Racing the Pulsar

B

bracpan

Active Member
Just had a great weekend sprinting the Pulsar down here in Pembrey, South Wales.
Having spent lots of time ( and money) getting the suspension and brakes sorted on the car it was very satisfying to see it all comming together this weekend.
I still have a standard engine running on standard boost, the only upgrades being a evo6 intercooler, mongoose , Walbro f/pump, Forge oil tank and K&N filter.
On SaturdayI was in the middle of the field and was happy with the result as this is only my second weekend of racing this car....but on Sunday it rained all day...
I have always liked racing in the rain so it was time to see what me and the car could do. We beat 3 TVR's , a Cossy, a BMW M3 coupe, an Evo and a V8 Ginetta. I took 3rd in class in and was in the lowest powered car there.(was beaten by a 300+BHP Scubby RA and an Evo8 340).
Now looking forward to see what the car will do with a bit more power. Its great to see the Pulsar more than capable than holding its own with much more expensive machinary.

Phil
 
J

jonee

New Member
r

well done.

good results,its so much fun stuffing realy expensive cars isn't it.

keep up the good work and keep us upto date with all your results.



jonee
 
B

bracpan

Active Member
Thanks lads, appreciate your interest.
I will only be doing the rounds in Wales this year so my next time out will be Llandow Sprint and Llys-y-fran Hillclimb on Sat and Sun 23rd and 24th of July.
This year is to evaluate where to go with the car, I am very happy with the braking and the wet handling of the car, it could be a little stiffer on dry tracks like Pembrey but you have to get a compromise for the various venues.
If its to stiff it will not work on the hillclimbs.
Then its the engine, I have been talking about this with Ian at Hiteq, as I want to keep the low lag and get as much torque as possible, 400+bhp and loads of lag would be no good in this sport. But 350 ish with quick spool up would be perfect.
That is proved by the improvement over the drive in the much more powerfull car I drove there last year which was slower over the lap(by nearly 5 seconds in the wet).
Learning loads from this Forum off all you have to say.
Thanks again

Phil
 
K

KRS

Guest
Great stuff mate!

If you where closer I would love to come and watch you run.

Keep us up to date, great to see the R still competing and doing well :)
 
N

NISR227

Member
Phil, Pembs etc is my Bro's neck of the woods, he was thinking of entering one day in his 370bhp Evo. I'll see if we can pop over and surport you if I'm visiting him. He was at the dam a few weeks back, in fact he got talking to a Pulsar runner that day, was it you?

What's suspension spec on your car, and what tyres do you run in the wet?

cheers
 
B

bracpan

Active Member
Yes it was probably me, that was my first weekend out in the car and had never raced there before so it was a steep learning curve.
My suspension is Tein coilovers with top mounts ( with my own spec springs) Whiteline roll bars, camber, caster kits etc and full polybushed, also my own front and rear strut braces, I am still waiting for the lower brace, ( been over 3 bl00dy months on order with D***on Tweeks). Will probably fit the bump steer kit as well soon.
The final settings I am still playing with, but after last weekend I know the wet setup. The settings would be to extreme for an every day car.
I am using Goodyear F1 tyres on 16ins rims, they were very very good in the wet. ( we have to run on road tyre as I am in the production class)
Pop over for a chat if you are there.
Cheers
Phil
 
campbellju

campbellju

Moderators
Staff member
bracpan said:
I am using Goodyear F1 tyres on 16ins rims, they were very very good in the wet. ( we have to run on road tyre as I am in the production class)
Click to expand...
I know on the MR2 these are not rated for track days as they delaminate at track temperatures. I hope you don't have the same problem in a dry race :shock:

Conversley, on the 2, I know the F1's are the best rated wet tyre. Good choice :wink:

Well done on your result.

Jim
 
N

NISR227

Member
Phil, yeah we will pop over for a chat if we are there. He's an ex Pulsar owner so knows a big about them too.
 
S

Swampy

New Member
Hi, Brilliant stuff Bracpan, well done mate good to see the car being used to its full potential :wink:

You obviously know how to drive as well.

Les.
 
B

bracpan

Active Member
Thanks

Cheers boys your comments are very much appreciated. Look forward to have in a chat if you are in any of the meetings. Will hopefully get further afield next year if funds improve, if I get more good results I will be able to hopefully attract a few sponsers.
As for the tyres they should be fine as the racing I do does not last longer than a few minutes over a mile or so. I want to stay on the goodyears as the wet weather grip is fantastic.
thanks again
Phil
PS not sure about good driver more like never knowing when to quit...
 
B

bracpan

Active Member
Out again this weekend at LLandow Sprint and Llysyfran Hillclimb in West Wales.
Llandow was a also a round of the Midland Championship so new I would be upainst some quick machines, more TVR,s and a Porsche RS plus the usual cossy' Evo's and Scubbys etc.
Was supporse to rain but I kept dry all day, dam....after my first practice I was quicker than i was in the last meeting there so was worried I had gone to quick to soon. But managed to build on my time on every run taking nearly 3 secs of my old time at the end of the day and also coming 4th beating by an EVO 8 340, Scubby and Welsh Champion TVR so well pleased (yes i beat the Porsche by over 3 secs).
Sunday was very wet at Llysyfran car felt fine and after second practice I was laying 5th, not in class but the whole meeting !!! I could not bealive it as there were sports cars single seater's and rally cars all on better tyres than my Goodyear F1's...Was all fired up for the first timmed run, so was really pushing it and 3 corners from the end missjudged a corner and drove into the back.......drove to the finish dived out to inspect the damage and luckily only bent the timming strut. The driver behind me ( our class leader in the Scooby) did the same thing on the same corner only causing more damage knocking out his wing, and lights.
So the preasure was on in the final run, i was woundering if i could manage to go quicker after the incident and also if the class leader would to. I indeed manged to go another 2 seconds faster and only just failed to beat him by 2 tenths ( he went slower by 1 second),,,the EVO was less than 2 seconds further ahead, so finished 3rd. All in all a great weekend and getting well used to this great little car, now I have no doubt if I can get more power the Pulsar is well capable of beating these other cars as I am over 100 BHP behind the EVO.
I will only be out once more this year in September so then it will be back to saving my pennies to try and afford an engine upgrade. Will also be trying to find some kind of sponsership to help with the costs.

Thanks again for all your encouragments.

Cheers

Phil.
 
O

Odin

Guest
Very well done matey 8) :D , It's really good to read your post's about how the car should be used :wink: , I just wish I had the money to get in to these sort of things.


rob
 
B

bracpan

Active Member
If everything is still ok with the car ill be at Llandow on Sept 10th. ( will be a smaller meeting) Hoping to get a lower brace by then and a bump steer kit to. Also might upgrade the rear brakes, but we will see.
Will probably have to wait till later in the year for any engine upgrade. Shame would have been nice to see if it made much difference before the end of the year.
Then it will be the clutch, gearbox etc etc etc .....once you start its an ongoing development that takes time and the dreaded money......but still great fun. As someone once said we only live once so make the most of it as this is not a practice run.

Cheers

Phil
 
S

Sparra

Guest
Speedy Starts

I've recently brought a Pulsar and I'm going to race my mate in his RX7 down the quarter mile at Santa Pod. The start is going to be crucial as I think he'll do me further down the track.

Has anyone any advice on getting the best start from standstill?
 
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