Lotus Elan Central

Anyone going to Aprils Action Day at Coombe?

I'll be there , only doing one session as its going to be my first time with the Elan on Track so going to take it easy ,, just hope its dry

Don't think there will be many of us there but you never know. The day for us at Castle Combe is the Club LotusTrack day on 23 May. As you are so close try and make it if you can and join up with us. Some of us (including me) will have our cars on track and for those who don't go on track there will be a good social scene in the paddock, hope to see you there.

If it is wet then you will see why FWD is worth having .

Nige, I've penciled in the 23 May

The wet does make me nervous after the amount of near misses I had at last years Action Day from looney's on track spinning in front of me , a couple of friends in the same session had there cars written of

I'll keep a look out for any other Elan ..

Steve

Steve,

that is why i wouldn't use the elan on a 'boy racer' open track day - i had too many people in RS turbos getting pissey because a 35 year old shed went past them, that they go too fast for the car, the road and the driver to 'prove a point' and cause mayhem.

Years ago, the CC magazine-sponsored track days were brilliant (and i got free sessions), but now anyone can have a go in anything they want to bring along at a few quid for 6 laps.......

If you are using the elan, i would suggest that the May event would be more suitable, as there are sensible (but fast!) people on the track at the same time - and not too many off them!

CC tend to pack the track like Tesco car park to make more money these days

Alternatively (but I know CC is closer) have you ever considered Llandow over by Cardiff? It's not as long as Combe, but it is far less crowded.........

.....the motor club at work have hired it for the day on 6th June - limited to 24 cars (in theory, a few bikes as well), broken into 20 min sessions......

....you get one session an hour on track until 1500, then open pit lane (and if you get a different coloured arm band than a mate, you can have twice as much (or more) track time by going out as a driver and a passenger).

All in at £100 a head!

With only 8 cars on track at a time, it is great...... and a big variety of what is there.

Last time we had 3 Dolomites, an elise, a fair few Golfs, a vectra 3.0, a Pug, scoobies, Escort Mk 2's, and a couple of bike engined race cars - and no-one crashed!

I'm only doing one early (9.30) session so hopefully it wont be too busy, going out with mainly Saabs driven by sensible men with pipe and sleepers..

one of my reason for buying the elan was for track-day fun and funnily I was inspired by the old classics like your Dolly and the V8 MG that would blast around hence why I wonted a modern classic ,, although the Elan does look too nice to trash on track

Had a great time in the Elan on track yesterday, car felt great around the corners but too slow on the straights
Yesterday was a good starting point, I know no I need a roll hoop to give me more confidence and a free flowing exhaust system, I also need to get around to fitting Dave's short shift, My newly fitted Bobs Hi Spec front brakes work really well although the yellow stuff pads faded a little towards the end..

here's some pics

Lets see the vid then...

TTFN

Looks great. Brilliant photo's. M&A

Trig,

Glad to hear you had a good day, great photo`s too

BTW i`m supprised that they let you use an open face helmet A few circuits are getting more strict next year on helmets

As for the Video my camera span around in the wind and ended up facing the spectators just as well as most cars on track went past , although I overtook two more powerful Saabs, only to find out later they both had problems

Monty I wish I had a full face helmet as most of the track photographers pics showed my miserable looking face , I put my glum look down to total concentration

Looking good, see you on 23 May.

Suprised the Yellow Stuff faded, I've used Red Stuff for a about 3 or 4 years now and was considering moving to Yellow Stuff. I might have to rethink that.

Interesting you feel you lack power on the straights, is your car standard in the engine department? I have a Mountain Chip and certainly at Combe it is not underpowered given the length of the straights there.

Nige , I have the mountain chip which helps a lot but it feels restricted by the standard exhaust but I think the main reason it feels slow to me is because last year I was using a 350hp car at coombe with 2bar boost ,, I shouldn't compare the two because the Elan is by no means slow it just doesnt scare me like my last car.. I know theres a lot more to come from the Elan from looking a Montys track exploits

I agree, you need at least a 2.25" exhaust to get the best from the chip.