Some of you might have been following discussions about taking the SL 55 on track, well yesterday was its debut! I managed to arrange via Motorsport Events a dedicated 30min slot over lunchtime with no-one on track! They were extremely friendly and the general attitude and discipline was very reassuring. I saw a few over enthusiastic drivers black flagged quickly and there was good separation between the cars. Also, no barriers, just grass.
Having never had the opportunity to really try out the car in "high end" conditions, this was an eye opener. First a couple of warm up laps to learn the circuit and then a few harder (although still "this is my car"-in the back of my mind..) laps.
The track is very tight with two longish straights. One ends in a haipin - the other a sharp left hander. There are also some chicanes and one off camber sweeping right hander (Hullavington Airfield).
http://www.motorsport-events.co.uk/hullavington.htm
I managed to get to around 125 or so down the straight and then into the hairpin after some heavy braking. Accelerating out with ESP/Sensotronic working was amazing. Deliberately (and sometimes not) getting the car out of shape was almost impossible unless you are doing something really excessive. The variable braking pulls the car straight again, varies the power delivery etc so you just drive quickly. I did around 5 laps with ESP turned off, and you then really need to concentrate. The speed, to me, seemed similar to that without ESP, however the level of concentration and correction required far more (as you would expect). Even then however, the car remains quite controllable at the limits I was driving anyway. Naturally the car has understeer in these tight corners, but otherwise seems well balanced. I had the Sport mode suspension setting on.
The acceleration down the straights was mind blowing - I was using the manual shifting the whole time - not at max rpm, but around 5.5 - 6. Manual shifting in my view gives much more control, also under braking. Again - this worked flawlessly - even protecting the car (and me) from some over enthusiastic upshifts!
Although timing is prohibited, racing not allowed I did bump into someone after who said to me that they had been timing and we (me plus instructor) did a 1:28 lap. I wasn't sure where that rated, but they indicated this was a very respectable time and compared well with some of the Caterhams.
I am certain that with more time (and someone elses SL55!!) this time could be reduced quite a lot which means that a 2ton car is in real "quick car" territory. It speaks volumes for this cars power and design.
It would be remiss of me to omit one slight weakness of the car, which was that after around 10 laps or so I got a warning (again nice to know before the car is damaged) that the brakes were overheating and to slow down, drive carefully. If you consider the layout of the track however and the braking required this is not surprising. To do more of this it really needs ceramic brakes (which I believe the F1 pace car has). However for me, this was a fine time to stop - I only really wanted to explore this cars potential for a few laps in safety not thrash it around a track for hours.
Summing up - I was expecting a quick car, but nothing that so easily manages in such challenging conditions. It is a car you can enjoy in good weather at 30mph with the top down, and at 155mph on the autobahn or on the occasional track day.
DB1
Having never had the opportunity to really try out the car in "high end" conditions, this was an eye opener. First a couple of warm up laps to learn the circuit and then a few harder (although still "this is my car"-in the back of my mind..) laps.
The track is very tight with two longish straights. One ends in a haipin - the other a sharp left hander. There are also some chicanes and one off camber sweeping right hander (Hullavington Airfield).
http://www.motorsport-events.co.uk/hullavington.htm
I managed to get to around 125 or so down the straight and then into the hairpin after some heavy braking. Accelerating out with ESP/Sensotronic working was amazing. Deliberately (and sometimes not) getting the car out of shape was almost impossible unless you are doing something really excessive. The variable braking pulls the car straight again, varies the power delivery etc so you just drive quickly. I did around 5 laps with ESP turned off, and you then really need to concentrate. The speed, to me, seemed similar to that without ESP, however the level of concentration and correction required far more (as you would expect). Even then however, the car remains quite controllable at the limits I was driving anyway. Naturally the car has understeer in these tight corners, but otherwise seems well balanced. I had the Sport mode suspension setting on.
The acceleration down the straights was mind blowing - I was using the manual shifting the whole time - not at max rpm, but around 5.5 - 6. Manual shifting in my view gives much more control, also under braking. Again - this worked flawlessly - even protecting the car (and me) from some over enthusiastic upshifts!
Although timing is prohibited, racing not allowed I did bump into someone after who said to me that they had been timing and we (me plus instructor) did a 1:28 lap. I wasn't sure where that rated, but they indicated this was a very respectable time and compared well with some of the Caterhams.
I am certain that with more time (and someone elses SL55!!) this time could be reduced quite a lot which means that a 2ton car is in real "quick car" territory. It speaks volumes for this cars power and design.
It would be remiss of me to omit one slight weakness of the car, which was that after around 10 laps or so I got a warning (again nice to know before the car is damaged) that the brakes were overheating and to slow down, drive carefully. If you consider the layout of the track however and the braking required this is not surprising. To do more of this it really needs ceramic brakes (which I believe the F1 pace car has). However for me, this was a fine time to stop - I only really wanted to explore this cars potential for a few laps in safety not thrash it around a track for hours.
Summing up - I was expecting a quick car, but nothing that so easily manages in such challenging conditions. It is a car you can enjoy in good weather at 30mph with the top down, and at 155mph on the autobahn or on the occasional track day.
DB1