Happy New Year guys!
As part of my New Year’s Resolutions I decided to go to a track day. A novice day at Bedford came up very conveniently yesterday. That is a good circuit, loads of open grassy run off areas, rather lengthy – good first time venue.
I was worried about the temperature as the forecast was -4C to 4C during the day. Still, no point driving on winter tyres at the track. I changed to the summer, toped up fuel and the R was ready to go.
As I arrived there was a surprise – I was given a paper to sign urging drivers to stay off the grass as it’s just been planted
I’ll do my best I thought! I had an instructor booked in the morning. We did a couple of laps and he gave me a couple of very good hints which really helped. I do recommend spending an extra £25 on that.
So the R. What a great car. You have to slow it down, aim for the apax, turn the steering wheel, wait, pass a small cone at the apex by inches and full power on the exit. The car seems to say – whatever you do – we’ll sort it out for you. Too fast into the corner – we’ll scrub some speed for you – but that will cost you in tyre wear though! It was so easy to drive that I felt I was cheating on the exit. I think this is where 4wd has a clear advantage but that is countered by the higher mass. I drove with ESP and traction control ON -maybe next time I’ll try something different. There is a particularly good series of corners – at the beginning of the lap which you take at full power. The last one – the left hander you’d enter at 100mph still pushing and the car was still fine. No sliding, no drama. The tyres have taken punishment but they have loads of tread left. Brakes were fine – I spent the full days there yesterday (and 60 litres of fuel
) but they never faded or overheated.
I got quite a lot of attention at the garage, especially about the noise. As mine is DSG it makes that pop sound on upshift. That was the easily recognisable feature. Funnily enough there was a Rocco R at the track, also rising blue. I lapped it within 4 laps but it turned out it was a woman driving (a woman in a Scirocco, surprise:) ). She was excited about the speed: “I pushed 130 mph at the long straight. It’s great here, where on the road can you reach that speed???!” Hmmm. Yes, technically she was right
What a great day out. If you are thinking about doing it – just do it.
