Monday, June 30, 2008

Swapping Pos's and Made from Real Lightning

DC Late Update:
So it’s like a week later, and it’s still just sinking in that I lost by what should’ve been the difference between a good and bad 60′ for my car. As depressingly upsetting as that could possibly be, I’m still somewhat relatively happy. For the first time ever, I beat the Travis Cibic y0, and I won my first Hoosier. Not a bad haul, eh?
Still, I’m only still now realizing that the class was decided by thousandths of a second. Had Chris not red-lit his best left run, or had I nicked a cone or swayed from the line on either or both of my last runs, the results would have been resoundingly different. At times, the three leaders were within a couple tenths of each other, with Dave not far behind waiting to put an upset on all of us. In the end, it was really anyone’s game, and I’m left with the consolation of knowing exactly where I need to make up my time.

GG DC. GG.

So, after DC came this past Sunday, which included a fun filled day with NER at Devens, MA. After DC, I added some new rear shocks (replaced? swapped?). The car now sits on double adjustable Koni shocks on all four corners. After screwing around with the alignment for a few hours, we took the car out and Dave and I ended up neck and neck. Just 0.011 seconds seperated us after morning runs, with the two of us sitting in the #4 and #5 PAX slots.
In the afternoon, we made some changes to the car, and gained some time. Unfortunately for Dave, he also gained some cones, and had to depend on his fastest morning run to retain his 2nd place position in the class. I ended up dropping about 0.8 with some added compression adjustment to the rear shocks. In the overall PAX list, I dropped to 5th (I hear Brian Levesque cheated and stole a run from/ got advice from Grant, who I also heard cheated and drove on a computer simulation of the course) and Dave dropped to 9th. Still a decent overall finish for the G-Fab 240sx.

That’s all I have for now, because I’m boring and bored at the same time.

Here’s some video of my best run, with Jenna along for the ride.



-PJ

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Got Crabs?

Day 1:
SM:
Chris Travis leads by .122. Competition is tight. 3rd place trails me (in 2nd) by 0.023. Fucking all-wheel-drive puts a half second on me by 60'. Time to start looking into launch control for the 240. Dave overdrove all day and is in 4th, behind me by .15'ish. It's reeaaal close. If it's dry tomorrow, things will be interesting.

DSP:
Mike leads by cleaning up his runs. No clue how the rest follows, but I think Alex is in 2nd.

FSP:
Quag improved by 2.7 seconds going into the afternoon. His position in 3rd did not change as a result.

DS:
I just can't watch it. It's too gruesome. I need a 40 to pour. Perhaps into Dave, which might help him drive tomorrow.


Other than that, it was hot. I'm exhausted. I like showers.

-PJ
Never gonna give you up. Never gonna let you down. Never gonna run around and desert you.

Uphill Battles

Practice starts were yesterday, with the start line for each course on a major uphill incline. This makes for an interesting launch, with the need to e-brake the car in staging, to hold it as you clutch and gas in while the lights drop. On the green (or 3rd yellow), it's a furious fumbling of frantic e-brake and simultaneous clutch action!

240sx: Too much power. Couldn't get a good start till the 12th or so practice start, resulting in a slightly bogged 1.9 sec 60ft. The 2step isn't working as consistently as we'd like, so it looks like "normal" starts for us! Maybe we'll shoot some fireballs after we're winning going into the 2nd round. Dave, however, managed to win $20 by perfecting his timing, with a .500 R/T (which is 0.000 at the green for you non-prosolo-ers).

BMW: It's a BMW. Mike struggled a bit on launch, but I think it was just to give Chris a false sense of confidence with his 2.0 60' starts.

510: It eventually made it to the 60' (2.4+)!!!!! The uphill is going to be painful for the poor little dime, but what comes up must come down!! The way back on each course should be a good thing for the 510 and its narrow track.

3: It's FWD, but it's boosted. Chances are, the "zippy" nature of the course and the uphilling will give it an advantage over the ITR's. Who knows if it'll keep that momentum on the turnbacks, where both courses can punish an overaggressive approach.

VtEK Cibic y0: Same as it's been for like, a brazillion years.

Smokey the ITR: Not quite as smokey as the 240, at least.

Today is day 1 of competition. We're gonna be late leaving, so I'm gonna post more later.

I need donuts and coffee.

Serious.

-PJ

Thursday, June 19, 2008

G-Fab, not Green-Fab.

12.0 MPG

That's right. 12. The dirty dozen of exhaust fumage from the 2004 Nissan Armada leaves a well marked trail for those who dare follow the first of the G-Fab crew on the warpath that is the 2008 ProSolo seaon. Washington D.C., the capitol of our fair nation, will mark the first of four stages of ProSolo conquest.

BEER AND CRABCAKES. THAT'S HOW MARYLAND DOES IT.

Current Armada crew: Dave piloting, Jenna on drunk watch '08, PJ telling the tale of G-Fab road dominance. Behind us follows 350rwhp of Hoosier-shod fury.

-PJ

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

What the shoes is going on?

The ground beneath the Datsun is dry.
The ground beneath the 240 is dry.
No one is running around with an oil rag.
The tools are organized and stored.
Fuel is burning.

What's wrong with that picture? Other than being the complete opposite of last year's Deven's Tour? Hrmmm.... it's like we have entirely different cars.... made by entirely different people. Both the 510 and the 240 running reliably. Running strong. Most importantly, RUNNING.

Tour came, we all sucked.
PJ: 3rd (SM)
Dave: 4th (SM)
Chris: ..... (DSP)
Mike: 2nd (DSP)
Quag: 3rd (FSP)
Paul: ..... (FSP)
Jenna: 2nd (HSL)
Scott: 3rd (DS)
PZ: 3rd (I think?) (HS)
Wiley: DFL (Dancing)
Dave G.: In his own little world repping 1st place HARD (1.5'ish sec lead?) (DS)

So yeah. My car needs some development, and massive weight loss, but has been running strong and fast. Quag's car has been under the knife for the past 2 weeks, and I'm told it's now an entirely different carburated small woodland-like animal. Mike's car needs... to maybe feel the same from day to day?

Up next is the DC Pro. FUN TIMES.

- PJ