Andy - I'd wish you luck, but you're such a great driver (a god in fact) that you don't really need it.

Glen - Hope you get your car and motor ready. You can break it in in qualifying right?

And to any of you other guys - good luck, and don't forget to tell us all about it. I'm getting tired of reading about fun stuff on the east coast that I have even less chance of eventually joining in occassionally.

Scott, who will run a TCRA event next year....somehow......

 

My motor isn't ready, which is a shame, since the rest of the car is ready. So I will just be putting around in my street car, which I haven't driven in so long the battery is dead.

It will be fun to learn a brand new course, as well as watch Our God Andy kick *** in the race. I will watch for the rays of light emanating from the cockpit area.

 

You guys realize that you are totally jinxing me for my race this weekend, with all that "Racing God" crap

I had actually heard that Glen's motor was ready. However, he is busy with a photo shoot for Super Street at the Hot Import Nights show.

 

That is so cool - Glen's car is so cool. I really like that magazine. Remember the issue where they had the ITR rear brake upgrade shootout? Some guys have to go to 17's just to fit enough brake onto the rear of the car for serious competition use. That's to crazy for me though. Those cars really look good like that though - no ugly rim to rotor gap.

Scott, who plans to mount a fire extinguisher to each A-Pillar....for extra safety you know....does Glen have some babes lined up?


[Modified by RR98ITR, 3:31 PM 10/18/2001]

 

Oh no, I was going to surprise you guys when the article came out. The babes draped all over the car are there just to hide the dents and scratches. There are some awesome close-up shots of my 8 piston AP Racing carbon/carbon rear brakes that are just what I need to balance out my stock front brakes during the heat of racing. No rim-to-rotor gap for me! And I care about safety as well, so I have four fire extinguishers mounted, one on each of the two A and C pillars.



[Modified by Gansan, 5:21 PM 10/18/2001]

 

Glen,

I hope you won't be offended, but I think you're making a common mistake. You probably thought "hey, I'm moving my CG rearward with these C-Pillar mounted fire extinguishers". Well, yeah, but you've also increased your polar moment of inertia and actually raised the CG. I think you'd be better off to simply mount larger extinguishers on the A-Pillars, since you don't want to sacrifice safety for superior vehicle dynamics.

And about those brakes. I know everybody is going to 8-piston on the rear, but I think it's been proven in Ukranian Touring Car Challenge that it's preferable to use TWO 4-piston calipers with the leading caliper slightly smaller than the trailing caliper to prevent rotor taper.

If I'm just telling you stuff you already know but chose not to do simply because you had more than enough money to spend and felt that you know more than everybody else anyway....then I apologize.

Scott, who can't wait to see the pictures of the babes.....yeah, babes and race cars, they make me horny baby.. yeah....

 

Check out these tiiite photos of Glen's car from the Super Street photo shoot!



And a close-up of Glen's new brake setup on the car




Andy - Who thinks he just bought a carbon fiber splitter and undertray for $1400... to compete in the Ukranian Touring Car Championship.





[Modified by Andrew, 5:45 PM 10/18/2001]

 

Well, my hope was that the rear fire extinguishers would explode in the event of a fire in the fuel tank area, instantly suppressing any further burning. I wasn't sure that the front ones alone would do the trick. You may be right on the CG, however. I imagine I can compensate with some well placed lead bricks to move the CG back.

As for the UTCC formula of dual 4-piston calipers, my thinking was that the huge single caliper would blend in with the stripes on the side of the car a bit better! I painted it to match the red stripe. In order to make it line up with the painted stripe, I am using some sheetmetal brackets to extend the caliper from the original position. These handmade brackets are very thin and lightweight to help me with unsprung weight! There is some flexibility in the calipers so they do bounce when you tap them with your finger, but I figure the rotor will keep them in place.

 

Here we go again.

 

Glen,

In the last UTCC race I watched on Satellite TV, Peutter Kleinubakov was running monocoque caliper mounts on the NextTime Type R at the season closer at Lagorno Slava (according to the race analysis team - I can't remember their names and understood just enough of what they were saying (it's easier after having practiced by watching those BM videos)). Anyway, under the rules they had to run the stock ABS if they used the monocoque rear brake caliper mounts because otherwise they would have an advantage because of the extreme braking power (remember, this is Ukrania we're talking about). So to make a long story short: Your car is soooo cool.

But you're blowing it with those lead bricks. Everybody is all fixated on unsprung weight - thinking that reducing it will allow the wheels to spin faster (regardless of misleading dyno numbers). But sprung weight can have almost as much effect on acceleration as unspung weight. I can't prove it, but I think I can feel it in the seat of my pants...like when I have a really heavy guy in the passenger seat. I guess what I'm saying is that yeah the car handles better because the CG is further back, but the wheels don't seem to spin up as fast. And I've got aluminum lug nuts too so you know I've covered all the bases. Anybody who disagrees with my primary point here is just ignorant...or stupid. I beat alot of those people anyway.

But I don't want to toot my own horn - or you'll think I'm like Andy. I'm not that good to be sure, but I'm way more humble.

Anyway, back to making your car tricker: I like the way you're making the rotor do more than just stop the car. Making it actually locate and support the caliper is just good racing practice. It undoubtedly reduced the unsprung weight, and that it fits into your graphic package is just the icing on the cake. I think Taz will be impressed (and possibly at a loss for words) at how you've managed to improve the car. If he had been able to implement even half of your ideas I think he could have been more regular on the podium last year.

Scott, who uses Preparation-H to "suppress any further burning".....

 

Glen,

I just looked at the photos of your car. Let me know what you think of the Motec dash. I'm planning on upgrading my Stack dash this winter and the Modec is near the top of my list.

Scott
'89 ITA CRX Si (#96)

 

I love the Motec--it's responsive (very high update rate), easy to read, and extremely customizable, but everything Motec is overpriced. If I were you, I would look at the Pi stuff. I believe they give you more for the money, although they may not be quite as customizable.

 

You guys are raising the bar. And you're all going to hell...

Karl in NC
I making fun of people