HA! What a small world - Dave K - I dont know you but apparently you play softball with one of my very best friends Jeff V...

 

Nice Dave, super congratulations are in order

Just watched the video and that man that looked like fun. Great solid run with no mistakes which is very very hard to do (and rare).

The car looked like it ran very well too from start to finish (which is also rare ) and I liked the aero goodies. So congratulations are also in order for building such a solid car

Take care,
Paul

 

Thanks Paul! That means alot coming from someone who's 'been there, done that.' When I watch the video, I see a bunch of little mistakes that certainly added up over the course of the run, but in the grand scheme of things, we ended up with a good safe run, a class win, and a pretty respectible time overall. I was trying to push deeper into the corners on race day than I did in practice, and in several corners, I really overcooked the entry, ending up out in the dust. Lesson learned - push harder in practice to learn the limits a bit better for race day.

After looking thru the race-day times, we were the top finishing 'full frame' car at the event this year, probably only making ~300whp at the start line. The 4 cars that beat us were all tube-frames specially built for running PPIHC/CHCA hillclimbs, and are all probably making in excess of 5-600whp.

I already can't wait to get back there next year to improve on those corners, and we're hoping to show up with a lighter and more powerful car with a bunch more AMS goodies packed into it.

Dave

 

Did a quick search on youtube this morning to see if we showed up in any vids, and here's what I came up with:

Vids of just our car:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjyd9CT2678 Roof Cam Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lnt_cgzOlUo Roof Cam Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK8iU_rCLEk In-Car Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqU38Zfm_TM In-Car Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVLqX4Nhhnc 11-mile/Bluesky Run 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3b-HiPtxQqM 11-mile/Bluesky Run 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUqe96UmtTo 11-mile/Bluesky Run 3

Compilation Videos (with time when #9 appeared):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m07ISn2TwvU ~1:50
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcabt4-MCxo ~1:20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nj3pmnngnU ~1:20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NS1wwSvHm9o ~5:05
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ga6d625oU8 On way down @ Devils Playground

I'll add more in this post if I find anymore.

 

Hey Dave,
Is it true that it cost like $1,000 or so to enter into the race. Me and a buddy were thinking about building something.
Thanks

 

It actually costs more than that. Entry fees change depending on when you enter, with the early entry (January 31st) being $1100, ranging up to $1700 if you enter the month before the event.

I'm not sure what your competitive driving resume consists of, so please don't take this as me shooting down your idea (or anyone else for that matter). PPIHC really isn't an event for newbies, as I'm sure you saw/heard about some of the crashes from veteran drivers, as the mountain was really fighting us this year. Having an 'off' on this mountain hurts in a big way and the consequences are usually pretty bad - there are no gravel traps or run-off room on much of the mountain, just trees and boulders to slow you down. The PPIHC organizers really really want to see some prior racing experience, and that doesn't mean solely auto-x and rally-x.

If you really want to get up to the peak in the next couple of years, I'd suggest going the route I did. I got myself to as many auto-x and rally-x as I could stand, then progressed into hillclimbing with the CHCA (www.chcaracing.com), where full safety gear and roll cages are required. Put in a season or two here and get used to flying around on the dirt. Entry fees are cheap (~$175/weekend), and there's a prize fund if you do well and even if you don't, you still get ~1/2 of your entry fee back. I'm assuming you want to run a rally car (i.e. full frame car). If so, DO NOT BUILD your first car, find a used rally car for sale, it can literally save you thousands (if you don't know where to look, just ask). If you absolutely have to build your car, make sure that you contact a shop that has built/prepped rally cars before. I've seen too many people try to do it on their own or have some roadrace shop build/install a cage and have to literally start over b/c their 1st try failed miserably. (and no TWG guys - you weren't the only ones to get steered in the wrong direction) If you want to get good quick, build a slow car and learn to drive the wheels off it...then move up to a fast car. Jumping into a fast car first will allow you to hide your mistakes and not learn from them as quickly.

Please don't take any of the above as a personal attack or anything...I've had lots of PMs about how to get up there and this is my standard reply on how to get into rallying, and I think the same principles apply to running PPIHC. Hopefully I'll see you on the grid up in the mountains sometime soon.

Dave

 

Completely understand dave, We were thinking of getting started the same way you did.

Trust me even when I drive up the mountain for site seeing those corners bring fear to me....lol.

I have a little bit of experience in the driving world, but that was the days of me and my father doing baja's in the pro truck class.

I thankyou for your advice. No harm. I agree with you too because that is the last thing you need is a newbie falling off the cliff. I just love these types of things and they are becoming my main hobby.

I kind of figured thats why the entry fee was so high, so it can deter people from racing up the mountain. Most normal cars cant handle those speeds and corners.

Last question for you......I heard that they are planning to pave the rest of the mountain. Is that true. If so that takes all the fun out of this race.

Thanks dave, hope to see your evo on the track again one day.

 

Once you start hillclimbing, you'll notice that you don't focus so much on what's over the edge, rather you just focus on the road. I'd probably be scared too if I took the time to look around. Based on your experience, you could probably be on the entry list for PPIHC next year if you chose to be. Luckily there are usually ~3 CHCA events before PPIHC on the calendar, so you'll have a good opportunity to shake down a car at high altitude.

Yes, they will be paving the rest of the mountain eventually. For next year, the section from Boulder Park to the summit will be paved. We're bummed out about it, as we think we've developed a pretty good package for a race that's 1/2 & 1/2, so we'll be back to the drawing board this off season to show up with something competitive next year. Don't worry, same Evo, just a slightly different/better version.

Sounds like you guys are going about it the right way. Not sure what your budget is for getting started, but there are a few cars locally that are for sale. At the low end there's a Group 2 late 80s celica (~$5k), an AWD audi 90 coupe (non-turbo), and on the high end (~$30k) there's Wyeth Gubleman's GroupN bug-eye WRX that's had a full STi swap, Proflex suspension, tuning by Prodrive...etc. Its also been rumored that the blue GC8 Phoenix Autosport subaru is for sale, somewhere in the $20k range (the one driven by Moberly, not Gushi).

Dave

 

Thanks dave for your inputs.

Well like I said if you ever need any help just give me a shout, its only a 30 minute ride. Would love to bs and check out what you got.......might be a good learning experience.

That celica looks like a good option. We were looking at an old vw bug, my dad used to race them back in his days, been talking with him lately about em.

 

I just wanted to check to see if any of you that made it out to spectate might have some photos you could email me? AMS will be editing up a video for us like this one, and I'm in the process of getting all my videos and pictures burned onto a few discs. So if you have any pics we can use, please send along the full res version to davidkern at hotmail dot com.

Thanks!

Dave

 

Here you go dave!!

 

oops just saw your email address.....you have an email from me

 

Damn that is the best thread I have read in a while. Great documentation of the build. It was great getting to meet you guys and work with you guys on the roof mount camera at PPIHC.

If you guys ever want to set up some more cameras on that car, let me know I have some ideas...

Otherwise, I am looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with for next year.

 

Wow, that is one of the best Evo pics I have seen! Wallpaper, anyone? Damn!

Can I assume that CameraCourage = Josh? If so, what do I need to do to get a hi-res version of that (and similar) pic(s)?

l8r)

 

Yep, you're correct. I'm not sure how often Josh is on here, but you can get him at AWDpirates.net as well.

Dave