Finally got round to doing an event in the 360 last night. It was Wessex MC's Old Farts 12-car, set by Nick who is occasionaly round here. It was about 100 miles round Chichester and the surrounding areas.

I was pleasantly surprised at how things went. I was expecting the brakes to be a weak point, but they just about held up all night which was great. I guess the mk2 alloys and removal of the fog lights all helped with the cooling. Handling was good, but really need to sort the soggy front suspension out. The only thing I dont like (apart from the lack of power!) is the over-long steering rack which is a bit of a pain round the tight bits, but that's something I'll have to cope with.

Unfortunately it was pretty dry and dusty so was kept on the straight and narrow most of the time, but managed a nice handbraked induced drift round a slot left when I almost missed. An LSD would have helped massively as there was so many times where I was spinning one wheel out of corners!! Most entertaining moment was when Lizzie called a bridge ahead, a few hundred metres later we went over one, which was a lot smaller than we were expecting, so on I went. Another 200m later I realise that we were just about to hit the crest of the bridge she called and we were doing about 50mph... so all 4 wheels are off the ground and it look likes things could get messy, but amazing we land perfectly straight, albeit with a big bang, but no warning lights come on so on we go. Had a quick look under the car this morning and there's a nice scrap on the ARB and the front crossmember has been kinked a bit, just missing the steering rack. I'm sure there's a few more dents and scrapes at the back too. Really need to get a sump guard sorted!

So all in all a decent night. Shame only 5 or 6 crews entered. We came 3rd overall, which we were happy with since we were against some pretty serious navs/cars/drivers!

Gotta find some time to finish the car of before the next one now!

I would agree with all your comments about a saggy front end etc.

Good to see you back out in the lanes.
I'm running 1171 mintex up front-never had a problem but we normally start Sept thru 'til march so the ambient temperatures might help.

Me and Bilbo went out last night-'tis too dry we nearly stopped on one 90 when it just leaned over and blazed one tyre.

Last year it wasn't a problem due to skaty roads and some clutch kicked induced oversteer-twas proper bo

Nice to see your return to the darkside went well-keep it up fella

Are the 1171s with standard discs? My discs need changing anyway so was thinking for going for drilled/grooved but I'm not convinced they'll be any better.

What sort of pads are 1171s? I was going to go for M1144s, but am open to any other recommendations!

After a nights rallying last night I got a couple of hours sleep and today I spent the day at Prodrive - so much motorsport in 24 hours!

yeah stnd discs. the pads are the old version,so i think they wont be on sale anymore. i must admit i was very impressed with them. ebc greenstuff are £45 but stnd lockheed or mintex are £12ish so i dont know if i could pay the extra how much are the newer mintex?

My mistake are m171 compound-same as m1144 but pre asbestos free managed to get 'em off the blag a while back.Running with good quality std discs which me and the boy had glowing orange after 20 miler but still no fade which was good

Let me know how you get on if ya go 1144 m/tex.Cos I'll not be able to get any more 171's
Regards Sven

I used M1144s on the old GLT. Lasted one full all-night event fine, and about half way round the second. Mind you the discs weren't new and were a bit past their best. I'll swap everything for new stuff this time.

I've seen greenstuff for £35, but have heard mixed stories about them. have been tempted by the redstuff instead, but maybe a bit OTT?

Always used M1144s on my 205s though and they were fantastic!!

I was quite impressed with the brakes on the black car - the disks were past their best indeed - braking hard from 100mph (on the track) wasn't much fun

In comparison, my saloon feels weak - new pads, discs, shoes, and fluid in order really...

Oh yeah the M1144s are much better than standard, without a doubt.

And the black car had the benefit of new rear brakes when you got it which, IME, helps the feel of the brakes a lot.

Nessy's brakes feel pretty awesome, and she had new shoes and cylinders about 10k ago, so I'd add a "+1" to the comment that rears make for better feeling.

I managed to get the 360's to fade a bit yesterday coming down over the cat and fiddle (~20 minutes of continuous 20-80-20 action), so it might be time for new fluid. The car loved it though, and runs much better after its 'Italian tune-up'.

Chris took me out for a mock up of one of your events while I was down in Nessy. It wasn't properly dark, so I couldn't open it up in the twisties without fear of meeting anything coming the other way, but it was great fun. I also scraped my anti-roll bar on some rough terrain, but that's no surprise, since Nessy's front suspension is horribly soggy (but thus quite comfy for road use!).

cheers

James

Didnt realise you were down. We could have had a wee 300 convoy out in the lanes

That's what Chris called up about, but I understand there were some (indirect) female related difficulties. Not to worry - there's always next time!

cheers

James

There were? Bloody women!

Lol, thats when I was trying to get hold of you on MSN Wednesday mate... I only got your reply when we got back!

Doh

had a car day today,just finished the front bearings on my car and rear shoes on my bro's. when i left him he was fitting his minilites......grrrr i'm not jealous or anything but they looked well nice