Team XTR – Motorsport & Track Days

As below:

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Carrying on from the previous topic the new bolts have finally arrived from eBay. They are 10.9 tensile bolts, more suited for automotive uses than the 8.8′s I had planned to use and promptly sheared off when fitting.

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I’ve been promising for a while to take the old LCA’s off and fit the new Function7 billet-alloy lower control arms. After battling with the bolts for the best part of a day and a half, a bolt shearing on me and having to buy a whole set of replacement bolts… they’re on!

Here’s how the look:

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Today I visited a motorsport fabricators near Hook in Hampshire called Andy Robinson Race Cars (ARRC). For those that aren’t aware ARRC offers every kind of fabrication service necessary to build a complete race car from scratch. Andy began racing dragsters in 1979 when he formed his own team. Andy is the current European speed record (229.4mph) holder, has won 3 British championships and his current personal best time of 6.19 seconds – certainly not to be sniffed at. At 6ft 4″ and a build to suit, he was the perfect man to come up with the solution to my high seat rails. If he can fit, I can fit.

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Devils Dyke is an historic beauty spot on the South Downs Way, named after the huge dry valley that carves its way through ridges of rolling chalk grassland. Positioned just outside of Brighton on the south coast its about 40mins from my house.

In December 2008 a dislocated knee destroyed the best part of 9 months of my life. During that time I spent all my time getting the car back together. This was the first drive since autumn 2008. We’re back!

The run down felt good, in fact thats a lie. It felt super. So more noisy than it used to be, so much more aggressive and harsh. The lack of sound proofing and the diet the car has gone on is substantial – its excellent. There are a few niggles, tyre pressures need some work, as does the seat which will be sorted kindly by Andy Robinson Race Cars middle of next week. I’m sitting far too much to one side and too high as well. I’ve also found the mirrors are useless and at some point the front number plate has parted company with the bumper.

Other than that – a successful journey. A few tweaks and it will be coming along nicely.

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Reigate Motor Company is my local outfit for getting the Integra back on the road and certified legal. The chaps there do a fine job and after a small struggle with the emission we achieved a comfortable pass

Some pictures from the day:

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Yes, we’ve made it. Its September, weather is good and we’ve made it to the Nürburgring in Germany. 21km of grueling, demanding, relentless hell is just €13 away. A track shrouded in mystery, excitement and history spanning 75 years. It demands respect. It is petrol-head heaven.

The Integra is finished the day before the trip and immediately on the trip down I am loving it. We’ve got some new wheels, Black Racing Pro N1 rims from a member of the ITR-DC2 forum (www.itr-dc2.com) have replaced the snow-treaded ones that had come with the car from Japan. The cage is fitted, interior stripped out but I’ve retained some comfort. The only downside is that some horrid horrid smell has started to show itself which seems to come from the carpets. We’ll have that sorted when we get back.

Thankfully a few friendly photographers were around so some lovely pictures of the car are here:

The car is the safe hands of Johnny and Luke at Tegiwa Imports (www.tegiwaimports.com) for a complete SVA and to get the Integra on the road. On collection I decide to invest in a Cusco (Safety21) 7-point rollcage whilst I’m there.

After all, there’s only 2 weeks until we go to the Nurburgring and the Integra gets its first big test.

Interior before:

Interior after a good clean and the cage is fitted:

Also invested in some good OMP 4 point harnesses. Safety first – right?!

Now – thats more like it.

June 2007 – I’m working around the corner from Jap Performance Parts (www.japperformanceparts.co.uk) and I spot a small white coupe tucked outside their workshop. Looking a bit sorry for itself, fresh Japanese Import. I decide on Saturday to go down and take a look and discover a bit of a ropey looking Honda Integra Type R DC2 JDM. Its a 1998 model, has a mis-matched bodykit but the internals look good, the engine runs sweetly and is priced around what I want to pay.

Some import pics… this is my first glimpse of the car.

It wasn’t much to look at but I had great plans for this little car. 2007 was the beginning.