Karen Phillips Racing

"Mind the Doors!"

noreply@blogger.com (The Nippon Challenge) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:10:00 +0000

Following the damage at the Silverstone race meeting there was a fair list of items required to repair Rexy: Four doors, a driver's front wing, driver's sidelight and driver's side indicator and repeater indicator, and some side skirting. On top of this, some repairs were required to the driver's side rear arch. Unfortunately this meant missing the next event at Cadwell whilst the repairs were completed.

Karen's sponsors XSpec Motorsport secured some second hand parts and Richard collected these and set about the repairs. The doors were fitted without any real drama other than the need for some wiring in the driver's door that needed sorting to correctly run in line with the alarm system and lock the doors without setting it off! It had been decided to save money by leaving the doors and door mirrors in the silver of the donor car. This made Karen's car easier to recognise at a distance on track.

Richard then painted the front wing in a matching blue and finished it with some lacquer. It was then fitted without any trouble.

Darren's pit helper Scott was drafted in to do the repairs on the rear arch, given that his trade is panel beater. He made a fantastic job of it which Richard then painted and lacquered.

All that remained was the application of the racing decals and Rexy was fighting fit again ready for Snetterton.

The more eagle-eyed of you may spot the side skirts are missing. Richard decided they just weren't worth replacing and so he tidied up each sill and plugged the holes used for attaching the skirts with small rubber grommets.

Race Report - Silverstone 6th June

noreply@blogger.com (The Nippon Challenge) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:39:00 +0000

When Silverstone gets wet, its surface gets very slippery and unfortunately it was very wet for race day! Conditions were awful and Karen had more than one moment of drama during the qualifying session.

Images copyright Lance Wittenberg, used with kind permission.
All the Subaru Cup runners use the Silverstone FTZ Type RR tyre which is essentially a dry weather tyre and very slick. All of them experienced a near total lack of grip and terrible trouble with large bodies of standing water. Despite this, Karen qualified in 16th position, less than a second behind fellow Subaru Cup racer Martin White and halfway up a field of 32 cars.

Silverstone offered to cut extra grooves in the tyres to try and improve grip. Karen’s spare tyres were duly cut in this fashion and Richard braved the elements and swapped them onto the car. Tyre pressure was also reduced in an effort to find more compliance in the tyre which might help retain control.

Conditions for Race 1 were still treacherous. So much so, that Karen’s recollections of the race were very hazy due to so much happening. The most memorable moment however, was having got in front of Martin she led him into Luffield when he unintentionaly nudged the rear inside of the back of her car and spent them both spinning out. Normally it wouldn't have been a problem but due to the low grip conditions it caught them out. Martin recovered more quickly and got ahead. Karen finished in 17th position. Sam Maher-Loughnan, Alix Thompson and Martin took the Subaru Cup podium positions. Karen was next, ahead of Darren who was having terrible trouble with his windscreen misting up.

Images copyright Lance Wittenberg, used with kind permission.
The rain had stopped before Race 2, but there was still an awful lot of water on the circuit. As the leaders headed into Copse things started to go awry! Karen arrived there to find cars at all angles across the circuit and as she tried to avoid the Honda Accord of Andre Severs, he reversed into her. This knocked her into the path of Andy McLennan’s Swift which battered the other side of her Impreza!

Images copyright Lance Wittenberg, used with kind permission.
Karen continued on, and tried to get a bead on the disturbed handling of her car. The damage had bent the front wing down onto the driver’s front wheel causing her problems. This was partly responsible for a spin when she reached Luffield. She was now more or less last and had to chase after the GT150 MR2’s. As she began to get through them she spotted Adrian Howells going AWOL on the grass by the inside of Maggotts. Karen was now catching up to Darren who went wide through Brooklands and managed to keep the car going through the gravel to reappear going into Luffield. Karen wanted to chase him hard down the straight but was baulked by an un-gentlemanly move by Dallas Jackson’s GT200 MR2. Karen quickly resolved this and was soon hot on Darren’s heels again. They were close through Brooklands and Luffield but as they went through Copse Karen tried to sneak through on the inside as Darren had taken a wider line. He tightened his line slightly and Karen lifted off. Thanks to the conditions and being on the painted kerbing, the back end broke away and she span out into the pit exit lane. Cars streamed past and she was back behind the GT150’s again! This time her recovery was much quicker and it wasn’t long before she was once again dealing with the enigma that is Dallas Jackson. The front runners were now lapping as Karen got past Dallas and as she entered Brooklands she was forced to stand on the brakes as the race leader had spun to a halt in front if her. With cars around her she had nowhere to go and prayed she would stop in time! Luckily this was the case, but now she had to recover lost places all over again, including overtaking Dallas. This she managed to do and despite all the drama and running with a slightly hobbled car she finished in 15th position overall. Unfortunately, she was totally out of contention for the Subaru Cup podium spots.

Images copyright Lance Wittenberg, used with kind permission.
When Karen returned to the paddock, she was very surprised to find a good chunk of Andre’s pink rear bumper sticking out of the side of her car and also of the damage to the passenger side of the car. That damage was also an unwelcome revelation to Richard who’d been spectating from the inside of the circuit!

Nippon Challenge Silverstone 06/06/09 Race 2 from Richard Senter on Vimeo.

Race Report - Pembrey 16/17th May

noreply@blogger.com (The Nippon Challenge) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 10:36:00 +0000

Nippon Challenge Pembrey 16th & 17th May 2009 from Richard Senter on Vimeo.

Despite dire warnings of heavy rain for South Wales on Saturday, Pembrey was more or less dry on the first day of racing. Due to a Caterham sprint event in the morning, Karen and her friends were able to have a comparatively long lie-in and enjoy a hearty full breakfast at their B&B before arriving at the circuit to find that scrutineering seemed to have started earlier than expected!

It was a good job too, as it turned out. Karen's was the first of the Subaru Cup cars to enter scrutineering and they weren't happy about the amount of thread (not) showing through some of the nuts on the rollcage and the presence of a video camera. The camera was removed and they warned us over the bolt length but provided her with a ticket to allow her to race. Following Subaru Cup cars were much less fortunate, as the scrutineers took umbrage at the fact their cages weren't fitted with door bars. It took a couple of hours until the situation was finalised by the Clerk of the Course (CofC) overriding their ruling and giving the go ahead for the cars to race. (The safety regulations for this class of car does say that door bars are optional, after all!)

Qualification began with the track showing the odd damp area and shallow puddle. Things seemed to go well and Karen looked pretty quick. Unfortunately after a handful of laps, her friend Darren's Subaru Cup car expired and he wouldn't take any part in the weekend of racing. Martin White's 'Cup car was giving him some cause for concern with erratic handling traits too. Towards the end of the session, Karen got a little bogged down behind a group of cars but in the end she qualified really well. She was placed 9th overall, being only a second behind the experienced racer and instructor Sam Maher-Loughnan and a couple of tenths behind Martin.

Race 1 began with Karen not getting her usual lightning fast start, but she clawed back places and was hunting down Martin’s Impreza. Martin span out and Karen pounced on the opportunity to pass Andre Severs ex-touring car Honda Accord. This now put her 2nd in the Subaru Cup behind Sam and easily within the top 10 overall. As she passed the pit wall though, she was presented with a black flag showing what looked like her racing number! Having not been involved in any incidents, she assumed she'd mis-read the number and continued racing. Next time around she dumbfounded to realise it was her number, and began to slow allowing other cars to pass as she made her way back around to the pits. She was sent to the CofC who told her a grid marshal had spotted that her right sleeve was considered too low down her arm and that for safety reasons she'd been called in. Why on earth it couldn't have been resolved on the grid is beyond anyone with an ounce of sense. Karen's race was ruined. We thought it was a DNF, but in fact she was classified as finishing 16th, which would have consequences for the following races…

Karen's 16th place in Race 1 would mean she started in that grid position for Race 2. Obviously she was now quite a way down from the front running Subaru Cup cars and behind new 'Cup driver Adrian Howells. Karen and Adrian were now surrounded by GT150 and GT200 class MR2s. Again, Karen didn't enjoy her usual fast start and ended up bogged down behind the mk2 MR2 of Dallas Jackson who can prove difficult to overtake safely despite the power advantage. As a consequence of this Karen was being harried by novice driver Mark Thomas in his mk1 MR2. In lap 3, Karen came through Spitfires and was moving right to take her line ready for the left hander of Dibeni when Mark tried to drive around her on the outside! One of Mark's wheels locked up Karen's right rear wheel and began to spin the Impreza. Mark's car then continued forwards to collect the Impreza's nose. Both cars ended up on the grass on the infield. Parts of the bumper were now fouling the front wheel and Karen's race was over.

When Karen returned to the pits Darren immediately sprang into action and had restored much of the bumper back to a decent condition by the time Richard had returned from the outside of the circuit. Between them they then managed to fix the bumper back in position and restore the under-bumper plastic shielding back into place. It was typical that they were caught in a brief shower of rain whilst doing so! The sun soon came out though, and Richard took the opportunity to replace the rear brake pads to save doing so on Sunday which was supposed to be very wet.

An incredibly frustrating day that should have seen Karen fighting for top honours in the Subaru Cup instead saw her with nothing to show for all her hard work. With Darren not managing to race either, it was a subdued evening for everyone as they ended up having a few drinks and some fish & chips or pizza back at the B&B watching the Eurovision Song Contest. A decent sleep, a fantastic breakfast and a bit of sunshine lifted everyone's spirits ready for the final race of the weekend on Sunday. Once again, Karen was to start from 16th on the grid but she was determined to be able to finish this race and claim as many scalps as possible in the process.

As the race start approached, it began to rain lightly. Thankfully, this race went more or less to plan with Karen making good progress through the field to the delight of her supporters. Karen finished 3rd in the Subaru Cup and 8th overall. A fantastic result given her start in 16th place, and finally some success following the miserable day before.

Japanese Performance Magazine

noreply@blogger.com (The Nippon Challenge) — Wed, 06 May 2009 10:20:00 +0000

Japanese Performance magazine will now be covering the MR2 Racing, Nippon Challenge and Subaru Cup. Please keep an eye out for this fantastic magazine carrying race reports and phtotographs of all the action from these exctiting race series.

June's issue should contain the report from Snetterton and possibly from Pembrey as well. Here's hoping the coverage encourages more people to join the series and more spectators too.

Details of stockists and subscriptions can be found here:
www.japaneseperformancemagazine.co.uk

Oils Well...

noreply@blogger.com (The Nippon Challenge) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:32:00 +0000

Our engine and gearbox oils and oil filters arrived from Opie Oils. So Richard also sourced some Redline Water Wetter, some sump plug washers and some plumbers PTFE tape in anticipation of changing all Rexy's oils.

He also bought a new sump plug with a super strong magnet:

So on Saturday... Having inspected the current engine oil, it was in far too good a condition to warrant changing it! It'll be done as a matter of course after Pembrey. When the new sump plug will be used and the original will be kept as a spare.

The gearbox oil swap was easy and straightforward. Richard noticed there was some swarf on the plug, but nothing too bad. The gearshift quality didn't seem to have changed at all. We'll see what happens at Pembrey. However, the rear diff oil swap was a little troublesome thanks to not being able to undo either the fill or drain plugs! Richard tried again with a new plan on Sunday morning and all came good. Thanks to needing the car level on the ground, access was tricky and he ended up having to use a big syringe to get the oil into the diff. Another time consuming and uncomfortable job.

Richard then used a very fine blade on an angle grinder to cut sections in the return flange of each rear arch. His step-father Terry then used his bodyworking skills and tools to bend them all back out of the way and we used some seam sealer to keep them in place and treat them. Richard has just got to let that dry and then he'll paint over it with some black Hammerite or underseal.

When removing the rear wheels to facilitate the rear arch work, Richard noticed a carbuncle in the sidewall of one of the Silverstone tyres! They've all lasted really well and we were looking forward to using them at Pembrey, but now we'll be using our other (so far unused) set. We'll discuss the problem with Silverstone Tyres, but we'll probably have to buy a new tyre!

What? Wetter Water?

noreply@blogger.com (The Nippon Challenge) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:06:00 +0000

In an effort to help Rexy keep it's cool, we're going to add some Redline Water Wetter to the coolant system. It's supposed to help by reducing the coolant temperatures and this has been proven in independent tests. Every little bit helps, after all...

New Sponsor: Opie Oils!

noreply@blogger.com (The Nippon Challenge) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 11:41:00 +0000

Opie Oils specialises in the distribution of quality oils and lubricants. They sell one of the most comprehensive ranges of quality engine oils and automotive lubricants available anywhere in the UK from manufacturers including Fuchs, Silkolene, Castrol, Mobil, MOTUL, Redline and Amsoil.

Opie Oils sell oil for all makes of cars and motorcycles, from the most modern super cars to vintage and veteran cars and motorcycles. Their range covers mineral monogrades to super high tech race synthetics!

They also sell Brembo Brake Parts, Denso performance Spark Plugs, UFI Filters and other performance upgrades.

Opie Oils offer excellent discounts to Members of Car/Motorcycle Clubs and Forums with whom they are associated and also have an extensive trade selection for businesses. They have kindly agreed to sponsor Karen, so expect to see her car with new Opie Oils livery at Pembrey in mid-May.

If you need any oil for your car or motorcycle then don't hesitate in visiting their excellent website: www.opieoils.co.uk

Race Report: Snetterton 4th April

noreply@blogger.com (The Nippon Challenge) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 18:45:00 +0000

Snetterton saw the 1st race meeting of the Nippon Challenge in 2009, now also containing the Subaru Cup in which Karen was competing. The Subaru Cup had four entries which would be driving against themselves and the various other Nippon cars for overall honours.

Karen came back in from qualifying complaining of power problems when exiting the Russell Chicane and trying to power up the main straight. After discussing the problem with her it became apparent that she may have been hanging on to the revs too long and the rev-limiter was cutting in. Changing up at about 6000rpm seemed to solve this problem for the rest of the day.

Image copyright Lance Wittenberg, used with kind permission
When the timesheets were published, we discovered that Karen had qualified in 14th place from a field of 23 cars. Quite prophetic, given her racing number is 14! That put her as the last of the Subaru Cup cars but ahead of the poorly GT500 Subaru of Stuart Ward.

Karen got a brilliant start in Race 1 and got the drop on Martin White and Darren Hughes, but as she pulled alongside Darren she had a little trouble finding 3rd gear. Darren got ahead and Karen had to follow him closely until Sear corner where she got a chance to accelerate past him up the straight and ahead into the Esses. That's how things stayed until Karen suffered another gear problem into Sear corner for the second time. She went for 3rd and got 5th instead, allowing Darren and Miles to shoot past. That's pretty much how things remained for the rest of the race, but later on Karen was driving around Coram corner when she spotted Darren facing the wrong way on the in-field. Thus she finished 3rd in the Subaru Cup, behind Miles Hulford and Martin White. Martin and Miles had a brilliant battle, with Martin taking the win. Karen was 11th Overall in the Nippon Challenge.

Again in Race 2, Karen got a great start and would have definitely overhauled Darren, but her start was totally ruined by an inability to find 3rd gear and then any gear for a while! She was overtaken by just about every other car in the field and had to begin an exciting recovery drive...

First to be passed was Jason Jesse in his MR2 mk1, then the MR2 mk1 of Nick Reed. Half a lap later it was the MR2 mk1 of Gareth Newton and the Subaru Impreza of David Williams. Next up were the squabbling MR2 mk2's of Nick Jones and Dallas Jackson. Later on she passed the ailing Honda Civic of Richard Johnson. She was determined to catch up with the Subaru Cup cars, and was hunting down Darren who's car was fighting him around each corner due to damage from his off in Race 1. She didn't have enough laps though, and finished up just a few tenths of a second behind him. That put her in 4th place for the Subaru Cup and 9th overall in the Nippon Challenge. Congratulations to Martin for another Subaru Cup win, and to Darren for a well deserved 3rd place!

Karen had a really enjoyable day's racing. She had fun chatting with all the racers in the paddock and the Silverstone Tyres crew, and was thrilled to get her podium place in Race 1 for which she received a lovely trophy!

Image copyright Lance Wittenberg, used with kind permission
Karen would like to thank Silverstone Tyres for their sponsorship of the Subaru Cup, and XSpec Motorsport for their hard work in preparing her car for the racing. She's really looking forward to the next event at Pembrey in May, and hopefully by then Richard will have improved the gear shift so she can give the other 'Cup racers a proper run for their money.

Rexy's Really Ready.

noreply@blogger.com (The Nippon Challenge) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:51:00 +0000

Rexy is now complete and ready to race at Snetterton this coming Saturday 4th April. A few minor jobs remain like swapping the road wheels/tyres over for racing the racing items and when we're actually at the circuit we'll also remove the number plates. Otherwise, all we need is a decent slug of super-unleaded and it's ready to get stuck into the Nippon Challenge/Subaru Cup!

It's going to be really interesting to see how such a standard car compares against some of the other machines out for the Nippon Challenge. This is going to be great...

XSpec to the Rescue!

noreply@blogger.com (The Nippon Challenge) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 20:41:00 +0000

XSpec Motorsport came to Karen's rescue by removing Rexy's engine and replacing the head gaskets. It seems the previous gaskets fitted were faulty. Both were leaking with the turbo side of the engine suffering worst.

Graham and Alix had some help where possible from Darren and Richard. The engine was removed and the gaskets were replaced, but this time with metal cometic type ones. Richard replaced the intercooler core with a better condition item and also replaced some boost pipes with SFS Silicon versions. Everything was then reassembled and the engine was slotted back in. The oil was replaced and the coolant topped up carefully. It fired up without problem and soon settled down to a steady idle.

Richard tried the car on the local roads and then it was given a power run on the rolling road whilst Graham listened carefully for any sign of detonation. No problems were encountered and Rexy made a healthy 186bhp at the wheels!

Karen would like to thank Graham and Alix for all their hard work and generosity. Here's hoping there will be no more problems with the engine and Karen will have a trouble free start to the season at Snetterton on the 4th April.

Silverstone Test Day 27/02/09

noreply@blogger.com (The Nippon Challenge) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 12:48:00 +0000

Karen had her first chance to try Rexy on the Silverstone FTZ type RR controlled tyres on a practice day at the Silverstone circuit. (Oooh, spooky!). As the tyres were being fitted on the wheels there and then, she went out on the first session on some road tyres.

Unfortunately, within a handful of laps, the car was spitting out its coolant again. Otherwise, Karen was happy with the performance despite the old tyres and road specification brake pads. She comfortably managed some lap times in the 1:17 bracket.

The next session saw her using a set of the Silverstone tyres. Tentatively at first, she built up confidence in them to post 1:16 times. Whilst still being very mindful of the coolant and brakes issues.

During the lunch break, Graham Poultney of XSpec suggested lowering the boost to see if that prevented coolant loss. He did a quick swap-over with some boost hosing and Karen went back out in the afternoon only having 0.6 Bar of boost instead of a peak of 1.1 Bar. The coolant was still coming out, but her lap times were still consistently in the 1:16's.

It looks like Rexy's engine is going to have to come out for an inspection of the Head Gaskets to probably replace them and figure out a root cause for the problems we're having. Here's hoping it's resolved in time for the first race meeting at Snetterton... On a lighter note, it looks like Karen's getting more at home with Rexy and a healthy engine, XSpec brake pads and further practice will see her being very competitive in the Subaru Cup!

Darren Hughes - Racing Driver...

noreply@blogger.com (The Nippon Challenge) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 21:57:00 +0000

Congratulations to Darren who passed his ARDS test at Castle Combe circuit on Thursday 19th February. Darren's now organised to race in the Subaru Cup against Karen this season. We wish him well, but not too well!

Looks like this season is going to be real fun with a great bunch of drivers and an interesing mix of cars in the Nippon Challenge incorporating the Subaru Cup. It's just a shame I'll be missing a mate to chat with during the racing, as he'll be out there himself.

Pull!

noreply@blogger.com (The Nippon Challenge) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 21:43:00 +0000

Darren and Richard have been working hard lately to finish the mandatory safety requirements on Rexy. Darren finished wiring the electrical cut-out and Richard had done all the plumbing and nozzle location for the fire extinguisher. Following this, they organised the pull-cable location in the scuttle panel and Richard organised the fixture of the pulls within the cabin.

Rexy will be used in this format at a test day at Silverstone on Friday 27th February. Following this, we'll be fitting some rollcage door bars and a good deal of rollcage padding. Another interesing development at Silverstone will be the fitting of the new Ultralite alloy wheels wearing the control tyres.

Cool Runnings...

noreply@blogger.com (The Nippon Challenge) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 12:57:00 +0000

The weekend saw a number of jobs done on Rexy despite the freezing temperatures. After the coolant issue at Rockingham, I drained the coolant and replaced the coolant hoses with new SFS silcon items. New coolant was mixed and the system filled carefully. The car was warmed up and I checked the levels topping up where necessary, ensuring the fans kicked in where required. The car is currently fitted with a decent reservoir cap from my road car Impreza. Once happy, The car was taken for a good hard drive before being parked up immediately and left running. There were only a couple of little bubbles that appeared in the expansion tank, but certainly none of the frothing and over-flowing that had been seen before. Here's hoping the problem is solved.

I removed the driver's seat and drilled a hole through the floor for an eye-bolt fixing. This was secured with a small steel spreader plate underneath the car. The 5th harness strap was then clipped in and the seat replaced.

Finally, whilst snow was falling heavily outside on Sunday evening, I was in the garage fettling the new centre console panel. It's now fitted with the electrical cut-out switch and a guide bracket for the pull-cable. It's also got the extinguisher pull-cable and rain light switch fitted. The panel and bracket now need painting and the application of the required stickers and it can be fitted into the car.

Rexy Rocks!

noreply@blogger.com (The Nippon Challenge) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:57:00 +0000

The gang went to Rockingham on Saturday 31st January to try the new and improved Rexy on track for the first time. Unfortunately, he disgraced himself by spitting out a fair amount of coolant. We'll be trying to sort that out when the weather improves. Another annoying problem was that our new camcorder had a habit of shutting down after only a few seconds on track. This meant no in-car footage and I'm left wondering if it's due to excessive vibration. That will have to be sorted out as well!

Apart from that, Karen enjoyed the handling of the car and the almost total lack of body-roll. Grip from the old Bridgestone tyres was better than expected. There was some minor tyre rub against the body of the car, but this may have been peculiar to Rockingham thanks to its blend of crests, dips and camber. Braking seemed pretty good despite using some standard front pads. With the cooling issue sorted, Rexy has real potential to be a terrific race car.

Happy Trails and Boost Bothers.

noreply@blogger.com (The Nippon Challenge) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 12:49:00 +0000

Rexy received a present this weekend in the form of a trailer. This was bought from our friend John Wilson who was upgrading to a more modern trailer. Our new trailer has integral ramps which are so much easier to use than our previous one. Rexy is now parked up on the trailer ready for towing to Rockingham on Saturday 31st January.

Not sure he deserves a present though, as he's disgraced himself lately by activating his Check Engine Light! (CEL). Having read the diagnostic code, it seems the problem is a gummed up boost solenoid. apparently a common fault, this should hopefully be rectified by spraying a brake cleaner aerosol into it whilst it's switching on/off in a special test mode. Here's hoping it does the trick.

Gathering Momentum.

noreply@blogger.com (The Nippon Challenge) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 17:50:00 +0000

On Saturday, Richard and David attended the Autosport International show. They met a few old faces and managed to haggle some deals. Ending up with a load of edging trim, some bonnet pins and boot springs, cable pulls and an FIA Master cut-out switch.

On Sunday, Darren and Richard completed the swap of the rear brake discs for new items and the fitting of the rear HEL braided brake lines. The entire brake system was systematically bled and things were looking good. The edging trim was used on the sharp edges now left on the door apertures after removing the interior trim. They also applied yellow tape to the battery earth lead. Richard now has the task of testing the brakes on the forthcoming Saturday.

Today, Richard put in an order for turbo and coolant silicon hose kits with SFS Performance. This was thanks to organising a 25% discount with one of their reps at the Autosport International show. To see their extensive range of kits and individual hoses and connectors, please visit www.sfsperformance.co.uk

Karen's new 5 point Sabelt harness and Lifeline 2000 extinguisher kit arrived by courier today from Peter Lloyd Rallying. This means they can fit the new harness at the weekend and begin sorting out positioning and plumbing of the extinguisher. Please check out www.peterlloydrallying.co.uk

'Charging Off to Pastures New!

noreply@blogger.com (The Nippon Challenge) — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 21:40:00 +0000

The Supercharger has now been collected by its new owner Rob Jeffries, who's already raced in the Nippon Challenge in his MR2 MK1. Rob is planning to convert the Supercharger to have the 2 litre turbo engine and LSD originally from a MK2 MR2 Turbo. The car will then compete in the GT250 class. Such power and torque in a light car should see Rob being very competitive in that class and hopefully also against contenders in the GT300 and GT500 classes.

It'll be great to see the car still competing and we hope it brings him success. As long as it doesn't keep overtaking Karen's WRX!

Subaru Cup Tyre Sponsor Announced.

noreply@blogger.com (The Nippon Challenge) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 14:04:00 +0000

The Subaru Cup will be sponsored by Silverstone Tyres. The control tyre for the 'Cup will be the Silverstone FTZ type RR as pictured below:

Silverstone Tyres will also be supplying on-site and technical support at each event. We're looking forward to getting a couple of sets of these tyres fitted as early as possible next year to see what they're like and for Karen to become accustomed to their characteristics on track.

The new tyres will be fitted onto the Ultralite Atec alloy wheels. Sizes to be used will probably be 215/45 x 17". Here's hoping they're also good in the wet as well as dry conditions!

Christmas Comes Early!

noreply@blogger.com (The Nippon Challenge) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 10:54:00 +0000

Whilst collecting some new rear brake discs from XSpec Motorsport, Richard was delighted when Graham also made a present of a set of XSpec high performance front brake pads for Karen's car! Many thanks to Graham and the continued sponsorship from XSpec Motorsport. We hope that Karen and her XSpec logo'd Impreza WRX will make you proud next year.

Currently, Rexy needs the rear brake lines and brake discs replacing and once that is complete it'll be time to check out the operation of the entire braking system. If all is well, we can start looking for some trackday practice early in the new year.

Nippon Challenge 2008 Video

noreply@blogger.com (The Nippon Challenge) — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 16:42:00 +0000

Sitting Pretty.

noreply@blogger.com (The Nippon Challenge) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 12:30:00 +0000

Despite some bad weather over the weekend, a decent amount was achieved on preparing Rexy. Our friend David had come to stay for the weekend, and Darren also turned up to help work on the car.

On Saturday, having serviced David's Forester Turbo, we swapped the wheels on Rexy for the set of Sti 17" ones lent to us by Darren. These were secured with some natty looking lightweight blue wheelnuts.

Karen, David and I then took the opportunity to try Rexy out with his new boots. David was certainly very impressed, having never driven such a powerful car before. Karen and I were very happy with the upgrade.

Next on the list of things to do was swap out the standard Driver's seat and install the pair of racing bucket seats. Once that was done, a spare (non-MSA legal) Sabelt harness was fixed into position for the passenger seat. The Driver's side is still using the standard inertia-reel item until we get a race legal 5-point Sabelt harness soon.

Sunday saw Darren take charge of the brake upgrade. With the new coilovers and wheel package, we could now fit the larger XSpec 295mm discs and 4-pot calipers. the flexible brake lines were also replaced with the HEL braided lines in a fancy electric blue finish.

For now we fitted some half-worn pads from my own Impreza Turbo road car. We're probably going to use CarboTech XP8 pads when we come to use the car in anger on track. The passenger side gave us some concern as the nut on the end of the fixed brake pipe didn't want to come off and it was just beginning to round off. After several different methods of removing it were tried and failed, David and Darren visited Halfords and returned with a proper brake pipe spanner in 10mm. This had very little trouble in allowing the pipe to be disconnected from the old flexible line and onto the new one.

Only the rear brake discs and flexible lines need replacing and then the entire system will need bleeding. Then we can carefully check the brakes work properly. it looks like Christmas will see Rexy with lots of presents: Extinguisher kit, electrical cut-out, vinyl graphics, etc!

Rexy's Return Home.

noreply@blogger.com (The Nippon Challenge) — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 12:51:00 +0000

Having just returned from a great holiday in the 'States, Karen and I made our way to XSpec in Hinkley with bleary eyes on Saturday morning. Graham gave us a warm welcome with hot drinks and chat. Lots of good news on Karen's WRX and a bill that wasn't as extensive as we'd feared!

Rexy is now MOT'd for another 12 months which will come in handy getting used to how it performs and for wearing in new tyres. We don't currently have a trailer so at least we can still move it around legally and get it to trackdays, etc.

Work done included MOT preparation, fitting an uprated fuel pump, fitting and setting the geometry for the XSpec Coilovers, fitting the rollcage, supplying new XSpec brake discs and finally getting the power checked/set on the rolling road. Headline figures were 203bhp & 192 lbs/ft at 4500rpm at the wheels! (Putting engine power somewhere in the region of 270bhp which is good for a WRX of that age).

I drove Rexy home in convoy with Karen who drove my 1999 UK model Impreza Turbo. I'd never really noticed before much difference between Impreza models, but Rexy could now lay waste to my car!

So, when the weather allows all the bits lying about in the study and garage will be fitted and we'll be looking for a trackday to try it out...

Concrete Jungle?

noreply@blogger.com (The Nippon Challenge) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 10:04:00 +0000

Not Exactly. With the advent of some sunny weather last weekend, we used the opportunity to lay down a couple of extra feet of concrete in the garden. Once this has dried, we can empty the shed (the green thing on the left of the picture) and move it across to stand on the new section. This should then provide plenty of room on the opposite side of the shed to stand a larger trailer big enough to carry Karen's Impreza race car (Rexy). The previous trailer was quite snug in its spot before and that was only just big enough to carry a MK1 MR2. Here's hoping Karen's measurements of the planned new trailer were correct!

We were aiming to perform the shed moving this coming weekend, but unfortunately the weather forecast is for rain. This will make emptying the shed of all its contents onto the lawn rather tricky!

Image Galleries Revised.

noreply@blogger.com (The Nippon Challenge) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 15:28:00 +0000

Thanks to the use of a www.flickr.com account, I've been able to create some slideshows for the various sets of pictures. These include Karen's racing and the race car preparation for her original MR2, the Supercharger and now the Subaru Impreza. Please check the links within the Image Galleries section on the right-hand side of the page.