03/01/03 Alfa track day at PIR. The first track day for the season, and number 19 overall for the Elise. It rained for several days before the event, but morning brought clear skies and chilly but rising temperature. The first session was run on a still-wet track and I decided to sit that one out (the track is a favorite hangout for geese, so I was also hoping that the other cars would clean the goose crap from the track - which they did).

In the next session it was still a bit cold but the track was drying quickly. Was taking it pretty easy and couldn't get any heat into the tires. But as the day went on I picked up the pace gradually and started getting back into the rhythm. I love the new gearbox ratios. Now I'm shifting into 5th midway down the straights, whereas before I never used 5th on the track at all. The car stays in the powerband everywhere on the track and is very satisfying to drive. I was taking it easy on the brakes, as my front pads and rotors were just about gone - and in fact I had to cut the last session a couple laps short when I finally ran out of pads (since I was expecting it this wasn't much of a problem). I already have the replacement parts so now it's just a matter of putting them on. There was also the telltale fuel smell when the tank was half-empty, meaning that I really ought to address the spillage problem. Right now I have a catch can with fuel cell foam which at least keeps it contained. So overall quite pleased but work remains. Also the tires probably have just a couple more track days left on them so I have to start thinking about that too...

As always, a lot of neat machinery showed up. I got a ride in a really cool race-prepped Jag, driven by a gentleman who's been racing longer than I've been alive :)

The driver of a full-race original Mini told me that her street 'new' MINI Cooper S was the closest car to the original that she's ever driven. Which is a great compliment for the new car I think.

Looking under the hood of some cars at the track shows quite a bit of variety:

Overall, a great event and an excellent start to the season. A quick video (7.5M) sums it up.

Looking forward to more.

03/08/03 Replaced front rotors and pads, at 4300 miles. The car is now on the third set of front pads. The rear is still on its first set of rotors and second set of pads.

The old pads were pretty far gone. The rotors, while still straight, were worn down to where the holes had no radius left and were grooved a bit as well. Since drilled rotors should not be resurfaced replacement was called for. The stock units work quite well on the car but are a bit heavy. The next set will be aftermarket with aluminum center section to save weight and help with heat control (not that the latter has really been any kind of a problem on the Elise). In contrast to many other parts, the front brakes on the Elise are really easy to work on and everything is very accessible. It is even possible to bleed the brakes with the wheels on, without jacking up the car! It was almost a joy to do it, especially with memories of the gearbox swap still vivid.

05/23/03 Lotus track day at PIR. It actually became two track days in a way, since in the morning I ran the Elise (3 sessions) and in the afternoon the Westie (another 3 sessions). As usual, lots of fun cars showed up.

Don't often see Esprits at track days, to say nothing of RHD Aston Martins.

The new Elise brakes work well albeit loudly. And while the Elise was fun, the Westie is just a whole other world - see video. Quite a day.

06/03/03 Clean car day. First cleaned and waxed the M Coupe to get all the track grime and rubber marks off it, then did same for the Elise, then 748 - and of course had to take some gratuitous pictures.

The car ran quite well at the last track day, and really the only thing that still requires attention is the fuel spillage problem. The rest of it seems to be up-to-date. Of course it will probably be a while before it sees track duty again since the Mini will get the next couple outings.