It's never fun to tow in inclement weather, but that's what happened on this trip. While there was already snow on the ground when we left, there was about 1" that fell in Chicago the evening we drove up. I actually had to scrape the windsheild of the Evo before I could unload it off the trailor Friday morning! That was a first. And again on the way home, we drove threw more snow just N of Bloomington, IL.

The car was unloaded at 8am at AMS Performance in Chicago Friday Jan 28th. I had AMS replace some leaking injector seals and the valve cover gasket (and install a wideband) - then retune the car. AMS last tuned the car in mid 2008, and there's been some parts switching so an updated tune was in order. I also wanted to verify the boost leaks were the only reason my traqmate logs showed me down on power and not something more severe.

The mod list is pretty simple really. The power mods are below, but for a complete list on the car: http://boomn29.blogspot.com/p/car-setup.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScGrhTpjp8Y

Results?
I was very impressed with the numbers and have to send a huge shout out to the entire AMS team, especially Dan & Eric up front and Chris for the tune.
All-in-all those are stout numbers for a car with stock turbo, cams and fuel system. Chris really outdid himself with a really meaty tune with the top of the hp from 5500-6800rpms and peak torque at 3400rpms. Because the car competes mainly in NASA TT, it's restricted by the number of 'mods'. I'm not sure I'm going to run this full config during the season as I'll be testing a few different setups, but stay tuned for more updates. I've got my new suspension on order and picked up a few aero pieces to try out as well. What'll be the best combo; it's hard to say! The goal this year is a National Championship with NASA in TTA.

And for fun, here's some other pics of Chicago from the weekend:

 

Nice! And I always love Chicago in the winter/Christmas!


Murph

 

Cool pics!!

 

Thx guys.
I'm glad I got out of Chicago before the 20" of snow dropped! We got 11.5" downstate which is plenty enough for me.

A few more details on the car - per some PM's I've got:

• Original Stock motor, turbo & trans
• 23,500 miles
• 60+ track days on the car
• Street legal - sorta...
  

 

Thanks for coming by Nate! We hope for good things in 2011 for you

Eric

 

Just as a follow-up, I had my first testday of 2011 out on the track.

Last Saturday, 3/26 I was out at Putnam Park roadcourse at their inagural event for 2011 no less. It was downright cold and windy in the morning and didn't change much throughout the day. The high I seen was 36; maybe 37 degrees. Temps under 40 definitely bring up a host of additional issues! I was probably going to be running street tires all day and definitely needed to turn the boost down!

I got everything unloaded and was out on track early. I was anxious to check out the updated 100oct tune from AMS Performance, my new AST Coilovers, my new alignment and my new Aero. Lots of new stuff!

I ran about 8 laps the first session just to shake the rust off and make sure everything was tighted up. My 2nd session I ran GPS logging. I ran maybe 7/10's and even with the additional weight of a passenger weight I hit 130.45 mph on the main straight which was a personal best. I think the boost leaks have been remedied! Thank you so much AMS for the new gaskets and the updated tune!

By the end of the day I dipped into the 1:19's. I got more daring with the car and tried to force some oversteer and understeer and it wouldn't do it! Meaning that not only is the car initially balanced, but I can definitely raise the cornering speed.

In all I put on 114 miles which equates to around 60-65 laps at Putnam Park. I'll be back here in May with NASA! Next up is back-to-back weekends at Mid Ohio and then at Autobahn in early April. Wish me luck! I'll be posting up times and pics on twitter both weekends, so follow @Boomn29 for more info!

Video! Here's a few laps from around 3pm. Still on my 245 Dunlop Z1 StarSpec's and running on low boost: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQrdqVEZLMc



Here's some pics of the car cleaned up from Mid March:

 

AWESOME update Nate! This season should be a good one!

Eric