After several years’ hiatus, and recent corrective surgery,
the MR2 made a not-so-triumphant return to Little Talladega. Although things went smoother than the last visit in that
I neither ended up backwards at any point, nor did I break the transmission, the trip remained somewhat fraught with disappointment.
My coolant system woes continue after having replaced basically the whole thing, save for the pipes that are above
the gas tank…so imagine the fun I’m having now.
That aside, I still enjoyed introducing a couple friends
to the joys of driving on a race track and helping where I could in that regard. I took a few pictures in the process,
and did pull down a little video amidst bleeding the stupid system after every session.
There is little point, in my humble opinion, of buying a toy and not playing with it.
So in the spirit of avoiding hypocrisy, I took the opportunity to get the NSX on a “big” racetrack.Little Talladega, as one can discern from my previous post, is a fun but rather short racetrack.Virginia
International, on the other hand, is one of the longest in North America.Special thanks to the Northern
New Jersey Porsche Club for letting me crash the event in something that’s not from Der Vaterland.
This event spanned three days and although it was chillier
than one might have hoped, the weather stayed semi-pleasant through the daytime hours.I have mixed news
after all was said and done: The bad news, is that the NSX has started having eerily similar coolant temp
problems to what the MR2 has been dealing with.The good news is that I still managed to have fun and not
blow anything up.This event was particularly interesting as it’s the first time my Dad and I have
been on the track at the same time at an event.
As usual, I have some videos
to share.The first shows a few laps from inside the NSX during one of the clearer sessions, the second
shows a few laps from inside a 911 GT2 playing camera car for a few laps so I could see if where I was actually driving matched
where I thought I was driving.
Tinkering away:
To hear that I have actually
modified a car in a manner that fundamentally changes a major vehicle system may come as a shock to some. I have long
advocated the virtues of the "ain't broke, don't fix / no reason to change" philosophy of car fiddling.
By and large that philosophy has served me well through the years. In this case, however, it's an issue of getting
what should be out of what could be. Suspension, wheel, and tire technology have made leaps and bounds since 1992, and
I felt it was time to cash in on all of this advancement.
To that end, I've made a few changes to the NSX to
bring it up to date a bit in the handling/grip department. Read more HERE
Talladega Night (well, morning & early-afternoon really)
Talladega
Grand Prix Raceway is located just a bit south of Anniston and Oxford Alabama, in the middle of some farm country. It
was built with motorcycles in mind so there is very little to run into if you leave the track (a fact to which TJ can attest).
This makes it a perfect learning environment for folks on track for the first time and/or learning a new car (as in my case). The
staff is very friendly and accomodating, and the facility although small, is well kept.
We were visiting
as part of a small lapping day organized by a member of the Chattanooga Region SCCA. There were a maximum of 5
cars per run-group which resulted in plenty of elbow room on track. It was by-and-large a pretty relaxed day at the
track in spite of the typically humid deep-south weather, and a few thunder showers.
Crap, I've done it
again! A hopelessly ambitious title up to which the short paragraph to follow has no chance of living. Oh well.
Pocono this year entertained for a number of reasons not least of which were the cars present. My shutter snapped
at some of the rarest Ferraris in existance, some of the fastest Alfa Romeos in the world, the newest offerings
from Lamborghini and Aston Martin, not to meantion the dearth of slightly less rarified, but no less arresting rolling
sculptures. I operated a bit of a ramshackle blog (click here), in between showfield and track days over the weekend. Honestly, half the fun of attenting such events come from sharing
the experience.
You can find pictures here: CLICK! and here: CLICK! *If you'd like a full-res version of anything you see or if you'd like to see
if we have more of any particular car (pictures shown are a drop in the bucket), drop us an e-mail.
You
can find videos (in addition to the one below) here: CLICK!!
Now, for those of you who have wondered what an FXX sounds like at full song, and not in a video game:
CMP, slightly warmer:
Much to my relief, I
arrived on friday to something other than a blizzard this time. A semi-frustrating, but over-all fun weekend ensued.
Road Atlanta: Round 2
As some of you may recall,
I have previously visited the hallowed Road of Atlanta and was thusly smitten by its grandeur. I made a second
pilgrimage over the past weekend, only this time I was not flying solo. That's right, after much ado (including,
but not limited to: a 3-year car build, moving between cities, and a thrice delayed and then cancelled track day) TJ finally
made it to an event. MORE HERE!
As discretion oft proves the better part of valor, brevity
oft proves the better part of writing. Due to some mild retardation I have no video from my HPDE outing and
thus, on this occasion, I must hang my hat on mere words and pictures.
I will admit to some trepidation as
I unloaded my car in a driving snow storm on Friday the 12th. Camden, SC where I lodged received, in fact, 5 inches
of accumulation in about 12 hours Friday night. Fortunately, all was not lost.
UPDATE: So, as I posted in the blog section to the left, all went well. I ran somewhat
of a mini-blog on Tennspeed, and I am way too lazy to transcribe the entire thing, so in lieu of actual work, here is a link:
So, we are at it again. We loaded the GT2 onto the trailer yesterday
(Wednesday 11/11) and headed south. We pulled in today and with a favorable weather forecast, it looks like some pretty
slick stuff is going to come out of the woodwork. I snapped a few teaser pics in the garage earlier this evening, but
will post more. The link below will take you to all pictures:
Better
late to the headlines than never. TJ finally managed to get the 240 up and completely running a month or so ago.
Now it is just an issue of a little polish and fine-tuning. In honor of this momentous occasion, 3-Zero productions
presents....a ridiculous video montage
If it looks like this, you are doing it wrong:
The $5.99 part strikes
again!
Unfortunately an old coolant hose with a pin-hole in it, and the associated small coolant leak conspired
to put the MR2 out of action at VIR a few weekends ago. Apparently, a coolant gauge won't actually move at all if
it has no coolant to read. The first indication I had of a problem was "limp" mode followed shortly by a large
cloud of white smoke, the remnants of which you can see in the picture. The short story is that it lifted the head.
Honestly, up to and apart from the breakage, I was having a blast. VIR maintains
a great facility and the track is exceptionally fun and quite challenging. I will put a link for pictures HERE, once
I have them posted.
Tradition Verpflichtet:
Yes,
that is a German title, and yes I am using that as the preface for talking about an Italian car meet. My family has
attended Le Belle Macchina d'Italia for the past 17 years in some capacity. Enough, apparently, that they let us sneak in one of ze Germans
this time (and last year, but we'll just ignore that).
The Porsche in the video below is just a bit more track
friendly than the alternative.
You can also
find a few pictures from the event HERE.
Welcome to Atlanta:
Road Atlanta
may just be the most fun a man can have with his pants on. I just got back, and brought some moving pictures with
me:
Pay attention at about 2:15 for a nice comparison of a fairly quick car and a Nissan GTR
Want to get a few funny looks from
your co-workers?Allow me to provide you with a quick means to that end:When asked
what plans you have for Friday night, just say that you intend to drive down town, drive past the bars, past the
clubs, and past the theater...in order to go hang out in a parking garage for a few hours.The responses
will vary widely; largely dependent on how many times that particular co-worker has seen Tokyo Drift.A
tip:do not try to explain yourself. It will only make it worse, just smile and let their imagination run
wild.
Before you get
any ideas:NO, I have not begun spiraling down the beer-slicked precipice of NASCAR fanhood.I have visited the hive, the very core, the alpha-oval, the mecca of stock-car racing, and emerged on the other side
largely unchanged, still owning exactly zero (0.00) Dale Junior apparel.No credit to my own fortitude
really, but rather a credit to the event for which I made my pilgrimage.A walk through the paddock on
this occasion revealed no sponsor swathed spec-racers, but rather a menagerie of some of the most exotic metal and carbon-fiber
creations every to grace the road or track.
The
La Belle Machina D’Italia Sud 2008 is the inaugural event in what will hopefully become a tradition of Italian Car track
days at Daytona International Speedway (DIS).Similar to the Pocono event I have frequented for the past
17 years, this event showcases the same drool-inducing selection of cars only with better hospitality and a beach.
I started seriously researching about three years ago.To translate a bit for the non OCD among you, that means that I began tracking e-bay sales, and cross-referencing them
to asking prices on Autotrader, Cars.com, and the club forum’s classified section in order to get a handle on the market.I also started trolling various Internet forums and reading every magazine review possible ....
Drove
to Alabama on Thursday, ran Little Talladega (www.tgprace.com) with the S2000 club on Friday, drove back to Knoxville on Saturday,
and then ran SCCA regional number 5 on Sunday.
For every type of gearhead exists a different motorsport. Those that
love the thrill of competitive straight line speed we choose drag racing, those that love the thrill of g-forces
choose road racing, and for the truly insane speed demons, there is land speed racing.
