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Old 04-09-2010, 09:57 AM   #276
Butt Dyno
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Suspension on. Camber restored. Mission success!

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Originally Posted by dodwrx View Post
LOL at forgetting the coilovers.

I need to put mine back on one of these weekends. When I swapped the stock struts in before winter the strut bolts were totally stuck. I think they was enough rust in the knuckle to be a major PITA. I couldn't even turn the frozen bolts. I'm going order all new bolts and hope it goes better removing them.
This is a really good idea. I am on my 3rd set, just preventive maintenance.

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You know, pretty soon you're going to realize the err of your ways, sell the wrx and m3 and join the Saturn fraternity.
The Saturn is truly the best of both worlds. And the award for newest technology in the oldest no frills car goes to Travis for Bluetoothing the wagon.

Pink polos with popped collars cannot be far behind.
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Old 04-10-2010, 05:59 PM   #277
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Oh yeah... video from the WDCR/SCCA banquet last year.

My car featured attacking the finish (skreeeeee) at the 2:14 mark and getting waved from grid at 3:09:
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Old 04-12-2010, 11:00 AM   #278
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Question about the fog-light covers...I read "you will need to remove your fog lights to fit" (Chaplins online catalog) and I just figured that meant permanently removing them to use the covers, but maybe it just means during the installation process (then they go back in)???

Wondering because I thought fog removal was not STX legal for 02-03's. I'd love to get the covers myself.
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Old 04-12-2010, 11:05 AM   #279
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Yeah, you can't remove the fogs. I ran with covers until last year when I started running without them. I didn't have them securely fastened, like with the screw that comes with the kit, so they were popping out when I hit cones.

You do have to undo the fog light screws to get the arm in that holds the fog cover to the car, so I assume that's what it means (during the installation process).
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Old 04-29-2010, 12:23 AM   #280
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Gah I suck at this thing.

Event #2: Autocrossers Inc @ Fedex, 4-11-2010

550/500 # springs
24mm/17mm swaybar
alignment?
245-40-17 Z1s, 38 psi/36 psi

Since I couldn't run the WRX at event #1, and since AI runs 3-heat events, I signed up to work tech in the morning so I could run two heats (8 total runs). Seat time, seat time, seat time!

We didn't have time to get the alignment done, or even checked, before the event. The guess was that toe shouldn't change too much from the zero toe that the car had on the winter setup, since in the rear it varies very little with ride height, and in the front, adding camber seems to add a little bit of toe out (since a lot of people slide their plates from a "street" 0 toe setup to a "race" toe out, negative camber setup).

First heat (STX) was kind of cold. Since STX was a pretty small class (2 cars, 3 drivers) we were pretty much going for PAX times. Shane (wrxwagon2b) in Josh (piknockout)'s car is a good measuring stick, as well as Ian Baker in his STS CRX.

Now, the #1 thing I wanted to improve this year was my braking. I was having a lot of problems last year getting enough braking done in time, and I was overshooting and ruining perfectly good runs.

The course was really fun. Lots of fast sections and hard braking zones. A good test for my patience You can see the "box" starting at about the :14 second mark in the video - lots of gas, BRAKE! lots of gas, BRAKE!

I don't have any data/video for our competition/heat 1 runs because Mei/Slava were using the MaxQData setup during that heat on their STS MR2. Run #1 was just a feeler. Run #2 was a solid 64.3, but +2. Run #3 was a cleaner version - 64.3, no cones. On my last run, I got a little behind early and just decided to haul ass for the rest of the run, but made a mess of one of the fast sections... 65.044+2. Travis ended up with a 65.0

STU, STR and most of STS ran in heat #1 as well. Shane ran a 62.8 in Josh's car to win STU. STR was won with a 64.7 and STS was won (in heat 1) with a 66.3. So, 2nd best ST* PAX time in heat 1, not awesome but not bad for the first outing.

In heat 3 I ran my four non-comp runs. With the added heat, and my added comfort and aggressiveness from getting used to the car, the times were faster. Ian Baker ran in heat 3, getting a 62.7 out of his STS CRX. AJ, resident ST Civic whiz (though it's a 95, not an 89!) finished with a 64.2.

In my non comp runs, I started with a 64.7, thinking I wasn't going to get much faster than my morning runs. But using the MaxQData, I was able to find a few areas where I was losing time. My 2nd non comp run was a 63.6. My 3rd non comp run was a 63.2... +1. I think I hit one in the downhill slalom. Last run was another "101% of traction" type run... 64.048 +4. Here's the 3rd run - it felt great!


I have never been so pumped about a non comp run Being a half second off Ian, with 15K mile 100 run Dunlops and an unknown alignment, is definitely a good sign. OK... so it took me 7 runs to do it and it wasn't clean. But still I am much happier with fast dirty runs than clean not so fast runs... I figure I can always miss the cone next time, but it's a lot harder to find the speed.

The car feels awesome. Better than it ever has. The rear bar wasn't *necessary* but it definitely helps, particularly in transitions. I don't have to be nearly as violent as last year when it comes to steering inputs, in order to get the same results. And the car feels great steady state as well, with not even a hint of snap oversteer (unless you do something REALLY flagrant to upset it).

The most significant thing for me, other than the car feeling so great, was that my braking was very improved. I was really focused on getting my braking done very early so I could get back on the gas. And it was working. I was still losing a little time there, but nothing like last year where I was overshooting a ton.
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Old 04-29-2010, 12:40 AM   #281
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Event #3: local BMWCCA @ Blue Crabs, 4-17-2010

I'm a BMWCCA member... gets me discounts on parts for the daily driver. Figured I would try one of their events since it's pretty close and Blue Crabs is a great lot - pretty much a drop in replacement for Ripken.

The event was well run - I was there for a total of 3 hours, no joke. That *never* happens. There was a good interval and not a huge number of drivers, a good combination. The course was really fast, though quite similar to an AI course from last year (the one where Shane, Travis and I all drove my car in the same day and I was running STU). Here's a video:


If you're thinking "man, that video sucks"... you're right. We finally sat down and figured out how to make it 640 pixels instead of 320... big difference!

Short version... ended up finishing 4th in raw time, behind a Cobra on huge v710s, a Caterham also on R's, and a supercharged E36 M3 also on R's. And the braking was working very well. I ended up with a 41.2 but there was definitely a 40.x out there - I just could not consistently get the braking down in the middle of the course. For comparison, AJ ran a 41.7 in his Civic - right quick considering this was definitely a power course!

No setup changes for this event... same ol' Dunlops. It's amazing how they don't seem to have dropped off much even after all the miles and runs.
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Old 04-29-2010, 12:56 AM   #282
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Event #4: WDCR/SCCA @ Fedex Field, 4-18-2010

This was the first points event in the local SCCA region. One variable: the lot (Fedex Field) had been re-sealed. Watching the cars in the first heat, the grip level seemed low. Here's a good example (you only have to watch for 5 seconds):


I'm on my Linux laptop right now so I can't do the MaxQData comparison, but watching my best run vs Travis's, the differences do stick out.

Travis's run:

My run:

From the :20 mark to the :25 mark you can see Travis plan carefully for this part of the course, and I don't, and it takes me forever to get back on the gas and go up the hill. I lost a ton of time here.

Travis generally kills me in anything involving patience and this course was nothing but patience. The sealant really changed the course completely, except maybe for the last 1/4 of it where it was on the old surface. There was nigh zero braking trip. I think it was worse than driving in the rain.

Short version: Travis beat me by a full second, but despite my best efforts I managed to finish 2nd anyway. Chike was right on my heels though, even driving wide tires on a 2WD car with no codriver (to keep heat in the tires). So I gotta sort things out if I don't want to get rotaried at the next event

We did not make any major setup changes for this event - just dropping the tire pressures to 35/32. If grip levels are similarly poor for the next event we may need to get more radical.
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Old 04-29-2010, 01:08 AM   #283
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2010 season prep

I've had some stuff on the todo list for a while. Time to start knocking some of this stuff out!

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* I want to fix some of the aesthetic stuff. The front lip has had the everloving **** kicked out of it, plus lots of cone marks, scuffed side skirts, etc. I want it to be as nice as Josh's garage queen! This is unlikely to happen.
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This took a toll on the front bumper (which was already a mess) the front lip (which is now 75% ripped off the car) and the rear lip (backed into what I thought was a snow pile but it turned out to be ice). ****! I also had the front left fender liner get ripped out. So I have this and some other annoying little issues to fix.
So the car is currently at the body shop. They're going to try to reattach the front bumper, fix the rear lip, and get the glue from those godawful iRacing stickers from last year's Finger Lakes Tour off my door. Plus, they are going to roll the fenders in the rear so that the 245's will stop rubbing on the highway over hard bumps, and generally give the car a good once over to clean it up. The car has never been detailed the entire time I had it and it was due.

After this Sunday's event I'll take the rear lateral links off, so that I can take them and the Whiteline bushings to Andrewtech to get them pressed in. I am lazy enough to not want to deal with that myself.

I also picked up a non broken glovebox from a local MAIC member who is parting their car out after an on-track incident, so now the glovebox doesn't swing open and dump its guts on the ground. It's off an '05 and apparently Subaru decided to put a hole in the glovebox between 03 and 05 so that you can run cables from the back of your stereo to the glovebox, a nice bonus handy since I have an aux cable and an ipod cable for road trips and such.

The 245-40-17 AD08's should be on the way soon, as well.
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Old 04-29-2010, 08:33 AM   #284
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ButtDyno View Post
After this Sunday's event I'll take the rear lateral links off, so that I can take them and the Whiteline bushings to Andrewtech to get them pressed in. I am lazy enough to not want to deal with that myself.
Agreed, much nicer when you don't have to try and do it yourself in the garage.
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Old 04-29-2010, 09:01 AM   #285
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ButtDyno View Post
Chike was right on my heels though, even driving wide tires on a 2WD car with no codriver (to keep heat in the tires). So I gotta sort things out if I don't want to get rotaried at the next event
Too late! The r0tard is coming for you...

Shawn and I made a front spring change last weekend and I'll be getting an alignment for the first time this season on Saturday morning. I hope Sunday's forecast of temps in the 80's holds true, as I won't need a co-driver to put heat in my RS-3's!
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Old 05-03-2010, 09:28 AM   #286
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So when we installed the coilovers (post 276) one of the little hex bolts that holds the strut to the camber plate was missing. Travis picked up an equivalent bolt at Lowes or something just to get us through the first event, and I called up Ground Control to order new ones. They arrived shortly after:




The GC keychain with the Koni adjusters = really quite awesome. Plus a bonus bottle opener I have been incredibly happy with my Ground Control suspension rig... have had it for three years, and it is still going strong. To have Mark remember who I was three years later and send me a keychain = Good stuff.

5-2 Fedex update coming soon
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Old 05-03-2010, 10:51 AM   #287
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ButtDyno View Post
To have Mark remember who I was three years later and send me a keychain = Good stuff.
That's awesome customer service from Ground Control!
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Originally Posted by ButtDyno View Post
5-2 Fedex update coming soon
The r0tard is going back to his corner...
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Old 05-03-2010, 10:54 PM   #288
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Event #5: WDCR/SCCA @ Fedex, 5-2-2010

After the sealant-cross at the 4-18 event, we were moved to a smaller but not-freshly-sealed lot for the 5-2 event. Mixed blessing: less space, but thankfully back to normal Fedex levels of grip.

For this event, in addition to the normal WDCR folk, STX had visitors from PA: Adam (adamkob32 I think), Mike (aferruci83) and Paul (planetarygear), all with coilover'd and Dunlop'd WRXs at various levels of prep. Adam and Mike are on the same coilovers as Travis and I (Ground Control full coilovers w/ Konis) though all three cars are on slightly different springrates.

[watching the Flyers game. ****, ****, ****, **** ****. ]

The course was mostly straightforward with a couple of tricks. I lost the charger for the netbook that runs our MaxQData setup, so no video. Here's Adam's video, though:


First run: decent, 43.7 + 1 somewhere. I was pleasantly surprised by how grippy it was. I spent most of this run being afraid to go remotely deep into any of the braking zones and figuring out where I could push harder.

2nd run: I got a little crossed up and zigged when I should have zagged... went on the inside of a pointer cone, O/C. I used the rest of the run to push a lot harder to see where the limits were. 43.3 but OC.

3rd run: OK, time to get a clean one... I knew Chike had a dirty 43.1 and Adam had a clean 43.5. I didn't really change strategies, it wasn't a "safety" run or anything like that, I just made a mental note to stay tight/patient after the first sweeper so that I could really power up the hill, and to stay on the correct side of all the pointer cones 42.8 clean. Cool.

Then Travis came in with a 42.7. Damned codrivers!

Adam got a 42.9, and Chike had a clean 43.4, and Paul was sitting on a 43.7 - I knew any of them could get faster. Sometimes I have noticed in past events that if I get a decent time I'll get a little complacent and not go into my last run with the same mentality. And then someone rips off a great run and I kick myself. Sooo

4th run: No big strategy changes. I wanted to push a little deeper into the braking zone at the end of the really fast slalom, and clean up the downhill-to-uphill U-turn before the finish. I had overshot a little on my 3rd run and it took me a while before I could get back on the gas. I pushed a little harder in the last righthander to the finish and had to wait a little to get on the gas, may have been worth it since I carried more speed into it... 42.6. Travis ended up sitting on his 42.7, Chike dropped down to a 42.8, and Adam stayed with a 42.9. So, it ended up like this:

42.6
42.7
42.8
42.9
43.7

Close racing! I can't remember STX ever having a top 4/top 5 quite like this. It should be a cool year for sure.

Car setup notes

No changes coming in. We had to spray the fronts after the 1st set of runs, and the rears needed a light spray for the last couple runs. Tire pressures were only going up 1 psi in the front between runs, and less than that in the rear. Anecdotally it seems like a 2-3 psi gain was pretty normal when we were on the 27mm bar. (or maybe we're just driving smoother)

The car still hasn't been aligned... maybe for the divisional.

There should be a set of AD08s on the way soon, just working out the logistics with Radial Tire and Yokohama. The Z1s have been pretty amazing though, still fast even after all these miles/heat cycles/runs. It's like they haven't dropped off at all.

The only setup change planned is to get the Whiteline bushings installed in the rear lateral links/trailing arms. Just have to take the rear suspension off and do it...
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Old 05-03-2010, 11:05 PM   #289
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Again, nice win this weekend. It was a blast to watch you guys going back and forth...reminded me of STU in Philly region last year.
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Old 05-03-2010, 11:20 PM   #290
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Again congrats John! I can't wait to get down there again for Divisionals, that's going to be a hoot!!
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Old 05-03-2010, 11:52 PM   #291
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Quote:
Originally Posted by adamkob32 View Post
Again congrats John! I can't wait to get down there again for Divisionals, that's going to be a hoot!!
Close racing at its best!

It was nice meeting you this Sunday Adam. The Divisional should definitely be one helluva battle.

-Chike
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Old 05-12-2010, 11:24 PM   #292
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Hey John,

Is Travis doing the Divisional? Was hoping to have a class with the whole DC contingent out there.

-Chike
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Old 05-12-2010, 11:26 PM   #293
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I meant to remind Travis today to register again hahah, he keeps putting it off and I think registration closes pretty soon doesn't it?

--Adam
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Old 05-13-2010, 02:23 PM   #294
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I meant to remind Travis today to register again hahah, he keeps putting it off and I think registration closes pretty soon doesn't it?
Closes tomorrow (5/14) at midnight iirc...
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Old 05-27-2010, 10:35 PM   #295
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OK, so Travis and I are both in for the divisional throwdown. Practice tomorrow.

Travis won three free AD08s from Yokohama last year (local contingency). This is good. They came in, but we could not get them shaved in time. Soo... the 17K mile 120 run Dunlops will be in full effect. Dunlop pow4r!!!!11 It does amaze me that they still feel so good... I'll have to pick up another set to replace em.
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Old 06-01-2010, 11:51 PM   #296
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Event #6: Northeast Divisional @ Fedex: May 28-30, 2010

May 28: Practice

I got to the site early to get some more seat time before the event. Practice runs were 4 for $10 on a short course (23 seconds for me, 22 seconds for Adam/Chike). I got two sets, and used the first three runs just seeing how the car felt as is, before trying something I'd never tried - adjusting the shocks to full stiff. It felt strange, like it was skipping through the slalom a little too much. I ended up backing them off to half of total stiffness before runs.

Saturday

After 4-5 coursewalks I felt like I had a pretty good handle on the course. My main focus was on staying patient in the patient parts, not my strong suit. There was an especially tight section in the middle that (if you squint, a lot) vaguely reminded me of the corkscrew at Laguna Seca... slow, hard left, hard right, get back on the gas a lot. Then there was an off-camber showcase corner before the final two lefts into the finish.

Run 1 was not as aggressive as it should have been - 58.3. .7 off Chike, 1.2 off Adam. A little concerning but it was still very early. Run 2 was more like it - 57.0. At this point I think I was in 3rd behind Chike and Adam. OK, cool... good starting point, two runs to go, let's find some more speed. Looking at the MaxQData, my first run was actually faster up until about the 18 second mark thanks to a more aggressive uphill slalom (1). But my 2nd run had a much better/more patient corkscrew which let me carry a lot more speed into the subsequent sweeper (2). The 2nd run also had a lot less wasted distance into the final sweeper (3).



Here's the 2nd run:


At this point the laptop battery died (I didn't spend enough time charging it the day before... doh) so no more data/video.

On my 3rd run I hit a cone in the uphill slalom early and then tried to mess around to see what was possible. I ended up with a 58.3... plus six

Fourth run felt very good except that I took my run-1 line through the finish (crappy entry, wasted distance). I ended up with a 57.1, just slower than my 2nd run. The finish was the killer there... based on what I can tell comparing my 1st and 2nd run I probably lost at least 3 tenths there, maybe more.

I don't have Travis's clean run, but here's a 56.7 raw +2...


So at the end of the day, it looked like this:

1) Chike's codriver Gary: 56.4
2) Chike: 56.6
3) Adam's codriver Kevin: 56.7
4) Adam: 56.8
5) Travis: 56.8
6) Me: 57.0
7) Paul: 57.5

Not ideal, but not horribly off the pace. Seven drivers within about a second. STX has been tight this year

Travis had felt like my car didn't turn in as well as Adam's car had during the practice session and said he had seen some rear wheel lift in the showcase. So thinking the bar was on the soft setting instead of the hard setting (24/26) I went home to switch the endlinks to the stiff setting. I saw this:



The bolt had backed off a bit... about 1/4" of daylight between the bar and the bolt. Not good for troubleshooting handling problems. So with the bolt tightened I figured day 2 would go better.

Day 2

Sunday's course was the reverse of Saturday's. It was more open in this configuration - lots of fun corners. Yesterday's off camber showcase was now a sweeper where you could get on it more as you went through it - a lot more fun. Still patience stuff in the middle though. The finish slalom was quite fast, into a high speed right hander into the finish.

Run 1 down - 53.6+2. I came out of this run thinking that getting into the 52's would be pretty straightforward. Then run 2 - 53.3. Hrm. According to the data, these runs were very similar, except for the start. The launch was a very fast, almost ProSolo launch uphill, and I had overshot the first corner after it with all the launchy speed. I did this better on run 2, but then took a bad line through the showcase. They mostly cancelled each other out, but at least run 2 was clean.

On my 3rd run I drove a ton of extra distance in the beginning. By the 18 second mark, I was already .7 slower than my first run. I ended up running a 54.1 - mostly the same time, except for the sloppiness in the first 18 seconds.

OK... last run, last chance to pull something out of nowhere. I had a decent plan: don't screw up the finish, stay patient in the middle, go crazy on the two fast slaloms at the end and try not to hit any solid objects. Go!

Run #2 vs run #4:


These runs were only two thousandths apart... but they got there in very different ways. Run #4 took a cleaner route through the first right hander (1) but then drove a little too much distance. Somehow run #4 made up for this by getting on the gas a lot earlier (leaving 2) - turns out that grip was there all along. Doh! So at the 18 second mark, these runs were dead even, despite all the extra distance of run #4. At the next mark (3) the line for run #4 doesn't look as good but it was somehow just as fast, sheer panic I'm guessing. At mark (4), run #4 over-slows compared to run #2. At mark (5), run #4 over-slows compared to run #2 and then has to get off the gas before going across the finish (5).

In general I was very inconsistent on Sunday, as demonstrated by running almost exactly the same time in two radically different ways

Run #4:


Travis's 2nd run:


I ended up in 5th, as the car owners in the top 6 all ended up passing their codrivers on day 2.

Big congrats to Chike, your 2010 NEDIV STX champ! In addition to winning with clean times, he also had a raw 56.0 on day 1. Adam had a smoking 52.0 +1 on day 2 that would have nicked Chike by a tenth as well.



Overall I felt okay about day 1 but day 2 was kind of a mess. A little disappointing but I am not going to worry about it.

Next steps for the car

1) Tires. The freshly shaved AD08s will be ready for the next event... yay! I'll probably pick up another set of Dunlops too. I'd keep using these if not for the plug in the rear right. I just don't feel safe putting the plugged tire on the front of the car (plug is fairly close to the sidewall).

2) Alignment. The car feels pretty good, but it still has not been aligned since putting the coilovers on.

3) Bushings. Rear lateral link/trailing arm stuff. Probably not before the Pro though.

4) Timing belt/other maintenance. I'm at 121K miles on the car now and some of this stuff is coming due.

We'll have a much better feel for things with fresh tires I think. I hope
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Old 06-02-2010, 10:45 AM   #297
Chiketkd
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Big congrats to Chike, your 2010 NEDIV STX champ! In addition to winning with clean times, he also had a raw 56.0 on day 1. Adam had a smoking 52.0 +1 on day 2 that would have nicked Chike by a tenth as well.
Thanks John. Sorry to hear about your rear swaybar issue. My front endlinks were doing that and I ended up ordering a new set of bolts - which seems to have fixed the issue for me.

The racing was definitely tight all weekend and I was unsure of what to expect going into Day 2. Actually with that pro solo start start on Day 2, Gary and I thought the RX-8 would be at a severe disadvantage on that course. I'm just glad I finally got my suspension working and the balance of my car sorted for this event.

P.S. Just for accuracy, I had a raw 55.9 +4 on Day 1 (took out the wall of cones by the finish). My 56.0 ended up being scored as a dnf.
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Old 06-02-2010, 10:00 PM   #298
Butt Dyno
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Originally Posted by Chiketkd View Post
Thanks John. Sorry to hear about your rear swaybar issue. My front endlinks were doing that and I ended up ordering a new set of bolts - which seems to have fixed the issue for me.

The racing was definitely tight all weekend and I was unsure of what to expect going into Day 2. Actually with that pro solo start start on Day 2, Gary and I thought the RX-8 would be at a severe disadvantage on that course. I'm just glad I finally got my suspension working and the balance of my car sorted for this event.

P.S. Just for accuracy, I had a raw 55.9 +4 on Day 1 (took out the wall of cones by the finish). My 56.0 ended up being scored as a dnf.
It was the front bar, but I'm not sure how much it mattered - the car didn't feel radically different on Sunday.

I was looking for the 55.9 because I remembered you saying it but must have had some mental block against finding it Sorry about that.
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Old 06-03-2010, 09:57 AM   #299
Chiketkd
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Doh! I should have known that was a front bar from the shape of it by the endlink.

I added my write-up of the event here (near the bottom of the page): http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=173186&page=47
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Old 06-03-2010, 08:16 PM   #300
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Great driving guys! STX competition is super close in DC. You guys are really pushing me to go faster and faster. Sucks I sacked a cone on Sunday or I would have been right there. Oh well, woulda coulda shoulda
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