Nothing is so simple it cannot be misunderstood.

Over zealous ugga dugga bandits spring to mind.

Yeah, I know. I literally calibrated it at the weekend so I know it was good; I still rechecked my maths and measurements again afterwards. What I don't know is how consistent cheap torque wrenches are over their full range. I calibrated at 39Nm, but this is quite low in its range as it goes to 196Nm. Maybe it's now miles out at 103Nm for the wheel nuts.  But also, who knows what abuse those studs have experienced in the last 23 years?

Quote from: puma2 on May 21, 2026, 06:53 now that is fun
 i can remember doing something like with a lot of cones and i got lost as to which way to go   

I went wrong on my first run but the marshals were kind enough to point out what I got wrong so after that I was locked in! SDMC (I don't know about other clubs) number the gates too so it's harder to get lost, but plenty of us have proven that it's not foolproof!

  now that is fun
 i can remember doing something like with a lot of cones and i got lost as to which way to go   

 
I'm struggling with the, sheared a stud with a torque wrench.

Got my wheels back, not perfect but close enough and I love the colour. The alloy place fitted new Kumho Ecsta HS52 in standard FL sizes that I supplied. Unfortunately they forgot to spray my centre caps as promised, so I'm still waiting for them and will collect them next week. My son then managed to sheer a rear wheel stud whilst using my recently calibrated torque wrench, which sent me into a panic. Then I realised I still had a knackered hub somewhere to salvage a stud from and also found a great YouTube video showing it is possible to replace the stud without removing the flange - took less than 5 mins!

Here's an onboard video of one of my runs to give you a flavour of what it's like.

https://youtu.be/801j5NTUYIc?si=9VtbwoN7-7R9FTpl

I wish I'd done this sooner...

In other news, I did another autosolo at the weekend. After enjoying myself so much I decided to pop along to the next Sevenoaks event, this time at the super prestigious and historic motorsport venue, Ashford Cattle Market.

I was not prepared for the paddock area being a field 🤣 I managed to bump the underside a few times...

It was a slightly different format this time and not so many cars as a result, which made it a little more intimate and personal, which was nice. Less nice was that my class was 15 cars (!) and all the fast guys had turned up. I was not confident about repeating the success of the last event...

I spent the first test getting used to the surface and figuring out how to not worry about the many things to hit if something went wrong. Building up my confidence was taking much longer than last time, and I was struggling to get to that 'slightly scared' point where you know you've really pushed as hard as you could.



Still, the times weren't terrible, and I was in the top five or so by lunchtime, so I was very pleasantly surprised to be doing as well as I was. Lunch was a deliciously messy half pounder, so not exactly eating for success, but it was worth it. I avoided the chips so at least I wasn't over-carbed (I've learned from that mistake!).

Back to the action, and a slightly revised course was waiting for us. I did a leisurely track walk and almost missed my first run as a result, but thankfully my friend already had the engine running and warmed up for me (thanks Nick!).



More of the same all afternoon really, with me struggling to improve my pace much - until I had a chat with the current class leader, also in an MR2, about how he'd set his car up. Armed with some snippets of useful info, I made a couple of quick adjustments to the tyre pressures and shock settings and instantly found a second!



With one run to go, I was sitting 4th in class and needing to find 2.5s to creep in to third. I gave it my best, and managed my best run of the day, but it was 0.8s short of Steve in third - which, after thirteen runs, is as close as you can be! I was pretty happy with that.

Imagine my surprise then, when at the results I was called up for third place!!! Turns out that if you get the fastest time of the day, you are 'promoted' out of your class, and everyone moves up a place. I don't understand it, but I'm very happy to have been given a medal!



Absolutely buzzing all the way home after that result, and very much looking forward to the next event whenever that will be! I'll get some videos up on YouTube when I get a chance.

John: "doesn't need to be fancy"
Narrator: "it was indeed fancy."

Pulled the trigger on a Zero 🤣