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Celebrating its 10th year, Whiteline caught up with enthusiasts at the BHP Show at Lydden Hill. This year there was a particular focus on Ford, as the show was celebrating 50 years of the Ford Escort. Some stunning examples of thoroughbred racing machines, were there to see in the paddock and on track.
The BHP Show was certainly as busy as any rally cross event I’ve seen at Lydden. As you can see from the above picture of the circuit the car park was full. Lydden is a natural amphitheatre and one of those rare circuits, where you can see almost the whole track from a number of vantage points.
BHP Show is geared up to give enthusiasts a chance to get on track in their own car, with over five hours of track time dedicated to 15 min sessions. A wide range of cars were on track, and naturally a wide range of skill and experience levels, this was still interesting to watch, even though not against the clock.
A number of vehicles on the day were found to be activating more grip courtesy of Whiteline products. Notably the Focus ST brought along by Co-ordsport which was sporting Whiteline Springs and a Whiteline rear sway bar. Against my stopwatch this was one the quickest cars on the track day sessions.
Grip Activated 2013 Ford Focus ST Lowering Springs and rear anti roll bar
Pinto Power on Carbs - something of a rarity nowadays !
As you are probably aware the drifting scene is huge in the UK right now. I had always thought that drifting a car was about balancing it on the throttle with the largest possible drift angle, all seemingly controlled miraculously by the skill of the driver. Achievable HP outputs have skyrocketed in recent years, and I did wince slightly at the pain the engines were being put through on these modern drift cars. The style now seems to be with the rear tyres lit up, even on the straights, engine bouncing off the limiter almost continuously.
As you can see in the pictures below special modifications to the steering, enable more lock to be applied, to maintain control at extreme angles.
So are Driftcars the opposite of the Whiteline ethos of “activate more grip”?
No not really. In order to do what they have to do Drift cars need to control tyre contact patch and overall grip levels. It’s not so much about making the car wayward, as having a planted car that is very responsive and grippy, the fireworks are generated by the extreme horsepower engines. It is said by some that if they weren’t drifting, they would put in a respectable lap time.
However it’s fairly easy to see why the Whiteline equipped Focus ST is going much faster around the same bend...notice the nice angle of the car – not washing out into understeer. However you may notice less people taking photos.
There you have it then, drifting on the edge of control is slow, but gets you a lot of attention. Sticking to the track like glue is fast but won’t get you snapped as often. Both disciplines though require grip and that is why Whiteline will continue to have presence at these kind of shows as our products permeate through the market from street car, to track day car, drift car and race car.
