Andy Mac

Applied Wet Coat over two weeks ago, washed last week and over 600 miles this week and no wash yet. Still beading pretty well.

Hi all - 
  Did the Javelin round 2 yesterday at Blyton ( East circuit ). Just thought I'd share as a bit of a comparison.   Car is a standard (aside from factory switchable exhaust) 2.9 (the low power 255 bhp one) 2009 Gen 2 Porsche Boxster on its regular road tyres (MPS2s).   Excellent day. Very similar conditions to the TSS round I did last September. Where my best effort in the GT86 was a 1:18:52 standard car (bar TRD back box) on pretty worn standard rubber.    Obviously helps knowing the circuit / or at least being there before.    Was really pleased with some steady progress through the day in the new car. And found it was slightly quicker roof up (but a lot easier to place etc roof down).   Best yesterday in the Boxster was a 1:13:42 - so was very very pleased. Especially for a 'hairdressers' car...!   Just for comparison through the day:     Tyres took a bit of a pasting but so enjoyable:       Hope to book some more sprint / track days (just for fun) / which hopefully have some TSS cross over to see some familiar faces. 

That is superb. Top job. 

Few paddock shots which are available on TSS Facebook page:



 
The rest as usual available on website: http://sprintseries.dansteeples.co.uk/2016-sprint-series/2-blyton-park.html

More swapping things over with the help of some friends xxxxx

Awesome day as usual, glad I managed to beat my time from last year (as that's my main target for this year) especially as only a couple of other people did.
Thanks to Kev / Lauren / Keith for the passenger runs at the end, was interesting to see different lines and commitment levels, especially Lauren into Curva Grande!
Video of my quickest run below, still messy in Curva Grande  
 

Obviously not my fastest run, but just taking Stan for a passenger ride and grabbed his Go Pro.
 
2nd run was a little lairy messing up Bishops again, but getting a little slide out of Bunga, Bunga.
 

An amazing day, weather was great, proper chilled out and a lot of fun. Spent the whole day chasing Mike (completely ignoring Kevin and Lauren who were just way too experienced and quick to even bother worrying about), every time I made progress, so would he, staying roughly a second ahead. I eventually hit a wall where I couldn't get any lower than a 1:18.31 but on my final lap, I finally broke through and got a 1:17.91 which I'm happy about.....even though again I was still about a second behind Mike which meant coming 4th in our class and 12th overall out of 33 others in various cars etc.
Even though I lost to Mike, what I love about the Toyota Sprint Series is that it doesn't have to be about being uber competitive and trying to beat everyone (don't get me wrong, it's great to win) but compared to a trackday, I can see my own personal progression, I can see myself improving with the times to prove it and assigning lil challenges like trying to get less than a 1:18 is a great mini achievement when you do so so it's not all bad.
Congrats to those who won in their Classes, Adrian, Stan, Lauren, Jay just to name a few. Bring on Round 3!























 
I've got footage but like my previous 2 other trackdays I've still yet to compile the vids so will update at some point.

I should add that it seemed to be a bit of a frustrating day when it came to improving my times. My 5th run, the first after lunch was one hundredth of a second quicker at 1:15.62 of my previous 3rd run. But on my final run it really came together and I got in the zone, I was very happy to get into the one minute fourteen second range, if only just with a 1:14.91, which was seven tenths improvement over my best up until that point. That got me a comfortable win in my class and 9th overall. Kev's car wasn't running right and from Mike's vid I can see he was lifting into Curva Grande which would have cost him plenty of time. The car just moved in the way I wanted it too and well it really just felt all of a piece. Great fun though chasing those somewhat elusive tenths of a second!

I sold the GT. I did love it - great cars. It was a lucky buy & after 9 months I was still around £600 up even with putting fresh rubber on it - (helped selling the plate and the injen etc) - another car came up at good price so went for that. (I've had a few Porsches 911 TT & a few Boxsters - gone back to a gen2 Boxster).
I've entered into a Javelin Sprint on the 22nd for a bit of fun. The TSS had a great atmosphere / & great advice (Lauren / Kevin) hopefully some events will cross over. 

Hi all, 
What a great day, sorry I had to disappear. Special thanks to Keith and Lauren for their advice and help (my daughters now want to drive cars fast, specifically with a red stripe - thanks Lauren, you have supporters for the rest of the TSS so you need to win!). Looking forward to the next meet. Anyone who participated, I probably have a couple of pictures on the slow down towards the paddock from the viewing area. Pm if you want them at all - though they are only iPhone pics. 
Dan
 
 

Women can be very accurate about size 

What's interesting is that I ummed and ah'd about it for three years! I too knew I wouldn't see a mega horsepower improvement and I've never believed Cosworth's claims of 230bhp or when people say you're going to get 220bhp. So I weighed it up and thought, well, it's just not worth it really. After a lot of thinking about it for a while longer, I thought I'd give it a go. Obviously I did it and in terms of extra power there isn't a huge amount. But, having said that the throttle response is just totally different from before. I never had an inkling that it would feel so flat going back to a map with stock throttle response, but blimey does it feel bad! I wanted to post up a big review of my experiences since the remap, but in the three days since I've had it done, I've done 2 miles to work and back each day. However, today I had a funeral to go to in Chorley which is a 70 mile round trip. 
I think Mark summed it up well from the passenger seat. He felt it was just so much smoother and whilst the increase in power doesn't make you go wow, the increased mid range where there's a 20lb/ft torque increase is certainly noticeable. I really think it would be hard to drive the car now on a stock map as the difference is far more marked than I initially believed it would be. So effectively, I'm suprised by the difference it has made. Sure it's £530, which is not an insubstantial amount of money, but I'm glad I've done it if that makes sense. 

Drove her to Scotland, around Scotland and then down to Chatteris in 2 days (1000 miles):
 

Oh it is definitely real - been sitting on our driveway for the last few days and attracting alot of attention!  

Nearly ready to head off now

Just to answer those questions as to what qualifies as a newbie. 
If you have done a sprint before you're not a newbie. 
If you haven't done one before then you are a newbie. Simple eh?  

I took the Cossie to a Pistonheads RR day at Clive Atthowe's in Norwich this morning, having just collected it from the bodyshop yesterday.
It made 281.5bhp, which is almost exactly what Cosworth reckon a Stage 2.3 car should do.
Most pleased.

I think these look great on a red car.

 

Sorry - missed this post - I have a big birthday that weekend so I'm away... Shame as its so local and I'd go again now! - enjoy 👍🏽

You'll all have fun at the end of the month...
  Was at Bedford Autodrome today, VERY cold, icy entrance road on arrival,  but sunny and dry. The only GT86 there...sad times... but a good mix of cars.   Another well run event by Javelin - they did black flag me once (the no drifting policy...) but accepted that I was genuinely trying to keep it tidy.... nothing deliberate (I blame the worn Primacys).   I was worried that on the 3.8 mile GT circuit the car would feel under powered - but not at all - could make excellent progress but still enjoy the balance of the car (such an enjoyable chassis to balance as it tries to let go a lot - again maybe the primacys & cold track temp).   So cold that my tyres are set to 35psi (always show 35 on a warm day - stationary / not been driven / in the garage) were down at 32 (due to weather) but back up to 37 (& higher) after a few laps.   Surprising how much quicker the GT lapped compared to much nicer / more dedicated machinery, really is a good car, don't know how these get slated.   Tyres and brakes seemed just about take 4 - laps before noticeably going off.   The idea was to give Cath some time as a passenger on track (having missed the opportunity at the Sprints last season).   (Speaking of which they said the 2016 TSS dates will be released soon - and will include Anglesey!).   I guess the only negative is that Bedford is still quite a "rough" surface and seems to give the tyres a harder time than other circuits (maybe because it's a "corporate entertainment venue" as such).   But smiles all round - top day:   [url=http://postimg.org/image/9hhq7q9up/full/]   [url=http://postimg.org/image/3kig4ni3l/full/]   [url=http://postimage.org/]   [url=http://postimage.org/]   [url=http://postimg.org/image/x7dbo6s1n/full/]   [url=http://postimg.org/image/4pmujph1x/full/]

You'll all have fun at the end of the month...
  Was at Bedford Autodrome today, VERY cold, icy entrance road on arrival,  but sunny and dry. The only GT86 there...sad times... but a good mix of cars.   Another well run event by Javelin - they did black flag me once (the no drifting policy...) but accepted that I was genuinely trying to keep it tidy.... nothing deliberate (I blame the worn Primacys).   I was worried that on the 3.8 mile GT circuit the car would feel under powered - but not at all - could make excellent progress but still enjoy the balance of the car (such an enjoyable chassis to balance as it tries to let go a lot - again maybe the primacys & cold track temp).   So cold that my tyres are set to 35psi (always show 35 on a warm day - stationary / not been driven / in the garage) were down at 32 (due to weather) but back up to 37 (& higher) after a few laps.   Surprising how much quicker the GT lapped compared to much nicer / more dedicated machinery, really is a good car, don't know how these get slated.   Tyres and brakes seemed just about take 4 - laps before noticeably going off.   The idea was to give Cath some time as a passenger on track (having missed the opportunity at the Sprints last season).   (Speaking of which they said the 2016 TSS dates will be released soon - and will include Anglesey!).   I guess the only negative is that Bedford is still quite a "rough" surface and seems to give the tyres a harder time than other circuits (maybe because it's a "corporate entertainment venue" as such).   But smiles all round - top day:   [url=http://postimg.org/image/9hhq7q9up/full/]   [url=http://postimg.org/image/3kig4ni3l/full/]   [url=http://postimage.org/]   [url=http://postimage.org/]   [url=http://postimg.org/image/x7dbo6s1n/full/]   [url=http://postimg.org/image/4pmujph1x/full/]

You'll all have fun at the end of the month...
  Was at Bedford Autodrome today, VERY cold, icy entrance road on arrival,  but sunny and dry. The only GT86 there...sad times... but a good mix of cars.   Another well run event by Javelin - they did black flag me once (the no drifting policy...) but accepted that I was genuinely trying to keep it tidy.... nothing deliberate (I blame the worn Primacys).   I was worried that on the 3.8 mile GT circuit the car would feel under powered - but not at all - could make excellent progress but still enjoy the balance of the car (such an enjoyable chassis to balance as it tries to let go a lot - again maybe the primacys & cold track temp).   So cold that my tyres are set to 35psi (always show 35 on a warm day - stationary / not been driven / in the garage) were down at 32 (due to weather) but back up to 37 (& higher) after a few laps.   Surprising how much quicker the GT lapped compared to much nicer / more dedicated machinery, really is a good car, don't know how these get slated.   Tyres and brakes seemed just about take 4 - laps before noticeably going off.   The idea was to give Cath some time as a passenger on track (having missed the opportunity at the Sprints last season).   (Speaking of which they said the 2016 TSS dates will be released soon - and will include Anglesey!).   I guess the only negative is that Bedford is still quite a "rough" surface and seems to give the tyres a harder time than other circuits (maybe because it's a "corporate entertainment venue" as such).   But smiles all round - top day:   [url=http://postimg.org/image/9hhq7q9up/full/]   [url=http://postimg.org/image/3kig4ni3l/full/]   [url=http://postimage.org/]   [url=http://postimage.org/]   [url=http://postimg.org/image/x7dbo6s1n/full/]   [url=http://postimg.org/image/4pmujph1x/full/]

You'll all have fun at the end of the month...
  Was at Bedford Autodrome today, VERY cold, icy entrance road on arrival,  but sunny and dry. The only GT86 there...sad times... but a good mix of cars.   Another well run event by Javelin - they did black flag me once (the no drifting policy...) but accepted that I was genuinely trying to keep it tidy.... nothing deliberate (I blame the worn Primacys).   I was worried that on the 3.8 mile GT circuit the car would feel under powered - but not at all - could make excellent progress but still enjoy the balance of the car (such an enjoyable chassis to balance as it tries to let go a lot - again maybe the primacys & cold track temp).   So cold that my tyres are set to 35psi (always show 35 on a warm day - stationary / not been driven / in the garage) were down at 32 (due to weather) but back up to 37 (& higher) after a few laps.   Surprising how much quicker the GT lapped compared to much nicer / more dedicated machinery, really is a good car, don't know how these get slated.   Tyres and brakes seemed just about take 4 - laps before noticeably going off.   The idea was to give Cath some time as a passenger on track (having missed the opportunity at the Sprints last season).   (Speaking of which they said the 2016 TSS dates will be released soon - and will include Anglesey!).   I guess the only negative is that Bedford is still quite a "rough" surface and seems to give the tyres a harder time than other circuits (maybe because it's a "corporate entertainment venue" as such).   But smiles all round - top day:   [url=http://postimg.org/image/9hhq7q9up/full/]   [url=http://postimg.org/image/3kig4ni3l/full/]   [url=http://postimage.org/]   [url=http://postimage.org/]   [url=http://postimg.org/image/x7dbo6s1n/full/]   [url=http://postimg.org/image/4pmujph1x/full/]

You'll all have fun at the end of the month...
  Was at Bedford Autodrome today, VERY cold, icy entrance road on arrival,  but sunny and dry. The only GT86 there...sad times... but a good mix of cars.   Another well run event by Javelin - they did black flag me once (the no drifting policy...) but accepted that I was genuinely trying to keep it tidy.... nothing deliberate (I blame the worn Primacys).   I was worried that on the 3.8 mile GT circuit the car would feel under powered - but not at all - could make excellent progress but still enjoy the balance of the car (such an enjoyable chassis to balance as it tries to let go a lot - again maybe the primacys & cold track temp).   So cold that my tyres are set to 35psi (always show 35 on a warm day - stationary / not been driven / in the garage) were down at 32 (due to weather) but back up to 37 (& higher) after a few laps.   Surprising how much quicker the GT lapped compared to much nicer / more dedicated machinery, really is a good car, don't know how these get slated.   Tyres and brakes seemed just about take 4 - laps before noticeably going off.   The idea was to give Cath some time as a passenger on track (having missed the opportunity at the Sprints last season).   (Speaking of which they said the 2016 TSS dates will be released soon - and will include Anglesey!).   I guess the only negative is that Bedford is still quite a "rough" surface and seems to give the tyres a harder time than other circuits (maybe because it's a "corporate entertainment venue" as such).   But smiles all round - top day:   [url=http://postimg.org/image/9hhq7q9up/full/]   [url=http://postimg.org/image/3kig4ni3l/full/]   [url=http://postimage.org/]   [url=http://postimage.org/]   [url=http://postimg.org/image/x7dbo6s1n/full/]   [url=http://postimg.org/image/4pmujph1x/full/]