rmaurer

Sods law strikes again!

Was your AIM dash in track mode and recording? If so you will have a data log of a load of ECU parameters you can search through to try and identify the issue. I diagnosed a faulty yaw sensor on my car doing exactly this: You can see in the graph here my car dropping out of sport mode (blue line) to normal and the ECU Yaw flat lining at -163.8 degrees/sec of rotation (like the car was spinning) when I was travelling in a fairly straight line. You can also use the AIM to diagnose brake switch issues by looking at the brake switch output (2 of them) and also the cruise control value which triggers a fault code when the switch is not setup correctly (think it switches to value 3). Have a look through the graphs and see if you can see any odd values. Accelerator position and revs should allow you to pinpoint roughly the time when this happened as revs will stop increasing despite you pressing the accelerator... Then work back from that time period.

I had all sorts of issues removing that plug on my car (2014 V6 S) when I fitted the KomoTec gearbox cooler. Here is the plug when out (tapped and threaded for the KomoTec temp sensor): I snapped the original using a spanner to try and rotate it to free it off: In the end I bought a socket off ebay that fits any shape and used that in an impact gun to break the seal free and remove the plug:

I have the new Bridgestone Potenzas fitted to my car on lighter aftermarket wheels and have done a couple of thousand miles on them including a very cold & wet track day at Snetterton and also a dry but cold day at Donington. I also have the OEM wheels with Pilot Sport 4 on that are still fairly fresh. The Bridgestones have a much stiffer sidewall than the Michelins which makes them more responsive on turn in. They were really good on the cold wet day at Snetterton, a mate in an Elise 111R commented on how much extra grip they gave than his car in those conditions. They also performed well at Donington in the cold and dry but do suffer from the central ribs of the tyre scrubbing / tearing on the edges quite heavily when hotter so you have to be careful not to overheat them too much. Also the melted sections of tyre didn't marble but came off in long thin strands which was odd and took 30-40 miles of driving before they stopped flailing against the arch liners, not something I have experienced with any other tyre brand... Overall I am very happy with the Bridgestones as a sportier tyre over the Pilot Sport 4 which makes sense as they are intended as a Pilot Sport 4S rival. But if you do more track work then go for a more track focused tyre like Cup 2s etc.

I had to return my dash and GPS that I bought in early Feb to AIM as it had a faulty GPS module... Also worth noting I tried to fix it by applying the recent v02.34.75 firmware update but there is a bug that stops the mph speed conversion from working. You will get kph ok but mph just stays as zero on the readout. The workaround is to setup a custom field for your ECU speed using Racestudio3. AIM are aware of the v02.34.75 mph bug as I ran a few tests with their support team and they confirmed it will need a firmware update again to fix... Hopefully that won't take too long.

I have tried a few exhausts and found no way of having a decent track friendly quiet option and then noisy (and good sounding) on the road with the same system. I run a 2bular QP for track work and have the extension silencers (never needed them yet, even for Bedford). I also had a noisy 2bular valveless box as well but got bored of storing it / swapping them over (although the noise was epic!) so I just run with the quieter exhaust now... If you have storage space are handy with the spanners (it's not a difficult job), swapping between 2 exhausts is the easiest and best way to go to get the best of both worlds imho.

Great roads and great pictures! I need to get back to Wales! Where did you store your roof when removed?

That's a great idea and is very similar to the short shift modifications performed to Renault Sport Meganes! Please can you add me to the list, happy to cover any costs.

I started out at 30f 32r (psi) but after my first session (drying) these were 35f 37r so I dropped them (while hot) to 31f 33r. They would then have cooled / dropped further but seemed to give good grip over the next few sessions. I also drove home on them like this, and current (cold) pressures are 27f 29.5r which feel ok but I will probably raise a little to 28f 30r.

It was a damp start to the track evening but a dry line developed for 30-45 mins before another deluge hit so conditions were definitely changeable... I was impressed, the tyres didn't melt / marble up heavily as they heated up and managing pressures kept them in a decent zone for grip. They seem sharper to turn in than the PS4, I presume from a stiffer sidewall construction. I can't really comment how they would last if the conditions were dry and hot, but as I use my car mainly on the road in British weathers with the odd track day thrown I am very happy with them.

As a possible alternative, I have recently had the new Bridgestone Potenza Sports fitted. They are a UHP tyre rivalling the Michelin PS4S and are available in stock 17" and 18" sizes. I ran them at a Bedford track evening last Thursday (wet) and was impressed with how progressive they are in greasy and drying conditions. Here is the review that led me to them:

Sounds odd, from my understanding: - the additional camber should increase cornering grip while adding some tramlining on uneven roads... - toe out on the front should increase agility and turn in responses but also make the car feel slightly more nervous / reactive while toe in on the rear should add stability Maybe give it a spanner check to make sure everything is correctly tightened? If in doubt I would get it checked at another alignment place to confirm settings? You can normally get a free check (although I always wonder if that's because they will always find / recommend something to adjust!).

I did wonder if the display cable was internally routable - I should have popped the lid off and had a look as you did! It was very fiddly routing through the cage! I agree with the screen/frame being bulky but that's the only downside in my view, having a modern unit with Waze / Google Maps etc to hand and easy access to music / podcasts etc via CarPlay has been a big plus. I haven't noticed any issues with brightness with the roof off on sunny days... Also having physical buttons to adjust volume and not knobs is a bonus, the original Alpine was a pain to try and control on anything but the smoothest roads!

Hi Lee, I own a 2014 Exige V6 S that I bought from Hofmanns which had the TVS1900 supercharger fitted around 2 years ago by them. No problems to date! I'm in Harpenden, Herts if you are local? Happy to answer any questions on it... Ross

Thanks @ChrisJ, I can't make tomorrow unfortunately but will keep an eye out for future meets!