love that your aunty was up for this and you had a good day out with her  
even better to come home with keep safe medal     nice one    

Yesterday I did my first grass auto test with Sevenoaks & District MC at Brands Hatch and, as my aunt was visiting, I signed her up as a member, got her set up with an RS Clubman, and brought her along to passenger with me. I'm not competing for points in this championship, so not an issue being in a fun class.

It was an evening event, so 6-8pm, with 6 tests (5 of which were all forwards - phew!) and three runs on each. As with autosolos, your slowest time is dropped, and your score is the total of all runs. You can do them in any order you like, but most pick a test and do all three runs on that before moving on to the next one. I'm a logical person so started at 1.

Unlike the autosolos however, the gates aren't numbered! You can go through or round a single obstacle multiple times and in different directions, and the cones all look the same, so it's an added challenge!

I'm used to this with gymkhana, but not with multiple layouts and no practice, so to make sure I had the routes locked in, I sat back and watched a few runs of other drivers. Once confident I knew the lines, I had a crack. The strategy worked, and I didn't do a single wrong test all evening.

My first run I ran with ABS and no hydro. There was so little grip, it was hilarious! But the PFL ABS is next to useless with all four wheels locked, and a hydro would be useful, so I disconnected the ABS fuse and went out again, this time in gymkhana mode. It was much better!

We had so much fun, even with the face full of dirt every time we turned, that we forgot to check the times until the last test - we were sat in third, but with just a few seconds between us and fourth, so the pressure was on to put in some clean runs. I picked up a cone penalty on my first run, naturally... so I dialled it back a bit, concentrated on being smooth, and prayed it was enough.

And it was! Very happy to pick up another medal, and even happier to give it to my aunt as a little souvenir. I hope she is able to have a go next time.

Quote from: Carolyn on July 24, 2026, 10:39If you talk to the breakers, they rate the PFL cars above the FL cars and the later the car the more likely it is to be a rust bucket.

Before I bought my 2 in 2011 I spoke with the service manager at the local Toyota garage. He asked what year I was considering, 2002 ( PFL) he said "good, they have a better gear box".

Quote from: StuC on July 24, 2026, 09:53Great to see this is all working on a PFL, I have a soft spot for them.

Hoping to see some positive updates soon in the thread.   

If you talk to the breakers, they rate the PFL cars above the FL cars and the later the car the more likely it is to be a rust bucket.

Great to see this is all working on a PFL, I have a soft spot for them.

Hoping to see some positive updates soon in the thread.   

Hi,

Ive been working on my car a bit, and thought I better start a thread.

My current (2nd one ive owned) Roadster was my father's car that passed to me after he died back in 2020.
The car had sat unused for a few years and needed a bit of work to get back on the road.

I also transferred over a few bits from my old car a few years back and sold that.
So it had my meisterR coil overs, Hks exhaust and decat manifold on.
Also I did the front Prius caliper conversion.

All was going well, but I really wanted a bit more power, and in 2024 I saw Gaz was selling an SP240 kit (minus the cat) and purchased it.

The plan was to install it over 2025, but that all went a bit tits up when I had a mountain bike accident in NZ Feb 2025, breaking my left arm and tearing my rotator cuff.
I missed most of the summer, managing only to do a bit of rust proofing towards the end, before breaking my clavicle in another Mountain bike accident! (I'm not accident prone honest), so I deffered work until this year.

Recovery was slow and uncomfortable, but i started the turbo install a few weeks back.

As it stands I have the air filter, manifold, sump, turbo, engine loom, ecu and injectors (plus associated bits), installed.

Im working on a few bits at the moment;

Ive got a water leak on the coolant feed to the turbo. An banjo was corroded, with quite deep pitting, and with sanding and new crush rings it is better, but still seeping.
I've ordered a load of different parts, including banjos, hardlines etc, so hopefully I will overcome it.

Plus I'm struggling to get the intercooler installed due to a pipe clash, I plan to get the car up in the air this weekend and have another go; thetyrant had a similar issue so hopefully I can get round it too.

Then I can do the exhaust, including modifications to a new cat and ends of the down pipe and back box.

Then a final fix on map sensor, temp sensor, boost solenoid and oil feed.

Then a few checks and hopefully an uneventful first start.

Then I can reassemble and put new headlights on the front.

Plans for the future are a water to air intercooler.
A better clutch.
Maybe a bigger psi actuator (I'll see how it goes).
And a mapping session.

Im also working on hardtop triangles, but got slightly sidetracked with everything else going on.

Here's a video of a few laps of Llandow:

https://youtu.be/_E21t7csyXg?is=OO28-IqusYeMaODt

And a RaceBox screenshot:

Quote from: The Other Stu on July 23, 2026, 11:59My local mechanic entirely remade mine last year as they were expiring.
I don't get the impression it's a job that a decent mechanic can't do.

Huh... Any guidance on cost?

My local mechanic entirely remade mine last year as they were expiring.
I don't get the impression it's a job that a decent mechanic can't do.

I don't have any time for more prep than that really, so other than check tyre pressures I'd just have to see how it went. I headed west very early on Saturday morning and arrived at the track just before 8am.



I got the car unloaded and the wheels swapped over, had my breakfast and a chat with everyone as they arrived, an got out on track as soon as possible. It was so good to be out there again! The car felt quick, planted, and I felt like I was getting back up to speed - I'd not done any fast driving since last year, so it felt really good.

I also spent a lot of time in the morning sitting with novices, helping them with lines and mirrors, and it was great to see them progress through the day.

Lunchtime, I rotated the wheels side to side. Bit of a mission as I can't get the jack under the front so I had to put stock wheels on one side temporarily 🤣

Everything else was great, so I fired up the RaceBox for a little bit of data logging. Unfortunately as the day progressed, it got hotter and hotter and the track less grippy, so my times weren't as good as I hoped - I suspect I was quicker in the morning - but the numbers showed I could be pushing a little more for sure.

About 4pm one of the MX5s buried itself in a tyre wall There was a bit of a break while they tidied up and attended to the driver and passenger, a very sobering moment.

But not for long - with only 30 minutes left, it was absolutely frantic as everyone tried to get in a last few laps 😁 I snuck out ten minutes before the end and had an absolute hoot.

I had so much fun, I didn't take many photos, but I'll get some on boards up on YouTube as soon as I can.