Top Speed

[Sully-K]

Took the IS-F onto Elvington Airfield early today. What a car!

I was the only car on there so had two runways to myself. I was doing some on limit handling and also some high speed runs. Did some heavy braking and then sharp turns, the car held on very well. I was quite surprised at how well the tyres coped.

The fastest I got was 168mph. I did a few runs and I can vouch the isf can easily cruise at 150 all day long. It was very stable at them speeds.

Let's just say I was very impressed with the car!

[Stuno1]

Sounds like fun! I am always amazed by the power when accelerating at speeds of 50 and above. It just keeps pulling!

How did you gain access?

Stu

[sofasurfer]

Took the IS-F onto Elvington Airfield early today. What a car!

I was the only car on there so had two runways to myself. I was doing some on limit handling and also some high speed runs. Did some heavy braking and then sharp turns, the car held on very well. I was quite surprised at how well the tyres coped.

The fastest I got was 168mph. I did a few runs and I can vouch the isf can easily cruise at 150 all day long. It was very stable at them speeds.

Let's just say I was very impressed with the car!

What a great excuse to test out the car. When you got to 168 did you feel you cold have got more out of it or did you run out of runway? Always intrigued over what the top speed actually would be.

[Sully-K]

The speedo was reading 168 but we all know that at high speed they are not 100% correct however I felt the car could pull more but I ran out of runway.

[Sully-K]

I spent a day with a class 1 advanced police driving instructor. They can get access to these airfields.

Having done some on limit handling I have decided it maybe worthwhile visiting Andy Walsh or Don Palmer to really learn what the car can do.

[Stuno1]

I'll be doing half day palmersport session this summer with some friends. Looks epic!

[Sully-K]

Yeah I have seen that on YouTube. You really get to push the cars. You will love it.

[lotusdave]

that sounds wonderful. Having done csrlimits and palmersports they are very different. Not least the former is your car. You'll be a safer driver after carlimits. You'll have more fun at Bedford. And wont need new tyres afterwards!

[MrW]

They are limited to 168mph are they not?

[Sully-K]

I think it is yes. However I do believe the speedo is not 100% correct when it gets over a certain speed. If it shows 168 on speedo I think in reality you are doing about 156 - 158. I could be wrong with that estimation though.

I am due to spend a day at Bruntingthorpe with Don Palmer in 2 weeks time so I will see if I get a chance to do another few high speed runs.

[JonP]

How did you arrange the tuition? I'm interested in something similar.

[Sully-K]

Hi Jon,

Sorry for late reply.

I did the Ride Drive performance car course including an hour on airfield. If you are interested then have a look on their website. They get very good reviews especially with TVR owners.

You are taught by a class 1 police driving instructor and they teach you the police roadcraft system. It is good but I found some parts to be dated for today's cars, for example they want you to finish braking before you change down for a bend. This is to ensure the car is balanced before entering the bend, however we can downshift while braking as the isf will rev match (blip) so it should be fine to brake and downshift at the same time. If the car is manual then they dont like heel and toe etc. Also they like to see pull push steering which I found the hardest thing to do however I can see it's merits in certain situations. But don't let these two issues put you off. They are not too strict when it comes to speed (making progress as they call it) when in NSL and they do encourage you to 'make progress' they teach you things such as looking very far ahead and anticipating hazards. I must say my driving as become a lot smoother since the course.

I will say it's better to do 2 half days rather than 1 full day as you do end up very tired towards the end as you are concentrating so much and I do not feel you gain much in the last 2 hours.

I do recommend them and the person who runs the company is called Julian Smith. Might be worth giving him a call and having a chat. They can do courses all over the country so location is not an issue.

I will be having another half day later in the year just to work on a few things.

As I enjoyed the handling bit of the course and really want to see what the isf is capable of I have booked with Don Palmer in 2 weeks to spend a day with him and test out the handling of the isf. He is quite expensive compared to Andy Walsh but taking into consideration the distance of Carlimits from me and the fact I would have to stay over in a hotel Don Palmer day cost was not much in it in the end.

[JonP]

Thanks for the detailed response, it's very helpful.

[lotusdave]

yeah thanks. Sounds like a fun day out...