holunfie

Evo 8/9 FMIC & IC Piping

2010-12-21T22:08:00.020-05:00

Since we are restricted to the stock turbo in SP and still want to make as much power as possible upgrading the FMIC (front mount intercooler) made sense. When we really push the stock turbo with higher boost its efficiency is reduced and starts blowing hotter air. This will make the engine more prone to knock, pulling timing and reducing power, no bueno.

Now this upgrade isn't without negatives. The FMIC is all the way out front, basically one of the worst places to add weight. They also have increased volume over stock, potentially creating lag and hurting spool as it takes longer to fill that volume. I'd like to keep spool as low as possible to pull the car out of lower speed corners, this is something the 8 motor is not good at.

With all of this in mind I started looking at FMIC's on the market to find one that was:
1) lighter than the rest
2) about 3.5" width
3) not a huge volume/size increase over stock
4) Fits in the OEM location without cutting/modifying anything.

Weights
OEM = 9.5 lbs
AMS = 20.0 lbs
Buschur = 23.5 lbs
CBRD = 30.0 lbs
ETS = ?? (Never got an answer on weight)
JM Fab = ??

As you can see the minimum increase in weight is the AMS FMIC at a 10.5 lb gain. Ok, thats not too bad. It can be offset by losing the IC sprayer tank (-5.0 lbs & my car is an '03) and swapping to a slim rad fan (-6.5 lbs).

Widths
OEM = <3.5"
AMS =" 3.5"
Buschur =" 3.5"
CBRD =" 3.8"
ETS =" 3.5"
JM fab =" 3.8"

Nothing crazy here in terms of width.

On to volume. I started looking at this but when you think about it comparing overall core volume just makes no sense. The only real volume that matters is the internal pressurized volume. Since most of the IC's listed above use different cores there is no apples to apples comparison, even if they are all bar & plate style. Another thing to look at is how much frontal area there is, as I am willing to bet more area is better in terms of cooling. Not going to break out the heat transfer book for this one though.

In terms of fitment these are all on the list because they are advertised as needing no modifications or slight mods (bending/trimming) to fit. Bumper beam removal is an absolute no-no so alot of the 4" cores were out the window there.

All that said I really like the cast end tanks and engineering that went into the AMS piece. It looks to be the best compromise for my intended usage (autox). Buschur & ETS would be next on the list when you take weight & price into consideration. Let's check out some pics of the AMS FMIC vs OEM.

Sweeeet!

AMS vs OEM

Apparently thicker is better.

OEM fin & tube core

AMS Bar & Plate core

Test Fit

Touching the A/C fan wiring. Probably space out the IC with a couple washers.

Plenty of clearance to the bumper beam.

:)
Me: Check it out Richie (my brother-in-law), looks pretty sweet.
Richie: That's your first front mount huh?
Me: Yeah.
Richie: It looks the same.
Me: No way dude, it looks sweet.

He was right. Fugger. :P

Ok, on to the IC piping. My requirements here were that it needs to fit whatever FMIC was chosen and be aluminum. Also wanted the UICP to be a "short route" type to minimize the volume and bends. This volume reduction also helps offset the gain in the FMIC. Not too many choices out there, so AMS was a pretty easy decision here(outside of the price).

Their piping looks well designed with support tabs welded on to both the LICP and UICP. Once it arrived the quality was evident. Great polish, nice welds, very pleased here. Also managed to lose 1.5lbs from the UICP!

Weights
OEM LICP = 2.5 lbs
AMS LICP = 2.5 lbs
OEM UICP = 5.5 lbs
AMS UICP = 4.0 lbs (-1.5 lbs bonus!)

Here's a bunch of comparison pics between the OEM and AMS stuff.

OEM LICP vs AMS LICP

AMS

OEM UICP vs AMS UICP. Huge difference here.

AMS

Wanted to thank MAPerformance for the hookup on these parts. Great guys to deal with. Thanks Chris & Adam! www.maperformance.com

J

Evo 8.5 - Donor Parts

2010-12-14T21:41:00.015-05:00

As it always seems I start projects figuring that I'll need this cute little list of parts. In the end the list always grows. This one is no different, although the basic swap is fairly simple.

Here is the list of parts (as I presently know it) needed to swap a 2006 Evo IX motor into a 2003 Evo VIII.

- Evo IX longblock

- Evo IX ECU

- Evo IX complete engine wiring harness

- 2nd Relay on firewall (next to ABS module)

- Evo IX 5spd trans harness

- Evo IX rear (secondary) O2 sensor

- Evo IX Lower Radiator Hose or Cut Evo VIII Hose

You'll also need engine oil, trans fluid, TC fluid, coolant, etc.

Here's a few notes on some of these parts:

Evo IX longblock, my donor is throttle body to turbo outlet, I did this for two reasons. 1st was to make it easier, 2nd was to comply with SCCA SP UD/BD rules (although I only needed the longblock and turbo, not the manifolds)

Evo IX ECU is obviously programmed and wired for the addition of MIVEC. It also has 3 plugs in comparison to the evo VIII ecu that has 4 plugs.

Evo IX engine wiring harness, this is necessary because of the addition of the MIVEC wiring and the aforementioned 3 plug vs 4 plug. The addition of MIVEC adds an extra plug for the intake cam CAS, OCV solenoid & extra firewall relay. There are also 6 more plugs for the ACD wiring, but thats of no consequence here as the VIII has all mechanical diffs. One other note, the donor for this build was in a front end collision. As such the ACD plugs were destroyed and there may be other damage in one portion of the harness. I'll be cutting back the loom and inspecting those parts of the harness to try and avoid any issues.

2nd relay on the firewall, pretty sure this is for the MIVEC, but not really sure. Edit: Adam has confirmed this is for the MIVEC.

EVO IX 5spd trans harness, this is a small harness for the reverse switch and speedo sensor. Mitsu saw fit to change the plug where it connects to the main engine harness. This one was a surprise for me. Luckily I found a used one for $40, dealer pricing is $90+. Edit: You can also cut the plug off your 8 harness and rewire. Personally I prefer the reliability of the OEM harness, so I try and keep it stock where possible.

EVO IX rear O2 sensor, this one was also a surprise. If I can't find a used harness I'll probably use a weatherpack connector. If the sensor ever needs to be replaced I won't be paying for an OEM one anyway. Edit: Like the trans harness this can be re-wired, but it would be nicer to have the OEM harness plugs.

Thats all I've got for now. If anything else comes up it'll get added to this post.

J

timelapse

2010-12-13T00:26:00.001-05:00

Evo 8.5 - Intro

2010-12-12T23:45:00.006-05:00

Earlier this year I started doing a little research about the evo IX swap into the evo VIII. I know they make a good bit more power (not to mention more area under the curve on a dyno plot) then the VIII when setup for SP. I also thought about getting out of the evo and maybe building an STR S2k as a change of pace. When it came down to it there was talk about getting rid of our 3rd car, so having a 4 dr "family" sedan made more sense. Plus the evo is the funnest car I have ever owned, that was the whole reason I bought one.

So the VIII motor was about due for the timing belt service and I would have had to fork out $$ for that and the IX swap wasn't too outrageous, so I pulled trigger. This was May.

Then we put the house on the market. Had it under contract pretty quick and thats when the fun began. We now have a great new home, kids are in school and we are settling in. That's my cue to start in on the winter project.

Gonna back date a little here to October. Hadn't washed the car in over a year. Powerwashed after the Stafford Rallyx, but not really washed. Well it cleaned up real nice, better than I thought.

Prepped the OR for surgery. Not the biggest or cleanest, but totally adequate.

Patient is on the operating table!

So the car was finally in the garage. It had been sitting out for months, dead battery (Thanks Grant!) and hadn't really been driven since the Stafford RallyX anyway since the tranny makes funny noises (Grrr grumble grumble). Was pretty excited about this moment though as the real work would soon begin.

More coming soon. Gonna have some detailed stuff too for the evo guys.

etown roadcourse

2010-10-17T12:51:00.003-04:00

steguis convinced me to take the trip down to etown.. not having to drive both ways sealed the deal! codriving someone else's car is perfect for the lazy folks out there like me.

dan

9.26 warminster

2010-09-26T21:09:00.006-04:00

i'm still trying to recover from pedalling a fast 50 miles in the hills on the hudson with joon yesterday.

at 4:30am today, alarm clock goes off for the long haul to pa.

dan

on board 2 wheels

2010-09-24T13:57:00.002-04:00

autox saturday (sorry no video this time), supermoto sunday.. what can beat that?

here's my race video.. 12 in the field.. qualified 5th and finished 3rd.

didn't realize the cam was pointed down but still an exciting race.. artie from njminigp was on my back wheel the rest of the way after i passed him.

dan

9.4.10 @ meadowlands

2010-09-05T17:41:00.006-04:00

perry and i had some fun in the s2k yesterday.. also gary was generous enough to let me take a couple of runs in the gtr.. sweet!

nnjr @ meadow from dan cheung on Vimeo.

dan

sweet pass

2010-08-27T13:49:00.001-04:00

motons!

2010-08-07T21:12:00.008-04:00

^took this pic today first thing in the morning. eibach pro-kit springs which lower the car approximately 1" all around damped by OTS koni yellows. i have the custom hollow gendron front bar(nearly 35mm!) which helped with roll stiffness but the springs were just too soft (i believe in the 250-300 lb/in range). even so, the car was so well balanced at the last msne autox and it was such a pleasure to drive. despite a fun car, i was still left looking for more. it was just too slow transitionally to be competitive.

here's the solution..

...a set of moton clubsports i was able to find at a great price off the s2ki forums. it didn't hurt that they belonged to 'stinkytofu', a fast west coast driver that has set some time attack records and worked closely with evasive motorsports on the development of his setup. i think a fast track setup will be a good baseline to a good handling autox car (except for the alignment).

i recently had a j's racing 'camber joint' installed to be able to get within the front camber range i want.. in the neighborhood of 2.7-3 degrees negative.

it's an offset lower balljoint replacement that has an added benefit of widening the front track a hair.

i didn't snap too many shots since i was busy turning the wrenches but i did take a couple.

i'm going to give stinky's out of the box setup a try and see how i like it. ride heights are very low.. bottomed out on a speedbump low! 1000 lb/in springs all around.. it's actually pretty damn comfortable on the street despite the high springrates. the best part is the car just plain feels amazing.

i was too tired to measure the toe and camber changes but i'm also giving myself a couple of days to determine if the ride height is too low.

more to come..

-dan

rally!

2010-08-03T20:49:00.005-04:00

anyone notice how well deegan drove at the xgames? tight lines, super clean. besides getting lost i think he was pretty damn impressive

here's the super rally finals video, not much of deegan but cool race to watch

dan

back in the game

2010-07-29T17:40:00.006-04:00

i've been out of the autox scene for a while but the bug has bitten again! supermoto is WAY more fun but turning a steering wheel at speed is still something i can't live without.

in the past few years, our local tri-state autox sites have been deteriorating to less than stellar condition (which was an advantage for us with awd cars!). however, the newly paved meadowlands lot finally brings us a national level worthy site within a stone's throw from nyc.

i've only attended 2 events all year with a 'fun' decently balanced but no-grip setup. i enjoy driving but i always have the desire to win. s2000 platform + killer local site + itch to race is good enough incentive for me to put some effort into the car to see what i can accomplish. i won't go all out with a build to the limits but i want to maximize what i'm working with. my focus will be on suspension/chassis setup.

stock class requires transporting race tires and burning through hoosier crack with a less than ideal setup. now with the relatively new class for 2 seaters.. STR.. fun mods, building a car that works, and no tire changing? no brainer!

first order of business.. wheels and tires. hankook rs3's, the new hot street tire and 17x9 949 racing 6ulr's ideal for STR.

the pic above was taken with the car on stock springs (on koni yellows). we'll address that in a little bit.

stay tuned

dan

modena for sale!

2010-05-08T01:12:00.008-04:00

posting for joey:

This is my 2000 red/tan 360 Modena for sale. It has 14,600 miles and is in mint condition. Includes:

- Scuderia shields
- Spare tire
- Challenge grill
- Capristo Stage 3 exhaust
- 3M clear bra
- All 3 keys, books, and tools.

I bought this car from Ferrari of New England in 2007, it had 10k miles then. It was a certified car at that time. It has been serviced at that dealership since I've had it. It is currently due for the 3 year service. The last belts were done in 2006, and I was going to do it in the fall of 2009, but I thought I would wait til spring. I live in New England and the car hasn't really been driven much since last fall.

I am selling the car because I just don't have much time to drive it. I also have the stock exhaust and the stock rear non-challenge grill.

Anyways, this is a no stories car. It's beautiful and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. I am open to offers.

$82,000 OBO

you can contact me at:
manansal@gmail.com

etown season opener

2010-03-28T17:01:00.005-04:00

sanjaya posted some vids from his gopro..

s2k in drift trim. bald crap rear tires, re01r's up front. jedi training for sanjaya to unlearn his awd 'skills'. sick frontend bite and a car that wants to snap spin = a blast!

it was an absolute handful but we applied some unconventional tire warming techniques. smokey 180's + vtec launches upped the grip level.. a tiny bit, i think. ultimately, patience and smooth inputs did the trick.

waiting on some str specific 17x9's to arrive + real tires.. then it's game on!

dan

NNJR SCCA 03/27/2010 - Char's Run #2 from Charith Perera on Vimeo.

^this is what happens when you think you're driving awd and rev it to 9k in first, then floor it on the upshift.

NNJR SCCA 03/27/2010 - Dan's Money Run from Charith Perera on Vimeo.

NNJR SCCA 03/27/2010 - Char's run #7 from Charith Perera on Vimeo.

^perry caught on camera again

skills

2009-12-15T22:46:00.001-05:00

footwork

2009-12-13T22:53:00.001-05:00

sweet

happy halloween!

2009-10-31T21:44:00.007-04:00

nothing's better than reconnecting with a car that has a lot of sentimental value.. i had the pleasure of driving my old civic in its full b16 glory! rad was ultra kind to let me drive it all day while he was tire warming for steguis.

chris shenefield set him up with some suspension magic, the quaife works wonders, and how sweet it was to turn the wheel again.

bmwclub at nassau from dan cheung on Vimeo.

not bad for hankook rs2's and a less than ideal alignment. very neutral balance and confidence inspiring. more negative camber up front and some star specs would really be the ticket! thanks a million rad! and congrats on the class championship steg!

a little sidenote- not to give chrome dome dixon an even bigger head but he really has the turn-in technique mastered. i've never felt anyone drive the way he does and there's a reason he earned a 'free' yellow corvette. you can't see it in the video so much as feel it when you're riding shotgun. he has this uncanny timing of dabbing the brake, loading up the front, and turning in.. all perfectly timed. it is an amazing feeling and he nails it nearly every time. it really is inspiring.

-dan

devens

2009-08-07T20:43:00.003-04:00

jay's evo is better than ever! more power, better handling. here's a pic of gj and i enjoying a run at the bmw school at devens.

-dan

Fuel Strategy, Strata & Pb

2009-07-21T20:13:00.006-04:00

This year I have been trying to make a bit more HP without spending too much $$. One thing I tried was some different race fuel. I did a little research about E85 and thought that would be cool. Too bad it's not available around here, at all. I even got in touch with the local Rockett brand dealer about their new E85 race gas. He's not carrying it, no demand. Then I heard about some super new VP stuff called Q16. Apparently it's a little tough to tune. We (Adam Fuhs) and I eventually settled on C16.

I get the tank nice and low in the evo and add a 5 gallon drum of the C16. Did some driving to mix the fuel.

First set of logs results in very similar AFR's to pump gas. Second set of logs is a bit richer and the car stinks a bit more. By the 3rd logging session this car reeks. To the point I'm almost dizzy. The AFR's are also very rich. Pretty sure we're into the C16 now.

At this point we're a little confused. A little searching shows the specific gravity of gasoline is slightly higher than the C16. As it turns out the gasoline and C16 stratify. They form layers and don't create a homogeneous mixture. Gasoline on the bottom and C16 on top. Hence the leaner AFR's shifting to super rich AFR's. Called up VP and they confirmed the theory. Unleaded and leaded gas don't really "mix".

Off I go to drain the evo's tank so I can move onto something else. What am I using the leftover for??

I hate to say it but the lawn didn't get cut any faster.

One thing I finally learned was how much fuel my car has when it hits the "E" light. Without the luxury of a tow vehicle and trailer I bring race gas with me and mix with the leftover in the tank. This means I calculate how much fuel I need to get to the event site and make sure I'm at "E" or below. Thing is I never knew how much gas was actually in the tank. I estimated about 3 gallons. So I drained the tank fully. Then slowly refilled with pump until the light turned off. 2.3 gallons. At the 1/4 tank mark the evo has 4 gallons left. Sweet, now the octane numbers for the mixed gas will be more accurate.

Now you might wonder how to figure out what your octane is once you mix the gas. It's pretty simple as the octane is based on proportion of one fuel to the other.

Your variables:

A = Pump Gas Octane

B = Volume of Pump Gas (gallons)

C = Race Fuel Octane

D = Volume of Race Fuel (gallons)

The math:

(A x B + C x D)/(B + D) = New Octane of Mix

Example:

A = 93 Octane

B = 2 gallons

C = 104 Octane

D = 5 gallons

(93 x 2 + 104 x 5)/(2 + 5) = 101 Octane

So that was my fuel saga. I'm back to regular old 104 unleaded. Oh well.

-J

7-11-09 NNJR SCCA (or the benchmark version 2)

2009-07-18T23:45:00.005-04:00

Photo: Courtesy of Steve Wasp

So I was excited to run this event. Not only was there no pressure but it was held on the old NNJR lot. This is the place where it really all started for Kevin, Dan and I in the Civics. Can't forget Ed Morfe in his A4. We would battle constantly. There was no consistency. One guy would win one week and get crushed the next. That was probably 6 or 7 years ago at this point.

Well after I get through tech Mr. Uber Car Whore (PA :P) asks me if I want a co-drive. Typically I say no. This time it was Pat Salerno. That's a tough one to turn down.

Anyone who read my DOTM on the Autox4u site may remember that he and Junior are 2 drivers I looked up to (and still do). Pat has also been one of my raw/PAX benchmarks at National events for several years now. He's in a very fast, well setup car and has been for a while. That's the best kind of benchmark.

So we proceed to swap runs and just have a good time. We both noted the lack of grip. The lot was very dirty in spots and the car is way too stiff for that site. Pat never did get down to my time, but was very close. Did I mention I don't think there was a clean run in this car all day? It was very cool watching Pat drive. He's alot like Corey R., but more aggressive and amped up. I could tell he was a LFB guy the moment he started driving. Very precise and controlled. A bit of contrast to my style of tossing the car.

Here's our fast videos from morning runs and a couple side view shots of my afternoon runs. Also corded the front tires in the afternoon. 34 runs sucks. Thankfully I've got another set coming from Hoosier and some input to help them last longer. I <3>

New content?

2009-06-24T21:23:00.004-04:00

So it's been awhile since I posted anything worth a damn to this blog. It's a bit rough with 2 little hombres and a busy j-o-b. Most of my extra time has been spent on the concrete under the evo or out doing some logging.

Good news is I have some video from the Finger Lakes Tour and DC Pro. Both awesome events. Very happy with my results and couldn't be happier with the way this thing drives.

I've also got a couple random tidbits of knowledge. A stack of fresh 285-30-18 A6's is 4" taller than when mounted on 9.5" wheels. waa-waa. McCance says they are only an 1" or so shorter on a 10" rim. They fit his bsp car pretty well.

For now here's my DC video, I'll have finger lakes and some more soon.

-Jay

150r onboard

2009-04-21T10:46:00.002-04:00

last session of day.. ultra tired so i played chasecam for mike- now he has his own custom video. that's good service!

njminigp practice 4/19/09 from dan cheung on Vimeo.

supermoto!

2009-03-30T21:35:00.003-04:00

ok, technically not supermoto.. more like superminimoto.

here's some tard action from the njmp kart track..

njmp minigp 3/29/09 from dan cheung on Vimeo.

always looking for an adrenaline fix, i picked up this motarded crf150r ready to rock and got some 'tard action to improve my 2 wheel game. i'll be at the etown roadcourse this saturday while you nnjr guys are on the other side!

dan

deals

2009-02-24T11:51:00.003-05:00

sportsmanguide.com

search piloti. $30 a pair..

also tirerack has killer sale on the bridgestone re01r's.. just ordered some fronts for my s2k..

click on the tirerack link to the right!

-dan

Joaquuin Phoenix....brilliant

2009-02-16T22:23:00.002-05:00

This is awesome...seriously. Is he acting, doped up, or just a space cadet?

mmc 1/31/09

2009-02-01T01:06:00.005-05:00

(^pics from ponycars.net more here)

since we had to pick up the rs from a local monticello shop for a powerplant 'refresh' since our first mmc event, what better time than the morning of yesterday's event. (thanks for the ride up mike!) the crank had seized at the very end of our first event- i'm guessing oil pump failure due to high mileage. the 35k mileage replacement engine runs like a champ and we were back in business.

not sure everyone knows the story but adil and i share the 2.5rs 'rallycar'. not only does splitting expenses make sense- but the valuable seat time we get riding along with each other, giving feedback, discussing technique/lines, etc.. allows us to improve our skills at a faster rate. it doesn't hurt that we've competed against each other for years along the way autoxing and get along very well.

i'd highly recommend doing the shared car thing with the right person if the events you run are codriver friendly. adil uses it for family trips/rallyx/mmc, while i also get to bash it through the woods since my self-preservation gene is missing.

anyways- here's some in-car from yesterdays event.

MMC winter driving series 1.31.09 from dan cheung on Vimeo.

plenty of great footage but tried to keep it short. (thanks for the wide angle AC!.. i need to buy a DVR.) adil was fond of my ninja reverse move (while the car was out of control i figured i might as well be ready to back it out) and i hope you can appreciate his badass run. very smoooth, clean and tidy. we didn't catch my first ultra 360 (spun the car all the way around at speed without missing a beat) but i did capture my end of day attempt on camera.

we had a TON of fun, the north course was AWESOME (4th gear on the back straight!), and MMC put on another world-class event. i can't compliment the very friendly and professional MMC folks enough!

for all of you that haven't attended yet- beg borrow or steal snow tires! get out there!

visit our friends at axis for more badass content!

-dan

MMC onboard

2009-01-11T22:30:00.012-05:00

From mmc

the event ROCKED!! by far the best 4 wheeled event i've ever experienced (and i've done a lot). despite what you might think, this was VERY safe, only 1 real causualty- mike busted his bumper and headlight on a tirewall.. but with about 30 drivers on track all day long, that isn't half bad. normal track days usually see tons of carnage.

by the end of the day, i was driving with zero fear, pitching the car sideways into high speed corners like second nature. took a lot of laps to get to to that comfort level but the point is, this event gave us the opportunity to get a TON of seat time to get to that point!

i was having so much fun i never checked the connections on the camera as the day went on (lots of movement in car and camera bag wasn't strapped down). so all of our killer vid on different cars is audio only. doh!

so here is my onboard from early in the day (pre-mastering of the scandanavian flick and before my balls grew) but it gives you a good idea of the track and conditions.

Monticello Motor Club Winter Driving Series from dan cheung on Vimeo.

you can see the low grip levels and don't let my exhaust with the db level of a sewing machine fool you.. i had it flat out most of the time! poor rs was way underpowered in comparison to the other cars i drove. char's evo was a rocketship!

adil rocked the 911 all day and steven k brought out the cayenne turbo! lol. i'm sure the axisofoversteer guys will have their vids up soon.

please MMC- let's keep these events going! we'll all be there again!

dan

winter driving series!

2009-01-08T20:10:00.002-05:00

open track day on snow?? we're in!

here's a vid from the last event with mirra driving

all details here.. click on winter driving series

http://www.drivemmc.com/

-dan

Plan B

2008-11-22T18:09:00.002-05:00

An S2000cr.

Solo Invitational

2008-11-20T22:39:00.001-05:00

Hey

I'm involved with running an invitational karting event at Grand Prix New York this Sunday. We have some seats still available, so I wanted to pass the information on to everyone. If you are interested, please contact me, or Stan Marcewicz: sjmarcy@aol.com

Thanks,

G.J.

Location:
Grand Prix New York
333 North Bedford Road
Mt. Kisco, NY 10549

Event Name: "Solo Invitational"

Cost: $130 per person

Payment: Individual charges to each racer once 26 racers are achieved...Chris K at GPNY is handling payment registration calls from the individual racers via 914-358-3630 or via email to chris.k@gpny.com

Check in time at GPNY: 9 AM on Sunday the 23rd. check in / weigh in / safety movie & waivers as required / drivers meeting

Drivers Meeting: 9:20-9:30 am

Race Start: 9:45 am

Race Format:

26 Racers in total, Qualifying order will be a random drawing. Each group of 13 drivers will have 2 qualifying races.

All racers will be weighed and balasted correctly to make the racing more fair for everyone.

There will be 2 qualifying races:
1- 10 minute qualifying race on Uptown
and
1- 10 minute qualifying race on Downtown

Your Fastest Lap from each qualfying session will be added together to determine the starting grid for the main races.

15 minute break between Qualifying and the Main

There will be an A Main group and B Main group.

There will be 2 Main races
1- 15 minute Main on Uptown backwards
and
1- 15 minute Main on Downtown Backwards

Each Main race you earn points on finishing position. The number of points you receive is equal to the position you finish in. The overall winner will be determined by who has the least amount of points at the end of both races. If there is a tie, it will be based on qualifying position.

Expected finishing time will be around 11:30 am- 12:00 pm

minor damage

2008-11-18T10:13:00.004-05:00

a few minutes and a couple zip ties and we were good to good. if we had a drill, there would have been more zip ties.

geebus

2008-11-12T22:23:00.000-05:00

rallyx spec racing!

2008-11-12T11:39:00.002-05:00

hugo wants to get in on the rallyx action and doesn't have a car.. so he's going to rent one for this sunday. probably a cobalt/focus or whatever they have for cheap.

then we got to thinking - maybe a bunch of guys should all rent the same cars, pile a bunch of drivers in each (3 drivers is doable) and have a spec rallyx showdown.

i don't know how we'd explain the mud when returning the cars but i'm sure we could come up with something good. haha.

rallyx sunday!

2008-11-12T11:13:00.002-05:00

rallyx this sunday with pscc up at greigs farm in redhook ny.

View Larger Map

about 2 hrs north of the city.. we'll be waking up early for this one.

http://www.psccny.com/

-dan

4g at nhis

2008-11-06T14:42:00.002-05:00

booch giving the 4g some much needed exercise with COMSCC at loudon.

i was offered an arrive and drive but to be honest, 2 wheels on track beats 4 wheels hands down! maybe one day i will get the bug again. plus tucker wasn't available to be my cabbie.

here's the in-car:

COM Time Trials @ NHMS 11/2/08 from Ryan Catucci on Vimeo.

-dan

gpny this sunday 11/9

2008-11-06T13:44:00.002-05:00

anyone want to join a few of us this sunday at gpny for some karting action? 4 races for $80. that should be more than plenty.

-dan

nemesis!!!

2008-11-03T22:08:00.001-05:00

perry caught on video at the track!! turn up the volume

For Sale...08 STI parts

2008-10-21T20:07:00.011-04:00

It's been a rough season for us to say the least. Our 08 STI is now gone...so we have some goodies to sell.
--AST Shocks - Custom Built for 08 STI (SOLD).
These are custom built one-off shocks. Made for the 2008 STI (or 2009 STI). They are double adjustable with external reservior for nitrogen charge. These are built to SCCA Autox A-Stock specs. They have 12 adjustments of rebound & 11 adjustments for compression. Both Front & Rears are technically threaded coil overs & can be readapted to full coilover shocks.
I spent a total of $5875 for these ($5125 for the shocks plus $750 for a stock set of STI shocks for the custom build). If you plan on running a 08 or 09 STI in Stock class, don't pass up these shocks! Had it not been for all of our engine problems running the 08, I wouldn't have gotten rid of the car & wouldn't be selling these.
Price: $3800.00
http://http://picasaweb.google.com/STIKaibutsu/ASTShocks#
--Kosei K3 rims (SOLD). 18 x 8.5 with 50mm offset
with Kosei caps, centering rings (for a Subaru), never been used blue metal valve stems and lugs with key. Weight 19.2 lbs each. Rims never used on street only for one autox event.
Price $800.00
http://http://picasaweb.google.com/STIKaibutsu/KoseiK3#
--Hoosier Wets (SOLD). Four 275 x 35 R18. 24 Runs on the set. All tires purchased in 2008
Price $450.00
http://picasaweb.google.com/STIKaibutsu/HoosierWets#
--Many tires...all Hoosier A6 295x 30 R18 (8 tires left). All tires purchased in 2008.
(1) never been heat cycled sticker Hoosier, Price $200. (SOLD)
(4) used Hoosiers. Used for 8 runs each. Price $120 per tire. (SOLD)
(12) used Hoosiers. All with under 40 runs. Price $100 per tire. (8 tires still available!)
(4) used Hoosiers. All with well over 40 runs. Price $50 for the set of 4. (trashed)
The more tires you are willing to buy the more I am willing to negotiate on price.
http://picasaweb.google.com/STIKaibutsu/HoosierA6s#
Also have items below if interested...
--Niles Sway bar with Perrin endlinks (SOLD)
--Hawk HP Plus Brake Pads (SOLD)
--K&N Intake Filter
--Schroth 4 point Harness with pads (SOLD)

rs put to use

2008-10-20T23:08:00.001-04:00

i missed all the fun to spend time with the fam but adil and the carris duo put the rs to good use. that's right, 3 drivers, 1 car.

my consolation was getting the carrera while the suby was getting exercised. not a bad trade.

pine barrens rally nov 22nd.. that i am not missing!

-dan

rallyx time!

2008-10-09T09:53:00.004-04:00

Time to get your rallyx on..

October 19th in Upper Red Hook, NY (about 2 hrs north of NYC)

http://www.psccny.com/rallycross

here's a little inspiration

-dan

more topeka random pics

2008-10-08T21:04:00.001-04:00

Solo Nationals Video!

2008-09-24T22:09:00.002-04:00

I planned to add this video to another post, but I'm tired and want to get this up tonight. Here is our fast runs (except my east course) from Topeka.

Dan East

Jay East

Dan West

Jay West

If you want to see more I have all our video up on vimeo here:

- Jay

Jay got on the podium!!

2008-09-24T17:13:00.002-04:00

Oh crap, I never got to congratulate Jay for making it count when it matters and coming in 2nd in BSP at Nationals! Tom Berry is a multi-national champion with years of experience. We were also surprised to hear that Aaron Miller has been going to Nats for the past 14 yrs so the competition was not easy. Our car is down on power compared to the 9's but Jay was able to take advantage of the kickass handling, put on the pressure, and drive his heart out to impress us all.

HUGE congrats to Jay and HUGE thanks for letting me warm the tires.

You will most likely see us back to Topeka next year looking for even better results!

Thanks Tucker for the PBA card. We'll have to tell you that story in person. I'll let you think you're faster at Stillwell for the next ride.

-Dan

Nationals Test & Tune Video

2008-09-23T12:46:00.004-04:00

We managed to take some video of our afternoon test and tune runs. These courses were just modified ProSolo Finale courses. Very simple and straight forward. Weather was overcast in the 60's. Grip level was so-so. My car tends to feel great in these conditions, but then gets worse when it gets hotter. More on that with our Nationals video.

Something we found out about driving style is Dan still thinks he's in an STi. He goes out through all the offsets and the rear end is crazy. The moment he gets offline the car is backwards and we are staring at a couple hundred $$ in A6's. I drive afterward and the car was fine for me. What gives? Dan was lifting hard and turning in at the same time to get the evo to rotate. Totally necessary in his STi, not so in the evo. He goes out after we discuss this and also make a rear rebound adjustment and Dan runs a 28.8 to my 29.0! Needless to say we were quite happy about that as the car felt good and times were also good in comparison to others we saw.

Here's Dan's spin run, my 29.0 and his 28.8. Notice how "slow" his 28.8 looks, but also how he is on point with his line. Tight everywhere he needs to be, this was kind of an eye opener to both of us.

Look for our Nationals video and writeup soon. We also have a time lapse vid of the drive home.

- Jay

Monday- Walk the Courses day

2008-09-15T22:48:00.002-04:00

fun starts tomorrow am.. wish us luck

Sunday: Test and Tune Day

2008-09-14T21:35:00.001-04:00

Fri/Sat - 1350 paranoid miles in the evo

2008-09-14T20:26:00.004-04:00

So I thought (still think) there is something wrong with my car. I swapped a ton of parts recently and still think there is an issue. Oh well, Dan didn't think so. Based on that we made the decision to drive out to Topeka for Solo Nationals at HPT.

1350 miles. 56 gallons of gas. 22 hours of travel time. Swapping tires front to rear at Bob Evans in Ohio so they wouldn't cord the fronts! Catching zzz's in the passenger seat. Rocking ear plugs for at least 20 of those hours in the car. One cop in Bernardsville, NJ decided he didn't like Dan. Watching Dan's reaction to people in the middle of the country, priceless. So many things occurred in 22 hours, including being totally out of your mind. Weird and fun.

Ok,so here is Dan getting pulled over. Just to set the scene its like 12:45 AM, a little rainy and I'm trying to sleep in the passenger side, pillow from home and all. All of our gear is in the car, including tires.

We are cruising 70-75 in a 65. Dan gets lit up and we pull over. The cop is up to the car super fast, never ran the plates.

Cop: License and registration please. Do you know why I pulled you over?
Dan: (Dan hands him his license and PBA card, Thanks Tucker!).....uuhhhh....I was just cruising with traffic. (this is true)
Cop: Well you were swerving through lanes and have a loud muffler.
Us:......
Cop: How is your record?
Dan: Perfect.
Cop: Have you guys been drinking tonight?
Us: No.
Cop: Why is your spare tire in the back seat?
Jay: They are competition tires.
Cop: Have a good night.

This guy is gone with the quickness. He was so hyped and talking damn fast. Weird. I think he was expecting kids in the evo with all these stickers. Too bad he found 2 old (30) guys that still had 20 hours of driving ahead.

Then we had a quick stop in PA for some snacks and gas. No gas but we pee'd and got food. Mind you it must be 2 AM at this point. So Dan's looking at some chips and this guy comes over with a mop bucket. He HAD to mop the floor were Dan was standing at that very point in time. Remember it's 2 AM. We paid and left...quickly.

This is not an easy trip. Thankfully we caught up with the Carris' for dinner at the Blind Tiger Brewery and then passed out. I haven't had that much continuous sleep in a long time...something like 11+ hours. Phenomenal.

Tomorrow (well today, but we're behind on updates) is the test and tune. Video will be up after we get back. Sorry guys, I forgot my cable for the camera.

-Jay

front diff swap

2008-09-12T14:28:00.001-04:00

what do you do the night before you leave for topeka? swap front diffs.. that's what we do

nats in a week!

2008-09-09T16:35:00.004-04:00

wish us luck at topeka! we barely had seat-time in the car and it's off to the big battle in a few days! (as long as the car is reliable enough to make the haul out!)

jay is wrenching away on some evo bugs and i'm recovering from a fast and hard lowside on sunday at pocono..

lots of excuses for me. damp/green track after the crazy rain + cold race tires, inside line passing a bunch of guys. got right back on the bike (adrenaline hid the pain) and finished out 5 more sessions..

click on the pic and you can see some added ventilation in my suit.. dunno how i blew the inner arms made of kevlar thread??

dan

lean angle

2008-09-02T16:06:00.004-04:00

still recovering from my 2^nd track day on a bike.. again at pocono east, this time with NESBA. great club, kickass instructors!

since i’ve reached a point where my learning curve is leveling off for autox and i've gotten pretty good at sliding a car around a track, it was time for a new challenge. my love for 2 wheels resulted in the next logical step. i started riding on a 250cc ninja back in college which is all i could afford at the time. the price of admission was only $1150 so it was great poorman’s fun! sold it when i graduated and i really never had a desire to ride on the street here at home. so after a 10 year break, i’m back on a bike and now a novice again! It’s actually very cool to be the student.

i had gotten my feet wet on a street-legal yamaha r6 earlier this year and decided it would be wiser to buy a track-only bike.. not only is the upfront cost slightly less, but it also is cheaper to repair/replace race bodywork if and when you go down. no expensive street parts to break!

here are some of my 2 wheel learning experiences that i’ll try to share-

as with cars, proper lines are the key to quick laptimes.. turning in too early will pinch you on the exits. very bad. backing off the throttle and/or applying the brakes while leaned over is not a good feeling.. bikes like to have rearward weight bias, i.e., they like to have the throttle cracked open (compare the shape of front vs rear tires on a bike to understand why)

trailbraking (self-preservation tendencies) into a corner causes the bike to want to stand up, not naturally fall-in to the corner to turn. it’s a battle between balls and fear. again, as with cars, nailing the corner entry is everything. except with the bike, going in too fast will probably result in pain.

when your kneepucks touch the ground, it’s not a pleasant feeling- it’s hard plastic grinding on the rough track surface at a high speed.. takes a little getting used to. you naturally want to stop leaning at that point and start picking the bike up.. another feeling to overcome. the lightbulb went on for me when i built the confidence to continue to crank the bike over. more lean angle = higher cornering speeds. bingo. quicker lap times.

i finally experienced what the pros refer to when they say they, ‘get in a good rhythm’.. everything flows very nicely when you’re not fighting the bike. taking the right lines, smooth inputs, good corner entry speed... a kickass feeling once you have the confidence to carry the speed that results in fluid direction changes. it all comes together.

what’s my end goal? joey is optimistic and says i’ll prolly be instructing by 2010 but that might be pushing it. maybe instructing will be a byproduct of my real goal- to have the control to carry a shit-ton of speed into a corner, 'back the bike in' with the tail out, then powerslide out of the corner. what i dream of. if i can accomplish that, i will be satisfied, hang up the helmet, and find another challenge! here’s an example:

for me, there is nothing more satisfying than taking on a new challenge and being on the steep part of that learning curve. i had to pinch myself after waking up monday morning to confirm if getting that knee down and railing around corners actually took place on sunday.

trying to share the feeling is nothing like experiencing it firsthand. so it's only logical for you to join me at the track! holunfie2 needs to be formed.

-dan

got turbo? mikey does.. SOLD!!!

2008-09-01T22:07:00.007-04:00

***SOLD***

here's your chance to get a supercar for a bargain.

mint 2004 996TT.. 55k miles.. $55k. this is priced to sell (below book value). making room for something very very badass.

awd, navi, ultra comfy, stupid power.

full ad here: http://manansal.googlepages.com/forsale:2004911turbo

putting it up at an attractive price, otherwise it's going to be traded in and marked up $10k more by the dealer.

-dan

devens

2008-08-10T02:02:00.004-04:00

jay and i made the trip up to devens again to help out with the bmw school.. tons of seat time, kickass students, great vibe.. wish they had these every month!

a couple pics of the hms hardware..

...also picked up my other honda on the way back!

jay and i will finally get the evo out to some local events coming up before topeka. we need time in it!

-dan

August DOTM!

2008-08-05T22:27:00.003-04:00

more holunfie crew featured in perry's DOTM on autox4u.com

check it out! http://autox4u.com/driver/aug%202008/index.htm

congrats chris and diana!

bmw at nassau

2008-08-04T23:17:00.002-04:00

picked up a new lens for my cam and took some shots at bmwcca at nassau.. some faces you may know..

steguis

lens 'testing'

aaron back in the game!

matt k

..couple more pics

2008-08-04T23:12:00.001-04:00

tommy aka tucker

tarmac

dirt

team woozy gixxer for sale *SOLD!

2008-07-17T23:40:00.007-04:00

^pre-upgrades, awesome lines on this bike

a rare find for sale.. only 535 miles on this cherry '04 gsxr600. it's barely broken in.

this bike is showroom and sounds badass!

$6500. 'slightly' negotiable. get in touch with me if you're serious. or pass the word. this is way cheaper than a new bike yet it is virtually new with tasteful upgrades. i also have vortex rearsets that will cost a little extra if the buyer wants them.

i bought this bike from joey's stable with the intention of turning it into a trackbike but decided it would be wiser to buy a 'disposable' racebike instead. so now i'm forced to recharge the bank account and also make room in the garage for my 2 wheeled honda!

^clean undertail with integrated LED turn signals, LOR cf exhaust

^smoked flushmounts, frame sliders

fuel injection (screw carbs!), steering damper, shift light. clean title, one owner. never stunted or abused in any way. any questions, just ask. i can deliver within a reasonable distance.

-dan

devens school with bmw

2008-07-17T22:56:00.002-04:00

jay and i had the privilege of instructing for the bmwcca at devens this past sunday. we've gotta thank steve hazard for an absolutely kickass day.

i finally made up for the lack of seat time all year, and it was a great feeling to help novices out. one example- i hopped in with a kid in an older gen stock 5 series on old crusty tires. i rode along for 2 runs, made some suggestions. while he was understanding what i was saying, it wasn't really clicking for him. we were talking through technique, and i paused.. wait a sec, it's easier for me to just show you instead of tell you.. want me to take you for a run? he said, please! we traded seats, and i had a ball floggin the big old 5. you could almost see it all make sense in his reaction. holy crap! that was awesome! I checked in with him after he took another run.. how'd it go? with a huge grin on his face..(his energy level was way up). "i spun all over the place but i had a blast!" so i hopped in for a ride along on the next run and talked him through it as we went.. we were cheering through the offsets into the finish since he was really hustling the car by that point.. as we did a recap.. i noticed he had 'the shakes'. his excitement level went from blah earlier in the day to the shakes.. he was amped and i think we have yet another sucker hooked on autox.

kickass day reason #2. on an equal playing field, i beat jay hands down in diane's accord lunchtime shootout. where was simmonz when we needed him.. i should have put money on it!

with all the cars we hopped in, stock, modded, bimmers, evo's.. the one car I had THE most fun in? steve t's not so prepped old crx on eibach pro kit lowering springs and generic shocks! maybe it was the dunlops direzzas (way better than neovas!) but the fun level in the crx was through the roof. full throttle, hanging on for dear life through the transitions.. absolute blast! i think i would rawtime slower in the sti. gary t was also killing it in that car! with a little more seat time, you're gonna be right there too steve! forget any mods.. don't touch that thing!

driving various cars throughout the day was an eye opener for me. i now realize it can be just as much fun to hustle a stock or mildly prepped car compared to a tricked out, high dollar shock, stupid fast one. even the accord shootout was tons of fun. don't get me wrong, jay's evo is simply amazing. stupid fast, but it's as if my brain can't process that quickly and i definitely never tap the full potential of the car. a crx on street tires.. totally different.. you have time to setup to nail every single apex yet still be at the limits of traction, foot to the floor, avoiding the brakes at all costs. way too much fun.

anyone have a crx for sale?

adil's evo

2008-07-15T10:48:00.001-04:00

yet another stupid fast STU car up for grabs.. choose a color- hugo's is silver. adil's is grey.

STU Class prepared 2006 Mitsubishi Evo 9 for Sale. 36k miles. $22,500 .
Perfect except for the front diff which needs some work.

Vishnu Ohlin suspension
Vishnu/Perrin TBE, high flow cat + custom STU tuned personally by Shiv Pathak
Hotchkiss adjustable rear swaybar
Perrin rear strut tower bar
Performance Friction floating two piece Front Brake rotors + new pads, both with < 2000 miles
AMS front brake cooling ducts.
New OEM clutch with less than 2000 miles.
All underbody plastic panels replaced July 2008.
Blaupunkt Bremen Head unit with steering wheel mounted remote control.
Stock wheels with Nokian winter tires good for at least one more season.
All of the above included in the price.
Extras available:
Volk RE030 17x9 black wheels with Advan Neova AD07 tires with less than 4000 street miles and never Autocrossed. priced $2600.
Volk CE28N 18x9.5 bronze wheels with UNUSED 285/30/18 Kumho V710 mounted and balanced prices $3500.

email adilabd@gmail.com for inquiries, or call 917-279-5309 after 7 pm.

CAR FOR SALE:

2008-07-09T14:15:00.000-04:00

If anyone is interested, the stu evo is for sale

2006 EVO IX 15k Miles
Stored indoor only driven for autox, never seen winter

Car is setup to be very competive in STU, paxed 3rd out of 250 in the 08 dc pro 2/10th behind coreys evo.

mods:
ECU custom tune by TT (280whp & 271wtq) dynojet
k&n filter
defi gauges
6.5" DVD navi
teins ra coilover
bushings
rear sway bar
dunlop tires
volks wheels
full 3" exhuast with 300 cell cat, also have a brand new 100 cel cat if needed
racing seat & harness

KBB for the stock car is $26,695, looking in that range depends on what other spare part u want with it.
Car is ready for NT and prosolo, no adjustment needed

also have a lot of spares (rims, springs, bumper, sway bar...ect), too much to list. come check it out at the next autox if interested.

bike for sale *SOLD***

2008-06-26T13:34:00.000-04:00

anyone want to join me at the track?

i need to make room in my garage. too many bikes.

this is a mint '01 r6 with ~3900 miles up for grabs. runs like a champ.

click on the slideshow for bigger pics

-dan

***SOLD******

dc pro pics

2008-06-25T19:48:00.000-04:00

snapped a few

2008 DC ProSolo

2008-06-24T21:07:00.000-04:00

This event is the one we all look forward to the most every year. This is what got some of holunfie to start traveling a little. It is hands down one of my favorite weekends of the year.

With that said I have several people I need to thank. Hugo generously allowed me to drive his STU Evo after my BSP (Break Some Parts) car had some drivetrain issues on the way down to DC. Really sucked after being up til 2AM prepping the car. Chris & Diana Carris went out of their way to get my car home on Sunday night. Seriously, we had to deflate the trailer tires just to get the evo on that thing. We also swapped street tires from my car onto the Sti so Diana could drive home. I know Chris didn't get home til at least 1am either. PJ Corrales also kept on eye on the evo through NYC where we must have passed each other 10 times. Then he pulls my phone number out of thin air to see if the evo was ok. Chris Shin was nice enough to lend his Mom's driveway as a peaceful resting spot for the evo during the weekend. Hope your Mom's not pissed about the HOA joke!!!! Chris was also cool enough to let Dan codrive his Sti for the weekend. Seriously, I cannot begin to explain how good it feels to have a group of genuine friends like these. The solo community is a rare breed.

Well, onto the competition!

The Carris' had a feel good weekend in the STi with Chris placing 3rd in AS and Diana taking 2nd in L1. Just wait til the marshmellow gets dampers! STU had myself in 3rd, Namer in 5th on Pinks!!, Iman pluggin 6th, Hugo 9th, Dan 10th (yes Dan, Hugo beat yoooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!hahahaha) & Chris Shin in 15th. Whew..what a crew in STU. DaveMac pulled the upset on that class over Corey by .044 seconds, sick battle! GJ won HS, no surprise there!

Here's some video of Hugo and my fast runs left and right.

Hugo Left

Hugo Right

Jay Left

Jay Right

I almost shed a tear! :( Not really. But the front lip was sacrificed to get this thing on!!

-Jay

Happy Father's Day!!

2008-06-15T13:24:00.001-04:00

I was sitting around this morning watch the LeMans 24hr and realized there are a ton of guys who are dads now!

So, Happy Father's Day to Kevin, Hugo, Sammy, Billy, Richie, Tony "Mario", Perry, Jeff, Chris Chang, Mark D., Adil & Rich Wayne. If I forgot you sorry!!

A dad can dream right!?

- Jay

uncyclopedia

2008-06-12T18:14:00.000-04:00

click here for the wiki

"STU: The idea is to take a really nice expensive street car, make it uncomfortable and barely streetable, then not let it run DOT R's, so it'll go slower than the stock version of the same car."

so true

devens vids

2008-06-12T09:16:00.000-04:00

here's my perspective (dan) from devens:

saturday was a little tough getting up to speed. chris and i were both trying to adapt to the car in 3 runs. we were shaving big time run after run. by the 3rd run, we were pretty close. i was .13 sec off chris who was about .2 off jay's best from earlier in the day. (chris and i were in 2,3 behind don in his mazdaspeed miata on saturday)

by sunday, we had the 1,2 position overall after 2 runs. thinking we could really go balls to the wall (on the more evo 'friendly' course) on the last run chris put down a great time and i choked and drove like poo. little did i know that while i was on course, don would drive his heart out and find another second on this last run!! wow!! we thought ed and don had squeezed all they had out of that little miata!

great driving by matt d. too. congrats on the trophy.

big thanks to jay and the carris duo.. i show up with a helmet and get a badass car and a great time!

chris and i owe huge thanks to jay. he gave up his spot in bsp for chris and i which put him up against the best in our sport. as i said to him all weekend.. nothing to lose, so much to gain. it didn't happen this time but there's always the next event! daddio also mounted up sticker hoosiers up front for the event whereas we were on 40+ run hoosiers that many would have tossed. had we mounted up a fresh set, who knows what would've happened.

so final results were BSP:
1st- don
2nd- chris
3rd- dan
4th- matt

SM:
1st- daddio
2nd- jay
3rd- pj

as expected, corey walked away with stu, but our man iman held a strong lead in 2nd place over jake in 3rd. killer driving by diana (codriving hugo's evo) on sunday who unfortunately coned her runs on saturday. she was 2nd ftd on sunday in class in a car she's never driven!

on to the vids:

Saturday onboard:

Chris

Jay

Sunday:

Jay

Chris

Dan

devens pics

2008-06-11T10:24:00.000-04:00

Raceway Park Road Course

2008-06-09T01:05:00.000-04:00

Raceway Park's road course was open to the public June 6-8 signifying the official opening of the track. I attended the second day of the event. This was my first event of this type, and I had a great time even with the horrible heat! I was able to run 15 laps, and would have gone for another 5, if I hadn't run out of gas. Lots of hot cars, saw a Ferrari and other full blown racecars.

Me chasing an EVO (need to work on better lines)

Raceway Park Road Course - EVO from C S on Vimeo.

devens

2008-06-03T23:51:00.000-04:00

tonight was a busy night in preparation for the weekend.

jay should have our race fuel by now, carris should have applied his tire flipping/rain mounting skills, and i uh.. i've been catching up on 2-wheeled racing on the dvr.

we're gonna have some fun @ the devens national tour with the 3 of us battling it out in jay's bsp machine. i'm dying to try out that launch control on race gas! no more pussy footing jay!

chris will be warming my tires for me in BSP (i'll need all the help i can get) and jay will be up against daddio in SM! the alien can be beat! we are due for an exciting weekend.

full report with in-car early next week! wish us luck!

-dan

NNJR Autox - E-Town Roadcourse

2008-05-27T20:01:00.000-04:00

This past Saturday NNJR held their fourth points event at E-Town. It was the second event that NNJR had at the roadcourse, and was a quite a treat. Definitely a change of pace from the normal parking lot, as higher speeds were achievable in many sections of the course. Thanks to the excellent course layout, fast speeds were capped at the right spots to ensure safety. This is the first autox where I was able to use fourth gear in my STi. Hopefully NNJR has more events held there, as it was as much of a blast as Corvette Day '07.

Chris C. co-drove my car, and gave me some pointers on car setup/driving. He was able to acheive 3rd in PAX in my STU (psuedo)prepped car! Thanks for the help, and hope things work out with your car.

-Chris S.

Here is Chris's fastest (clean) run:

NNJR Autox 5.24.08 from C S on Vimeo.

Here is an angle shot of his last run:

NNJR Autox 5.24.08 from C S on Vimeo.

And my fastest run:

NNJR Autox 5.24.08 from C S on Vimeo.

Boston BMWCCA Autox

2008-05-26T20:15:00.000-04:00

So I was really hoping for Dan and I to do a warmup event this last weekend. Unfortunately Dan didn't get in to the event so I ran myself. Typically there is a good DSP contingent (Mike Shields, Chris Franson, Alex Shipkov sp?? & now Nate Whipple) at these events and Steve Hazard finally had his BSP M3 back in action. The courses are typically a blast.

I managed to raw time the DSP guys, but I am quite sure they nailed me in PAX. They are a tough group to get past up there.

As for the car, I am really pleased with the new damper setup, diffs and hoosiers. The car has lost a couple of bad traits from last year and is just sick on corner exits.

Here's some video of my fast morning and afternoon runs.

Run 4

Run 8

I have some MaxQ data from the event, as soon as I find a decent way to present it I'll post up some stuff. If anyone (Mike & Chris!) would like to exchange data I'd love to see it. I can be reached at Talus9998@aol.com

-Jay

holunfie +1

2008-05-23T18:41:00.000-04:00

holunfie is multiplying! congrats kev and doris!!

..and kev's still going to try to autox on saturday.. lol

-dan

pocono east on the r6

2008-05-18T17:03:00.000-04:00

9 sessions on two wheels at pocono east!

here's one lap with the rear cam. i followed joey for a few warm up laps, then he got tired and waved me by on this one-

Pocono East 5/17/08 Rearcam from dan cheung on Vimeo

a lap chasing down a carrot..

pocono east buttcam from dan cheung on Vimeo.

if you ride, getting on the track is a must if you haven't!

i need to get back behind the wheel soon! devens with jay next sunday.. looking forward to it! and wtf happened at NYR?? glad i wasn't there.

May DOTM

2008-05-02T10:18:00.000-04:00

check it out.. guess who's May Driver of the Month!!!

clicky

here is his thinking to himself, "maybe i should go 1mm smaller on the front bar"

Congrats Jay! You the man.

upgrade

2008-05-02T10:15:00.000-04:00

decided carbs suck and fuel injection rocks.. pocono on the 17th on 2 wheels. woop!

-dan

autocrosser’s best friend

2008-04-30T22:16:00.000-04:00

Kev, Jan and all u +7 cone killer’s best friend

sunday errands

2008-04-28T23:24:00.000-04:00

this is how my sunday morning started.. wake up and take a quick ride to the west side to pick up this from a ferrari fanatic (on his 5th exhaust):

stop by queens on the way back to finalize the deal on a tracktoy.. a low mileage zx7r-

brunch with eric and steph to celebrate my new purchase, and rush home to sell the civic.. to a fellow autoxer.

wrapped up the day with a bbq with the fam and watched ama superbike racing on the dvr before hitting the sack. great day.

the bike was actually cheaper than the USED exhaust! just signed up for some 2 wheel tracktime at pocono in a few weeks. now i have some leathers and an onboard camera to shop for!

-dan

fscc

2008-04-21T22:40:00.000-04:00

while hugo and gj were at giants, jay, the carris duo, chris travis, and i were at stratford ct with fscc. i go where the evo goes!

so the carris's were flogging the new sti and it rocks. travis wasn't far behind on 888's and jay and i were breaking in the sticker hoosiers.

no in-car, no data.. just driving for jay and i.

jay got ftd but edged out in pax by matt murray. i'm still unprogramming my street tire brain! but getting there.

-dan

i like salmon

2008-04-21T17:27:00.000-04:00

hugo's in car from giants on sunday:

GJ

Hugo

my '99 civic hatch for sale

2008-04-21T12:16:00.000-04:00

finally putting her up for sale.

1999 ek hatch.
only 39k miles.
zero rust
complete b20vtec (endyn rods&pistons)
b16 longblock
rce 310cc and 370cc injectors (depending on config)
hondata stage 2 AND stage 4 w/ software and programmer (2 ecu's)
'99 b16 tranny with quaife lsd
clutchmasters stage 3 clutch
clutchmasters aluminum lightweight flywheel
j&s safeguard (knock protection)
tein ha coilovers
suspension techniques swaybars
jdm 4-1 header with fastline skidplate
itr cams
fastbrakes 11.3" front brakes
autopower rollbar with removable bolt-in x-brace/harness bar
3" harnesses
rota spoon replica wheels
del sol seats
sparco suede wheel
etc etc.

not running at the moment.. ideally i'd swap the b16 back in but no time to work on it. chassis/body is near perfect condition!

kbb is $6k for a stock '99. i'll let this go for $4500 obo. this would part out for much more but i don't have the time.

i was holding on to this car for the longest time because of my love for it but i've got other priorities.. this is a steal for someone that's willing to roll their sleeves up!

-dan

Studdly....

2008-04-12T16:19:00.000-04:00

Remember Sesame Street?? "One of these things is not like the other...."

So last weekend running at Giants stadium I hear a knocking noise towards the end of my run. No biggie, it happens every so often. I pull to the side and wait for a rerun, check my tire pressures and get back in the car. I pull up to the line and Joe Austin finds this next to my car:

I immediately recognize it and without hesitation Joe points me out of line. I pack up and drive home, thinking about what I'm gonna replace all this stuff with. So I splurged and got these:

Studs are ARP's P/N: 100-7717 and you need 4 of them for the whole car. New lug nuts are steel, I've been running Aluminum for 2 yrs now with no problems but I figured it was time for some fresh ones anyway. They are from Pegasus, P/N 3548-005. Supposed to be high strength steel, def heavy, but they are open ended and 19mm w/no locks which make for easy changing.

So here is the failure point on the stud:

Looking at the cross section it is pretty clear the stud began to fail awhile ago. There is oxidation (rust) visible and there are also "rings" which point to a fatigue related failure. These studs have a minimum of about 80 tire changes so it's not hard to think they would fail sooner or later.

So here is a comparison of the ARP and the KYO-EI studs. It looks like ARP worked a little harder to reduce any stress raisers, especially at the failure point on the KYO-EI stud. I'll also have 5-10mm more of thread to use, which I'm happy about.

All better now.

- Jay

199 lives

2008-04-12T13:28:00.000-04:00

a few clips from 199 lives.. a must see for the action sports fan. it'll get you fired up to rally with no fear!

backflip to 360!! what?!!

only in theaters this wednesday and thursday..

http://199lives.motocross.com/

-dan

old school

2008-04-09T21:09:00.000-04:00

me not hitting cones in jays 5g back in '03 @ etown!

-dan

block

2008-04-06T20:20:00.000-04:00

funny pic.. ken block's daughter looks like kenny from southpark! lol

more rallyny photos at rob's site.. http://www.plaftaphoto.com/gallery/Rally

i was busy donating my money to other pokerheads this weekend at foxwoods. i couldn't pass up a free room and vip lounge hookups. but maybe if i stuck to autoxing, i'd have a fatter wallet.

sounds like i missed a great event at nnjr. need more seat time in the evo!

dan

3-29 NNJR SCCA T&T

2008-04-03T22:38:00.000-04:00

ok...so it was a weird day for me having Dan in the car. In the end it was cool and all he did was hit cones. 15 of 'em. That's almost a 2 cone per run average. I wasn't much of a slouch either and had a couple nasty center punches, seems I'm getting good at those.

Anyhow onto the video.

Here's Dan's run 4

Dan get's a little commentary from SIMMONZ...

Here's my 2nd run, got a little crazy in the back section, Dan later told me he thought we were gonna make friends with the fence, thankfully my right foot kept us cool...ha

Here's FTD for the day

As in 2007 it was tons of fun having part of the Philly crew up for an early season shakedown. Some of the offseason changes to the evo feel good, can't wait to get the hoosiers mounted.

-Jay

sunday drive

2008-03-30T23:55:00.000-04:00

not much sleep this weekend.

i'm sure jay will be posting some of our cone-killing vids from etown on saturday.. i made my way up to camp woozy in RI after the autox.

was the lack of sleep worth it? hell yeah!

click on the pics for higher res.. video coming at some point.

so what's better? the 360, z06, or turbo? there is no right answer.. they all kick ass!

-dan

Z 4SALE

2008-03-28T16:15:00.000-04:00

A buddy is selling his Z, contact him with questions.

name: Adey
tel: 347-413-2160
car has 29k miles

$23k nego

spence

2008-03-16T13:44:00.000-04:00

7' black man in s2k = no worky

Cheunger is AUTOX4U DOTM!!

2008-03-13T18:29:00.001-04:00

Not to be confused with PMOY if you know what I'm saying! I mean he was seriously trying to play grabass with me the other day! And it was weird he wanted to sleep on Diane's side of the bed while she was in FL with the kids....

See!!!!!!!!!!!

Check Dan out on AUTOX4U as Driver of the Month!

http://www.autox4u.com/driver/march%202008/index.htm

Congrats Dan!

-Jay

s2k setup

2008-03-10T21:36:00.001-04:00

my s2k in foreground, yet i'm riding shot in simmon's new miata in the background!

hey all, we finally had the chance to kick off the near year of autox!

saturday evening, jay and i decided that we might as well pop-in the konis and dial-in the alignment. 5p arrival.. i didn't get home til 4a. worth every minute. the 3 hours of sleep before having to wake up wasn't so hot but you gotta pay to play.

arrive at jays

sitting on eibach prokits pre-AS conversion

next to the bsp machine

awaiting ohlins

stock rear shocks.. oem remote ressies!

koni yellows

stringing up

squared up

max neg

jay makes a cone levitate

re750 aftermath

back in the driveway behind my beloved 6g

philly rallyx vid

2008-03-06T00:13:00.001-05:00

just stumbled across this video from the grandview event last year. badass footage and editing!

watch for the rs at the 25sec mark.

^look closely for a surprise

pic and video by mike spock.. check out another amazing video of his: drift

'08!

2008-03-05T23:10:00.000-05:00

I know, we haven't really updated the blog in a while (besides the adventures of Jay and Big Dick) but there hasn't been any action lately. But not to worry, the autoX season kicks off this Sunday at the Meadowlands with MSNE. Yeah, SCCA events are better but I've been itching to develop my countersteering skills in the s2k. Jay's bsp evo won't be ready in time otherwise we would've gotten some shakedown in.

A few weekends ago, we had made the trip up to Vermont for the VT Winter Rally but due to some unknown problems with the RS and Yuri's rather loose definition of 'good' snow tires on his Audi.. both cars had to bail on the event. It's a shame because I picked up some badass Hakka1 snows and we fabbed a lightbar in the Rosner Racing garage. Unfortunately, upon startup to make the quick drive to registration, something very strange happened and the engine was loping and dumping fuel out of the exhaust. The passenger side cylinders seem to be not combusting even though there is spark and fuel. Compression is low on that side too. Mind boggling. Cam timing is right on and seems like the MAP sensor is working fine. Odd.

So, the rally mobile is still up in Vermont now being worked on by a 2nd mechanic that's a suby specialist. Numero uno mechanic couldn't figure it out. Let's hope it's fixed soon so that we can test out the driving lights in the woods!

Thankfully, I have my good buddies in Vermont that are helping me out. Hell, maybe the RS will stay up in VT and get a cage while we're autoxing down here.

Some pics of the lightbar fab below. Slick mounting... comes through the grill and we'll have 4 hella ff driving lights across the bar which we now have plenty of time to finalize.

While we're talking about Rally, check out Randy Zimmer's post pulled from NASIOC announcing a Rally series that I want to get in on!!

Kearney Rally Village (KRV) "http://www.rallyvillage.com is a privately owned rally park a bit South of Albany, NY that has just announced its 2008 calendar.

Sat 15th March
Sat 12th Apr
Sat 17th May
Sat 21st June
Sat 19th July
Sat 16th Aug
Sat 13th Sept
Sat 18th Oct
Sat 15th Nov
Sat 13th Dec.

The property has great natural features and the roads built so far are every bit as good as ones found on the better full-scale rallys. They expect to at some point have a 6-mile loop available!The rules and sanction are NASA so NASA prep is required for cage and safety equipment.Because this is private property, no license tags or insurance is required, with no transits, no rally ODO is needed.

I've talked to Des Donnelly at KRV and they will have 20' shipping containers for rent so the car and equipment can be stored at the site between rounds which means once the car gets there, no towing truck or trailer will be needed!

This is a perfect opportunity for all the fence-sitters who couldn't afford to run a "proper" rally to get in, get seat time and learn the ropes without having a vast infrastructure of equipment and support in place. These events will be quicker, more technical and longer than a rallyX. The terrain and obstacles are real (harder) and the roads are more stable. This is also a perfect time to implement the Spec Sube build model which is cheap, plentiful and reliable enough to run a full season with little or no maintenance. For those that don't remember back when it was hashed out, here's an overview:http://www.specialstage.com/forums/s...ht=spec+subaru"Here it is: Spec Sube---#1 philosophy:If it costs a lot, is rare or may break other things, it isn't allowed.Any sube, ~90 Legacy right up to the Bugeye Impreza ('02)Really stock unless mentioned below:2.2 enginemax 4.1 gear (3.9 OK, 4.4 not)DMS is the most expensive allowed strut.Strip and lighten OK but all glass or nets.Seam weld OKBrake pads OKButton clutch disk OK---Any other question - answer with this question:Will it real cost money to do?If so, probably not allowed.Will it make the car faster?Probably not allowed.Will it make it safer or less prone to breakage?Probably OK but don't be cute, no Solo-type reasoning allowed.example:Can I take the door beams out of the doors? That won't cost money.Rears OK but fronts should stay in, it's safer.

randy's in-car at an event http://www.randyzimmer.com/video/kearney/12-07/

Joe, start saving up for a driving suit.

-dan

this is some funny sh*t!

2008-02-16T20:58:00.001-05:00

Thanks to the sandbox for finding this one!

http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/aus/323013997.html

NER RallyX 1-27-08

2008-02-10T10:41:00.000-05:00

So I was lucky enough to have my brother in-law Richie P offer me a codrive in his '06 Sti for the NER RallyX at Stafford Springs. I was a little hesitant as he's still making payments, but oh well it was alot of fun. I wasn't quite sure how the autox skills would translate, turns out they were a perfect fit along with totally necessary (IMO) left foot braking.

In the end Richie dug himself out of a 12th place hole in the morning due to a spin and came up to 7th of 22 cars. In the morning I had a 4 secondish lead on PSG'r Matt Gleiner which meant a couple cones, spin or DNF could have been disaster in the afternoon. We both held tight on the afternoon skating rink and avoided the triple sow cow and stayed 1 & 2 for the class.

Results for the sunday event can be seen here:
http://webpages.charter.net/carsoft/NER%202008%202.pdf

All 3 event results:
http://webpages.charter.net/carsoft/2008Results.htm

Here's some in-car video:

Richie:

Jay:

Tons of Pics and Vids can be found in these 2 threads:

http://www.ctsubie.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1130

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1409632

Big thanks to Richie for the fun day and NER for putting on a great event. Also thank you's to Dan for the setup info and Matt Gleiner for posting Saturday pics. Because of that pic of the snowy field I brought boots to keep my tootsies warm! hahahahaa Congrats to Matt for his National win in SA!

I also have to say I was pretty impressed with the CTSubie crew for not only getting a ton of people out to the event (and most were driving!) but they managed to pull off an early morning caravan and arrive on time.

ok, time for the stall story......gee I wonder what Jay and Richie are looking at....

So this corner was damn slow, I got greedy and wanted to drop to 1st. Well I don't normally LFB so I fully geeked the downshift and had my left foot firmly planted on the brake and not the clutch. Then we stopped and it stalled. So in the video of my run when the camera turns off/on...well I had to restart the car and start cursing alot :)

cha-ching!

2008-02-05T23:16:00.003-05:00

the sti is officially sold!

joe had to be a wiseass and pay me over 20g's in twenties, fiddies, and hundies!

come pick up the rest of your parts, wiseass! i need to make room!

so the s2k got some love.. thanks davizzle!

the most expensive front swaybar EVER is on order too from bill gendron @ smallfortune racing. the stupid bar cost me a small fortune!

that's it. i need to find some wheels and stickies and i'm done. the s2k was supposed to be just for 'fun' but i couldn't resist.

after some troubleshooting, parts swapping, and CEL clearing, the 2.5rs to ready to be bashed through the woods of vermont in 2 weekends! woohoo!!

-dan

vermont winter challenge time!

2008-01-17T10:08:00.001-05:00

here's the event info.. sign up!!

New England Region, SCCA

Winter Challenge Rally

16 February 2008

The Winter Challenge Rally will be an all night winter rally run regardless of weather. Although no car-breaking roads will be used, the majority of the roads chosen are rural, unpaved roads which will be undoubtedly be snow and ice covered.

The Winter Challenge Rally will be broken into 3 sections with each section having its own format and challenges.

Section I: A TSD rally, Lightly, speed-trapped, with challenging speeds yet still viable to those new to traps with previous TSD rally experience, a good introduction to trap rallys and winter driving.

Section II: A TSD Map rally with more challenging speeds. Not recommended to drivers inexperienced in serious winter driving.

Section III: A TSD brisk winter rally in the tradition of past Buffum rallys.

The Winter Challenge Rally will be included in several different rally series or

Championships.

New England Winter: Sections I & II: This rally is part of the New England Rally Championship & the NEDiv Series. NER Classes A and S.

Vermont Winter: Section II & III: This rally is part of the New England Rally Championship & the NEDiv Series. NER Classes A and S.

General:

The Rally will headquarter at the Day’s Inn, 173 Main St, Barre, VT 05641 [802-476-6678] (Note this date is President’s Weekend and room go fast. Reserve Early!

NOTE: The SCCA now requires all competitors to be members of SCCA. The weekend membership fee is included in the surcharge for non-members. Only the form must be completed.

The rally committee reserves the right to restrict entries based on experience.

The rally will have a limited entry.

In an attempt to even the competition, the VT Winter rally will have a penalty system for 4-wheel drive entrants.

There will also be an award for the best overall placing in the combined 3 sections.

To reserve a space & receive an Official Entry package contact Ted Goddard, Registrar, P.O.Box 267, Perkinsville, VT 05151. [tel: 802-263-5678; fax: 802-263-9540; email: tedgcb@tds.net]

To obtain information of the rally route and philosophy of the rally route contact John Buffum [librarally@aol.com].

cts coupe

2008-01-15T16:30:00.000-05:00

i'm really liking this.. cadillac is getting on the ball

2008 cts coupe concept- supposed to be out mid-year '08

would make a badass daily! cts-v version would make an even more badass daily!

-dan

4g build

2008-01-10T23:25:00.000-05:00

came across some pics from ~4 years ago... the good old days!

chassis: $100.00
labor: free

end result.. priceless!

setting up to pull stock engine

on its way out

obligatory shot

jdm b16 with lsd tranny.. rare!

shakedown at summit point

homemade fg hood and home depot front lip special

i have some some cage building shots that i'll post up some other time.

still one of my favorite cars! hopefully we'll be back at the track soon..

-dan

adavnce notice

2008-01-06T14:33:00.000-05:00

A few guys is going to head to the new karting place jan12. happy? HAHA

info:
http://www.gpny.com/

UPDATE: LOOKS LIKE THIS PLACE WONT OPEN UNTIL 1/17, STAY TUNE

v-17 (jan5)

2008-01-04T21:30:00.000-05:00

Me, GJ and a few others will be at v-17 getting some seat time. Come join if u have time. We will be there @ around 5PM until whenever.

info:
http://www.v-17.com/

Some Holiday Cheer

2007-12-28T15:56:00.000-05:00

While everyone is enjoying the new toys that Santa brought them, I took some time to reflect back on a present that I really wish was under the fireplace. Take a look at around a minute until a bit past the finish line to see what eluded me, ultimately causing jolly ol' St. Nick to leave me a lump of coal (hint: listen carefully, the audio is just as important to this little story).

WARNING: this video contains language that may not be suitable for children or those with weak constitutions.

Hey, there's always next year, right? Enjoy your holidays!

holunfie

Evo 8/9 FMIC & IC Piping

Evo 8.5 - Donor Parts

timelapse

Evo 8.5 - Intro

etown roadcourse

9.26 warminster

on board 2 wheels

9.4.10 @ meadowlands

sweet pass

motons!

rally!

back in the game

modena for sale!

etown season opener

skills

footwork

happy halloween!

devens

Fuel Strategy, Strata & Pb

7-11-09 NNJR SCCA (or the benchmark version 2)

New content?

150r onboard

supermoto!

deals

Joaquuin Phoenix....brilliant

mmc 1/31/09

MMC onboard

winter driving series!

Plan B

Solo Invitational

minor damage

geebus

rallyx spec racing!

rallyx sunday!

4g at nhis

gpny this sunday 11/9

nemesis!!!

For Sale...08 STI parts

rs put to use

rallyx time!

more topeka random pics

Solo Nationals Video!

Jay got on the podium!!

Nationals Test & Tune Video

Monday- Walk the Courses day

Sunday: Test and Tune Day

Fri/Sat - 1350 paranoid miles in the evo

front diff swap

nats in a week!

lean angle

got turbo? mikey does.. SOLD!!!

devens

August DOTM!

bmw at nassau

..couple more pics

team woozy gixxer for sale *****SOLD!****

devens school with bmw

adil's evo

CAR FOR SALE:

bike for sale ***SOLD*****

dc pro pics

2008 DC ProSolo

Happy Father's Day!!

uncyclopedia

devens vids

devens pics

Raceway Park Road Course

devens

NNJR Autox - E-Town Roadcourse

Boston BMWCCA Autox

holunfie +1

pocono east on the r6

May DOTM

upgrade

autocrosser’s best friend

sunday errands

fscc

i like salmon

my '99 civic hatch for sale

team woozy gixxer for sale *SOLD!

bike for sale *SOLD***