AKL 2 Manfield & back again. 22 & 24 Nov 2019

[mknz]

Ok Guys Help me out

Given the choice of a Supercharged AW Auto or a standard Spyder which would you take to Manfeild> Remember not going to track either>

Give me your opinion

SC. Think of the sound you have to deal with for 8 hours

[*84vvt]

The Auto SC if you want to cruse the MRS if you want to play on the way up and back
PS you will win all the traffic light derbies in the SC

[mknz]

Running on Charlie time, be a bit late

[mknz]

Thanks for leading and organising the run again. It was great to see you all. The roads on the way down were mint

[psyguy]

Thanks for organizing and leading this run Charlie! Some spectacular roads on the way down to Feilding that I have not travelled before and a nice pace you set through the twisties, I had a blast!
My car behaved even better than expected so one happy camper here

[mickeyduck]

Thanks guys.

As for the trip home, I can't get my head around how people like driving at 20kmh below the speed limit. We seem to have got stuck behind people doing 80kmh in the 100 zones and 60 in the 80 zones. I'll do some research on Google Maps and try to put together a more interesting way home, with more back roads and less chance of bumbleoids.

Not that you can do much about it when you find yourself stuck behind the BMW Z3 club, doing 40kmh through one of the best twisty sections in the Manawatu...! Couldn't even stop safely to wait for them to naff off as there were no safe places to park up 11 cars.

Rewind...

So the first problem was getting to Drury. The traffic was way worse than I'd anticipated and we were well over a half hour late just getting to Drury.

If I remember rightly we set off from Drury with Isaac, Ivor, Michael and Logan tagging along for the twisties, while Ivan cruised down on SH1 for Jennifer's benefit.

At BP in Cambridge we picked up a few of the Mooloo crew: Hamish in his very cool looking red and black spyder, Eric in his SW and Thomas in his. Leaving Cambridge, Eric and Ivan took SH1 while the rest of us attacked CJ's Maungatautare sprint.

We were getting into the groove, carving our way through a classic Targa stage when Hamish's engine developed a horrible knock. Turns out he had just bought the motor, had it fitted to the car, and had it serviced to ensure it was good for the trip. Unfortunately it seems nobody remembered to actually put oil back into the motor during the service. Ivor, who also owns a spyder, examined the engine and determined that the drain plug was still in place and that there was no sign of oil loss, yet Michael managed to put 3.5 litres of oil into the engine. I think Ivor said they only take 3.7 litres.

Hamish got the mechanic on the blower, explained the problem and asked if he would organise a tow, but the guy seemed about as helpful as his service. Sure do hope Hamish gets a new or rebuilt motor out of this. He has plenty of witnesses available if he needs to call on them.

Thankfully the farmer whose land we were stranded on turned up in his farm truck and offered to help Hamish out. I recommended he call the AA, obtain their Gold membership and pay their towing fee home. He was going to have to pay for a tow regardless and at least if there were ever a next time, he'd be covered. So we left him mid-way between Cambridge and Mangakino, in the care of the farmer on Mangare Rd.

Pressed for time, we didn't stop for the usual scenery and photo ops at the bridge or the dam. We finally hit Mangakino about an hour and a half late (something like that). There we met Jim & Danusia who had rocked over from Tauranga. Just as well they are so familiar with the concept of "Charlie time"...!

We set off toward Turangi taking the always epic Kaahu Rd. Mike P phoned just as we should have turned off Poihipi so I got distracted and we missed the turn. We all did a U-turn in the mouth of a side-road where a rather large truck was kind enough to let us all parade in front of him. He must have got a wee chuckle out of that one... Another truck, less obliging, slowed us down significantly all the way down the west side of Lake Taupo but we managed to find gas and some kai at Turangi eventually.

We went south down the Desert Rd and simply had to pause for some pics with the mountains in the background. I asked Isaac to take some as he's a WAY better photographer than I'll ever be. Can't wait to see his photos. Meanwhile, here's my humble contribution...

Just before Mangaweka we turned left onto the Manawatu Scenic Route. WOW...! What an AWesome bit of road!

I decided to take it quietly through the first bit as it was very evident that locking up the fronts on an AW (easily done) would result in a one way ticket to Nirvana, while setting a new 1/4 mile speed record for an AW, courtesy of a 400 metre high cliff...

There were other times we had to slow down too on account of rabbits, pheasants with chicks, and reduced visibility thanks to the sun hitting countless hard-baked bug splats on the windscreen. But that stretch of road was simply epic. Especially the bit next to the Cliffs of Insanity.

Oddly enough, one or two passengers were keen not to go that way heading home...

INTERMISSION: TRACK DAY AT MANFIELD, MR2 NATIONALS.

Wow. What a brilliant event. And so much fun. Even if I did manage to stuff my launches all but once, in the drags! Still came 2nd, edged out by the Hirst 2GRFE powered race car. Blew him away once. Next time I'll have him!

Was stoked how well my SW managed to handle the track, considering my wheel alignment was only done by me with a couple of cheap little laser pointers. Managed to melt the front tyres a bit more than the rear ones but had plenty of brakes and rubber left for the trip home.

I kept to the slower group though so I didn't get in the way of the more experienced guys like Snookie (who ran rings around pretty-much everything in his 20 valve AW with its immense 245 wide tyres). Isaac amazed me with his ability to carve through the corners in his bog standard AW on 195 Potenzas. Mind you, that's the thing about an AW. So AWesome through the twisties!

My front tyre after the event:

Simon C had taken my wife Michelle for a blat on track in his AW race weapon, gradually pushing it harder and harder until he almost found the pit lane by way of a little drift. She loved it, as always. Thanks again mate, your generosity and skills are always well appreciated!

Simon also recommended a choice piece of road for part of the trip home. Rangiwahia Rd, Mangamoko Rd and Otara Rd, north of Kimbolton.

On the return trip we paused at the Cheltenham Hotel to meet up. A bunch of the Auckland MR2 crew turned up so we set off with twice as many cars as expected.

Unfortunately the BMW Z3 club had set off up the road ahead of us and it turned out they weren't willing to travel at more than 40kmh. Didn't want the bugs to go splat on the front of their cars I guess...? That put a huge downer on what would have been an epic slice of action with scenery to match. Beamer drivers eh...?

Tony, whose green SW was out of action on the day, was tail-end Charlie and posted his dash-cam video. You might like to fast forward about 31 minutes to where the Beamers turn right while we turn left onto Mangamoko Rd.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTJHmOWsrNA

I'm glad everyone enjoyed that wee stretch despite the Beamer club's best efforts.

The Auckland MR2 crew vanished at Taihape. Worried that they might have accidentally turned off towards Napier, we pulled over while I tried calling each of them to figure out where they had got to, but all I got was voicemail. Finally we found out (thanks to Jim & Danusia who had stopped for lunch before heading to Napier) that they had simply dived into car parks and bailed for lunch. So we carried on without them.

Not sure if Isaac is perched on the edge of a precipice (the fence) or on the roof of Michael's AW...?

Having eaten a most excellent lunch at a wee cafe at National Park a few years ago when I cooked the Caldina's turbo, we stopped there for lunch. HUGE apologies to all who were there, as the rather expensive burgers on our plates were very small, sub-standard and served with no chips or anything! Dunno if the place has changed hands or something but we won't be eating there again!

The rest of the trip home was almost as tedious as following the Beamers, stuck behind cars doing 20kmh less than the speed limit. It's one thing to pass folk if travelling by yourself. A very different matter with cars in tow... Anyway yeah I might try to find another route north. I do like seeing Raurimu Rex though. Very cool.

The one bit that we did manage to really enjoy heading back was going past Lake Waikare. Never fails to put a smile on your dial, that beautiful twisty beast. Mint!

The motorway traffic from Redoubt Rd to our place out west was sweet, so that was a huge bonus. Getting to Manfield, having a wee go at the drags and that insanely fun Manfield "Circuit Chris Amon", and getting home again with both Isaac's AW and my SW intact and SWeet, was simply great.

HUGE thanks to Mike P, Simon S, Gary from Playday and all the others that made the Nationals such a HUGE success.

And as always, a really big thank-you to those that tagged along on the run there and back. Hope to see you all on another one! Cheers.

[mknz]

All is forgiven for going through my proving grounds, I mean Hunua at the end

Thanks for putting up with my slowness between T-top shades attacking me, having to fill up every station, a windscreen chip, and not having driven anything in a year (it's scary when you forget how capable they are).

Next time try Twilight Rd (Brookby) instead of West Rd since it runs basically parallel, but has less traffic and more variation in pace. It's harder to learn that it appears. It's also short enough (~5mins) that we could do both.

[mickeyduck]

Next time try Twilight Rd (Brookby) instead of West Rd since it runs basically parallel, but has less traffic and more variation in pace. It's harder to learn that it appears. It's also short enough (~5mins) that we could do both.

I've done Twilight and you're right it's great. Simply forgot all about it mate. Remind me next time!

Thanks for putting up with my slowness... not having driven anything in a year (it's scary when you forget how capable they are).

I find it hard enough to get back into the groove after going to sleep behind a bunch of Beamers...!

Also, it just occurred to us that you actually pipped Jim by being the person who came the furthest to attend the Nationals. I hope your first day back at work in Oz was manageable? Good on ya mate!

[mknz]

Taking a plane is cheating! Maybe so is a ferry though

After enough coffee, I did pretty good despite not sleeping. I sat at my desk wanting to drive again....

[mickeyduck]

I sat at my desk wanting to drive again....

I know the feeling all too well...

[motorheadsw20]

Thanks for organising this Charlie - despite having to drive on SH1 and missing 90% of the run still had a blast and it was AWsumm to catch up with some of the guys we've chatted on the forum but never met in person.

My car despite playing up was good amount of fun on the track (i managed to blow the 304 stainless steel gasket between the manifold and the turbo again so it started sounding like my lawnmower ... and finally figured out the mis-firing ... my O2/Wideband sensor is on it's dying legs so works good till ~12PSI - above that it seems to malfunction and I get too much of a rich mix in) so if this is happening again next year i'll defintiely be down again.

[motorheadsw20]

Even if I did manage to stuff my launches all but once, in the drags! Still came 2nd, edged out by the Hirst 2GRFE powered race car. Blew him away once. Next time I'll have him!

... and for the infamous drag race





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqcThQd6o8U

[mickeyduck]

Glad you had a fun weekend Ivan. Great to see you again as always mate! And thanks for posting the video!

Next run will be to a pre-Christmas BBQ at Mike P's caravan at Pakiri. See you there!

[psyguy]

Next run will be to a pre-Christmas BBQ at Mike P's caravan at Pakiri. See you there!

Sweet
Got the date yet?
I'm crossing all my fingers and toes that I can make it, it's probably my favorite ride/destination!

[tw2]

Great run, the manawatu scenic route is a lot of fun. If we ever do the track day again I might have to invest in a helmet and overalls. Thanks to all the organisers. I left early Sunday morning to catch up with friends and family. I had a magical drive over the ashhurst summit road to the wairarapa, no bmw's in sight! I thought z3/z4's purpose was going around corners fast?