First track action in the 620S

[andy tims]

I grabbed the afternoon session at a track day at Goodwood on Thursday, the first since getting my 620S & wow what an eye opener.

1) The car is going to be a real challenge to properly master. I had my first spin on track in something like 15 years. Having developed a braking technique of very hard & very late (with an ABS safety net) I failed to recalibrate enough & locked a wheel on the turn in to Madgewick (turn 1) and the car spun in an instant. With rear wheel slides, I'd back myself to catch most times, but this was instant. I was lucky not to hit anything. Didn't have my GoPro on at the time, more's the pity.

2) With Aero screen in place, at speed I just can't hear the engine revs. I've always timed my up changes based on engine note, but had to keep looking at the rev counter. Far from ideal, so I'm getting the sequential shift lights that hopefully, I'll see in my peripheral vision fitted. I'm also going to have to wear ear plugs, or I'll soon be deaf.

The day was very poorly attended. I overtook almost everything and certainly didn't have to let anyone through. Here is a short highlights vid for your perusal

https://youtu.be/FpEmFkba1WM

Constructive criticism very welcome.

Remote mic to be used in future due to the wind noise. I had a foam cover on the camera, but it was clearly not up to the job.

[learningtofly]

I bet that had your sphincter twitching. Enjoyed the vid, and what a lovely engine note that car has.

Stupid question perhaps, but is there any difference between bike and car helmets?

[Jon Kenney]

Enjoyed watching that Andy. Thanks for posting.

Do you not wear gloves at all?

[ralphy]

What an awesome car!

I thought I'd be envious watching your video, but the fact is I'd not be able to get anywhere near the full performance of the 620S these days. The last Caterham I was out in on public roads was a 420R and that was more than enough for me. Enjoy yourself and safe driving.

BTW, is that a Schuberth S2 you're wearing? I'm thinking of going back to them as my last two helmets have been disappointing when it comes to ventilation.

R

[andy tims]

Enjoyed watching that Andy. Thanks for posting.

Do you not wear gloves at all?

Cheers & no. Not with the current temperatures.

What an awesome car!

I thought I'd be envious watching your video, but the fact is I'd not be able to get anywhere near the full performance of the 620S these days. The last Caterham I was out in on public roads was a 420R and that was more than enough for me. Enjoy yourself and safe driving.

BTW, is that a Schuberth S2 you're wearing? I'm thinking of going back to them as my last two helmets have been disappointing when it comes to ventilation.

R

It's Schuberth SR2. I have 3 having swapped from Arai several years ago. When it was released, it was just about the quietest helmet, with the best airflow on the market.

[bwest76]

I can’t ride my bike without ear plugs nowadays.

I have total blocks for the bike and a set with monitors for gigs.

No amount of money can buy your hearing back so I just pay the price.


https://www.acscustom.com/uk/products/total-block

[ralphy]

It's Schuberth SR2. I have 3 having swapped from Arai several years ago. When it was released, it was just about the quietest helmet, with the best airflow on the market.

Thanks. I stopped using Schuberths when the off-road bug bit, but I think a re-visit is now in order.

R

[Maris]

What was the first car you overtook? Looked very strange.

[andy tims]

What was the first car you overtook? Looked very strange.

https://revsinstitute.org/the-collec...es-61-le-mans/

Quite a famous race car.

[Alex L]

I’m considering either a 620r or S at the moment. It doesn’t look like you heel and toe when down changing, in my previous experience of Caterhams, they can lock a rear wheel if you don’t rev match and lead to spinning. I’d also suggest changing your lid to one with HANS.

[MCFastybloke]

Which end locked up? Have you adjustable brake bias?

[andy tims]

I’m considering either a 620r or S at the moment. It doesn’t look like you heel and toe when down changing, in my previous experience of Caterhams, they can lock a rear wheel if you don’t rev match and lead to spinning. I’d also suggest changing your lid to one with HANS.

You’re right re heel and toe. I can do it and will, but got out of the habit with my Exige as sometimes it would cause an issue - didn’t like you being on the brakes and throttle at the same time. I’ll pass on HANS though. I’m just a track day driver not a racer. Won’t wear a race suit either for the same reason.

Which end locked up? Have you adjustable brake bias?

Front, and no I don’t think so. Nothing wrong with the car, just driver error.

[Foxy100]

https://revsinstitute.org/the-collec...es-61-le-mans/

Quite a famous race car.

It's a replica of it

[MB2]

Stupid question perhaps, but is there any difference between bike and car helmets?

Bike helmets usually have more peripheral vision than car helmets and more ventilation.

Car helmets have to be fire proof and I think take a Hans device and I would expect have very different impact ratings/design.

[Bravo73]

Stupid question perhaps, but is there any difference between bike and car helmets?

https://www.bikesrepublic.com/featur...d-car-helmets/

Particularly no 2.

[Kingstepper]

It's a replica of it

A fake?

[MrPoseidon]

I bet that had your sphincter twitching. Enjoyed the vid, and what a lovely engine note that car has.

Stupid question perhaps, but is there any difference between bike and car helmets?

It’s to do wit the sideways viewing angles Tony and the fire rating, I believe.

[Hocuspocus]

It’s to do wit the sideways viewing angles Tony and the fire rating, I believe.

You can use a bike helmet in a car on a track day. You can't use a helmet for car motor racing on a bike, which I also thought was due to the aperture of each. Maybe also the fire rating.

Sent from my SM-A145R using TZ-UK mobile app

[learningtofly]

It’s to do wit the sideways viewing angles Tony and the fire rating, I believe.

You can use a bike helmet in a car on a track day. You can't use a helmet for car motor racing on a bike, which I also thought was due to the aperture of each. Maybe also the fire rating.

Sent from my SM-A145R using TZ-UK mobile app

Thanks, both!

[adrianw]

Stupid question perhaps, but is there any difference between bike and car helmets?

A car race lid has to be FIA or Snel approved and depending on class has to have hans fixings and be in date, construction is pretty much the same, it doesn’t really matter for track or test days as their is no scrutineering. My Arai race lid has only got two years to go, I wont be replacing it.

Motorcycle helmets have to be ACU Gold stickered to use on UK tracks, again no one really checks on track days, in other countries Snel is ok and for FIM races it has to be approved by them.

It’s all about stickers

[learningtofly]

A car race lid has to be FIA or Snel approved and depending on class has to have hans fixings and be in date, construction is pretty much the same, it doesn’t really matter for track or test days as their is no scrutineering. My Arai race lid has only got two years to go, I wont be replacing it.

Motorcycle helmets have to be ACU Gold stickered to use on UK tracks, again no one really checks on track days, in other countries Snel is ok and for FIM races it has to be approved by them.

It’s all about stickers

Gotcha, thanks.

[aa388]

A car race lid has to be FIA or Snel approved and depending on class has to have hans fixings and be in date, construction is pretty much the same, it doesn’t really matter for track or test days as their is no scrutineering. My Arai race lid has only got two years to go, I wont be replacing it.

Motorcycle helmets have to be ACU Gold stickered to use on UK tracks, again no one really checks on track days, in other countries Snel is ok and for FIM races it has to be approved by them.

It’s all about stickers

Dangerous when you get the stickers from eBay. I’ve always thought that there should be a serial number on the helmets to correlate with the stickers on a register somewhere.


Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app

[adrianw]

Dangerous when you get the stickers from eBay. I’ve always thought that there should be a serial number on the helmets to correlate with the stickers on a register somewhere.


Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app

Very true, I’m pretty sure that my carbon fibre Arai is traceable

[Harry Smith]

Very nice driving, good use of the track.

[snowman]

I can't pass any comment or advice, I've never driven anything like that in anger, but if you can't hear the engine revs, why will you need earplugs?

Is it wind noise?

M

[andy tims]

I can't pass any comment or advice, I've never driven anything like that in anger, but if you can't hear the engine revs, why will you need earplugs?

Is it wind noise?

M

Yes. Wind noise from the airflow round the roll bar

[mikeveal]

I have shift lights. I find that, at full chat in third or fourth the time between the first one coming on and the last one is not much more than a second. I think the first comes on at about 80% of redline revs. Watching the revcounter is definitely not something you want to be doing when the velocity with which the world is throwing itself towards you is changing so rapidly.

My Skunk only has half the power of a 620s, but then it only weighs half as much.

The car looks great Andy, no wonder you're chuffed. There's an overtake at 4 minutes dead in your video (can't make out what you're overtaking) that shows just how capable the Caterham chassis is. It looks like the car you overtake is starting to struggle with the first corner, it uses all the road lots of body roll and bouncing a bit, whilst behind it the Caterham is going around as flat as a pancake and isn't even needing to apex. :)

[andy tims]

The car looks great Andy, no wonder you're chuffed. There's an overtake at 4 minutes dead in your video (can't make out what you're overtaking) that shows just how capable the Caterham chassis is. It looks like the car you overtake is starting to struggle with the first corner, it uses all the road lots of body roll and bouncing a bit, whilst behind it the Caterham is going around as flat as a pancake and isn't even needing to apex. :)

Thanks.

It was an Alfa 4C I overtook.

The Seven really is a very capable car. Loads of mechanical grip in the dry except if I get on the accelerator too quickly in the lower gears.

More footage here without a load of wind noise

https://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.p...ighlight=track

and here with the shift lights now fitted

https://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.p...e-Day-01-08-23