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Rotors - those big fat ventilated JCW jobs (2) @ $268
Brake repair kit - with those big-*** pads to line up under those four pistons (2) @ 160
New JCW brakes - PRICELESS!
Application like silk, stable at any speed, nuanced for minor adjustments, and fierce if you need your eyeballs pinned to the windscreen. Thos Brembos were one reason I bought the car, and they are as impressive as ever.
I've never driven a better set.
Gollum is now at 129k, and still sweet as a spring wine.
Even I have my limits for maintenance expense - despite all evidence to the contrary. I discovered this today.... a postscript to the new brakes.
A week or so ago, when Gollum was so pitifully salt encrusted that the backup camera was no more than a smudge, I engaged reverse and was interrupted by a message.
"Parking assistance unavailable
Please park with care" - or some such.
Hmmm... So I cleaned the four rearward facing sensors/cameras, and crossed my fingers.
Nope - backup video is fine, red and green arcs are normal, but Ah! No yellow or red bars and beeps! Quelle dolereuse!
Imagine my having to be personally responsible for my parking, assisted only by video.
So my Crew Chief diagnosed the fault: right rear proximity sensor failure.
Yegor relayed this to me, and mentioned that the aforesaid gadget is a $547 part.
I laughed, he laughed, we laughed together.
So mothers bring your children in, as now Gollum and Charlie are parking old school.
Even I have my limits for maintenance expense - despite all evidence to the contrary. I discovered this today.... a postscript to the new brakes.
A week or so ago, when Gollum was so pitifully salt encrusted that the backup camera was no more than a smudge, I engaged reverse and was interrupted by a message.
"Parking assistance unavailable
Please park with care" - or some such.
Hmmm... So I cleaned the four rearward facing sensors/cameras, and crossed my fingers.
Nope - backup video is fine, red and green arcs are normal, but Ah! No yellow or red bars and beeps! Quelle dolereuse!
Imagine my having to be personally responsible for my parking, assisted only by video.
So my Crew Chief diagnosed the fault: right rear proximity sensor failure.
Yegor relayed this to me, and mentioned that the aforesaid gadget is a $547 part.
I laughed, he laughed, we laughed together.
So mothers bring your children in, as now Gollum and Charlie are parking old school.
What were they looking at that the cost was 5x as much as this?! Were they looking at replacing all four sensors? Or was labor for removing the bumper included?
Thanks for that. I am checking the part #. The invoice had it at $469, but no number.
Cheers,
Charlie
PS: Yegor replied quickly - at MoP the parts dept wants $230, and service wants an hour of labor. Hmmm...........
Yikes! I can't imagine its that hard to access the sensor behind the bumper to swap it out...
I just looked it up on newTIS, and I can't see it taking more than 5 minutes to swap it out. Pull the fender liner back, disconnect the harness, and swap out the sensor. Reconnect the harness, place the fender liner back, and you're done.
Ah, springtime on Cape Anne! A time where I commence to shiver at 45 degrees, not because that isn't a hell of a lot warmer than February, but due to my longing for the 60s as the days grow longer and the sun warmer.
But surrounded as we are by 45 degree water, and plagued by easterly breezes, no such luck. "April is the cruelest month..." and so forth.
But I try and help things along, so I took Gollum in to Mini of Peabody for spring love: the Falkens (still good!), an oil change (his twenty sixth!), and a full detail.
Gollum apparently panicked in the face of such goodness, and the morning I fired him up to go down to Peabody, he threw a CEL.
So the tires are great, the oil is fresh, and the car looks gorgeous.
The CEL however, which I also deferred, was due to the popular nvld flaw (the natural vacuum leak detector). Jeremy smoke tested the system, and it passed, but nonetheless the nvld is complaining that there is a tiny leak somewhere. That's $500 for parts and $700 for labor. I'll sort it out in the fall I reckon, as I don't need to pass inspecction until next year.
So onwards and sidewards, and let's go exploring..... ;-)
So at 136,500 miles Gollum has developed a new trick - he has become self healing!
The CEL associated with the NVLD (Natural Vacuum Leak Detection) system no longer appears on startup. As if that was not good enough, the Parking Sensors are now working again!
I do not know why Gollum decided to save me a couple of grand, but I certainly am grateful!
A word of caution… Our R50 threw a code about the CVT and, with that, it was struggling to change ratios and sometimes would be locked in a ratio. Then that issue went away and drove fine. It did come back, doubly bad. Thinking it was a fault in the CVT, I lined up to have it replaced. While digging in to do the replacement the dealer found the wires to the transmission had been eaten through. Hopefully, you’s are “fixed”. But, maybe, have someone look for pesky critter damage if it ever returns.
Ah early Autumn weather arrives up here in New England as Labor Day looms.
Gollum just got some love - a full detail, fresh oil, new wipers, and we reinstalled the plugs that were replaced way back at 30k miles before the dyno session.
With the CEL and the sensor warning miraculously healing themselves I avoided a couple of thousand in maintenance - THANKS Gollum!
What a delightful read this was! I stumbled in somewhere around page 17 to learn up on suspension angles and it just kept going... I now feel compelled to check the LCA angles on my SE after installing a KW V1 kit
You picked a great day for running that lap. Clear track with no one else to get in your way. And in a vintage race car! Love it… And you basically stayed on the track. Not sure what it would cost to replace a vintage race car, but I am sure it would be many $…
Nicely done!
Now gas up that MINI of yours, take the 6 - 7 hr drive and come and join me for a visit to a real race track…. I’ll be at WGI at the end of the month (27th - 29th). You’ll get to see the inner workings of a HPDE and what I do. You can also take in the racing museum, and drive the original Watkins Glen real road course that the racing was done on in the ‘40s & ‘50. Maybe take in a wine tour.
I just got back from a day at LRP. I’m pretty beat up, but happy with the fact that my butt dyno says I came very close to breaking the 1 min lap…. Finally saw one of these at the track: JCW MINI Cooper GP
You picked a great day for running that lap. Clear track with no one else to get in your way. And in a vintage race car! Love it… And you basically stayed on the track. Not sure what it would cost to replace a vintage race car, but I am sure it would be many $…
Nicely done!
Now gas up that MINI of yours, take the 6 - 7 hr drive and come and join me for a visit to a real race track…. I’ll be at WGI at the end of the month (27th - 29th). You’ll get to see the inner workings of a HPDE and what I do. You can also take in the racing museum, and drive the original Watkins Glen real road course that the racing was done on in the ‘40s & ‘50. Maybe take in a wine tour.
I just got back from a day at LRP. I’m pretty beat up, but happy with the fact that my butt dyno says I came very close to breaking the 1 min lap…. Finally saw one of these at the track: JCW MINI Cooper GP
You picked a great day for running that lap. Clear track with no one else to get in your way. And in a vintage race car! Love it… And you basically stayed on the track. Not sure what it would cost to replace a vintage race car, but I am sure it would be many $…
Nicely done!
Now gas up that MINI of yours, take the 6 - 7 hr drive and come and join me for a visit to a real race track…. I’ll be at WGI at the end of the month (27th - 29th). You’ll get to see the inner workings of a HPDE and what I do. You can also take in the racing museum, and drive the original Watkins Glen real road course that the racing was done on in the ‘40s & ‘50. Maybe take in a wine tour.
I just got back from a day at LRP. I’m pretty beat up, but happy with the fact that my butt dyno says I came very close to breaking the 1 min lap…. Finally saw one of these at the track: JCW MINI Cooper GP
OK Jon, you talked me into it - see you on the 26th.
What follows is a three part tale, which blends my digital and analog realities in a most interesting manner.
As some of you may realize, when COVID arrived in March of 2020 I did as many motorsports enthusiasts did - I migrated to the Internet using iRacing as a surrogate for the real thing. I did so having spent many years on a precursor simulation called "Grand Prix Legends" which set the bar in that genre for almost a decade. iRacing however, raised that bar, and considerably, and I am most grateful indeed!
So I've spent a few years in a virtual reality - learning tracks from all over the world, driving cars ranging from slow to blindingly fast, and sometimes sharing the track with many others.
So I've racing experience of two types now - analog experience over four decades beginning on motorcycles (Keith Code Superbike School, at Bryer and Sonoma) and migrating to four-wheelers (two decades of SCCA autocross including four trips to Nationals and five regional Class Championships in four different classes.
So the question looms lately, just how close to reality is all this digital frippery? Is iRacing representative? I've done a 1:28 lap at Watkins Glen International in a 900 hp digital beast - so what? I've done a 2:15 in the Mazda MX-5 Cup car at that same venue - so what? What possible relationship could sitting in my tired little chair in my wee flat here in Magnolia actually have to the big bad real world of car racing?
So Jon Skalwold (a.k.a Eddie07s) offered me a means of tackling this question - he issued the following challenge: " gas up that MINI of yours, take the 6 - 7 hr drive and come and join me for a visit to a real race track…. I’ll be at WGI at the end of the month (27th - 29th). You’ll get to see the inner workings of a HPDE and what I do".
So I accepted! And now follows the tale....
The iRacing View
We begin with the DIGITAL view of Watkins Glen....here's a nice slow track tour with commentary to get started...
After dinner the HPDE participants that are aiming for the OPEN Track Day tomorrow all show up and register at the track. The Genesee Valley Chapter of the BMW Car Club are our hosts (https://gvc-bmwcca.org/).
At Watkins Glen, the extensive network of internal camping areas and service roads means that on an OFF weekend (without 50-100,000 fans) Gollum and I could travel freely around the course, and enjoy good viewing areas, without wearing out what's left of my left knee (poor old knee ;-)).
Doth sh*t happen, even to these experts with their fine motor vehicles? Oh my yes it does, but not due to lack of expertise, just straight up Murphy's Law...
After ninety minutes of sweeping, blowing, lifting, towing, and grumbling we are back up to speed, and Gollum and I relocate from the Boot to the Bus Stop...
Thus Friday morning became Friday noon - and I set about sourcing a helmet as Jon (bless you sir!) and secured me a ride with one of the GVC instructors. A gentleman by the name of Greg agreed to put me in the RH seat in a Hyundai four door saloon, which both delighted me and left me rather curious about just how quick this Korean unknown might be. My only previous experience with the brand was delivering bundles of papers in winter through drifts up in New England, which left me impressed by the ability of cheap FWD to pierce drifts....
After five laps with Greg, conducted at the 2:18 pace (which I am here to inform you is BLOODY QUICK!!) I learned quite a great deal indeed, and wrapped up the whole experience in the most wonderful manner...
1. Greg is a fine driver and a delightful gentleman
2. The single most violent act during our laps was the brake applications - notably at the bus stop and turn 1. The theory of racing brake application which features MAX start and gradual trail off is my mantra in iRacing, and I've reviewed brake traces ad nauseam to ensure I was doing it properly over the last few years. On a public road it's silly of course, and not particularly safe either. On the track though WOW! I'm seated with the chair far enough forward so both feet are firmly planted on the RH firewall, and secured only with a lap belt (no 5 point on the RH side), and when Greg reached a braking point it was closer to hitting a wall than slowing down - he was on those brakes HARD!! I would go from sitting (weight on my bum) to standing (weight on my feet) four times each lap without ever having to move.
3. The second most violent act during our laps was of course the lateral G force, notably through the esses (turns 2-4) which are much more exciting than I expected. That Hyundai Elantra N with 245 mm tires worked hard up that hill, and was even more impressive on the other end of the ridge as it descended via the Carousel from the Bus Stop to the Boot. Whatever Hyundai have done it surely works - I am accustomed to cornering in excess of 1 G from racing Minis over the years, and even so this car raised my eyebrows and did so without any untidyness that I could discern.
4. The overall conclusion I am happy to report is that my experience in iRacing has been remarkably accurate with respect to predicting real world limits, behavior, and general appearance at Watkins Glen. All that is missing is the company, the violence, and the rather considerable expense.
5. The very bottom line is that I am greatly indebted to Jon Skalwold for tempting me into a fabulous road trip, and supporting me every step of the way. THANK YOU EDDIE07S.
I generally ask people who have never had a ride, at speed, on a race track whether they like roller coasters. In particular, the old school wooden ones, because this ride will be much like that. And like that roller coaster, after a ride I yet see to someone who didn’t have a grin so wide that it intersected their ears.
Also, I want to note, that Hyundai is a special, track prepped car from their “N” division. And as you said Greg is a phenomenal driver. That combination has resulted in a 2:12 PB. That is from a 260 hp street car. To put that in perspective, I have seen 2:15s with BMW M2s with really good drivers, and it takes a 992 Porsche GT3RS to break the 2:00 mark. This is also way better than my 2:21 in a basically stock 228 Hp JCW. I know, it’s all in the tires.
Beyond that, I thoroughly enjoy your company and being able to show a like enthusiast what this sport is about and why it is sometime referred to as “track crack”.
02-22-2024 | 02:49 PM
And like that roller coaster, after a ride I yet see to someone who didn’t have a grin so wide that it intersected their ears.