Sunset Red 1.4 TSI(TFSI) GT Sport - daily drive & track car

[rex]

Yup! I previously overtook in that corner but never in such a manner. Once you are committed there is only one line through there...

[rex]

2 days ago I got the car back from the painter. As I said, I had a full respray and I also changed the windshield because it had many small scratches.
So the car is looking as good as ever.
 

Also had a geometry check and it looks like only the hub was affected by the crash so it should feel as good as ever.
I consider myself very fortunate to have so little damages and the repairs were relatively cheap (it could have been much, much worse).
 

And a few days ago I also bought some photos from this years' Nurburgring trip. Here they are:











Thanks for watching!
 

[woahnowboys]

Great pictures, love the cocked wheel in the second picture
Show us the new paint!

[rich83]

Nice 3 wheel action there rex!!

[fuscobal]

Beautiful pics Rex   

[Matto]

Some great photos Rex. I definitely think the tripod one should be in next years calendar 

I'm certain its my favourite colour too...after shadow blue of course 

[rex]

Great pictures, love the cocked wheel in the second picture
Show us the new paint!

Thank you!
I like that photo too!
Here is the new paint:





Still sunset red because I really love this color :).
Those are 16 inch rims with winter tires (thin tires, thin rim, large offset) so the car isn't quite looking it's best.

Nice 3 wheel action there rex!!

Thank you Rich!

Beautiful pics Rex   

Thank you, my friend!

Some great photos Rex. I definitely think the tripod one should be in next years calendar 

I'm certain its my favourite colour too...after shadow blue of course 

Thank you Matto!
Ha ha... The color is a matter of taste, I love your color but I love the sunset red better (that is a good thing because if it was the other way around we would be 2 very frustrated people)!
I didn't want to say anything in the calendar topic but I think your photo is amazing! Both car and scenery look breathtaking. I could stare at that photo for hours! Well done !
P.S. I like the November 2013 photo also!

 

[benj1989]

Easily my favourite thread on here.  Shame about the crash but you'll no next time.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

[jonnym]

Some wicked tracks photos there!!!

[rex]

Easily my favourite thread on here.  Shame about the crash but you'll no next time.

Thank you very much! 
Yup, hopefully I learned my lesson and I won't ever be so aggressive with other cars around.

Some wicked tracks photos there!!!

Thank you! 

And I have bought one from 2011 as well:



No roll cage, OEM seats, OEM fenders and different wheels. But I still think she looks good  .

[jonnym]

Every time we take our cars on track we learn something it is a big part of why we enjoy driving. Sometimes those lessons are painful but we are still learning.   

I have a set of rules that I try my utmost not to break. I remind myself of these on the way to the track and every Time I strap my self in the car.  My main rule is to remind myself constantly of my limitations and not forget where my talent runs out. It takes discipline  as I know I could be a lot faster.

You need to stop being so tough on yourself, you only made a mistake of judgement. 

That is excellent TC, something some drivers don't heed enough and somehow get away it, not through their skill, but the action of other drivers and the vehicle itself.

Rex your crash as you say, maybe egging it on slightly but critical evaluation is the way forward, and the sign of an excellent driver is one that goes "yep shouldn't have done that, lets look at how to improve". You say your car wasn't 100% so that's something else to consider. At work, none of our vehicles have cameras, but they do have data loggers. I've started putting my gopro in so when i'm blatting up to jobs, if their is something I didn't like or maybe I wasn't sure on driving wise, I can always have a look and cross check with the data logger. Definately helped me control the car better (and indeed my own). Crucial both on the track, and vital in my case on public roads with traffic around and i'm exceeding the limit potentially overtaking etc - not to mention the implications on the person that's called the ambulance.

[rex]

Top advice! 
And you just gave me an idea for watching the engine/car parameters. I'll tell you guys about it once/if I have it implemented.

[rex]

Yesterday I had the Romanian version of MOT and so the car got weighed... 1420 KG (with 100kg driver and a full tank of gas)!!!  
I had some tools and the spare wheel so, I on track, with me driving, the car weighs ~ 1370 kg. Pretty much if you ask me, especially with my power...
I have to lose some weight but I will not strip down the car. I will buy a lightweight battery and maybe, when I have the money, a carbon hood.  

 

[rex]

I've been having some battery problems lately so, I decide that the original batter has done it's job (6 years in service) and now it was time to search for a replacement.
Firstly, based on many of the reviews on this forum, I wanted to get a Odyssey ER 30 battery (most of you Odyssey owner have the ER 40 variant).
But, I came to the conclusion that it was not really what I wanted for a number of reasons:
1. The OEM battery weighed 13 kg so the weight reduction would be slim (and I would have to create a restraining mechanism for the new one and that would add to the weight).
2. I would need to buy the battery, a charger and maybe another battery cover (since I want everything to look as OEM as possible) and that would get the cost to ~ 300 GBP.
3. I would need to have an adapter from M6 stud to SAE fitting because I didn't want to have the wires messed with. And it is very hard to find a M6 stud to SAE adapter.
4. Since the roll bar installation the car had some weight added to the rear axle. Based on the last trackdays behavior I am afraid not to make the front end to light.

So I decided to buy the best Varta/ Bosch battery for my car. I installed a Varta Silver Dynamic C6 52Ah 520A battery:



It weighs 12.4 kg so it is a little bit lighter than the OEM one:



And the cost was about 1/5 of the Odyssey batter + charger cost.  
So I am very happy to have some extra cash to put into the next mods (hopefully some Aero mods).

Thanks for watching!  

[rex]