My MR2 at Knockhill

In May I bought a mark 1 MR2 with the plan of using it as a near disposable track day car. Thursday finally saw me on the track in it at Knockhill taking their Performance Driving experience where I hoped to improve my ability. For the first two laps I drove with the instructor saying very little. Then we swapped places. He drove and I managed to only swear once. Then five laps with me driving and the instructor instructing.

"You're very good at the hairpin."

I was told this the last time I was at Knockhill. That should be a compliment, but being told that you're good at the slowest part of the circuit isn't the one I'm seeking.

The MR2 is lovely in the corners. It's not an Elise (well, it was 1/30th of the price), but it's a reassuring car that, the one time I lost the back end, was easy to recover. On the straights it's a bit of an old nag. Twice I caught one of the Seat Leons on the track and was let past, but on one of those occasions, midway down the back straight, the MR2 ran out of acceleration.

After five laps we pitted to drink some water and discuss my driving. I got out of the car to find smoke coming from behind the wheels.

The instructor dismissed it as, "just the brakes".

Some water and an explanation of how to take the chicane (as a right-handed corner) later, we returned to the car. I put my foot on the brake pedal and it dropped to the floor. Not spongy. Not soft. The pedal just dropped.

It took half an hour for the brake fluid to cool by which time the instructor and I had agreed that my 22yo MR2 was just not up to the job. Okay, if I was using the car on track then better brake fluid would have helped, but is any road car really up to the job?

Knockhill gave me credit to go on another driving experience. That's very good of them. Especially given that I'd had a third of the time on track and that it was the car I'd brought that caused the problem.