Road Test On A Race Track

[d2dave]

Have been looking for a new(second hand) car for SWMBO. We found what we wanted last Friday so we went for a drive to have a look. There happened to be a race track available to road test it, so I made use of it.

Where you ask? Well where is the best race track in Australia?

[vnx205]

Well where is the best race track in Australia?

Wakefield Park?

[d2dave]

Wakefield Park?

No.

[vnx205]

Well where is the best race track in Australia?


Wakefield Park?


No.

So you had to make do with the second best race track then did you? :p

[loanrangie]

If its close to you Dave i'd say Winton but then that wouldnt be the best race track- it has to Phillip Island.

[d2dave]

It was about a seven hour drive to get there.

[loanrangie]

It was about a seven hour drive to get there.

Bathurst ;).

[SBD4]

Bathurst ;).
I was going to say that!

[d2dave]

Bathurst ;).

You got it. If Mt Panorama isn't the best race track in Oz I'll go he.

We purchased the car, and it being a V8, the test track was appropriate.

[TerryO]

I think your confused the best race track in Australia is Eastern Creek. The second best is one in Victoria. ...:)

[loanrangie]

I dont reckon its the best race track, maybe the best race but not track.

[vnx205]

It depends on whether you are watching on TV or at the track.

How many other tracks allow you to see the whole track from almost anywhere around the circuit? You can at Wakefield Park. :)

At some of those other tracks, you could miss most of the action because it happens on a part of the track you can't see from your vantage point.

[Disco Muppet]

Huh.
I was going to say Bathurst but I didn't think you'd drive that far! :p
Good track isn't it? ;)

[d2dave]

Huh.
I was going to say Bathurst but I didn't think you'd drive that far! :p
Good track isn't it? ;)


I was wondering how long it would be before you chimed in, knowing that you lived close.

As for going that far, here is my car purchasing for the last three years.

Youngest son. Looked at a car in Adelaide, didn't buy it. Found one in Brisbane, flew up and drove it home.

Eldest son had his car stolen. Found a replacement in Sydney. Drove up together and convoyed home.(via Bathurst)

My D2. Canberra, and today for SWMBO, Bathurst.

My father in law also purchased a vehicle in Sydney, which I flew up from Albury and drove it home.

[justinc]

so, dave, there are rules, you seem to have forgotten them....:p


jc

[Disco Muppet]

Whenever I get fed up with uni I go and do a lap of the mountain :cool:

[d2dave]

Whenever I get fed up with uni I go and do a lap of the mountain :cool:

On foot or in a car?

[Disco Muppet]

On foot or in a car?

Car. Good chance to check out all the good looking uni girls walking the mountain in their gym gear. :angel:
Did I say that out loud?
:twisted:

[d2dave]

I have walked the track.

[d2dave]

so, dave, there are rules, you seem to have forgotten them....:p


jc


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/ (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/405/4peu.jpg/)

[Wortho]

From a driving point of view Amaroo was awesome.

[clubagreenie]

Catalina was my fave. It's criminal what's been allowed to happen up there.

[loanrangie]

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/7138/4peu.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/405/4peu.jpg/)

So you did it in a taxi then :wasntme:.

[Redback]

I've been around it a couple of times:cool:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/bazzar/Bike%20Photos/alfsized.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/bazzar/media/Bike%20Photos/alfsized.jpg.html)

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/ (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/bazzar/media/Bike%20Photos/algsized.jpg.html)

[clubagreenie]

After driving it the right way round, doing the hill climb does your head in a bit.

[Disco Muppet]

There's nothing quite as hilarious as watching a clapped out falcon full of teens, red P plate hanging off the back, doing a very ginger lap of the mountain with the highway patrol car sitting behind them :D
Funny, local lore is that there are always cops on the mountain, but I spend a fair bit of time there and I've seen about 3 in the space of two years....

[clubagreenie]

I have taken a couple of "prepared" cars up there in covered trailers for a 4am test lap, straight back down the exit rd and up the ramps.

[d2dave]

So you did it in a taxi then :wasntme:.

That happens to be an LTD, not a Falcon.

[Geedublya]

Best is subjective.

My favourites are:

Bathurst (the history, the danger and McPhillamy park)
Amaroo (awesome when you got it right)
Phillip Island (fast, fast and fast)

Wakefield is fun though the location sucks and some of the slower corners are painful.

[jon3950]

From a driving point of view Amaroo was awesome.

Got to agree. Not much to look at, but somehow really enjoyable to drive.

But as some of us like to say: dirt is for racing, tarmac is for getting there.

What about favourite stages?

Cheers,
Jon

[clubagreenie]

Ever drive the dirt circuit or rally cross track at Amaroo? The long rally cross track was special.

As for stages, any of the C roads in Tas are great driving. Especially in a suitable hire car. :wasntme:

[cjc_td5]

Got to agree. Not much to look at, but somehow really enjoyable to drive.

But as some of us like to say: dirt is for racing, tarmac is for getting there.

What about favourite stages?

Cheers,
Jon

Real men race on dirt, with no guardrails or sand traps :):)

From my limited rallying career, the amsag cowra rally was awesome. Fast smooth shire road stages. The torry would run out of legs at 176kmh.

I grew up in Bathurst. The challenge was to do mt pan at 60kmh, no less. Great fun through the dipper.

[clubagreenie]

Mmmm, there's a lot to be said to driving a car setup primarily for dirt, adjusted to suit tarmac as best as possible. Especially something like in Britain where they may pass through villages and have large stone walls or buildings (which would also be a nightmare to have repaired after a collision).

These days it's less of a problem but back in the GrpB days imagine thrusting a barely handling Quattro or Lancia through a village street barely 1.5 lanes wide.

What I miss, rallies that actually have some distance. Again, GrpB Safari stages at 300-500k's back at the end were considered extreme. These days 8, 10, 15k's for a stage and less than 200 competitive kilometres. I have pace noted for club rallies with 300miles in a night backed up by another 2 day stages of 150-200miles each in the day.

[jon3950]

Ever drive the dirt circuit or rally cross track at Amaroo?

Loved the dirt circuit. It was a great place to learn car control. There's been nothing like it in Sydney since and we need another one.


From my limited rallying career, the amsag cowra rally was awesome. Fast smooth shire road stages. The torry would run out of legs at 176kmh.


Never run at Cowra, but keep hearing good things about it. Are you still active with amsag?

So some of my favourites would be:
Hen and Chicken Lane - behind Mt Panorama
Western Distributor - Bateman's Bay
Cooper's Gully and Upper Cobargo Rd in Bega

Cheers,
Jon

[clubagreenie]

The last time I drove the dirt circuit there were wooden pegs pounded in to ground level for the development. All I can say is good luck to whoever built on that if they wanted to fig a hole. How many thousands of litres of oil were poured into that over the years.

[Jeff]

Ever drive the dirt circuit or rally cross track at Amaroo? The long rally cross track was special.


I did some laps in my 2A station wagon after the last historic bike meeting. I had been going to the circuit for years but didn't find out about the dirt circuit until it was too late. Went up the hillclimb too.

Jeff

:rocket: