First day in my own VXT (I had a couple in the press car) and I have to say it went exactly as expected.
Not driven Oulton Park before and its best described as a grown up Cadwell, undulating with interesting corners and a few places you really really wouldn't want to come off
Not for newbies IMO but I loved it despite the fact I reckon it would take 2/3 trips to event start to get a decent line round some of the corners.
Was a really hard test for the VXT, 30 degree heat, 60 cars on the track (M25 was less busy at times) but fortunately open pit. It was so hot that the Exige boys were only able to go out for 3 laps at a time before it overwhelmed them. Only time VXT had probs was when I was following the RS4 around for video and even then the temp only went up to 94, the rest of the day it didnt even get over 90!
The day basically confirmed what I already knew, the VXT's road set up is nigh on perfect but as a result is too soft on the track. The soft suspension meant the car rolled too much, hence made the tyres work harder which effectively boiled the tread (which is impressive as they're pretty hard) and lead to loss of grip. In the cars defence it really was TOO hot to drive a car hard round a track and several race cars overheated/suffered mechanicals.
It also confirmed the fact that 200bhp is certainly enough to cope with the power monsters on a track. I was with a couple of mates in RS4's (or turbo nutter barges as Jonny from Book-a-track likes to call them
) and even Andy Laws 550bhp special was only gaining 1/2 lengths on me on the straight. Combined with the fact I could carry a higher corner speed out of the preceeding corner and could brake much later at the next it meant the 350bhp deficit was erradicated. However going out with Andy did remind me of the fun the RS4 is on a track, there is something adictive with the point and squirt style you can use.
We got a good bit of video too so I'll post some up.
Overall I'm still impressed and certainly sure I made the right choice. I'm more than convinced that Nitrons and change of tyres will transform the track capability of the car to ultimate levels. All I'm waiting for is a bracket from Vauxhall
and they're ready to go
Car got a quite a bit of attention too, lots of people curious as to what it was like on the track and all complimentary that it looked good going round as was better in the flesh thats any pictures. We shared a garage with a formula Vauxhall which annihilated everyone
although now I'm thinking about it BaT did say no single seaters were allowed.
There were a couple of nice Exiges, the usual bevy of S1's, Caterhams and Westfields, a few race prepped jap mobiles and of course 2 modded RS4's. Difficult to tell how the VXT did against the S1's Exiges I over took a few and was overtaken by a few but cos it was so hot all the times I was overtaken was on a cool down lap (even more crucial in the conditions) and the same was probably true for those I overtook. Ferrari 360 was dog slow but looked nice and nice RS porka looked lovely.
All in all a good day out, but 6 hours of road and 5 hours of track in one day was a bit hard work in 30 degree heat, probably the toughest test for the VXT so far and it sailed through.
