Just last week I had a go in an MX-5 with a massive turbo and that was truly awesome - spinning the wheels in every gear is fun. I couldn't change gears fast enough to keep up with the rate of acceleration.
There's no denying that the stock engine is useless at straight line drags but that's not the point. It's a rev-happy engine and it's a blast dropping it down into corners. It's got just enough power to kick the back end out on request.
I won't go on about how much I love my car but put it this way; I could have sold it to fund our trip to Oz next year, but I've decided to keep it and go hungry instead.
Anyway, I've been round Donington in it twice now and it is unbelievably entertaining. Obviously I was getting hammered by pretty much everything on the straights - Donny's a bit big for it in truth - but I really didn't mind because I was having a blast
My highly-tuned-Scooby owning mate (who has no fear) was with us on track, and he had quite bad brake fade. The other problem with Scooby's is that, of the 8 with us on the day, none of them made it through the decibel limit tests because they all had big exhausts on. I dunno if it's a problem in Oz, but they're strict on the db limit in the UK because there are always houses near race tracks.
Trackdays are extremely entertaining but you also learn a hell of a lot. For one thing, you realise how futile it is trying to explore a car's limits on public roads. Another thing, because Donington is a nice big circuit, you feel completely safe out there. It's a great feeling heading out of the pits and suddenly realising that you don't have to think about oncoming traffic, speed cameras, children playing in the road etc.
for the brakes at this point.
