Slippery when wet! A GSF around Bedford...

[mrfunex]

I thought I’d better post something, seeing as I’ve been AWOL for a good while...

 

A good few years ago (I may have written about it on here, I can’t remember!) I took my ISF around the GP circuit at Silverstone. It rained a lot, but the car nevertheless was a lot of fun if fairly lively, I didn’t get flagged for noise (despite having a H&S cat-back system which sounded like a NASCAR) and both myself and a mate I invited along had an extremely memorable day.

 

Advancing the calendar to a fortnight ago and it was yet again raining all day, this time at Bedford Autodrome (the 2.8mile SW configuration). The day was mixed discipline, with two car groups and one motorbike group; the latter were understandably getting increasingly frustrated watching the cars lapping round when they weren’t allowed to play! I was accompanied by the usual salad of track cars - Clio 172/182s, MX5s, Elises, Boxsters, Civic Type Rs, some fast Meganes and several Fiesta/Focus STs. There was a rather charming ‘70s Lotus Europa too.

 

Switching the drive mode to Sport and the TVD to ‘track’ (obviously), I accelerated out of the pits with a brief burst of power before the sharp left in front of the hospitality suite. Quickly afterwards, there’s a fairly greasy L-R-L chicane flowing out to a left-hander where grip was still far less than expected, especially on the racing line. A couple more turns and it’s now the long, slow left-hander at the far end of the circuit before the straight - the karting line is preferred here - patiently going right around the outside of the corner, taking the same time to rotate the car but exiting the bend a little faster and handily right in the ‘meat’ of the power band in 2nd.

 

The straight was a full-on bellow through 2nd, 3rd, 4th and as far into 5th as the occasional patches of standing water would deem sensible - I very much do NOT want to know what aquaplaning and a possible spin would be like north of 140mph... A fast chicane, eased by huge liberties on the kerbs, followed by a couple of ever sharpening left-handers bring you down to earth a bit after the big-numbers, then a right and a faster right brings you back to where we began...

 

The GSF? Faultless, of course! The brakes seemed endless, the handling fairly benign but progressive and easy to catch, helped by the weight and the relatively long wheelbase - it was obvious when grip was about to run out, even for a Neanderthal like me. The noise was awesome and the fuel economy was... about 9mpg (although nearly 37mpg on the 140mile journey to get there!) 

 

The main problem with this car? I’ve nearly had it 3 years and I can’t begin to think what could replace it...

[hockeyedwards]

11 hours ago, mrfunex said:

I can’t begin to think what could replace it

Don't 😛 I can't ever seeing mine leaving, I have to buy cars around the fact I want to keep it for a lifetime! 😆

[F.A.]

Great write up. 
 

10 hours ago, hockeyedwards said:

Don't 😛 I can't ever seeing mine leaving, I have to buy cars around the fact I want to keep it for a lifetime! 😆

Ditto! 

[Fair and square]

Fantastic write up, but respecting that we are both ISF and GSF owners I feel that you miss two conclusions.

1. The fact that the ISF is so much better around the track than the GSF.

2. The fact that the GSF is so much better on the road than the ISF.

Both points, 1 and 2 are my opinion and not fact!

Lovely write up.

[mrfunex]

F&S;

I think I may have touched on this a few years back, when I first got my GSF - and I couldn’t agree more. The ISF is better on track (even an early one with the electronic LSD - I couldn’t tell the difference!) - it’s lighter and more agile and the GSF is a far more grown up road car.

 

This isn’t to say the ISF isn’t great on road, or that the GSF isn’t extremely capable on a circuit. 

[Fair and square]

4 hours ago, mrfunex said:

F&S;

I think I may have touched on this a few years back, when I first got my GSF - and I couldn’t agree more. The ISF is better on track (even an early one with the electronic LSD - I couldn’t tell the difference!) - it’s lighter and more agile and the GSF is a far more grown up road car.

 

This isn’t to say the ISF isn’t great on road, or that the GSF isn’t extremely capable on a circuit. 

I agree entirely.

[Flytvr]

Really surprised under track conditions the GSF wouldn’t cook the brakes.

I’ve seen a GSF with smoking brakes on a fast road trip. They are quite portly cars