Few, and far between

I realize my post frequency as of late has been, well, less than frequent. Partially because it is getting colder and there is less, and less to post about. That being said, I am currently employed at P&L - that's something. Expect to see some drastic changes coming to the car over this winter. Perhaps I'll bear the elements and wash my car for a little photo shoot before snow starts falling.

All I need...

...is a motor strapped to four wheels. Yesterday I had the pleasure of going Karting for the first time, and with the guys from Boomba Racing to boot. I didn't do too well (last or, second to last) but it was amazing amounts of fun. Here is a video of the first race, which ended a little prematurely for me.

Crank up the Tune

Last Monday the folks at P&L were kind enough to help me get my Engine Management in order. It was a tuning week at the shop so that meant Junior was in. My tune would be a simple one as my mod list had one thing on it: Catless TBE. It took him all of about 20 minutes including the time it took to get up to operating temperature.

TSSCC Event #8

What looks to be my last event for the year couldn't have gone better. I decided to run in A-ASP (All Wheel Drive Street Tire, with ASP Pax Index).The weather was perfect and my Star Specs appreciated it. I had a so/so morning with my best run (only clean run) being a 47.2. Not so satisfied, and with the motivation of my fellow competitors (see: trash talking) I wanted to put down a better time.

TSSCC Event #7

Fun stuff! BOR! team was out in force, and so was the sun. It couldn't have been a more beautiful day for racing. There were threats of rain but what do the meteorologists know anyway. It was a good day for me, not clean, but still a good day. I got to feel the car with the new rear bar and it felt great, a little less than fluid, but much better than stock. The rear-end of the car had kind of a hopping feeling as opposed to smooth turn in, but it was much better than the last event. I have since changed the settings from Front--Soft Rear--Medium to both being on the soft setting. Just driving on the street it already feels smoother than before. We'll have to see how the next/last event of the year goes.

New Sway = Night and Day

Yesterday I visited a "new" local shop. I have it in quotations as all of the folks who work there are from a previous shop with a long back-story I won't go into at the moment.
(back story link1, link2, succinct synopsis) 

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6 Star Motorsports
628 Lunt Ave Schaumburg IL. 60193 • 224-653-9626
Official Site • Facebook
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It's been a while...

...and oh how I've missed you. So, a lot has happened in the time I've been away. TSSCC Event 3 went down without a hitch, and I just shot pictures of Event 5 this past Sunday. I also got to find out how backwards my car really is. Having all the suspension work up front and nothing in the rear is really throwing things off.

Just ordered:

This.

Should be here Wednesday -- just in time for this Sunday's event.

Rain, rain, go away. (Videos Inside)

Tri-State Sports Car Council started there 2012 season with splash. There was torrential downpour causing the event to be cut short. The day started with some lovely weather, which was nice for people like me who were in the 1st/3rd run group as we actually got some dry runs in. It didn't start raining till my 3rd run, and I was about 9th car from last in the group of ~40+. Turns out, they didn't actually get my 3rd run in, so I could have gotten a re-run, but the conditions after the rain were terrible. On top of the standing water, the surface is relatively new, and very slick. So after Heat 1 we sat in the rain for over an hour. It was kind of funny having 5 people piled into my Subaru during the break. After the weather passed, Heat 2 was under way, and everyone was sliding all over the place; it was actually kind of comical. The track dried more and more with every run and by the end of Heat 2 the track was relatively drive, but it was already a little after 3pm, so the powers that be decided to call it. All in all, 1/2 day of AX is better than no AX.

Out with the old; in with the new.

Got my car back yesterday afternoon from the folks at P&L. As you may know, I initially went in to get my tie rods replaced and I decided that since I was in there I might as well have them do a little more wrenching. New front sway bar, end links, steering rack bushings, tie rods, and of course camber bolts.

Six Million Dollar Car

(at least it is starting to feel like it costs that much)

Tonight I drop my car off for the aforementioned work. Based on my current finances the 6th is going to be a stretch, but we'll have to see the total cost after this trip to PnL.

Also, here are some shots from the Learning Curve - Thanks Red Line Photo

More unforeseen circumstances...

Hooray! Got to love race-cars. I went in for my post race inspection last night and they found that my inner tie-rod on my passenger side is showing a little play. It's not a big deal, yet, but I want to get it tackled before I start AXing my car again. I want to compete in TSSCC first event on May 6th.

My current plan is to replace all the tie-rods and get a new front sway-bar and endlinks while I'm in there. While in the shop we got to talking about all the work I would ideally like to be performed at this junction but financially it is quite a task to undertake. I also don't want to modify my car too much before I really get to know it as it stands.

Wish me luck.

The Learning Curve 2012 - Overview (Video Inside)

So last weekend was amazing, to say the least. It started off Saturday morning at 8am with a classrom session. Basically we were sat down, assigned groups, and given a good idea of what was to transpire over the next ~48hours. They also were kind enough to create a packet with all of the pertinent info, including layouts of the course that we will be running (these are few and far between usually). After the classroom we got to go to the paddock and meet our instructor. Mine was a gentleman by the name of Bill, who owns an 07 STi, and I was also introduced to Bill's other student Dustin (he owns an 07 STi too). This was a huge relief as I thought I might get paired with someone that didn't run an AWD car. Coincidentally, I already knew Bill as I had taken photos of his car in past events (small world). After our brief introduction we were told to prep our car for the day's runs.

Remember our talk about unforeseen circumstances?

Today I went to put on my summer/autocross tires only to find that one wasn't 100%. Not even 3k miles on them, and I've got not one, but two nails/screws in my tire.

AutoX Schedule(s) for the Year

The three local groups that I take photos of have posted their schedules for this season. This year I feel that I will be primarily competing in TSSCC and WCMC events. TSSCC, because none of the photos I take for their events get back-linked on their site, and WCMC because they have a great novice program.

So, here is how it breaks down:

SCSCC
Official Site
Schedule

TSSCC
Official Site (schedule is on their home page)

WCMC
Official Site
Schedule

Chicago Region SCCA - The Learning Curve 2012

http://scca-chicago.org/solo/2012/learncurve.html

Go. Now. Register.

Don't forget about unforeseen circumstances.

ready for warmer weather

So, I had gotten my pads and rotors and scheduled an appointment with P & L Motorsports.

Who wants to go shopping? (Preparation)

 

One of the biggest parts of racing One of the biggest parts of life is being prepared. In the world of motorsports, this means $$$. Thanks to the help of friends, the internet, and friends on the internet, my money will at least be spent wisely. Before I am going to get involved in any High Performance Driving Events, I want to make sure my car is up to spec to handle the abuse. Thankfully, I bought a car that even stock it should be able to handle dodging some pylons.

It has begun... (The Plan)

A few months shy of 3 years ago, I managed to get hands on a 2005 Subaru Impreza STi.


image from dealership listing

I have always had an affinity for Subarus. The car I owned prior was an 2003 Subaru Impreza WRX, and before that I was rockin' my dad's 1993 Impreza L (still not even sure if that was AWD).