I took the Saxo down to Kames for a test on Sunday. The journey was eventful as my towcar developed an alarming vibration under acceleration which subsequently turned out to be a broken CV joint.
It was nice to see the old racingPug at Kames in the hand of the new owner, Cammy who seemed to be having a great time.
Anyway, the first impressions of the Saxo are favourable. It accelerates very quickly, has plenty of grip and pulls through the corners thanks to the Quaife ATB differential. You can really feel it working its magic on the paddock bend at Kames and coming out of the hairpin.
It needs a bit of adjustment for my driving - the rear brakes seem to lock a bit too easily which could be a problem if I trail into the corner. There is a valve to adjust rear pressure but I couldn't get it just right on Sunday.
The seat needs moved forward a bit - I found myself struggling to get the clutch in without a real effort. On that subject, the clutch is a bit noisy - maybe the release bearing is on the way out. Works fine though.
The alternator is completely goosed so I ran all day sunday with no belt - the car started fine with just the solar trickle charger topping it up and a quick blast on the jump leads at lunchtime. I suspect I might just strip the alternator off completely to save a wee bit weight.
Last wee niggle is a slight coolant leak from the expansion tank - the coolant has a bit of gunk in it so I hope its not the HG on the way out.
Anyway, it's a blaster of a wee car - I just hope I can do it justice and get some decent times. We'll see in a couple of weeks when I take it to the Wigtom AutoSolo at Penrith.
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