2009 Weather Control Experiment Successful
Well the February car washing weather control experiment was successful. Today school was canceled and E got her snow day. I decided to take the day off and go sledding as well.
Sticker Tires
Spring is in the air. With less than a month to go before the first track weekend, it’s time to stock up on parts and make repairs. Nothing says Spring like new tires. For SCCA autocross in the MINI, I’ll be running Hankook Ventus Z214 R-comp tires. This is the medium compound (C50) which should …
Winter Break
It’s hard to get motivated to do anything related to my cars when it’s 15 degrees outside. If I’m lucky, I can keep the garage about 30 degrees above the ambient temperature, but when the best you can get is in the low 40’s, you don’t want to stay there long. Fortunately, we had a …
New MINI Suspension
I got the MINI back from Frederick Motorsports last night. I had Scott install the new adjustable Konis along with the replacement camber plates. I also had to have the front muffler replaced. It’s too soon to really offer an opinion on the new struts. My impression is that the ride home was smoother and …
New Camber Plates
The replacement camber plates arrived from IE today. The adjustable Konis arrived earlier in the week. Hopefully I’ll have a chance to get them installed next week. When you compare the two photos, you can see how the urethane failed. I’ve been told they have improved the manufacturing process so these are not as likely …
Things that go Whump in the Night
I am always amazed by the chain of events that leads to discovery. This past weekend, I was getting my MINI ready for winter. We don’t get a lot of snow here in Maryland, but when you car is only a few inches off of the ground, it doesn’t take much to slow you down. …
SCCA Autocross Event #7, 9.28.08
Today was the final SCCA event of the year at FEDEX Field for the Washington DC Region. The course was long — almost double the usual length. With some tricky off-camber turns and off-set slaloms, it was too long to try to memorize so you tried to pick out the tricky parts and ride out …
WDCR SCCA Autocross Event #6, 8.30.08
I haven’t managed to make any of the local SCCA autocross events so far this year. I bought a season pass last winter, but as it turns out, I had to work during the first five events. I enjoy the longer courses the SCCA runs, but don’t enjoy the events as much — everyone is …
Three-Wheelin’ MINI
Since the F-22 isn’t yet registered, I decided to run the MINI at the CDC autocross today. The morning started out quite wet, with a light drizzle falling most of the early morning. Since I was running in the third heat, I took a chance and switched to the R comps, which was the right …
Jefferson Circuit HPDE Summit Point 5.30.08
My driving season is split into two parts: there’s the first half that starts once the snow melts and ends when summer swimming starts. The second half picks up after summer swimming and ends around Thanksgiving. This past weekend with the NCCBMWCCA at Summit Point marked the end of the first half. And what a …