushed hard - you get a sort of double roll - it rolls, rebounds, rolls again. Of course you can drive around that, but it feels like a bodge. For some reason this was more noticeable at Oulton than Donnie.

So on this trip I think I preferred Donnie, but in a car with stiffer suspension and different gearing or power band I could easily prefer Oulton. As usual the best thing would be to replace the meatware :-)

They are both brilliant fun, regardless :-)

Cheers,
Robin
I is in your loomz nibblin ur wirez
#bemoretut

User avatar
campbell
Posts: 17191
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2006 12:42 pm
Location: West Lothian
Contact:

Re: Donninton and Oulten October

Post by campbell » Wed Oct 31, 2018 8:30 pm

"Nitons"

LOL

Only kidding
http://www.rathmhor.com | Coaching, training, consultancy

User avatar
Ferg
Posts: 3936
Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2009 11:56 pm
Location: Auld Reekie

Re: Donninton and Oulten October

Post by Ferg » Wed Oct 31, 2018 9:19 pm

Took me two days to realise I was a gear shorter than I needed to be in most corners. Last session at Oulton and it really started to make sense. Oulton pips it for me 👍

User avatar
KennyT
Posts: 195
Joined: Wed Nov 25, 2009 3:27 pm
Location: Houston / Kirkcaldy

Re: Donninton and Oulten October

Post by KennyT » Thu Nov 01, 2018 9:33 am

I prefer Oulton to Donnington although I drove both in full dry.

Oulton from where Kinger had his moment round to the first corner has a mini Nurburgring feeling to it with very little run off or room to get it wrong, lifting and braking for druids while turning left over the brow of the hill high in the revs in 4th needs your full attention in the dry never mind in the wet.

I found Donnington more tricky to hook up a good lap with it being so wide, difficult to get a reference especially at McLean's and Coppice with them being blind and with completely flat kerbs, almost every lap I felt I was really slow on the apex and would change it next lap but never managed to pick a good enough reference to build on.

I was also black flagged at Donnington for noise within 5 minutes so spent the rest of the evening short-shifting, that probably also jaded my experience.
Exige-S
'84 911 Carrera 3.2
E46 M3

User avatar
Andy G
Posts: 11374
Joined: Thu Mar 10, 2005 10:27 am
Location: Dirleton/Gullane
Contact:

Re: Donninton and Oulten October

Post by Andy G » Thu Nov 01, 2018 1:08 pm

what a superb trip guys - great to catch up with everyone and have a laugh, and a few beers - in amongst some tremendous driving.

I'd not really gelled with my 311 before this trip, and in truth was bloody close to selling it. It transpires that i was right to keep the faith, and when getting the car set up to Lotus's Race settings, discovered the geo was way out, and the other tyres, Micheline Sport Plus were utter rubbish. With discs skimmed, thanks Stu, new tyres on, thanks Ian (at Edintyre - fantastic mobile fitter) and Edmonstone Garage (edinburgh - genuinely massive enthusiastic about all things alignment) the mighty 311 was ready to rock, oh and Gav Kirby has recommended some Performance Friction pads to replace those rubbish Ferodo things it came with and i killed.

What a bloody difference. Ok, for those of you that havent driven on Cup 2s before, with release compound and an ambient temperature at Dony of 1C I nearly understeered and then oversteered straight off at turn one of the sighting laps! However, I didnt, and in the laps that followed as the grip started to come - OMG. Its absolutely epic. Power delivery in the last 1k rpm is brutal, and it punches the car round the track. Corner speeds were getting towards the ridiculous in some sections, first time ive passed another car on a double apex corner at nearly 3 times their speed.....

Anyway, still hard to get a clear lap, was caught between shifting up and using the top end of the powerband or relaxing and using the torque but will try and find a decent lap to post. Magic fun. Everything including the Gt3RS was left for cornering speed, and it felt at times like being in a video game! When i raced here last in my S1 you had a bit of breathing space between bends - in the 311 the track felt like one continuous flowing section until you arrived at the Dunlop Straight, but even then any slight relaxation was soon hampered by the fact the shadow of the hangar at the end in the braking zone ensured the track didnt dry at that section all day.

The following day, with Ali C and I deciding to cut back on the beers due to 311 performance demands (nothing to do with getting older and hangovers not getting easier) Oulton was freezing but dry by the time the track opened - the heavens, not the circuit - which was as slick as Scotty trying toget one last pint after the bar shuts.

I managed to go one better than the day before and ended up at 90 degrees across the track on the sighting lap, saved from complete standstill (from my 20mph rotation) by first gear! ffs! On the following lap the person in front of me showed me my sighting lap antics were clearly not impressive enough, and ended up in the gravel! Fortunely someone dropping fuel in front was apparently to blame! I havent seen anything like it !

As Oulton dried the 311 gained more and more pace, with me finding an eventual 20 seconds between the damp and dry, and Druids, for those of you that remember it pre-surface change was a different corner - so fast - and while needing to ensure you stayed on the dry line, i saw 100+ on the exit kerb which would have meant a trip to hospital in years gone by. I found another 7 seconds after lunch and again some of the closing rates were mad, requiring proper concentration. As usual though LOT driving standards were good, people seemed to be aware of the yellow 311, although a few times people did mention that it arrived so quickly behind them it had given them a fright!

A few of the chaps had a shot of it over the weekend and some pax's done also. What a car! Its absolutely staying put now, and has me looking for trackdays to try and get in before the winter consigns it to the garage for the year.

Really appreciated the company, antics, driving, beers and laughs gents - an absolute pleasure to be with Team SE for another epic LOT outing.

Just waiting for the Oulton edit to upload now.

Meant to add that Tut was missed on and off the track - hope you are holding up mate :thumbsup

Watch on YouTube

AMG GT-R
Atom 4
Lotus Esprit S4S
G30 M5 Comp

User avatar
C7Steve
Posts: 4381
Joined: Mon Mar 07, 2011 2:00 pm
Location: Aberdeen

Re: Donninton and Oulten October

Post by C7Steve » Thu Nov 01, 2018 3:58 pm

Thanks for the pictures, videos and write up gents. :thumbsup

Sounds like you had a great time away together again.


No, not jealous at all. :lol:


Steve.

User avatar
robin
Jedi Master
Posts: 10525
Joined: Mon Mar 27, 2006 1:39 pm

Re: Donninton and Oulten October

Post by robin » Thu Nov 01, 2018 7:25 pm

Hi Andy,

What's the top speed in 3rd and 4th?

Cheers,
Robin
I is in your loomz nibblin ur wirez
#bemoretut

User avatar
campbell
Posts: 17191
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2006 12:42 pm
Location: West Lothian
Contact:

Re: Donninton and Oulten October

Post by campbell » Thu Nov 01, 2018 8:07 pm

120 and 140 Tuts
http://www.rathmhor.com | Coaching, training, consultancy

User avatar
Stu160
Posts: 2805
Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2005 8:20 pm

Re: Donninton and Oulten October

Post by Stu160 » Thu Nov 01, 2018 8:28 pm

Spill the beans then, what were the lap times?
Not that you would be timing that laps of course, as it's a track day , but what you may think they might have been .....as a guess......as you wouldn't be timing them.....

??.

Stu
S1 S160
Caterham 310R

User avatar
Mike Scib
Posts: 2992
Joined: Sat May 26, 2007 5:04 pm

Re: Donninton and Oulten October

Post by Mike Scib » Thu Nov 01, 2018 10:42 pm

Trying a little to hard...

Watch on Vimeo


A 1.58.13 lap, worked out from the video obviously...

Watch on Vimeo





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
alicrozier wrote:As Robin said, need to be comfortable and confident to push right up to the limit - sometimes you only find the limit by going beyond it...
(that's why I think Mike will do fine, that and his lack of imagination). :roll: :lol:

User avatar
graeme
Posts: 3528
Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2005 11:29 am
Location: Kintore

Re: Donninton and Oulten October

Post by graeme » Fri Nov 02, 2018 9:18 am

Andy G wrote:
Thu Nov 01, 2018 1:08 pm
stuff
<BG>
211
958

mxvx
Posts: 1027
Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2014 2:19 pm
Location: Aberdeen

Re: Donninton and Oulten October

Post by mxvx » Fri Nov 02, 2018 9:30 am

Mike Scib wrote:
Thu Nov 01, 2018 10:42 pm
Trying a little to hard...

Watch on Vimeo


A 1.58.13 lap, worked out from the video obviously...

Watch on Vimeo





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
:thumbsup When I was in the 3-11 time warp machine you seemed to be one of the few cars we didn't pass at double their speed :damnfunny

User avatar
Andy G
Posts: 11374
Joined: Thu Mar 10, 2005 10:27 am
Location: Dirleton/Gullane
Contact:

Re: Donninton and Oulten October

Post by Andy G » Fri Nov 02, 2018 10:03 am

Stu160 wrote:
Thu Nov 01, 2018 8:28 pm
Spill the beans then, what were the lap times?
Not that you would be timing that laps of course, as it's a track day , but what you may think they might have been .....as a guess......as you wouldn't be timing them.....

??.

Stu
approx 5 seconds a lap faster at Oulton without a clear lap - so maybe 7 (it was 7 till Mike came out for a pax and then went out and got faster!) :damnfunny and obviously depends on accuracy of the timing equipment :D
AMG GT-R
Atom 4
Lotus Esprit S4S
G30 M5 Comp

Post Reply