Track Time
Alan and the Fiesta head to Cadwell Park to test the new intercooler and induction kit...
With a busy show schedule, and being flat-out with development work, we’ve not had much spare time recently. But all the products we develop need testing before we can offer them to customers, so we thought we’d treat ourselves to a well-earned dayout of the workshop and put these new products through their paces on track. Now, being based in Essex means Brands Hatch is our local and therefore most often visited track, but for a change this month we headed to the ‘mini Nürburgring’ that is Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire.
We were testing our new huge ‘Stage 2’ intercooler, and our ‘Stage 2’ induction kit. If any of you have ever been to Cadwell Park you will know how unpredictable the weather can be. But thankfully it turned out to be a completely dry day, allowing us to do some consistent laps and gather very
“we went back out to attack
the track”
alan
useful data – especially concerning intake temperatures.
The day saw a mixture of everything from Caterhams to M3 race cars on track, and the little Fiesta did a great job, surprising lots of the bigger powered cars. Cadwell is a great track for testing, as it’s got a bit of everything – 50 percent tight and twisty turns, and 50 percent open, flowing, and very fast! And the little Fez held its own on both sections very well.
After lunch we went back out to attack the track once more. The intercooler was working brilliantly along with the new induction kit (which sounds awesome by the way!) but unfortunately our fun was cut short when we killed a brand new set of brake pads in less than a day! All said we clocked up around 60-70 laps of an amazing track and had just enough left on the pads for the drive home.
Next time, the Fiesta takes on Europe in the Rico Rally...!