ITB Failure, Testing and Winning

After a month off from racing I was excited to get back out there and test the changes we made last month. Softer rear springs, re-alignment and weight reduction. The weekend didn't start off too well though. On my very first run, I got to the first set of corners when suddenly I had no power even at full throttle. I was able to limp her back to grid to inspect what had happened. The throttle linkage for the ITBs had somehow worked its way loose. I thought it was game over. I pulled the return spring out behind it since I was afraid it would fall down and get lost but after closer inspection and with the help of Steve Farkas (SJF Performance), we managed to get the linkage reconnected, leaving the return spring out (not easy to reinstall on the spot). The other return springs were stiff enough that the throttle body performance seemed ok so I took her back out again for a test run and all seemed well. Not wanting to lose a day of testing, I just kept monitoring it after each run and it seemed to be work fine so I continued with testing as planned.

Linkage back in - NNJR SCCA Autox - 6/7/2014

Aside from adjusting the suspension for balance with the new rear springs, I wanted to see how low she could go on fuel without fuel starve to save more weight. We started the event at 6 bars and ended on 3 bars, well under quarter tank and did not get any fuel starve. Surprisingly I didn't need to make too many changes from my previous setup. As expected, the 10% softer rear spring helped add some mechanical grip back there to make her more stable and easier to drive under throttle. I only had to pull some rear rebound and the balance was back to what I wanted and she could be driven hard under throttle in every corner for rotation without much drama. Despite the early mishap, I was able to get 5th in PAX out of 148 drivers and 6th fastest time overall. The new exhaust is definitely louder than before and sounds more "bee"-like but should be within the sound limits for the SCCA.

Low fuel testing - NNJR SCCA Autox - 6/7/2014

NNJR SCCA Autox

Meadowlands, NJ - 6/7/2014

Day 2 testing continued with MSNE in Lot J at the Meadowlands. It's a wavier lot with a bit less grip but there were a lot of good elements to do more testing with including some very fast high-G sweepers to continue my low fuel testing. Ran a quarter tank the entire time with no fuel starve. No changes were made to her settings from the previous day and she was absolutely a blast to drive once I figured out the bad parts of the lot to avoid which unfortunately forced me to take a less than ideal line. At the end of the day, I managed to put down Fastest Time of Day (FTD) overall out of 124 drivers resulting in me getting this ridiculously oversized trophy that I have no place for but more than anything I'm just super stoked that Bumblestook is feeling in prime shape before Toledo.

Bumblestook and I take FTD at MSNE Autox - 6/8/2014
Photo Credit: Jose Lozano

MSNE Autox - FTD

Meadowlands, NJ - 6/8/2014

She now has to go back to Evans Tuning this weekend to sort out the ITB issue, new top hats for the Motons I got from Karcepts have to get installed and new corner balance and alignment with the new reduced weight. She'll be ready for the Toledo ProSolo where I'll try to keep the momentum going and hopefully put up a solid fight against the 14 other drivers in SPA - Street Prepared Index A. It'll be our first event on concrete with the current setup and I hope we can keep it together and do well.