Season Wrap-Up

9/27/09 NE-SHO @ Devens

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xl7tJwDLw8

Well, the end of the season is wrapping up. Even taking most of this summer off from racing for work and other side projects, I still got in an OK amount of events. More importantly, seat time in my new car.

Winged Warrior V - 1st Place A Class (Evo)

MSU Racing Club/SCCA - 1st Place DSP (SVTF)

NE-SVT - 4th Place FWD (SVTF)

NE-SHO - 1st Place FWD (SVTF)

This winter will be spent upgrading and tweaking the SVTF to be a solid car in DSP. I hope to be running a pretty full season in SCCA and working up the NASA HPDE ladder.

Happy Racing,

MG

New Car, New Class, Same Results :)

Oontz. Not a trophy mug this time, but a trophy t-shirt works too. :)

First run with my new car - the SVTF. 1st week of owning the car. 1st event. I talked my brother into a friendly game of who would be faster on a new car. The car is very well prepped for DSP. My race rims are bare at the moment. They will be mounted with a nice fresh set of V710s come spring.

So we ran this event on my Goodyear Eagle GT All Season tires. Ill explain the neat part about that soon.

Car performed amazingly. Its nimble and loves a good flogging. After the first run I got a really good idea on what the car could do. In the video you will see those changes in my attack. And well, I figured out the traction/stability was interfering with me too - so the last few vids of my brother and I have that system turned off...big difference :)

The gearing on this car and lack of noise, yes, it is too quiet, took a run to get used to. In both our first runs, we upshifted too soon and could have used more of the RPM band. This car makes peak HP very late, and it like the upper RPM range.

On my second run, I pretty much ran 1st the whole track with some sections in 2nd. Much better, used all my RPM band.

By the end, it was as if I had been racing the SVTF for a long time. Very comfortable in it.

Results - my PB: 46.01. My brother: 47.46. 1st and 2nd for DSP

. Other competition was a 89 GTI on A6s but not having a good day - 50s range runs.

FTD for the day was 41.x, set by a nationally prepped ESP Mustang on 4-315 Hoosier A6s. I was 5.x seconds off FTD with my 170hp, FWD, and ALL SEASON tires!!! That am I most happy about. Take off 1 to 1.5 if I was running a good set of extreme summer tires, and maybe another 1-2 for r-comps and I think I would be right there in the hunt for FTD!

Great day, very happy to finally get to play with my new car.

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f9HCav6_Js

SmikeSVTF?

Yep, you heard me right - SVTF. 2002 Ford Focus SVT to be specific. Great car, from a MSU Racing buddy.

Engine/Drivetrain Modifications:
- Torsen T-2 LSD
- Clutchmasters Lightweight Aluminum Flywheel
- Clutchmasters Stage I Clutch
- VF-Engineering Driver Side Motor Mount
- VF-Engineering Passenger Side Motor Mount
- VF-Engineering Lower Motor/Tranny Mount
- FocusSport Under Drive Pulley
- FocusSport Cool Flo Intake (ITG)
- Steeda Short Throw Shifter
- MSD Screaming Demon Coilpack
- Massive Spark Plug wires

Suspension Modifications:
- H&R coilovers
- 7/8" 3 way adjustable rear sway bar
- Prothane Front LCA Bushings
- FocusSport Chrome upper front strut bar
- Moog front sway bar endlinks
- Euro Ball-joints

Wheels/Tires Modifications:
- EBC Redstuff Brake Pads
- Technafit SS Lines
- 17x7 Team Dynamics Pro-Race I Wheels w/Kumho V710 215/40/17 R-comps
- 17x7 SVTF Wheels w/Goodyear Eagle GT 215/45/17 A/S

Interior/Exterior Modifications:
- Focus Central Shortie Antenna
- Schroth 4pt Harness

Future Modifications:
- ECU Reprogrammed (just a little)
- Camber Plates
- Adjustable Rear Control Arms (for camber)

Performance
- 170hp / 145tq
- 15.3 @ 91 mph
- 2750 lbs

I'll be racing her in DSP next season. And also getting my NASA HPDE License in this car. I look forward to getting some seat time in my new ride.

Stay tuned for new pics and videos!

Evo Sold - What Will The New Car Be?

Tic-tock -- I will be picking her up shortly!!!

Evo For Sale?!?!

Sorry, I have not been posting up on more events raced this season.

I actually have been moving this summer to a new state. In between working, moving, traveling across the US - I just have not had time to race at all :(

Here is the link to the official for sale thread. Wait, what? How can I be selling her? Well, not a lot of time for me to race, driving 700+ mile trips constantly throughout the year, and well, time to try a new car out.

Official For Sale Thread Here

Feel free to post a comment if you want to get ahold of me. Please leave an email address and I will get back to you.

Winged Warrior V (5/9/09)

To start this out, big thanks to Kevin Butterfield for organizing such a great event for the Cheer Guild and Riley's Children Hospital. By far, one of the most fun events I run all year. Great people, great fellow racers, and great spectators. 

I am physically exhausted right now writing this all out. In 4 days time I have driven ~1800 miles, totaling 30 hours of highway driving. 

I had some hiccups in prepping my car for the race. UPS lost one of my custom valved Bilstein HD front struts. So I had to run my old KYB struts up front with my Swift Spec R springs. You will notice in the 2nd run a popping sound - the passenger KYB gave out (it was supposed to be a band-aid till I got my HD's back...I guess the bumpy AX course did it in (or the jumps on it ;) ))

But all that was well worth it!!! 

Car preformed great. Just absolutely fantastic to drive. The Kuhmo V700 tires were night and day different than my Dunlop Z1* tires I ran last season. The levels of grip you get in the turns resulted in a grin ear to ear under my helmet. 

The Swift Spec R's were rock solid (aka awesome). The car transitioned smoothly and with the increased levels of grip from the tires, I could feel the car bite into a turn. Even with a blown strut, the car handled on par with cars with expensive coil-overs. I would say this is the best handling car I have ever driven. It was point and shoot out of the turns. Very controllable and easy to rotate. 

Onward to the photos and video:

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMuOwkZ_yYs

And the results???

Me standing with Rob (Otter). He won 3rd overall for F Class and 1st in Drags with his 2004 RA. What's that I am holding? Well...

1st Place Overall A Class!!!

Prep Work for Season

To the people who help make everything possible! Thank you for your help and support!

-----

Spring is finally here, well at least enough time to be outside for a few hours -- OK, for most of the day. One important aspect that people really don't think about is the prep work that goes into racing. The finished product is the track or autocross day. But it takes a fair amount of work to get there.

After a fun 10 hour drive back to the Midwest - home of all my tools and supplies. I awoke early in the morning to start the jobs. One of the interesting parts to the Evolution is the amount of fluids it requires -- note the sarcasm. On the docket: transfer case fluid, rear differential fluid, oil change, transmission fluid, bleed the brake system (plus clutch line) ((done at my friend Otters in MI)), wash (first time all winter), apply all my sponsor and other vinyl graphics, and wax. 

Several hours spent under the car pumping fluids into where they needed to be with the help of my father -- all where done. Minus the brakes, which I did at Otters via a pressure bleeder. Then onto the graphics. Finishing everything with a good wax. 

The final results!

One race-ready Evo VIII

My Backup Helmet - Repainted Too!

Well after I painted my helmet, word leaked and one of my students asked if he could paint my second backup/passenger helmet. Some ideas came up. I gave him the green light to do whatever. 

 

I like it, some pretty cool elements. Now lets test your history knowledge. Theme is there, what was the artist after?

Ah, Blackbeard - correct!

New Helmet Paint Job

Been thinking about doing this for some time. Had the free time to get some paint today. One of my favorite characters is Aku from Samurai Jack (one of the best cartoons - ever ;) )

Muhahaha New Tires!

Let the games begin! Time for serious tires. 

Here they are - my "new" Kuhmo VictoRacer V700's, 255/40/17 fitment. 

These babies have 4-5 AX's on them from their previous owner. Basically, heat cycled and shaved all 

for me :)

I have been doing a lot of reading on these bad boys - they can be run to they are corded. Which I 

plan to do.

Here is a photo comparing them to my 245/45/17 Dunlop Z1 Star Specs

Ya, I'd say they are a bit wider.

More to come soon!

Welcome All

Welcome to my blog!

Over this season I will be keep track of new products I will be running/testing, events entered, and general news.

Not much is up here yet. But soon the 2009 season of SCCA Autocross and HPDE days will start. Much is needed to be done before the season begins.

Some of my previous reviews and write-ups:

Swift Spec R's Reviewed:

http://forums.evolutionm.net/evo-tires-wheels-brakes-suspension-sponsored-tire-rack/389272-swift-spec-rs-reviewed.html

Bilstein HD and Swift Sport's Reviewed:

http://forums.evolutionm.net/showthread.php?t=337211

Swift Stabilizer Bars Reviewed:

http://forums.evolutionm.net/showthread.php?t=342041

Brake/Rotor/Pad/Duct Thread:

http://forums.evolutionm.net/evo-tires-wheels-brakes-suspension-sponsored-tire-rack/390163-brake-rotor-pad-line-fluid-duct-thread.html

I have also left posting open for people to come here and respond to my posts. Feel free to ask questions!