My day at Track Developments review

['The Gaffer']

Following on from the very interesting BKCC corner weight clinic, I decided to take the plunge and have my new Sylva Riot steering and suspension professionally set up at Track Developments. The following is an honest review of the service I received and is in no way biased.

Before my visit the car was handling ok, but the steering was 'busy' In other words it didn't like staying in a straight line and I was forever correcting it. My car also didn't feel quite as sure-footed as I would have liked so I had high hopes for my set-up visit

A simple phone call was all it took to arrange a mutually convenient date that both Dave and I were available, unfortunately on the day in question it poured down with rain, this happened again but Dave was fine about it. Eventually the rain passed and I drove up to the TD workshop near Castle Combe in bright sunshine.

Firstly I was greeted by Dave and his assistant Ben and it wasn't long before the kettle was on and we were talking cars, specifically mine. I talked about settings that I obtained from Jeremy Phillips (The designer of the Riot) But Dave already had these figures so we decided on fast road with some track use settings and proceeded to get the car onto the scales for initial weighing.

On the scales


The car without me in it weighed in at just 470kg with ½ tank of fuel. Further diagnostics found the corner weighting way out so we went about setting these up with me in the car so that the car really was set up for me to drive – Very personal.

The camber was way out on the front and rear, so Dave got to work on the adjustments; luckily the joints are nut and bolted so no need to split with the old splitter tool and big hammer.

Camber adjustments






Checking adjustments


The tracking was also out so a few adjustments later and all 4 wheels were perfectly aligned. Just a quick tyre pressure check and it was time for another cuppa.

Wheel alignment


Bang on - Spot the laser dots on the centre line


Its quite a fiddly job to get all the settings spot on but Dave persevered until he was happy. Some say laser machines can do this type of thing in seconds, maybe they can but they are only as good as the person operating them and you cant just assume the machines have been calibrated as often as they should be. Not only that but I felt comfortable and more involved in the hands on approach at Track Developments and learnt more about my own car as the day progressed.

Dave and Ben spent many hours on the car so I really wanted their hard work to pay off. so after a final nut and bolt check and yet another cuppa I harnessed up and drove away in anticipation.

Everything tight check


On leaving the workshop I could immediately tell the steering felt much lighter, the feeling of having to fight with the wheel had vanished, this was evident at just 10mph in the workshop yard but what would the car feel like on the nearby country lanes I thought? Well it didn't take long to find out..

The Riot felt much more planted on the ground and there was no more twitchiness. The car was now happy to follow a straight line. Tram lining was a thing of the past. The car felt so different in fact that it took a while before I was confident enough to tackle a few bends but once I got used to the new feel the car rewarded me with some great enjoyment.

As it was getting dark and a few specs of rain started to fall I decided it was time to head off home and try the car again the following day.

I couldn't wait to get back in the car the next day, and sure enough it didn't disappoint proving that a well set up can not only inspire driver confidence, but also make the whole driving experience a lot more rewarding.

The final test was at the recent Llandow track day which I thourghouly enjoyed. I had a monumentus spin at the beginning of the day but a quick few clicks on the dampers and a few psi out of the tyres and I was out again with no further incident. The only thing stopping me from going a bit faster was me. The car however felt like it could go much faster, if only I had the balls to do it. Something I need to work on.

Hardly any corner roll at Llandow (Pic courtesy of CKC)


In short, a visit to Track Developments can be a very worthwhile experience that I can whole-heartedly recommend to anyone looking to sharpen up his or her cars handling.

Contact Dave at Track Developments and I'm sure he would be happy to talk you through what services are available. BKCC members will get a 10% discount too. I'm sure Dave will come along and comment once he has read this.

Thanks Dave and Track Developments for the informative and friendly day, not to mention a much better handling car. Well worth the visit.

[mattsmev]

Thanks for the review G&T

It looks like you had camber, tracking and corner weight adjusted.  I guess they also looked at caster.  How much did that cost and how long did it take?  I know it's rude to talk about cost, but I fancy having it done, but understand it's about £250.  It always makes me think twice.

It certainly looked like it was worth while at Llandow.

Cheers

mattmev

['The Gaffer']

You are welcome Matt.

Yes, camber, tracking and corner weights all checked and adjusted. Caster was checked and no adjustment req. Forgot to mention ride height as well.

I'm pretty sure you will be pleased at the cost, just drop a message to Dave at TD and say you are a BKCC member.

http://www.trackdevelopments.co.uk/contact.php

[Camber Dave]

Thanks for your kind words Phil.

It is helpful to us to have feedback from our customers.

I focus the set up to extract the best from each car dependant on its intended use. A touring car will be set quite soft and easy on its tyres but for track use more aggressively. As Phil said I often depart from the standard settings.

Here are the menu prices as requested
They include Vat and the BKCC discount
We will absorb the Vat rise up till the end of March next year.

Locost 'openwheel' ect Live axle        £200
Locost  ect           IRS              £235
Cobra and Saloon cars     £245

Locost,Westfields ect usually take 5 to 6 hours and the Cobra's with Jaguar Shim pack adjustments can take 6 to 8 hours as wheels need to be on & off many times between measurements.

We first measure weights and ride height with and without the driver. Then camber, castor and tracking. After reviewing the settings we reset the errors in the order of the effect the have on each other. Often this means resetting some previously adjusted as for instance a cornerweight change often changes camber. Every thing changes toe in so that is left till last. Anti roll bar links and dampers are set as required.

As those of you who were able to come on the open day will have seen there is no magic to what we do and I am keen to show customers how to reset their own cars. This should give you the confidence to change settings at track days and return them to a base setting. I also guide your priorities as to adjustments at the track.
Afterwards we send a set up sheet showing the settings and changes made.

As mattmev comments it may be expensive.  I once found one on eBay but it still made £200, in Kent....
A new kit for road touring may only need the camber and the tracking set. Careful setting of ride heights and spring preloading should give acceptable corner weights if the springs are relatively compliant. This you can do yourselves at home.

Phil's comments validate set up for track days. It should allow you to relax and learn the track not fight the car. The instructors occasionally identify cars needing attention and some of these have found their way to us. As Ken commented elsewhere he has his Marlin done every year. He also gets it checked after any incidents that may have tweaked the geometry.

[mattsmev]

Thanks Camber Dave - I need to save some pennies first, but i am sure I will darken your door at some time.

Thanks for being upfront with the pricing too - it's certainly a competitive price.  At Stoneleigh this year there was a set up workshop presented by another company that does this work, and they charged £250.

Your local, part of this forum and charging a competitive price.  It certainly ticks all the boxes, perhaps I should ask for money at christmas time...

Cheers

Mattsmev

[Grin-a-lot]

Just thought that after a great day at Track Developments i'd add my comments to this thread rather than start another.

I have been a bit apprehensive about taking my old live axled westfield to Track Developments.  I spent a lot of time thinking that this sort of work was the preserve of track-focussed cars with massive engines and that it would be a lot of money a bit wasted on my car.  Long story short I bit the bullet and went to see Dave, Ben and Tom yesterday.

Most of us aren't suspension and steering gurus and Dave has a great knack of translating what he is doing into english.  He is also good at taking what you want and translating that into an action that he can do on your car.  We agreed that a slightly softer fast road/light track use set-up would suit me and my needs best.  I think that was one of the great things, the whole set-up is personal: set for my weight, my needs and my wishes, not a standard set-up only for track cars.

The car was delivered in a ropey state, corner weights out quite a lot, dampers far too soft, minimal camber and tracking on one wheel 1 degree in (6 times more than normal).

Lots of changes were done (in line with The Gaffer's post above) and after 5 and a bit hours the car was done.  It felt like Dave spent as much time educating me as he did sorting the car, and what was nice was that I left knowing what I could do if I wanted to personalise it further.  This was a nice touch rather than keep what he was doing secret and getting me back everytime I wanted to change something.

The drive home was awesome, car felt far more stable, turning into corners a lot more sharp and the stiffness an awful lot better.  In fact, it put the grin back on my face that I had the first time that I drove it; thats the difference that Dave made to the car.

Now that i've seen the difference it makes and what you can learn with him, I reckon this is one of the best value-for-money investments you can make in a car.

Thanks Dave!

['The Gaffer']

Now that i've seen the difference it makes and what you can learn with him, I reckon this is one of the best value-for-money investments you can make in a car.

Thanks Dave!

Nice review, couldn't agree more