I just bought a couple of sealed 5-gal cans of Sunoco GT+ (104 octane) at a Sunoco station in Brookline, NH. It was $12/gal. (Yes, you heard me right!)

Where do you get 112 octane unleaded? Never heard of it. What brand is it, and what name do they call it?

Mike

 

So we've had some good events to warmup for the Devens NT. Here's a little footage from the last BMWCCA event this weekend. Point&Shoot (Mike) was there running someone's P-car but he came for a joyride in my car towards the end of the day. It was a good run, but apparently I'd been leaving tons of time out there all day and dropped another full second on my last run.

http://holunfie.blogspot.com/2008/05...cca-autox.html

For those of you coming to the Devens NT, this course is similar to what you can expect, albeit probably a touch slower.

Here's some footage from last year's NT.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...10876809196472

 

Yeah, I picked the right time to go for a ride with you John, thanks. I'm sure you took FTD on that run! The funny thing is we install light-weight batteries, take off the rear wing and do a bunch of other stuff to save maybe 100 lbs, and then with 175 lbs of ballast in the front passenger seat, you blow through the course faster than ever! And you're not the only driver I've seen do this. Makes you wonder if power-to-weight ratio is all it's cracked up to be.

As you mentioned, I was co-driving a 911-Turbo, while waiting to get my Evo back from the garage. This was the first time I drove it, except for one fun run last year. The thing is a total beast, but once you learn how to make the rear end stop rotating as soon as it's pointed in the right direction, man, what a ride! (It only took me two spins to figure it out!)

And I agree, the course was similar to what I remember of last year's Devens tour event, except I think the second half of Sunday's course was faster. You were on the rev limiter at least twice, for two seconds at a time.

I hope the NT event will go clockwise, though, unlike this one, for the sake of oil delivery. I'm a little paranoid about oil starvation these days. :-)

Mike

 

Interesting you should mention this. At a recent event, Mark Daddio stressed the need to overfill the oil by 1/2 a quart to prevent oil pressure drop on left hand turns. He said that the AMS car was getting acute oil pressure drops on left handers. Of course others were saying how overfilling would cause the crankshaft to create bubbles in the oil which is also bad. I am wondering how far one can overfill without turning the crank into an egg beater. Does anyone know much room there is in between?

 

North / South Challenge (Reno vs Las Vegas SCCA) =
BSP WIN and TOP PAX last weekend (day1)


Got to drive in the wet for the first time on day 2. Need more WET seat time. Evo didn't react as expected in the wet. Ended up somewhere in the 10th-15th place in pax and 3rd in BSP. The 2 subsequent run groups were dry

 

Actually I said it was for right turns, or I was losing my mind maybe, but it is right turns that the starvation hits.
Mark

 

Is that you aaron? good job mate. way to go. I wanted to be there but i was going to school in New Mexico and i couldn't make it. Great job holding down BSP. See you at the next event.

 

It is right hand turns for sure. I was running the skidpad at the NER T&T and the car was fine on left hand turns (CCW), go right hand (CW) and oil pressure dropped 2-3 bar from the other direction.

As a side note, it's looking like there will be another evo running SM at the Devens NT.

 

OK right hand turns it is.

What about overfilling and possibly having the crank aerate the oil? Is 1/2 quart going to create a problem?

 

The more the better.

 

Okay, I think this was my mistake from a faulty recollection of what you told me, John. So clockwise bad, counter-clockwise good!

Mike

 

Got my new engine just in time for Devens. Tuned at 25 psi boost with about 101 octane, it made 296 wheel HP on a Dyno Dynamics, and this is with only about 15 minutes of break-in (should be a little higher when it loosens up more). I'll run it on pure Sunoco GT+ (104) to have some safety margin.

I'm really pleased with the tuning done by Matt at Dent Sport Garage -- nice broad, flat power curve, and the torque curve is very smooth, too. I have to put their decal on my car, now -- they've earned the recognition.

The sad thing is I no longer have a power deficiency excuse, when I lose badly to John!

Mike

 

Had a great time at my first ProSolo in DC last weekend. I sucked at the reaction time until my last two runs, when I got two starts in the .55x range. I also had a bit of mental trouble transitioning from drag race mode to autocross mode at the end of the chute. (Yes, you do have to set up for the 1st turn!)

John, I was sorry to hear about your car breaking down on the way to DC, even though you would have pushed me from 3rd to 4th in BSP. I see you came in 3rd in STU in a borrowed car, but that doesn't make up for the two Hoosiers you probably would have won in BSP. (Congratulations, to Justin, who won BSP, even though he was driving a Subaru. :-) ) Do you know what's wrong with your car yet? I hope it's not serious.

I'm looking forward to the next one at Finger Lakes. I'll be out there with my daughter, Theresa. We have to decide whether she's going to drive Chang Kim's STX Honda or my Evo (L2 or L1). At the end of last year, she was almost as fast as me in the Evo, so maybe that's the best way for her to go.

Mike

 

Actually, the sad thing is last time my car was on a DD dyno it was like 256hp or something on 93. My car sucks. It hasn't been tuned since either.

I've had alot of fun with my car for the last couple years. This issue comes as no surprise. It was more a case of when, not if. Glad it came now and not in KS. Getting third in STU was awesome. I don't care about the tires, we will run the stickers I have now in KS, no biggie. The biggest thing I've learned with the last 2 big events (Devens and DC) is that the group of friends you make in this sport really is like extended family. I had alot of people help me this weekend and without them I'd be stuck at home looking at results.

I think you should let Theresa run the evo, then she can try and run down Christine Berry in KS if she runs BSP!!

Our STU video from the DC Pro will be up on the holunfie blog in about an hour if anyone is interested.

John

 

Agree 100%. I've had a lot of help from friends at various events, without which I wouldn't have been able to run. The social support makes the events enjoyable, whether you win or lose.

Theresa would certainly rather drive my car than a Honda, even if she isn't quite ready to go up against Christine in the Berry Evo. She says she's a power car driver and she just can't get used to the momentum driving and slow steering ratio of the Civic. Maybe this has something to do with the fact that I taught her to drive at 16 in the Evo -- she even took her driving license exam in it, with a State Trooper in the right seat and me in the back! :-)

Hopefully, by September, she'll be ready for the big show in BSPL. (She took 3rd in HS Ladies at Topeka last year, her first National Tour event and 1st trophy.)

I'm going there now. Thanks.

Mike