Evening Out

With the Stylus taxed & insured I was able to begin testing yes?

Well sort of. I’d bought a geared starter from Power-Lite but in-spite of the best efforts of both me & Julian in sales, I hadn’t been able to make it fit – no slight is suggested on the part of Power-Lite, the starter was the correct part for the engine & flywheel & adjustable for position, but a chassis rail on the Stylus meant it just wouldn’t go on. So it needed to go back, & Julian sent me a postal slip & said it would be picked up by DHL on Monday.

It wasn’t.

I e-mailed Julian & he called DHL to be told there was a problem with their computer, but it would definitely be collected Tuesday.

It wasn’t.

Through the same loop again & I was promised Wednesday, as luck would have it I happened to see TWO DHL vans pass my house on Weds, neither stopped to collect the parcel.

The point of this tale of woe is that I was unable to take the Stylus out in case DHL deigned to call. As I say, there is no suggestion of fault on the part of Power-Lite who have been very helpful, professional & apologised profusely for something they have no control over whatsoever, but after the cut-off time for a possible pick up I took the Quantum down to Tescos for a refuel & filled a petrol can so I knew the Stylus had at least a gallon, then when I got home I took it round the block, earning the traditional “Cor mate ‘ow fas’ does it go” from teenagers next door.

So what was it like?

Scary!

The tyres are (I think) saloon car racing tyres & are no doubt brilliant after four laps of Silverstone at 120. On a chilly February evening in Camberley they are rubbish. The limited slip diff isn’t helping here, a gentle prod on the throttle sent the back of the car sideways before I’d gone 100yds, but I have a plan……

The other worrying thing is the absence of brakes. When I bought the car I didn’t like the brakes, there was no “feel”, the pedal just stopped as if you were pressing on a brick. I have made that worse by fitting smaller discs, so now although it will easily break traction when accelerating, the brakes will NOT lock the wheels under braking, so this morning I’ve ordered a set of Mintex pads & a smaller bore master cylinder which together should sort it out.

But – it needs the suspension geometry setting, but the whole engine / interior / clutch side (the things I’ve spent the winter doing)  felt REALLY good & it bellows & takes off like a rocket, so when the development has got a little further, it WILL be fantastic.