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Thanks! I do what I can with what I've got. There's a lot of manipulation going on behind the scenes in Photoshop Camera Raw to get the photos to a publishable state, but the composure of the image is all happening live; I do virtually no cropping after the fact.

I'm currently rocking an almost 8 year old Canon Rebel XS with the kit lens. Entry level as fuck, but again, I'm achieving this mostly with just composure and a healthy dose of post-processing aid. I'd really like to get a fast lens (f/1.2 @ ~35mm) that I can use for this stuff to get better control of depth-of-field focus but until that happens I'll just keep making do. However much more I can learn to do now will only make me that much better with better equipment... Same idea as learning to go fast in a slow car first.

As for the car, just a change in stickers. There's been talk of standardizing sticker placement for shop-backed cars next year so I'll be doing some mock-ups over the winter to see what I can come up with. The Giant logo on the side, as good as it looked, really limited where I could place even just the necessary stickers to run the Optima series.

My hand was forced when I set the car up to rotate better at low speeds, and I needed more stability at the back in high speed corners. While I was happy with the car without it, it looks just as good to me if not better now with it... And it looks phenomenal sticker-free.

It'll be getting an OE gurney flap and a vortex generator since that maxes out the rear end aero on the shiny side of the car that I can get away with in the USCA.

Ohhh, cool. Yeah I used to have an entry level Rebel XT with a stock lens years ago; but like the butter fingers I am, dropped it down a friggin' stair case and cracked it like a Windows torrent. XD / If I buy another DSLR, I'm definitely getting a sports lens to get those quick motion shots. Guess I'm gonna have to try out the old Adobe again for the Camera Raw mode. Nothing wrong with having more than one image editor on my compy right?

I know what you mean regarding learning to drive fast in a slow vehicle. When you start off with something with small horse power, you develop the logic, the way of thinking, a veteran driver has. You learn the 'why' of things, before you even start thinking about the 'how'. Cause in a slow car, even if you know the 'how', you just can't; and it makes your built up frustration all the more sweeter when you drive a car that just can. The handicap method is rudimentary... what did Snake say? Something like 'Necesity's the mother of invention'~ hahaha. I think once you know 'why' you wanna take that turn at a certain speed, all the 'hows' fall into place like tetris tiles. And a car with a decent range of horse power doesn't seem like an intamable beast when you get behind the wheel.

I think I had mentioned that before.

When I first went wingless with my carbon fiber Do Luck trunk (which you ironically didn't like), I didn't really notice that much of a difference. But the odd thing is that when I put my stock trunk and wing back on, I did notice the rear being more stable, for whatever reason.

Well, funny story, I didn't actually change the high speed cornering ability of the car. Between making it more loose and adding the wing, I actually kept the high speed stability of the car the same... So it definitely does something or the car would have been notably more loose at those same speeds.

Went to a track day on Sunday. Co-drove a lightly prepped Infiniti G20 for the morning, decided to run the Evo for the timed sessions later. My buddy with the G20 is trying to sort it for next year and wanted feedback for necessary changes, which I was more than happy to provide.

I don't have it on YT (it is on my FB), but I have cockpit video of me inertia drifting the G20 on my fastest timed lap, because fuck it, FWD. The activity of the rear end is largely ignorable as long as it doesn't doesn't try to overtake the front end. Just keep the front wheels pointed in the direction of travel and the accelerator flat (Yay LSD) and you'll come out the other side just fine on your intended line. I seriously do need a cheap FWD car to beat around the track every so often.

The Evo, well, I messed up the set of Rivals that I intended to run next year, so new tires are now on my off-season list. Also the radio decided to go into permanent 'Protect' mode during one of my timed laps. Joy. On the flip side, I was able to run a decisive FTD on the evening course.

I was a little excited about it.

A buddy got some awesome shots of my rotors basically on fire (which will be forthcoming), but the tires and the brakes weren't the only things I pushed to their limits.

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I've mentioned this a bit in the chat, but there're big direction changes coming for next year.

Due to rule changes, those of us racing with RS Motors are taking a step back from Optima's Search for the Ultimate Street Car. We're hoping for those changes to be reversed or revised, but overall our ability to be competitive in the series and therefore our interest in it has been severely hampered, particularly by the new points system. We've re-scored a number of last year's events in the new system, and the way it works against us using the car show segment is downright appalling. A substantial number of events would have seen us head home with our tail between our legs, with some resulting in a drop of as much as FOUR places in the final standings. Apparently simple bolt-on builds are no longer welcome in the final event, even if that's all it takes for that chassis to be competitive.

As such, we're turning our attention to the #GRIDLIFE series, their title events being a music and motorsports festival, which is literally the closest thing you will ever find in the world to Forza Horizon. Music, partying, drifting, time attack, and general awesomeness. This will be their third year running, and they've announced an event at Road Atlanta as well that a few of us may be tripping to.

They also have their Track Battle series, which is what we would compete in. Last year's series spanned 3 events; 2 at Gingerman Raceway including the title event, and 1 at Autobahn Country Club.

Also, a number of our guys went from the Optima invitational this past year to Global Time Attack's Super Lap Battle, and it sounds like plans are for that to be repeated next year, just sans the long, tiring week in Vegas leading up to it. Unsure if I'll attend as a competitor, but I'd like to at least go as support if we do attend. Lots of attention to the group in Gridlife's coverage of the event, including Andy's exploded front diff.

Lastly, there's talk of racing with NASA's Midwest chapter for a number of events. I'd like to do Road America and Raceway Park of the Midlands at least... National Corvette Museum is on their list but I don't feel like the car will be ready by March to make that happen, as much as I do love that track. That early of an event will be better suited for future seasons where the car is sorted and can roll out of storage and straight onto the road.

So I need to re-evaluate my planned mods in comparison to the classing for everything we're looking at, but since I'm not going to do much of everything different from the rest of the guys I don't see any reason to worry.

So here's to a new year and some new direction!

What's the farthest you've driven your car? There is a possibility I may drive out East.

Farthest was the trip to Texas last March. Around 2100 road miles and then the racing on top of that. And I was fighting the wandering from the track alignment the whole way. Someone of a similar physical build to me, such as yourself, should have little issue with comfort for a substantial drive.

What're you going to be doing out east?

Preseason to-do list:

All suspension bushings
Rear camber and toe arms - full adjustable
Coilovers - rebuild/revalve or replace, bump spring rates
Tires - RE-71Rs
Make front splitter, canards
Rear wing
Shifter bushings - base and trans
Front motor mount

Possible additions:

Fuel pump
Injectors
LICP
Downpipe, with cutout
E85

I'll be pulling the car out of storage next week to start tearing into it.

So... Almost none of that has happened yet, haha.

I ended up on the new Maxxis 200 treadwear tire, the Victra VR-1. I have two events on very rough tracks on them now, and they've worn very well. Grip isn't there with the RE-71R or Rival S, but those are considered "cheater" tires. Of the non-cheater rubber, I'd put these at the top of the list; they're that good, and they'll definitely be the tire to be on if you're on a budget or doing endurance racing and need something with better wear characteristics.

I did my under hood shifter bushings too, always a fantastic upgrade.

Right now my list is moving to maintenance. This engine is well overdue for a timing belt, and I'll do the water pump while I'm in there. I need to realign the car, but I want to wait until I get my new rear alignment parts; fully adjustable rear camber and toe arms. The toe arms are back ordered and won't show up until the end of May, so I'll get stuck testing a brand-new alignment in competition at Gridlife. Should be interesting. Lastly, I've finally managed to piss off a wheel bearing. No idea how it took this long, tbh. Now that one is starting to go, I'll need to grab spares for my track box.

I've decided I need to spend one more season bettering myself more than the car. I'll work on upgrades over the season, but it won't be until next year that a lot of this stuff gets done. I have a splitter template made, but am waiting. I have a wing lined up too, I'll be buying the wing off one of the other RS Motors cars; removable, custom uprights so it's exactly roof height, decent sized end plates for stability, all that fun stuff to push it to the edge of classing. Won't be cheap but it'll be effective. I'll probably do bushings and maybe new coilovers before the season's out though.

For now, I'll say that I'm definitely faster than last year already, at least in the tighter stuff.

Man o man Spaz, I envy your motorsport experience!! keep it up

Don't envy, get involved!

I'm not sure how accessible track days are in the Philippines, but if you can find one, sign up, go out, grab an instructor, and just have the time of your life while learning to control the car toward the limit.

Our only good local VW club just had a track event last week, and it was very novice-heavy. Tons of attendees had no experience, and everyone had a good time and walked away with a smile on their face. I'd guarantee that I'll be seeing a lot of those guys at the track in the future.

Saw the new videos you posted on YouTube. Looks good!

Those were from the post-storage shakedown. Temperatures were still low enough that tire choice was questionable. I don't think I even got the VR-1s up to temp, either that or they grip way harder the more they wear, like some tires tend to, because they were a completely different animal last Friday.

These two were the second weekend of April:

And this was from last Friday:

If you're only going to watch one, make it the last one. I've never been that smooth before in my life, I just need to keep up on that and I'll keep getting faster.

Awww man still no videos from when I drove

Don't forget I still have a standing offer to help out on wrenching. So when you get around to doing the belt/waterpump let me know.

Got the t-belt and water pump done last weekend!

Borrowed a buddy's lift to help ease the job, which I have to say I will certainly do again.

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The guts. 5 timing marks to line up on these damn 70s iron blocks, always a nightmare. Only took 3 tries this time for everything to line up again after 6 revolutions. New record for me!

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Bonus, I found more rubber. It will never cease to amuse me where I continue to find this shit.

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I also did the front motor mount a few weeks back, finally. It has definitely helped with shifting and response, turns out the OE one was cracked 3/4 of the way around.

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Now I'm just waiting for the adjustable toe arms to show up and I'll be able to go fully adjustable in the rear. If they don't in time for Gridlife, then I'll just realign as is and call it good. The car and I click REALLY well right now so I won't sweat it if I can't change anything. A podium isn't out of the question as things sit.

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looking good man, hoping to see some champagne spraying pictures this year

Haha, if only! Nobody really goes that far in amateur level stuff.

So, the reason I've been gone for a while is that the prep leading up to Gridlife was literally hell week.

Last Monday night, I went to align the car after work with all the stock bits. After an hour or so dialing in the rear, I went to tighten one of the camber eccentrics, it got tight, and then, the nut didn't stop spinning. The bolt and nut were partially stripped. Tried to source one at that time and failed, so I pulled the lock washer off and buttoned it up with 3 threads holding it on. 2AM night number one.

Tuesday I said fuck it and put the adjustable lower control arms in, which went well, and my eyeballed alignment with the car in the air actually worked okay. Unboxed the new set of Maxxis VR-1s and loaded them into the VW. 2AM night number two.

Wednesday, I had the car back on the rack at work and got everything dialed in, but the front wanted to fight me the whole time. I dialed in more front negative camber to help keep the new tires happy (now -3.3, plates are maxed) and the car has less toe-in in the rear to help it rotate better.

Thursday AM, took the wheels back off and loaded the VW. PM, went to my tire guy and had the new tires swapped on. Got home, put them back on the car, and started testing my backup boost controller since my primary was being a POS and not holding boost. Found out my backup only goes to 17psi when stock is 19-21. Disassembled my primary, lubricated and cleaned it, reassembled, and after many test pulls was seeing no sign of malfunction. Called it good, packed, and went to bed.

Friday I went in to work for a bit and then hopped on the road to Michigan. 8.5 hours later, showed up, ate, slept.

Saturday morning, woke up, and it was go time. Had a brand new track to learn, and I really didn't have a good grasp of it until the 3rd session, and even then it was just a rough idea; there was plenty more to reflect on overnight and fix in the AM.

And speaking of fixing... Exiting turn 6 in my second session on Saturday, I tracked out a bit too far and ended up dropping the passenger side wheels off very briefly in a low spot, and hit the pavement hard on the way back up. I later realized, when my steering wheel was no longer straight, that the hit had knocked loose my lock nuts on the control arm, which had spent time readjusting itself for the remaining session.

Dejected, but not defeated, I grabbed one of the shop's trackside alignment kits, skipped caring about camber, and set the toe back to where it was. The car still tracked a straight line, even though the wheel was off by around 7 degrees still. That I can at least work with; and did.

My first session out in the AM, fighting fuel starvation while trying to keep the car light, I ran my fastest lap.

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It wasn't what I was hoping for, but it's what I got, and it was good enough to win my class by 5 seconds.

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Furthermore, I wasn't the only one. The entire RS motors crew walked away with almost a full quarter of all available time attack trophies last weekend. It was an unreal experience and an incredible event... And it needs to be August so I can do it all over again at Road Atlanta.

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http://www.grid.life/news/2016/6/14/gridli...fficial-results



So I get to start off the season on a super high note despite the battle to get there. Here's hoping to continued success in the series and bringing home an overall points win this season. Super proud of this silly little track Evo I get to call mine.

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Congrats man

Are you working in a shop now?

Thanks!

And I am! I've been a service advisor at a Mazda dealer since March. Had to keep moving up in the world somehow.

Another Proving Grounds weekend at BIR is in the books! And I use "weekend" loosely, I drove up after work on Saturday and raced on Sunday only.

I've yet again improved notably, shaving off another second since last fall, and on slower tires, no less. Last year I ran a 1:45.07, and this year a 1:44.08. There are for sure 1:43s in the car, but I'll need to find them in myself to get there. Tried on my last run and ended up putting 2, almost 4 wheels off of turn 11 right before the finish; coasted from there and ran a 1:44.15, I'd probably have had a 1:43.9x had I not messed that up.

Major improvements this time around: I no longer brake entering turn 2 (just a brief lift) and I can take turn 7 flat out. I still need to work on keeping my line wider through 8, but otherwise I'm nearly there. The car and I get along better than ever right now, and I can't wait to keep growing that bond between car and driver.

I may have taken second in class in the standing start shootout, but any time I make major improvements I'm winning my own fight in my book.

Good stuff. Congrats.

If you're really coming to Atlanta for GridLife in August then I may consider going. Need an excuse to go to back to the track and I've already missed some events I wanted to see.

Well, my entry is fully paid up, so I'll definitely be there. With one decisive series win under my belt already and a major round of upgrades on the way, the Dirty South won't know what hit it.

And speaking of... I did a thing.



And I suppose I should explain in detail.

These are a fully custom set of Stance Suspension XR1 single-adjustable coilovers, hand-built by founder Dave himself. Valving and spring rates are identical to those on the One Lap RS, the car RS Motors fielded in One Lap of America this year, winning their class and taking 2nd overall against some nasty competition. The base setup in these things is no joke. Beyond that, I opted for the full aluminum upgrade, making these things about as light as my current setup, and a custom lower bracket for higher camber to help adjust for the tires I'm running and what they like.

My body is ready.

This post has been edited by Spaz on Jul 12 2016, 06:47 AM