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We have some photo's of the Hornet with the GAZ stickery, (2 decals on the rear, couldn't make our mind up where to fit on the front, decisions, decisions!). I have asked for them to be burnt to CD and I will get them to you. I have previously sent an e-mail to Derick, but not had a reply so was going to talk to you. Lazza will also be doing a write up of Abingdon when work allows! h

The Hornet ( the Planet track car)went to Abingdon Airfield on Saturday for it's first outing, in anger,since the fitting of the Absolutely Shocks GAZ shocks and the WIM Fast road/track alignment. Abingdon, as an airfield course is flat but has some fast corners and nice chicanes. We have also changed the exhaust from the cat back and fitted a cat bypass. Well, where do we start, we upped the shocks settings by 5 clicks front and back after we had all been on track to compare before and after, but to be honest we were having too much fun to analise the differences. Having said that, we all agreed the car was well balanced and that any shock adjustments would be done equally front to rear. It wasn't until arriving home that I realised the car was far flatter on corners, previously I had to hang onto the steering wheel and lean into the corner so bad was the roll on cornering. I'll try and get some photo's off the video to show before and after comparisons. Changing the exhaust has freed some power in the mid range, previously it was asthmatic in the mid range but has now improved. Anyway, next stop Brands with Tony. Hopefully get more technical feedback on the setup then. h

Looks good Tony, a cracking bit of kit. Thanks for the explanation by the way. h

Yep same thing.... Problem is over the years terminology has changed so i offer the latest versions (old was best) Ackerman is now Toe Out On Turns KPI was King Pin Inclination... Now SAI= Steering Axis Inclination or SJI, Steering Joint Inclination..... what a load of pants Cheers Tony. Must read more up to date books! h

Pray tell, spill the beans. What are they? How does it work? h

Tony, how is this related to Ackerman, as to my eyes they are the same thing? Both offer a difference in the steering radius across the axle. h

I have read somewhere that some race cars do allow the driver to adjust the brake bias to help in these situations. I'll have a dig around and see what I can find. (It's probably in Speed Secrets, Professional Race Driving Techniques by Ross Bentley as I'm re-reading that at the moment.) h

Interesting figs Tony. Quote I forgot to photograph the final weights but after adjusting the coils we had 160kg 175kg 160kg 160kg The 175kg is due to engine components.... Unquote. My question comes from the time Lexie was corner weighed at TDI on one of your open days. The figures were: Fns Fos 288 283 248 263 5kg difference across the front I would think is not a worry. I was concerned about the disparity across the rear axle and the fact the the rns tyre had to be replaced because of the tyre feathering on the inside shoulder. The cause turned out to be a knackered shock, the wear went away when the Abs Shocks GAZ were fitted. (Very happy with them.) The disparity here was 15kg. What do you think would be the maximum allowable differential across an axle, on a standard set up car. (i.e. not set up for ovals etc.) The NA you set up above has a 15kg discrepancy, which could be dialed out by adjusting the spring perch? I assume this would adjust the ride height for that corner, altering the geometry settings. How do you balance out these conflicting issues. (Ride height, corner weights and alignment.) H

'Ere Tony, Not a grey market Hunter imported from Europe is it? Set to drive on the wrong side of the road! :bigeyed: :D h

Sorry being pedantic. (But hey, that's me!) It says Modified Specification. Does that make any difference? Secondly, can you attribute that data to Mazda, as this data is supplied to you by a third party, Hunter. Has it been supplied to them by Mazda or is it something they have derived themselves? h

At last Tony. You have started doing what you have planned for so long. Your first customer through the door. (That you don't have yet!) Congratulations. h

Think it was Tony that posted it originally on LOC or WIM... Oops, late again! h

I see you have two posters there. Did you see the photo's of an Elise and a two poster? http://jalopnik.com/cars/news/the-lotus-el...ando-212968.php Centre looking good Tony. Looking forward to seeing it open and you doing what you do so well! (I'll let you decide what that is!) h

Great stuff Tony. Nearly there! h

Sorry to hear of the continuing problems Tony. My first thought on reading the stabilisers were on wrong was that they have probably put the uprights in the wrong position! <Agony Aunt mode> Anyway, I know it's frustrating, been there myself, but having a heart attack does not help at all. Chill out, have a beer or three, think nice thoughts. Another week, although it amounts to loss of a weeks work and wages etc, is not huge in the grand scheme of things. One week in 20 years is less than one tenth of one percent. (I assume the centre is gong to be there for at least 20 years!) What's more important is you, and your family. Leave your frustrations at the door as you leave the centre. Waft homewards on a bed of tranquility back to your loving family! Failing that use a Mondeo! </Agony Aunt mode> h

Surely not the Kettle Tony? h

Nice one Tony. Did you get a cestifticate for the wall? h

Sam, what about back pressure for scavenging? Or larger bores for turbo where the back pressure is not required for scavenging? Can you explain why your ideas are opposed to, what I understand to be, the generally accepted view. Sorry if this reads antagonistically, but having trouble phrasing it better, just want to increase my knowledge! Thanks in advance h

And when you knock the steering wheel off, make sure the nut has not been removed from the column completely. Saves you damaging your nice new steering wheel with you teeth! (Or is it the other way around?) h

Set up was just to get the ARB's parallel to the ground and remove any play that may exist between the ARB and droplinks. Never seen ratio maps either, but the ARB's I've seen for the MX5 always come as a matched pair. People seem to rely on other peoples experience and rides when buying new ARB's The Steve Heath site has PDF instructions for fitting the drop links on the following page. https://delta.securesslhost.net/~shenglt/ca...cc609142f50f3b5 h

Mine came from Steve Heath Engineering, he does a lot of work on TVR's, wrote the book on them apparently, but he started making them for the MX5. Don't know where you would get them for other marques tho'. Steve Heath Engineering: https://delta.securesslhost.net/~shenglt/ca...fa59524ad5785db Lexie was a test car for the MX5 drop links. h

Get kicking and don't stop until you're open. h

Bit late to the party on this one! One benefit of the adjustable drop links is that they are more often than not rose (or Heim) jointed. The benefit with these is that there is no rubber bushing in the joint, so there is no compliance, it's a direct connection. This can be felt through sharper turn in. h

EMP.... like it I would imagine the Merc fail-safe is emergency brakes on if the system fails. EMP as generated by a nuclear bomb? That certainly would stop the car, and terminate the driver as well. Wouldn't want to be around when they try it though! h

So in effect, in a 5 it's drawn between the inboard/outboard mounting points of the wishbones? h