DirtFish Rally School - Boneyard!

After a few rounds on the Slalom course - sharing the 4 cars and 4 instructors between the 8 of us students, we moved onto the next course.  This was is nicknamed the 'Boneyard' and would be much longer with higher speeds and varying types of corners.  I was def looking forward to this, as this is one of the courses that Top Gear utilized when they visited - that episode airing just a few weeks prior to my trip!

The video below is my first round of runs through the Boneyard.  Some turns good, but the double-apex ones not so good on exit as I kept trying to drive the car like a Tarmac course and it just would not turn as the grip level is non-existent!
My most common flaw was not turning the wheel enough to get the car to fully rotate.  But unlike most of the others, I never spun the car completely around or anything crazy.  I was cool enough to knock over a few cones with the rear of the car (since it wouldn't rotate fast enough).  That was fun!  Also pretty cool as the instructor is yelling - "...just go, keep going!"

It was a heck of a lot of fun, and something completely different.  I was picking it up fast, but I had a long long way to go if I ever really wanted to Rally.  A 1/2 day school by no means was going to make me an expert; I was just here to have fun!  And the views around the Washington state countryside were spectacular - check out the vid!

DirtFish Rally School - Part 1

While I have been mulling over a few different Driving School options such as Skip Barber or Bob Bondurant, I thought about some different options.  Perhaps something like a Rally school, offroad racing or Baja experience.
Well, as luck would have it we were planning a weekend getaway to Seattle where one of the best Rally Schools - Dirtfish - calls home.  Even more coincidental, about 1 week before we were leaving, the show Top Gear aired an episode where they visited Dirtfish as well!  Crazy.  Watching it got me totally stoked for the 1/2 day school I had planned. 

The 1/2 day experience fit into our schedule pretty well and I showed up a bit before 8am on Saturday Sept 21st less than an hour from the Seattle airport.  I would have loved to do the 2-day or 3-day of course, but there's only so much time on a 'vacation' to enjoy some racing! 

I got signed in and once the other attendees showed up - 8 in all - we headed into the classroom section for some quick overviews.  There's a few cars inside you can check out and the hallways are lined with driver's suits which is pretty cool.
The classroom instruction was pretty high-level and short really.  They explained the basics and I was the only one of the group that had ANY driving experience.  The problem being that off-road Rally is much different than tarmac racing so I was prepared to do learn! 

We divided up into 2 groups of 4 and hopped into the 4 Subaru STi's that we would rotate between.  First up was a rocked skidpad where the instructor drove around 1st explaining that the steering wheel is really just a 'suggestion' and we'd be turning the car with the pedals with the concepts of weight transfer.  While this wasn't new to me, it was pretty freakin wild how things worked!  A round with the instructor was followed by 2 rounds with us behind the wheel!
Next up was a short slalom course where again the instructor ran 1 round and then we were up.  Below is a vid of my first runs in the car on the slalom course:

Putnam Park - 1st in TTA - 5-12-2012

After running the Enduro on Friday afternoon/evening, I awoke at 6:45am Saturday tired and sore.  I still had to unload, unpack the car, and do some prep but that was about it.  Our warmup wasn't until after 10am so it was relaxed.  For the warmup I lined up around grip spot #3 I think and after waiting 1 lap for things to come up to temp I put down an easy 1:17.9 to earn #2 in grid.  I then went to tech and got weighed since I still had no solid idea of what the car weighed post-cage.  It came in at 3198 lbs; which was about 50 lbs over what I was claiming for the day so I was pretty happy with that given the current fuel load. 

Session 2 was at noon and I made no changes and fired a 1:17.0 which slotted me first in class and first overall.  I hit traffic very quickly as there were 44 cars in TT on Putnam's 1.7 mile course.  Also someone nailed the hay bails in the final turn so we had a few sitting on the exit of T10 which was right in the line - and after 2 laps of that I seen the double yellow.  I was probably going 130mph when I seen it, closing in on 2 lower classed cars probably going 95-100mph but I made the passes safely before the flagstand and tucked in behind the traffic.  Oddly though that traffic was another car giving pointby's that was off pace.  By the time I realized it I'd been re-passed by a few cars - I think this confused some cars as other passing from other cars ensued and only 1 was called in for passing under double-yellow.

For S3 I made a few small tweaks and ran a best of 1:17.2 but the car was really starting to slide at this point.  Wasn't sure if it was the heat - sunny and around 85 - or the tires giving up.  I figured a bit of both.  I know I was starting to drop 1-2 tires into the dirt in multiple corners on exit as the car just wouldn't hold and would slide.  It made 'catching' the slides a bit interesting and fun but I knew this wasn't going to be faster.  I was also given the pleasure of the 'meatball' flag and when I came in was told my exhaust was rubbing and throwing sparks.  This shocked me as there was no audible difference.  When I got back to my paddock spot I seen the brace by the rear axle had broken and it was hanging low and would need a bandaid!  I recently had another bracket re-welded and perhaps with that being tighter, me dropping tires and that rear brace being rewelded back in 2009 - the extra pressure caused it to break again.  Either way I had 2 hours to fix it, and with my idea and some help from a friend it was pretty simple.  (see pic)

For S4 I adjusted the suspension a touch to try and aid rotation/grip assuming things would be worse if the tires were the problem.  I had my answer in the first lap; it was the tires!  I ran 3 hard laps right around 1:18.3 until I hit traffic, then I played for another 1-2 and drifted.  I actually had a few people ask who left the drift marks in certain turns as I was at least having fun!  At this point I new the tires were shot, having 12-16 Heatcycles each.  Also good news was that our exhaust fixed had held up just fine.  My time from S2 would hold to land me 1st place in TTA by about 3 seconds - but I was 1.3 seconds off my record from 2011 when I was on wider stickier rubber.  But considering the tires I came with I thought the car did very well - running times right where I thought we would.  Power was smooth and rotation was great with no understeer; just an overall lack of grip especially at turn-in from the worn tires. 
Vid from Sat; A lap each from Sessions 2 & 3 from different angles:

The trip to Road Atlanta...

Thursday night I headed the 2 hours SE to my pick up my Dad who would be my co-pilot for this trip.  We figured this out on Tuesday night, so sort of a last minute thing but I was grateful for the company even if it did add about an hour of driving each way.

We left his house about 6:15am CT.  Plan was to drive to Road Atlanta; stopping when we needed - no rush - and unload the car at the track that evening.  Then a decent meal.  I was thinking around 10 hours plus the time change.

An early gas stop - the truck drinks E85 towing and we were on the interstate shortly.  Next stop is a spot I like to stop when whenever we're headed to Kentucky Lake - as it's one of the last spots to buy liquor!  A bathroom stop and topoff the tank in Metropolis, IL!

Next stop was food.  Arby's was the choice.  Just across the road was an oddly named gas station though.  I honestly don't get it:

The next stretch through Tennessee was the fun stuff.  Hills.  We had a couple miles of 6% downhill grades.  I had the truck in 3rd gear and had to occasionally brake to keep the speed safe.  Traffic wasn't too bad here - and I've probably logged near 25k with this trailer so everything went smoothly.

After that my Dad took over for what would be the final stretch from Chattanooga around 3pm and into Atlanta dreadfully right around 5:15pm ET.  Needless to say traffic was horrid and we lost about an hour going 0-20mph.
And around dusk; finally Road Atlanta!  I unloaded and unpacked the car as the sun had already set.  I found someone to get my 2012 tech sticker (no more tech for 2012!) and we found some BBQ and beer.

2011 Year Ending Hoosier Stockpile!

December brought the annual deadline to claim any leftover contingencies from Hoosier.  The Hoosier/NASA contingency started in 2009 and has been insanely popular in the non-spec classes including TT where the #929 Evo participates.  And luckily another successful year left us with some tires to claim last month!

Now the downside of claiming tires in December is the fact that the 2012 rules were not out yet.  And as rules can change, you never know if you'll be able to run the same setup or be forced to change something because of a rules up.  Or one could choose to change tire setups altogether!  Along with that, one of the downsides to an AWD car is that all 4 tires need to be the same size and on the same rim - meaning you can't mix-n-match!  So the moral here is order carefully and thoughtfully.

Well, without giving away any 2012 plans, here's a pic of the basement stockpile.  Including corded, used, unused testfit samples and last months final contingency claims, I am now in possession of 25 Hoosiers!  There's also a stock of corded tires in the garage and some good/bad ones still mounted on the Evo.

Stripping Winter 2012 version... continued

The fun continues!
As you can see from above, I was finally able to get the entire dash assembly out!  It'll eventually be going back in, but before that I'll be removing as much sound deadening from underneath as I can along with whatever else just looks useless.


On the left is the driver's side door.  I was able to pop off the plastic door 'skin' and so far have only removed the speaker in the lower right.  I haven't decided how crazy I'll get here.  It'll mostly depend on whether I cage it or not.  But I'd like to be able to remove the windows while at the track and reinstall then during transport as I have an open trailer.

2011 Season Recap!

2011 NASA Midwest Region TTA Champion
2011 NASA Great Lakes Region TTA Champion
2011 NASA Nationals 3rd place TTA (out of 14 competitors)
2011 TT Most Improved - Midwest Region
2011 TT Perseverance - Great Lakes Region

16 Regional Events

• 10 1st place finishes
• 5 2nd place finishes
• 1 3rd place finish

5 track records in 2011

My last 38 NASA events dating back to 2009:

• 29 wins
• 12 track records

25,000 miles and 83 track days in total on the car, all with the stock motor, cams, turbo, bottom-end, etc. 
As always a huge thanks to AMS Performance, AMSOIL, Forgeline, Hoosier, Hawk, Boostin Performance and Buschur Racing.

2011 NASA National Championships - Sept 8-11th

It's here!  The primary goal for this year and the culmination of the entire year's worth of effort.  The 2011 NASA National Championships kick off at Mid Ohio Sports Car Course on Thursday Sept 8th and flow for 4 days.  For the Time Trials groups, we get 1 practice and 8 timed sessions scattered over those 4 days to set our fastest lap.  It's not a great deal of tracktime, so prepping the car with the right setup is critical.

The #929 Evo is currently loaded up and ready to rock. As the forecast shows chances for rain daily, part in thanks to Tropical Storm 'Lee', we decided to leave the rain/street tires on in prep for our first session Thursday @ 11am. I figure I have plenty of time to (happily) switch to Hoosiers if the weather is good. BUT, if it's wet, I need to throwdown an official lap to start working the grid strategy. My group consists of my class (TTA) and the 3 classes above me, TTS, TTU, & TTR respectively. Should be around 30-35 of us including 13 in my class!

I hope to make some pretty regular updates on the blog.  Possibly nightly even!  But I promise lots of small updates via twitter:  http://twitter.com/#!/boomn29
I'll leave you with one of my favorite pictures of 2011...

Prepping for Aug Mid Ohio Event!

With the knowledge from our trip to Mid Ohio in July, we're prepping the car a bit differently for the next trip!  We'll be back at Mid Ohio for an important NASA MW/GL crossover event, which means double points, bigger fields, more competition, etc.  It's also another chance to improve at Mid Ohio for the National event in September.

So currently the car has the stock wing on it, and it will remain that way!  I really like the Kognition wing and it obviously produces rear downforce as advertised.  However the lack of front downforce produces lift and results in a 'push' especially mid-corner under power.

Therefore we're going to use those 'mod pts' elsewhere on the car.  The fancy AMS FMIC will be going back on the car.  I think the additional power, throttle response and larger powerband will be a welcome addition for the longer Mid Ohio straights!  It should also help counteract some of the high intake temps of the summer.

The picture here is the car as it sits today.  The stock FMIC has been pulled and it's awaiting the AMS FMIC to be bolted back in place.  I'm hoping to get some additional ducting in place on the bumper to help out temps as well.  Time permitting...

Mid Ohio Sunday - 7.17.11

Sunday actually started with a fog delay! 
I had decided to run the car with the stock wing today. For that, there would be some prep work needed. I put the best tires back on - which meant the corded tires would no longer be in the rear; lol. I pulled some weight in the car as I had 4pts to play with since the Kognition wing was off the car. I also lowered the LR ride height some to help the car turn left. 1st session...fog delayed! I took a passenger out and the car felt pretty tame (not loose like others in the paddock feared); just ran a 1:42x as I was in slow traffic and the track was slick in spots.

Session #2 was fun. The car rotated very well through the fast right-handers and even turned left where it wouldn't on Saturday! It took a few laps to get used to the rotation with different steering inputs and I was picking up speed until I caught traffic. (And by catching traffic I mean the same horrible TTF car that caused a train of cars every session). Best was a 1:35.1; although I was on pace for a 1:34x... This again locked me into 2nd of 6th.

Session #3 was around 1:30pm and would probably be my last as I had a 7.5hr drive home. I ran a best of 1:35.2 with the same story - I was on pace for a rocket of a lap until I caught the same TTF car and the train behind him.

So........
All-in-All I was very unhappy with the car setup on Saturday. I was making changes to things every session to try and make it turn left and accelerate from mid-corner w/o pushing. I know a big rear wing (with no undertray mind you) just is NOT to my liking. That's where me and my suspension guy have differing opinions. I tried it; hate it. I was up pretty late Sat night trying to decide how to change the car for my next trip to Mid Ohio.



I managed to roll back a portion of the new setup changes on Sunday and was happier with the car. It was much hotter and I was having a tough time finding my braking points and running a solid lap before traffic; a train of traffic on lap #2 or #3.

I keep trying to tell myself finishing 2/6 and around 9 of 56 cars isn't bad for a setup I hated. Besides the 1 TTA car in front of me; everything else was higher classed so it's not like I was slow. 1 lower class; TTB had a winning time of 1:39 so we had a group of quick TTA cars! I already have some ideas on how to prep the car differently for August - and I can tell you the STOCK wing will be on it!

NASA - Gingerman - 1st in TTA - June 4th!

After driving up late Friday night (~6 hrs), got up Saturday, unloaded all the remaining crap inside the car, unloaded the car and did a little prep. This was the first time the car had been off the trailer since being loaded at Putnam Park May 15th! Only changes were a quick wash and I had installed a Kognition rear wing on the car since!

With the new wing set at the lowest possible angle, I lined up and ran a 1:43 for the practice session which put me #3 in grid for the entire TT group. Always strive to be in the first couple spots so I can get some clean laps right away!

For S2 (the first timed session) I was lined up behind the current TTA track record holder; what else but a C5 Vette! We did 3 laps hard laps and I could gain on him in a few spots, but he'd pull away in a few spots too. My best was a 1:40.0 - while his transponder didn't register. Sucks... as we had to be close!

For session #3 I made my 1st wing adjustment and fired a 1:39.3 which broke the track record for TTA! The car felt more planted and I liked it! Session #4 was at 2pm and it was starting to get pretty heated up. I made another adjustment and thought the car pushed a bit. Best was a 1:40x. Session #5 was at 3:40pm; hot hot hot. I backed the wing off 1 step and ran another 1:39x but not better than before as track conditions were degrading quickly.
The car was also sorta hopping in low speed turns under hard throttle. It did this a bit last year in 3rd gear corners, I assumed because the turbo comes on so quickly there. With the new 2011 alignment it's been better, but apparently it's back! I can drive around it, but it's not ideal so I hope to be making some adjustments down the road....

My 1:39.3 stood for 1st out of 6 in TTA. I also ended up with FTD of the entire TT group!  It was pushed hard all day through 5 sessions, high revs, high oil temps, high boost, etc and responded with flying colors.  Thanks as always to AMS Performance for a truely terrific tune!

Here's vid from the last session, looking backwards under the new Kognition wing; enjoy in HD!

NASA - Mid Ohio - TTA Track Record!

Sunday it was wet; again, as it rained overnight. I skipped S1. In S2 I put down a 1:39.4 and slotted into 2nd as the Corvette in front of me broke the track record! S3 I had planned on being my last of the day as I had a solid 7.5hrs home but I had issues. Basically I was late to grid because I was waiting to switch in the wing mounts (remember I'm sharing them so we keep frantically switching them from Mark's ITR onto my car and vice-versa). I only got 1 hotlap in as I had a 2 lap penalty and had to work through the slower traffic and play nice; no improvement.

I stayed for S4 - and ran a 1:37.6 re-breaking the Club Course track record! The time held up and I got my first record of 2011 at Mid-Ohio. Vid Below.

I've got to thank AMS Performance for fixing some boost leaks and retuning the car. It's running even smoother than before and hitting 143mph on the backstraight. I beat on the car to the tune of 210 miles this weekend with no issues. Also to Aaron @ Winning Formula for the alignment and setup on the new suspension - and also for taking some tire temps for me Sat. The car feels great; but we have a laundry list of potential tweaks already!

Overall; Mid Ohio is a lot of fun. It's super technical and it's faster - a dangerously fun combination. Blind corners, off-camber turns - and combinations of each! Plus a huge backstraight, and if you're running the Pro Course I'm assuming an equally huge frontstraight. I unfortunately had 2 car-buddies find the wall this weekend and they have some repair work!

Video -->

Double NASA TTA Wins & Track Record @ Autobahn!

The weekend started with a trip to Chicago late Thursday night; en-route to an 8am Appt at AMS Performance for some upgrades. Waiting at the shop was an upgraded 12 plate rear diff from Shep racing! Also planned was an AMS Moustache Bar Eliminator to further reduce unneeded weight and improve shifting.

Saturday

Rain overnight and into Sat provided wet track conditions until about noon. I personally love driving the Evo on track in the rain and knew it'd be a great way to get used to the new Shep rear diff. I also was debuting new front Girodisc 2-peice rotors and Raybestos ST43 pads all around.
I did 2 sessions in the wet, both with Dunlops on (I planned ahead) and had a freakin ball with the new rear diff and some oversteer for once! Around lunchtime things started drying and I mounted up the Hoosiers. Since I was playing in the rain I had the #2 gridspot and stayed up front (and out of traffic) all weekend which was nice.
I was a bit cautious in the first dry session to warm up the tires and really see what this rear diff would do in dry conditions. The ST43 pads were definitely different, they definitely took longer to heat up as compared to the Hawk DTC60's I have been running and also squealed like all he11 for a good 2-3 laps. Once they were warm it seemed they needed far less pedal pressure to stop. This took some getting used to throughout the weekend. Rear diff reacted very predictably and I had some slight oversteer in several of the turns, enough that I had to countersteer a bit. I loved it! I ran a 1:35.2 which equaled my personal best from the July event. The next session I let things fly and set a new TTA track record with a 1:33.9. That also put me in 1st of 8 cars in class.

Sunday

Absolutely perfect day. After missing the warmup session because I needed to bandaid an intercooler pipe that I bent, I went out in the next session just to put a time down. Ran a 1:35.6 which put me in 1st by just .1. The next session I let things fly again and broke my TTA record from the previous day - 1:33.1. That landed me 1st of 6 in class.

Along with the new TTA track record, I set a personal best by nearly 2 seconds. I did this with rear tires that had 22 heatcycles by the end of the weekend! The ambient temps were great, but with newer tires there's definitely more left in the car. Overall, the transition from TTB -> TTA (where I get 19 more 'mod' pts).

Huge props to John Sheppard for an awesome rear diff. Thx to AMS for the install and great/safe tune as always. Thx to Martin @ Girodisc for talking me through both the rotor purchase and especially the ST43 pad compound differences. Also thanks to AMSOIL & Hoosier.

2010 AMSOIL supply!

My 2010 supply of AMSOIL has arrived!  I ran 10w30 'Dominator' engine oil in the Evo last year and the oil analysis reports I can proved that it was a great choice.  No changes this year there or with the AMSOIL DOT4 brake fluid that I quickly grew to love after using Motul for a few years.  New this year; I'll be running a 5w30 synthetic in the tow truck - Nissan Titan.  Also picked up some misc grease.

Welcoming new sponsor - AMSOIL!

To help better protect the hard working Evo 4G63 and to help out with the high oil temps I have been experiencing all year, I have decided to change to a higher grade of oil.

If you're looking to place an order, check out AMSOIL.

NASA Midwest - Putnam Park May 16-17

#2 event for the NASA Midwest chapter, #1 for me. This was actually a crossover with the larger 'Great Lakes' region as well so a ton of cars. TT had nearly 40 for the 1.8 mile track!My previous best from a last month there was a 1:22.5
Changes included new AMSoil 10w40, a heatwrapped downpipe, a new Sparco seat and running 245/40-17 Hoosier R6's.
Saturday: Some light mist in S1/S2, S3 totally wet (everyone skipped), and S4 the best. Around 65 most of the day. Ended up with a 1:22.2 and placed 2/6. Contingency $$ from Hoosier and Hawk! I missed first by about 1 second to a much higher hp car.
Sunday: Good weather all day. Improved to a 1:21.5 Ended up 3/6.

Overall, the car felt good, a little down on power in the straights and needs a longer 4th gear for the track for sure. I don't think the gearing is well suited for this track, but that's how it goes sometimes. I've got a few ideas for small tweaks before the next event to help things out!

Click HERE for Video!

High Oil Temps - Solution - AMSOil!

Using my new set of STRi gauges, I noticed what I thought was high oil temps throughout my April 16th trackday. Outside temps were no higher than 72, so it's going to get a lot hotter here in the midwest! To this point, I have been using the Mitsubishi recommended Mobil 1 5w30. The oil temps I noted were:

190 - cruising at ~75mph on the interstate

210-220 - Tracking in a light rain with ambient temp 55

235+ - Tracking with ambient temp 70

So, I hooked up with Andy from AMSOil for some fancy 10w40 oil to help control temps and better protect the Evo's very hard working engine. I'll report back on engine temps after my My 16-17 track weekend!

NASA Driver Spotlight!

I'm famous! Well, a little...
Got an email from the head of the NASA organization today. I've been chosen for the spotlight driver for NASA Midwest over the next 4 or so days. It's not much, but it is kinda neat. Click HERE for the link.

On the right side, if you view my profile you can see some of my highlights, mods, and of course sponsors! So probably a good time to thank everyone that's gotten me this far which; especially AMS for helping tune such a reliable car for track abuse. Also, Muellerized for delivering me a suspension that actually turns the car w/o understeer!

SCCA PDX Event - 4/8

First day on-track for my in 2009! Instructed for the SCCA by user mock role-playing for new instructor candidates. Good event, good turnout, and good new class of graduating SCCA instructors!Had the Evo out hot-lapping at a slow pace. I was able to get 1 session of hot-laps in at the last however. I ran data aquisition but haven't analyzed anything yet. The car felt good, of particular interest was my new suspension setup and engine maintenance. The new JIC's felt solid and very predictable. Everything held up just fine; big thanks for Ron at Raw Performance for the maintenance work!

Pics from the event courtesy of Keith: http://www.chillybanana.com/pictures/thumbnails.php?album=276

NASA Midwest 2009

My main objective this year is to challenge for the NASA Midwest TTB Regional Championship. I will mix in some other events including test-n-tunes, instructing for the St Louis Region SCCA and possibly some Redline Time Attack (street awd). The car was unmodded and remodded with the NASA TT ruleset and points system in mind. With that being said, here are the Midwest dates, track info and state location:

NASA Midwest Schedule
April 25-26 - Road America - Wisconsin
May 16-17 - Putnam Park - Indiana
June 13-14 - BlackHawk Farms - Illinois
July 18-19 - Autobahn CC - Illinois
August 8-9 - BlackHawk Farms - Illinois
September 5-6 - Gingerman - Michigan
Sept 10-13 - NASA Championships at Miller Motorsports Park - Utah
October 10-11 - Putnam Park - Indiana