"Make your blog funnier," says the wife. Married gentlemen out there: when your wife "requests" something, just acquiesce. It makes for less crying. On your part, that is, once the beatings have stopped.
Since she "asked" so nicely, here is a little something in the "food" category:
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Monster
Congrats to Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima who, at the age of 61 (!), just cracked the 10-minute mark for the Pikes Peak Hillclimb.
Here is the video:
Let's note a couple things. First off: this video is not sped up. He is whipping by spectators who are only a couple feet from the road. His car has over 1,000 hp, giving him plenty of acceleration on the steep slope. Second important point: watch the patience he exerts on corner entry. He epitomizes the "slow in, fast out" philosophy. His corner entries seem almost absurdly slow (compared to the straights, of course; he's probably still going 30-50mph), but it allows him to get on the gas early and hard on corner exit.
He has raced this course for decades, so he certainly knows the course well, but it changes every year as more of the road is paved. The course will allegedly be all-asphalt starting next year, so the drift action at the end of the video may be gone for good.
Here is the video:
Let's note a couple things. First off: this video is not sped up. He is whipping by spectators who are only a couple feet from the road. His car has over 1,000 hp, giving him plenty of acceleration on the steep slope. Second important point: watch the patience he exerts on corner entry. He epitomizes the "slow in, fast out" philosophy. His corner entries seem almost absurdly slow (compared to the straights, of course; he's probably still going 30-50mph), but it allows him to get on the gas early and hard on corner exit.
He has raced this course for decades, so he certainly knows the course well, but it changes every year as more of the road is paved. The course will allegedly be all-asphalt starting next year, so the drift action at the end of the video may be gone for good.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Autocross Action (now with spins!)
The Renegade Miata Club held an autocross on June 19. It was a Rob M special, with a Chicago Box on a corner and a couple 180-degree pivots. Can't say I figured it out, but I posted my best score ever at the event. The courses vary so widely that comparing raw times isn't very valuable, I look at score as a percentage of the winning time in my class (Street Touring S).
The alignment felt excellent, the car turned in crisply and was very easy to steer using the throttle. Not having to correct for weird alignment quirks meant I could focus on turning in early and driving a smooth line. The brakes working as they should definitely helped as well!
I also got to test out a co-workers GoPro HD camera. I mounted it the roll bar and got some good footage. I'm very impressed with the picture and sound quality, considering they required no adjustment on my part. Below is a sampling of some runs.
First: My fastest run, at 1:26.91. For comparison, the fastest run in my class, by Ben W, was a 1:16.74, more than 10 seconds faster (basically an eternity). The balm to my ego is that his time was faster than anyone in Street Prepared, which allows racing slicks and engine swaps
Next: My third run, with a fun 180-degree spin off the first sweeper
Last: After the event, we typically have fun runs for anyone interested. No score, just a chance to take along passengers and try other people's cars. I spun in the same spot as in Run #3, but with more interesting results. Note I catch the spin somewhat better, but run out of runway (literally, we're on an old Air Force base)
The alignment felt excellent, the car turned in crisply and was very easy to steer using the throttle. Not having to correct for weird alignment quirks meant I could focus on turning in early and driving a smooth line. The brakes working as they should definitely helped as well!
I also got to test out a co-workers GoPro HD camera. I mounted it the roll bar and got some good footage. I'm very impressed with the picture and sound quality, considering they required no adjustment on my part. Below is a sampling of some runs.
First: My fastest run, at 1:26.91. For comparison, the fastest run in my class, by Ben W, was a 1:16.74, more than 10 seconds faster (basically an eternity). The balm to my ego is that his time was faster than anyone in Street Prepared, which allows racing slicks and engine swaps
Next: My third run, with a fun 180-degree spin off the first sweeper
Last: After the event, we typically have fun runs for anyone interested. No score, just a chance to take along passengers and try other people's cars. I spun in the same spot as in Run #3, but with more interesting results. Note I catch the spin somewhat better, but run out of runway (literally, we're on an old Air Force base)
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Gotta start somewhere
The pressure of putting up a truly epic first post has kept me from adding to the blogosphere, but no longer!
Goals for this blog: combine three things I love in a way that avoids breaking laws and losing appendages.
Beer: 'Gansett lager. In the words of my neighbor "It takes all kinds." Trashy Massachusetts townie beer. Delicious!
Food: Veal burger in a pita with farm share hippie lettuce and BBQ sauce. I'll stop eating baby cows when they stop tasting delicious.
Cars: I am driving a 1992 Mazda Miata. To answer the unasked question, it's faaaaabulous. It serves as my weekend driver and autocross car. It currently has 97K on the clock and (most importantly!) zero rust. I have records dating back to 1994, when the second owner purchased it. I bought it in May 2009 from the third owner, who had it for about 8 months, but needed to fund an engagement ring. The car has (so far!) had zero mechanical issues. I have replaced the timing belt and water pump, replaced the brake pads, replaced the shocks and springs, and switched mufflers. The front-engine, rear-wheel drive means there is plenty of room for access. Add the fact that almost the entire car can be taken apart with 4 different socket sizes, and it's a home mechanic's dream.
Racing: Autocross is one of the best activities for the Miata. It keeps it exercised and happy, while making sure the driver understands vehicle dynamics and the difference between the throttle and brake. Looking at your here, Toyota owners. Just so we get things clear, my daily driver is a RAV4. I have cornered the market on the first cars you would buy your 16-year-old daughter. But I digress...
Last year I raced the Miata in fully stock form, other than a cold-air intake and a slight timing bump (+14 degrees, for those of you in the know). I came in dead last almost every race, but I did take home the "Most Improved" trophy. Can't complain about hardware!
Over the winter, Bilstein shocks and Flyin' Miata springs went in. I replaced the front sway bar with a 22mm unit from a later model. For you nerds, the 22mm is 180% stiffer than the stock 19mm unit. Yay for stiffness proportional to radius^4! Fat Cat Motorsports has an amazing wealth of Miata knowledge, namely their suspension calculator that showed the stock handling balance (front roll couple) would be maintained if I removed the rear bar completely. So far, it's paying dividends! Turn-in is much quicker, no more turn the wheel, wait five seconds, then the car responds.
At the last event, I had Ben W, our resident hotshoe, drive the car during post-event fun runs. His response was: get an alignment, and something is up with your brakes. He recommended -1.5 degrees camber front and rear, zero toe both ends, and as much caster as they can give me. I got the car aligned yesterday at In Tune Automotive. They did great job aligning to the specs I gave them, for their usual $80. Sweet! To further geek out, here is what my camber curves should look like. Again taken from FCM's excellent site:
As for brakes, something is definitely up. It was sneaky, and I compensated for it without realizing something was amiss. The pedal is firm, indicating that brake pressure is good and there's no air in the system. I have checked both front calipers and neither one is stuck, nor or the slider pins corroded. New pads and rotors have been ordered. In the rear, when I replaced the pads 2 years ago, the rear sliders were a bit crusty. Apparently a common issue. Once those parts go in, we shall see how the car feels. A coworker suggested it could be a master cylinder problem, too. Let's hope not, those get expensive!
Goals for this blog: combine three things I love in a way that avoids breaking laws and losing appendages.
Beer: 'Gansett lager. In the words of my neighbor "It takes all kinds." Trashy Massachusetts townie beer. Delicious!
Food: Veal burger in a pita with farm share hippie lettuce and BBQ sauce. I'll stop eating baby cows when they stop tasting delicious.
Cars: I am driving a 1992 Mazda Miata. To answer the unasked question, it's faaaaabulous. It serves as my weekend driver and autocross car. It currently has 97K on the clock and (most importantly!) zero rust. I have records dating back to 1994, when the second owner purchased it. I bought it in May 2009 from the third owner, who had it for about 8 months, but needed to fund an engagement ring. The car has (so far!) had zero mechanical issues. I have replaced the timing belt and water pump, replaced the brake pads, replaced the shocks and springs, and switched mufflers. The front-engine, rear-wheel drive means there is plenty of room for access. Add the fact that almost the entire car can be taken apart with 4 different socket sizes, and it's a home mechanic's dream.
Racing: Autocross is one of the best activities for the Miata. It keeps it exercised and happy, while making sure the driver understands vehicle dynamics and the difference between the throttle and brake. Looking at your here, Toyota owners. Just so we get things clear, my daily driver is a RAV4. I have cornered the market on the first cars you would buy your 16-year-old daughter. But I digress...
Last year I raced the Miata in fully stock form, other than a cold-air intake and a slight timing bump (+14 degrees, for those of you in the know). I came in dead last almost every race, but I did take home the "Most Improved" trophy. Can't complain about hardware!
Over the winter, Bilstein shocks and Flyin' Miata springs went in. I replaced the front sway bar with a 22mm unit from a later model. For you nerds, the 22mm is 180% stiffer than the stock 19mm unit. Yay for stiffness proportional to radius^4! Fat Cat Motorsports has an amazing wealth of Miata knowledge, namely their suspension calculator that showed the stock handling balance (front roll couple) would be maintained if I removed the rear bar completely. So far, it's paying dividends! Turn-in is much quicker, no more turn the wheel, wait five seconds, then the car responds.
At the last event, I had Ben W, our resident hotshoe, drive the car during post-event fun runs. His response was: get an alignment, and something is up with your brakes. He recommended -1.5 degrees camber front and rear, zero toe both ends, and as much caster as they can give me. I got the car aligned yesterday at In Tune Automotive. They did great job aligning to the specs I gave them, for their usual $80. Sweet! To further geek out, here is what my camber curves should look like. Again taken from FCM's excellent site:
As for brakes, something is definitely up. It was sneaky, and I compensated for it without realizing something was amiss. The pedal is firm, indicating that brake pressure is good and there's no air in the system. I have checked both front calipers and neither one is stuck, nor or the slider pins corroded. New pads and rotors have been ordered. In the rear, when I replaced the pads 2 years ago, the rear sliders were a bit crusty. Apparently a common issue. Once those parts go in, we shall see how the car feels. A coworker suggested it could be a master cylinder problem, too. Let's hope not, those get expensive!
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