First Track Test - 15 September 2021
The first track test took place on Wednesday 15 September at Zwartkops Raceway outside Pretoria during the weekly open practice session.
It started out relatively slowly just checking the steering and braking to see what the car would do, and the car proved to be sure footed. Over the next few laps speeds and revs were increased and the car proved to be very forgiving and predictable.
The engine has loads of torque and didn't need more than third and fourth gear, but under hard braking the car became twitchy. To solve this, the trailing arms bushes will be replaced with polyurethane bushes, and the from steering tie rods will need adapters to level them out.
Probably the most surprising thing about the car is the lack of body roll. I expected it to roll heavily on the air suspension like in some of the period photos, but the car is actually quite flat. It may have something to do with the trick adjustable Bilstein shock absorbers.
The car is well silenced and makes almost no sound out on the track. The consensus is that the silencer should be changed to make the car sound like it looks.
The video clip below is the only one taken during the track test where you can hear a bit of the exhaust note.
Below is a video taken onboad of one lap of Zwartkops in the Rote Sau:
This video was made of the first track test: