Winter Demodding

When I built Lupa for STR over the summer, I knew that my old Moton Clubsports were long overdue for a rebuild and possibly a revalve (since they were valved for a B-Stock spring setup).  With some baseline data gathered from previous events, I decided that it would be best to pull the shocks off now and have them worked on over the winter so we'd be in tip top shape for next season. It would also be a good opportunity to fix/replace one of the rear shock bodies where there's an issue with the threads making ride height adjustment extra difficult.

Motons removed - 12/5/2015

We lucked out today with some good weather so I went over to see Hez and we used his new QuickJack to make quick work of swapping in the OEM shocks/springs and OEM wheels again.

OEM shocks back in - 12/5/2015

OEM 4x4 stance - 12/5/2015

In reality, Lupa will probably be washed and tucked away for the winter so the 4x4 like OEM stance isn't really a problem for me. It is pretty incredible how great the OEM shocks work and feel out of the box but they're definitely no match in competition to the Moton goodness.

Motons off the car with springs removed ready for relaving - 12/5/2015

Demodding Lupa for the winter - 12/5/2015

As an interesting side note, I took a picture of the tread on the RE-71s on the Koseis after 4 events with codrivers and 4000 miles (including the recently 3000 mile road trip I did). Surprisingly, the wear was even and I still have plenty of tread left for some serious competition next season. Great job there Bridgestone!

Rear RE-71s after 4000 miles - 12/5/2015

Pre-winter inspection and prep

At the beginning of every season there's always a mad rush to try to get an alignment scheduled so this year after speaking with Steve at SJF Performance, we decided we'd do it differently. Bumblestook stays in hibernation all winter so there's no reason why we can't do an alignment before putting her away so she'll be all ready next season and that's exactly what we did.

Pre-winter prep -  SJF Performance - 11/21/2015

There was a bit of slippage since the last alignment and magically I regained some of the camber I had lost on the front driver side. This allowed us to dial in some more front camber so the front bites a little better for better balance. She was getting a tad pushy at the end of the season. We suspect my front subframe shifted a little during Nationals back to it's "normal" position so the final alignment we ended up going with was:

Front:
-3.4 Camber
0 toe
5 degrees caster

Rear:
-2.5 Camber
0.06 total toe in (1/16")

At the last event, we also start hearing some squealing noises from the front wheels. We thought it could be bad wheel bearings but after getting her on the lift, we noticed no play in the wheel or suspension whatsoever. Then we looked at the next obvious thing, the brakes, and was shocked to see that I've basically gone through the front brake pads almost to the backing plates. That in and of itself isn't particularly shocking since it is a race car so it goes through brakes but considering Bumblestook is trailered, she's basically gone through a set of front pads in about 250-300 competition miles.

Front brakes are done - 11/21/2015

Almost down to the backing plates - 11/21/2015

Since these are Hawk HP+ pads and are fairly aggressive, the rotors have also been chewed up quite a bit so I'll have to replace these before I race next season. So much for being race ready before winter. We also used up all the Ethanol in the tank at the last event so I filled her up with pump 93.

Finally, I compiled a list of things I have to get done early next season:

• Replace front brake pads and rotors 
• Replace driver seat rail/slider (Ballade Sports ultra-low seat rail)
• Re-dyno and verify the tune and double check the throttle bodies

S2000 East Coast Road Trip - Day 6 (The End)

Well, I finally completed my trip. Lupa and I drove a total of 3,137.6 miles over the course of 6 days covering 9 states and a tiny stint in Washinton D.C. all with the top down except for that one day of heavy rain. I'm not sure what I expected from this trip. Part of me thought I wouldn't be able to make it and I'd have to turn back at some point from back pain or something. It's not because driving to Florida and back is particularly hard. Lots of people do it all the time, especially old people that go back and forth apparently, but driving a S2000, in particular, a STR prepped S2000 is a different story. The only thing that bothered me was the lack of sleep and the ever changing weather since I had vowed to drive top down in all but heavy rain. The hot and humid days in Florida were brutal but so were the really cold days when I got back north. Leaving Charlottesville, Virginia this morning at 38F just as the sun was rising with the top down had me questioning my sanity for example.

Final fill up for this trip - NJ - 11/14/2015

I'm really happy how well this trip went. Lupa is prepped for SCCA's STR autocross class which stands for Street Touring Roadster and a 3000+ mile road trip definitely puts the "street" and "touring" into context and of course she is a "roadster". She's such an amazing car to drive. She puts up a fight and can get it done when she's being raced but on the street she's refined like a lady with a tiny bit of attitude on the side to keep you in check.

Back into NYC via the GWB - 11/14/2015

I got to see some parts of the country I hadn't yet seen. It was interesting. I didn't really hate any of it in a way that would prevent me from passing through again in the future but then there were places like the Shenandoah Valley that I know for sure I want to come back to every year. There really isn't anything special about this trip if you look at it on paper. Sure I drove 3138 miles and sure I drove it solo but so have plenty of other people in other cars. The difference for me is like having fat-free, sugar-free, vanilla ice cream in a cup versus a hazelnut ice cream with brownie bits, nuts, chocolate syrup in a chocolate dipped waffle cone. Sure, both will get you a sweet tooth fix but only one will really make you feel like to lived a little.

Finally done, 3137.6 miles later - New York - 11/14/2015

More importantly, this trip helped clear my mind, put things into perspective and inspired me. I can honestly say after this trip that "I lived" and that is an appropriate segue into the video I put together to capture the essence of this trip. It's been quite a while since I did a video project. I've been utterly uninspired recently to put this kind of effort into anything but for this trip it seemed fun, exciting and natural and it was near and dear to my heart which didn't make it any easier to create but it did make the entire process that much more enjoyable. 

S2000 East Coast Tour 2015 Video

Photo/Video Equipment

• iPhone 5S
• GoPro Hero 3 Plus
• Canon 5D MK2 with 24-70L 

Audio Equipment 

• Azden SMX-10 mic and of course built-in mics in the video equipment

Edited with 

• Final Cut Pro X on 13" Macbook Pro (Late 2013 Retina)

Music 

• "I lived" by One Republic

Sound bites 

• Shigeru Uehara, lead designer and "father" of the S2000 and NSX - S2K home coming 2015 and S2000 EuroMeet 2014
• Jeremy Clarkson - Interview by Eric Bana in "Love the Beast"

S2000 East Coast Road Trip - Day 5

The past 4 days of this road trip have mostly involved driving long distances from destination to destination and then spending some time exploring each area on foot. For this last full day away from home, I wanted to cap it off with a more pure driving adventure. I was strongly recommended by several friends to make sure I swing by the Shenandoah Valley and drive the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive in Virginia. I stayed near Charlotte,  North Carolina, last night so my plan was to leave early for the Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center near Roanoke, Virginia and get on the Parkway there and take it north all the way to Skyline Drive. I suppose I should've checked first but it turns out that the "season" is over and all the visitor centers along route were closed. The road was still open though and the upside to the season being over was that there were very few cars out. I had the whole road to myself the vast majority of the time just the way I like it.

Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center - Roanoke, VA - 11/13/2015

If you've ever driven I-95 or in Florida before, you know that it's basically a bunch of straight lines so while I racked up many miles, I didn't exactly have to turn the wheel much unless I was exiting. In stark contrast to this, the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive were nothing but corner after corner for miles and miles. It was the most amazing thing ever. The speed limit was only 45mph the parkway and 35mph on Skyline Drive but this suited my purpose well because I wasn't trying to race through this area. I wanted to enjoy the twisties and have it last for as long as I could. It was roadster heaven! To top it off, I got blessed with the most incredible weather. It was mid-50s, sunny and clear skies for as far as the eye could see. It was perfect hoodie and top down weather.

Roadster heaven - Blue Ridge Parkway - 11/13/2015

I even had all the overlooks to myself. I could pick and choose whichever one I wanted, soak in the spectacular view without any distractions and even had time to set up my tripod and camera for more awesome shots to document this trip.

A man, his S2000 and the open road
Skyline Drive / Shenandoah National Park - 11/13/2015

I thought I couldn't surpass the inspired feeling I had yesterday but the 4 hour drive through these winding roads really helped me appreciate not only the beauty of nature but how incredible the S2000 is and that brought an even greater sense of inspiration. As I rowed through the gears and kept constantly transitioning to follow the corners, I felt truly at one with Lupa and the road. I was telling her what to do, she executed perfectly and in turn was giving me feedback through all my senses what was going on underneath me on the road. It was like a coordinated dance, she moved that rear around predictably and with confidence. The cool air was perfect for the engine and I could hear that F22C run through the revs smoothly as she breathed easily. She was like a race horse at the start line, wanting, no, begging, to be unleashed but we kept it civil, only occasionally testing the limits of her cornering ability through some of the hairpins. There was no drama, only perfection. The S2000 was in her element and it showed. This is what Shigeru Uehara designed the S2000 for...to negotiate the touge quickly and effectively, rewarding the driver with smiles to last for days. For those few hours I felt truly free and happy. I felt the happiness of a kid on Christmas day, the excitement of meeting someone and falling in love and the adrenaline of being chased by a wild animal all at the same time. It was the feeling of being alive, of being in the moment, of living life passionately, of not taking for granted any moment. It was Carpe Diem on 4 wheels. It, was, to put it simply, the most perfect day a man and his S2000 could ever ask for.

Onto Day 6...

S2000 East Coast Road Trip - Day 4

Today started the long journey back to NY but before leaving Florida, I was recommended by a colleague to go see the Kennedy Space Center which was just 2 hours north of where I was staying last night, right off I-95 on the way back. I'm so glad I went because it was a truly inspirational visit.

Lupa at Kennedy Space Center - 11/12/2015

I generally get excited about "space stuff" but I came here not really sure what to expect. I thought it would just be a simple museum you could walk around but oh no, it was much more than that. I got on the tour bus that took us around the complex so we could see the vehicle assembly building, launch pads and other interesting tidbits about the space center and the tour ended at the Apollo/Saturn V (pronounced Saturn Five) center where there was an incredible show detailing the history of the Apollo program including sitting over the real equipment used in mission control during that period where they re-played audio and video of the launch of Apollo 8, the first manned mission the moon. That was a real treat and made my hair stand on end. We were then able to see an actual Saturn V rocket, the scale was just incredible and awe inspiring.

Real mission control equipment from the Apollo program
Kennedy Space Center - 11/12/2015

I then rode the bus back to the main area to check out the space shuttle Atlantis. That also included a video showing the history of the shuttle program, the problems faced by the engineers and finally the successful first mission by Atlantis. Then you were treated to seeing the real space shuttle on display. You could see the discoloration caused by re-entry into the atmosphere and a really detailed look into the materials used in its creation.

Space shuttle Atlantis
Kennedy Space Center - 11/12/2015

Clearly I was blown away by this and I regret that I initially only allocated 2 hours of time to see. I really needed a whole day. I ended going over that time by quite a bit because it was worth it but I have to come back again to really explore everything in full detail. This is probably the highlight of this trip so far. It put a lot of things into perspective. I don't think people truly grasp how important the space program is and those that argue it's just wasted money don't study history enough to realize that many of the amazing things we use today were born out of technologies pioneered by space program. The push for faster, lighter computers brought into being the semiconductor and later integrated chips. Advancements in material sciences of new alloys are in use in today by many industries. GPS and other satellite based systems would not be possible today without the space program. An entire generation of scientists and engineers were inspired by this. It made America great! It makes me sad that many people don't understand that we need to make this investment if we want America to continue to be a pioneer in technology going forward.

They played a snippet of President Kennedy's "we choose to go to the moon" speech (of course) but hearing those words again resonated with me today. Anything worth pursuing truly is difficult. Choosing the thing that is difficult often makes the experience more rewarding, more meaningful. If anything, you learn a lot of things about yourself when you dare to dream a little and push your boundaries. In many ways, it's a great back drop to this trip. I could've done any number of things to make this trip a lot easier but instead decided to up the difficulty a little and it's been an incredible experience so far. I've done similar things in various aspects of my life and looking back I've always been glad I chose the thing that wasn't easy, but the one that was hard.

Sometimes you just have to listen to it again!
President Kennedy's - "We choose to go to the moon" speech

Unfortunately, because I spent so much time at the space center, the 7 hour drive to my next overnight stop in Charlotte, NC required me to go straight through with minimal stops (mostly just for gas). Not only was I already exhausted from baking in the hot Florida sun and walking around but the drive would take me into some night time driving through highways I'd never been on before. I don't like that for many reasons but mostly for safety especially if I'm driving through areas that I know might have wildlife like deer ready to commit suicide at any time. Thankfully I got to my destination just fine but it was interesting to feel the stark contrast in very uncomfortable 85F humid heat this morning to the low 50F temps in North Carolina. I went from running the AC at full blast to having to wear my hoodie and blast heat instead all in the same day. I blazed through Georgia and South Carolina to get here and tomorrow it's off to Virginia to explore the Blue Ridge Parkway and all its twisty glory.

Onto Day 5...

S2000 East Coast Road Trip - Day 3

"Drive south, keep driving until you can't drive south anymore, then turn around and drive home!" That was the rough plan I had when I concocted this crazy trip. Today I did just that, I drove south until I got to the southern most point of the United States in Key West. It didn't quite go according to plan. My GPS had it estimated at a little over 4 hours from Palm Beach so I was hoping to leave around 6:30am, get there at 11am at the latest and then have enough time to walk around and explore. While I was eating breakfast, I saw on the news that a there was a major trailer accident on I-95 south of me right in my path and only one lane was open. Needless to say, it took more than 4 hours to get there after rerouting...it was closer to 6 hours.

Enjoying the slow crawl 100 miles on the
Overseas Highway to Key West - 11/11/2015

1475.8 miles later we arrive at the Southermost point
of the USA in Key West - 11/11/2015

By this time I was really hot and sweaty (so easy to forget how miserably humid Florida can get) and starving. I had a pretty funny moment. I got out, looked back at Lupa and the first image in my head was Forrest Gump looking back at all the people following him after he did all his random running and decided to just go home haha.

Yep, this was pretty much me after I got there today

Since I lost so much time and I had already been to Key West before anyway, I figured I'd just take a break and eat. I ended up eating at the Banana Cafe right around the corner since I had already found a nice spot to park Lupa. Assuming the worst, that I might hit similar traffic heading back to the the hotel, I opted to start driving back north right after eating. I had already made plans to meet Henry (s2k2knyc on s2ki.com) for dinner for some good Cuban food and to catch up and I was looking forward to that more than just randomly killing time in Key West.

S2000 long distance micro meet with Henry - 11/11/2015

The slow cruise to Key West was one of the most tiring but inspiring parts of this trip so far. Since we were going at such slow speed and I was surrounded by incredible scenery, I had a chance to just get lost in my thoughts and listen to music. I will say that driving by the water in the the tropical heat reminded me very much of Hawaii and how I have to go back. Florida is nice and all that but yea, Hawaii takes the cake for me in terms of pure tropical bliss. Well today ended my southern journey as I ran out of land mass to continue driving so it's back up north I go and frankly I'm excited to be back to cooler conditions. I now understand why so many Floridians own convertibles but leave the top up all the time. The sticky heat is just nasty and I'll take hoodie weather top down driving in the fall in the NorthEast over this any time.

Onto Day 4...

S2000 East Coast Road Trip - Day 2

Day 2 didn't start off any better than how day 1 ended. It poured overnight and it was going to keep raining until late morning. It wasn't going to dampen my spirits though as I knew the majority of the day was going to be nice and my destination for today was Florida so I set off before 7am and starting racking up the miles.

A gray, wet start to day 2 - North Carolina - 11/10/2015

I forged through North Carolina and it dried up enough just before entering South Carolina to drop the top and enjoy some open air action. It was still very chilly though so the heat was on full blast despite the sun being present. Since it was still early in the morning, there was no one at the South Carolina rest stop so I took the opportunity to whip out the old camera and tripod to take a proper photo with Lupa to commemorate this adventure.

A man and his car going on an adventure
South Carolina - 11/10/2015

I don't really have much to say about South Carolina other than they need to have better rest stops. The rest stops were a bit sad compared with North Carolina and during some parts of I-95, as I looked over and saw the heavy brush and swampy areas, I couldn't help but think of The Walking Dead. I'm sure it's a great state but if you only get the I-95 experience, you're not getting excited about anything. I was supposed to just pass through Georgia but since I was making good time, I thought it might be interesting to make a stop in Savannah. I'm a bit of a closet history and old movie geek so when I think of Savannah, Georgia, all that pops into mind are scenes from Gone with the Wind.

Savannah, Georgia - 11/10/2015

I spent a few hours walking through the historic district taking mental notes of the old architecture and snapping a few photos and had lunch at the Savannah Coffee Roasters on W. Liberty St. I know this is a blog about a car but as a foodie, when I get good food, I have to mention it. This was by far one of the best meat pies I've ever tasted. The beef stew was tender, rich and hearty. It tasted home made, the kind of food you'd expect to eat in the south. If you ever find yourself in the area, I'd definitely recommend it.

Lunch at Savannah Coffee Roasters - 11/10/2015

I killed a bit too much time in Savannah but thankfully the drive to the Florida border wasn't too far. There I was greeted with free super fresh Florida orange juice at the welcome center staffed with very friendly Floridians. It was sunny and warm just as you'd want a drive through Florida to be. I picked up some brochures for places I'm thinking about going to while I'm here. One crazy story from this rest stop...an old dude was parked right next to me. As I'm getting ready to leave, he walks up to me and says it's a really nice car. He then proceeds to say that the only problem with the car is that it seems to have a small trunk...not big enough to stick women into! WTF!?? Yes, I quickly got out of there. Crazy old man!

Finally in Florida - 11/10/2015

Things to do in Florida - 11/10/2015

Unfortunately, while I did enter Florida. I still had a good 4-5 hours left of driving before reaching my stop for the day in Palm Beach so I had to do the bulk of remaining drive in darkening conditions and watching the lightning in the horizon hoping I could make it to the hotel without having to put the top up. Tomorrow,  I get to check off the major milestone of this trip when I get into Key West but for now....sleep.

Onto Day 3...

S2000 East Coast Road Trip - Day 1

It was finally the day to kick off the road trip. Unfortunately, despite the very pleasant, warm weather last week, temps dropped abruptly over the weekend and I started my trip at 6:50am when it was 43F outside. As I mentioned in my previous post, the top was going to stay down regardless of temperature and so I bundled up, kicked up the heat to high and enjoyed the drive.

Starting the trip counter - 0.0 miles - 11/9/2015

The first leg of this trip would take me through NJ into Delaware, Maryland, Washington D.C., Virginia and finally making my first sleep stop in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Although it was cold, the sun was present through the first half of this leg but as I rolled into Maryland, I noticed the sun had disappeared and the cloud cover thickened. Little did I know, I was about to drive straight into a storm. I crossed the border from Maryland into Virginia and made a stop at the Virginia Welcome Center to stretch my legs and take care of other important business.

Virginia Welcome Center - 11/9/2015

Apparently Virginia is for lovers - 11/9/2015

As I was about to leave I noticed water droplets on the car. It looked like a mild drizzle and I wouldn't have to put the top up but the clouds were looking a bit too ominous so I hesitantly put the top up and was lucky that I did because the minute I merged onto the highway, I got hit hard with rain. This added quite a bit of action into this trip because Lupa did become a bit of a handful to keep straight. I would hit patches of standing water causing the diff to engage sending power to the wheel with grip causing the rear to step out a little (didn't help that I'm running very little rear toe for my autocross alignment). It wasn't horrible but you definitely couldn't be asleep at the wheel! Smooth inputs were necessary and quick reflexes were needed when she wanted to show you who was boss.

Damn rain - Virginia - 11/9/2015

The rain just kept getting worse and worse and eventually it was white out conditions but thankfully  it was a weekday with very few cars/trucks on the road so it was easy to maintain a safe distance from potential hazards. I eventually made it to the North Carolina border where I was able to stretch a bit and see how soaked Lupa was.

Arrived in North Carolina soaked - 11/9/2015

Unfortunately the night before I had trouble sleeping so I was pretty tired and after being on the road for 11 hours already (including stops), I had to pull over at the last stop an hour shy of Fayetteville to get something to keep me awake. The darkness, cold and massive concentration needed to drive her in that rain had mentally drained me. Thankfully a quick dose of Monster Energy Drink gave me the final boost I needed.

Re-energizing to complete this leg of the trip
North Carolina - 11/9/2015

For some reason I didn't look up what was around the motel to eat and I had assumed there would be nothing so I ended up eating dinner at this really empty Waffle House on the way there. It was "ok" but nothing to write home about (or take a picture of). Of course I realized as soon as I exited for the motel that I was surrounded by much better food options but I was already full so I ended up just resting.

Corner spot and visible from my room of course
Fayetteville, NC - 11/9/2015

The good news is that despite being generally tired from needing sleep, my body feels fine and my back doesn't hurt which was my primary concern. I did stop every 1.5 hours or so to take a walk and stretch and I think that helped tremendously. Also, as a side note, the Mugen exhuast is by the far the most awesome exhaust ever made for this car. No drone, with just a nice soft rumble at cruising speeds but with a solid grunt when you step on it giving you a solid smirk after being reminded what you have under there. I could enjoy music when I wanted and even talk to my brother over bluetooth speaker phone with no issues. I used up about 2 full tanks of gas during this leg. Tomorrow is another long day but I'll be ending up in Florida and will be enjoying some warmth again. The weather looks decent too so hopefully I get to drive the whole way with the top down.

Onto Day 2...

S2000 East Coast Road Trip

I live and work in arguably the greatest city on earth so what more could I want? What could I possibly be day dreaming about when I'm sitting in the office and looking out the window? Well, as a car guy, I often dream of being on the open road, with the top down, rowing through the gears, hearing the rumble of the engine, the grunt of the exhaust, feeling every part of the road through all my senses. When I realized I had some time off left to burn before the end of the year, it was clear I needed to check another item off the bucket list...a real road trip in a S2000!

The Road Trip - 11/9/2015

Inspired by Top Gear specials, driven by my love for S2000s (and in small part, by insanity), I decided to come up with a week-long trip that would give me the maximum time on the road while letting me explore places I'd never been before. At first I wanted to go west, cross country to California, up the Pacific Coast Highway and back but with it being very late in the year and with limited vacation days left, it wasn't going to be doable so instead I decided south...as far south as I could go...would be the next best thing.

This trip, I put together thanks to some tips from friends, will take me south from NY through NJ, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia and finally Florida where my goal is to get to the southern most point of the United States in Key West. I'll then turn around, drive up north again making a quick stop at the Kennedy Space Center, then once I get to South Carolina start going north west back into Virginia right by the West Virginia border where I plan on driving the legendary Blue Ridge Parkway/Skyline Drive then back northeast home to the Big Apple. In total this trip is a little over 3000 miles and an estimated 47 hours of actual driving time over the course of 6 days giving myself ample time to stop and explore if I discover anything interesting and with only minimal night time driving. Unless I run into heavy rain, I also intend to make the entire drive with the top down regardless of temperature. "Top Down Always"...that's the roadster life!

Now, to be fair I've driven close to 3000 miles myself before towing Bumblestook from NY/NJ to Lincoln, Nebraska for the SCCA Solo National Championships and back but that's driving a super comfortable Touareg with all the amenities you'd expect from a luxury SUV.  In two of the three times I did that, I either had a passenger or a codriver with me that helped me pass the time. The longest I've ever driven a S2000 in a single day is a little over 5 hours when I bought Lupa in DC and drove her home early last year and my back wasn't all too happy with me afterwards. This trip is significantly longer. It'll just be me, my S2000 (well one of them) in full STR trim (yes, that includes driving on Bridgestone RE-71Rs), a duffel bag of clothes and the open road for almost a week. I raised the front driver side ride height a bit to get better clearance for road obstacles and dialed the Motons back a few clicks to avoid unnecessary roughness. I also packed a few tools, my racing jack, spare, tire repair kit, air pump, emergency LEDs, jump starter kit and oil just in case something happens in the middle of nowhere.

I'm looking forward to getting away from the hustle and bustle of city life and having plenty of time to be alone with my thoughts and enjoying every moment driving Shigeru Uehara's masterpiece, one of the finest examples of Japanese/Honda engineering, the Honda S2000. This is one of those trips where the destination doesn't matter so much because the experience alone, which I'm sure will include some moments of regret, choice words and yearning to see my chiropractor, is an adventure that I'll remember for years to come.

Onto Day 1...

Ending the season on a high note

It's been fun developing Lupa for STR since returning from Nationals but for the last event of the season, it was time to bring out Bumblestook for one last time this year. We still had over half a tank of ethanol in the tank and practice tires that needed to get all used up before winter hibernation so this would be an all-fun, no-stress kind of event.

Hez going flat out - NNJR SCCA Autocross - 10/17/2015
Photo Credit: Perry Aidelbaum/Autox4u.com

The course was fun and fast but with the temps hovering around the high-40s and windy, getting and retaining any heat in the tires would prove to be a challenge. The conditions definitely favored narrower street tires but we wouldn't let that stop us from having maximum fun.

Me enjoying Bumblestook - NNJR SCCA - 10/17/2015
Photo Credit: Perry Aidelbaum/Autox4u.com

We broke away from the usual 3 heat format to go to a 4-heat A/B/A/B format which we haven't run in this club since the Englishtown days. This was nice because it allowed everyone to get some afternoon runs. We did 3 runs in the morning heats and 5 runs in the afternoon. In the morning, with only 3 runs we barely got the tires to feel even remotely warm but it was good to settle back into Bumblestook's pace. It felt great to be back in the seat of, what for me, sets the bar on how S2000s should drive like.

Andrew and Tamra's Factory Five 818 ("The Bug") unfortunately broke down at the beginning of the afternoon heats. Since we found we had enough fuel left to burn and it was the end of the season, I figured we could share the fun and have them hop in Bumblestook to continue the tradition of the year-end "Beehive". They did well in the car with Tamra, the 2015 CSPL National Champion, kicking my butt in only her 2nd run.

The Beehive - NNJR SCCA - 10/17/2015

I think this fired Hez up to turn his speed up to 110% and set Fastest Time of Day (FTD) in only his 2nd run in the afternoon and backing it up by going even faster with each subsequent run. I can't wait to see how Hez will do next year after being able to drive Bumblestook for a full season.

Hez takes FTD - NNJR SCCA - 10/17/2015

Hez takes FTD - NNJR SCCA
10/17/2015

We ended the event with just one bar left of fuel left on the gauge (and oddly didn't fuel starve). The tires had well over 150 runs on them and had been stored sub-zero with no protection over last winter which makes Hez's effort to put her into the top spot even more amazing. STR action is definitely fun and we'll see more of Lupa next year but Bumblestook today put an exclamation mark on why her status as the primary "A Team" race car in the stable isn't going to change anytime soon. No worries there, I know where the priority should be.

I can't even begin to describe how much fun it is to drive Bumblestook. The statement "maximum smiles per second" is probably the best way to put it. She puts up a good fight. Sometimes she's on top, sometimes she isn't but one thing's for sure, you don't get out of the driver seat without a big smile on your face and that's what makes it all worth it. I couldn't think of a more perfect way to close out the 2015 racing season. 

The Beehive 2015 - NNJR SCCA - 10/17/2015
Meadowlands, NJ

Double Header...winner winner chicken dinner

We had enough testing on different surfaces that it was time to go back to home turf to go up against more regular competition to see how she would stack up. I wanted to continue dialing out the slow speed push coming out of turnarounds so we dialed the front bar down from 6/6 to 5/6 (rear bar at 5/7). I also raised front rebound up a click to keep the weight on the front tires after hard braking coming into a sweeper. We ended settling on 29/27psi tire pressures and this greatly helped with transition stability.

NNJR SCCA - 10/10/2015

Hez and I codrove as usual and Jon came up from PA as a third driver to give her a test run since he would be running Lupa the next day with the Philly SCCA. After some tweaks to tire pressures, we were getting happy with the handling. Jon was able to get Lupa to 3rd fastest STR time, only 0.3 seconds off the top STR time.

NNJR SCCA - Meadowlands, NJ - 10/10/2015

I wasn't going to be able to make the Sunday event at Warminster so Hez and I swapped cars and he drove Lupa down for the race with the Philly SCCA. This time Hez, Rad and Jon would be codriving.

Jon driving Lupa
Philly SCCA - Warminster, PA - 10/11/2015

Warminster is known for being very transition heavy so they opted to run a 1psi pressure differential front to rear (29/28psi) to get the rear to swing around faster. Jon ended up taking the win in STR and ended up 5th in PAX overall out of 140 drivers, collecting enough points to secure the Philly SCCA 2015 Driver of the Year award (congrats Jon).

Philly SCCA - Warminster, PA - 10/11/2015

I do have to double check the rev limiter settings. She's hitting redline like a stock S2000 which isn't right since the redline should be set to 8500. That makes it even more fascinating that she's doing so well since we're leaving plenty of speed on the table if we're not able to rev her up all the way.

Lupa's first win

This past week we were threatened to get hit dead on by hurricane Joaquin but somehow the storm system moved far off shore and so I seized upon the opportunity to take Lupa out to the Meadowlands to do more testing instead of just sitting home to watch Netflix and chill.

MotorsportsNE Autocross - 10-4-2015

The major problem we had today was the cold. Temperatures in the morning hovered in the 50s and the strong winds at the Meadowlands coupled with overcast would make it difficult to keep heat in the tires. Luckily, there was very low turnout today and with Hez and I codriving, we were able to get almost back to back runs, keeping the temps right in the sweet spot. The course was nice and long and had both fast and tight elements. It lacked a bit of flow in the 2nd half of the course making it not the best course possible but it was good practice and more importantly ideal conditions for testing car setup.

The first thing I noticed on my initial baseline runs was that transition speed had improved a lot with the increased bar settings front and rear but she was still a bit too stable and on the pushy side. I reverted the rebound changes I made to the front shocks at Nassau Coliseum and put them up 2 clicks again. This helped keep the weight up front after braking to get better turn in. We then fiddled with the tire pressures, running a bit higher pressures in the rear. Our times kept improving and Hez laid down a nice class-winning run on this setup (Go Bumble Jockey!).

Although Lupa was working, I didn't like the higher rear pressure setup since I prefer equal or lower pressures in the rear so I wanted to do a bar change but the quick driver changeovers made this very difficult. I also felt that a bar change was warranted as she was still not rotating in the tight corners under power the way I wanted. We got a short break in the action due to a minor incident and we were able to quickly adjust the rear bar up to 4/7 and then brought the tire pressures equal all around. Unfortunately, the downtime had cooled the tires and the pressures had dropped to 28psi in the front. We didn't have time to add more air so we set the pressures to 28psi all around. This new setup worked great, she was rotating better around the tight stuff but introduced a bit of instability in the high speed transitions. To get the rear to settle, I lowered the rear pressures to have a 1psi split front to rear and achieved what I felt was a good balance. Personally I feel a good test for car balance is when even small pressure changes in the tire pressures can change the balance of the car very easily.

It's hard to gauge Lupa's true pace when we're not at an SCCA event with other fully prepped STR car so it's very easy to dismiss a win as an artifact of just having low turnout but thankfully Evan was there in his BS National event winning Corvette to use a reference point and Hez was only off by 0.2 in PAX against his fast time which isn't bad at all considering we actually ran in the earlier heat when the course was still not very clean and the sun hadn't come out yet so that's very encouraging.

Lupa taking her first win
MSNE Autocross - 10/4/2015

In short, she's feeling pretty awesome. She transitions really well and does so in a very stable, confidence inspiring way. You can get very aggressive with the the throttle early, and power out of sweepers. In the tight stuff, she can tuck in nicely with just enough rotation to let you dance around under power. The direction so far is great and I'm very pleased that we're slowly approaching the similar balance characteristics to Bumblestook (minus the added power and insane grip of Hoosiers). For the next event, we'll be running higher pressures but with the same 1psi different front to rear since both Hez and I felt a bit less responsiveness in the tire at these lower pressures.

On a personal driver note, I pretty much hit a cone every run. This is oddly very encouraging as over the years I've found myself driving less and less and as a result I've been getting further from the cones. Hitting cones means I'm actually trying hard enough to get close and I can go faster. I'll have to clean up my driving though if I want to actually do well in real competition. Right now I'm just too focused making sure the car feels and behaves exactly the way I want.

Some things to think about over the winter:

• My front shocks are already at full soft compression. Even though they're working well with this setting, maybe I should revalve them and remove some of the gas pressure so the dial is more in the middle
• I need to raise the car about 0.25". The springs have settled to a very low ride height that I don't like. She needs more height to let the suspension work.
• We need to shift the front subframe so we can get a proper alignment and squeeze out another 0.1-0.2 degrees of front camber.
• Ugh, I wish we had the faster AP1 steering rack (can't do anything about this)
• After checking out Skaria's 18" Advans at the last event at Nassau Coliseum, I think I may go with an 18x9 and run a 255/35/18 to get an even more crisp steering repsonse. 

The season's almost over but I'm glad I was able to get even this limited amount of testing done to Lupa before the winter. She's very close to what I envisioned in my head and she'll only get faster from here.

Tekonsha P3 brake controller on the Touareg

This post isn't really about Bumblestook but rather her support vehicle, The Egg (Touareg). When I first got the Touareg for towing, I opted to go with the Tekonsha Prodigy RF. It's a wireless brake controller where the brake controller electronics sit in a weather proof box on the trailer itself and you have a wireless controller to set the power. I chose it because it's super convenient and you don't have to mess with the VW electrics but it has a few limitations:

1. Since the brake controller is on the trailer, I can't actually tow a different trailer if I ever had to since the Touareg effectively doesn't have one installed on it
2. If you use the hazards, it actually disconnects power to the brake controller as it flashes 
3. It takes up space on the trailer tongue that could instead be used to bring another spare tire! (This is the main reason motivating me to make the switch.)

To address this, I decided to switch to the Tekonsha Prodigy P3 which hardwires into the brake controller wiring already present in the Touareg if you have the factory tow package installed. Why didn't I do this the first time? Well for starters, the Touareg was new and I didn't want to drill anything. I also was weary of the difficulty as many DIY threads on this on clubtouareg.com indicated that the plug would be all the way up in the console and difficult to get to. However, now that the Touareg is a bit older and I have fewer reservations about popping open panels, I figured I'd give it a try.

Important VW wiring to make a wiring harness

To make things easier, rather than splicing the P3 into the factory wiring, it's recommended to instead use some readily available wiring parts from VW to fabricate your own wiring harness. I ordered these from ECS Tuning. You need one 4-pin connector housing (manufacturer part number: 1J0972782, ECS part number: ES311294) and two wires with flat connectors and retaining lugs (manufacturer part number 000979228E, ECS Part number: ES1009146). You cut these two wires in half and you end up with 4 identical length "half-wires" with flat connectors on one end. These four wires go into the four slots in the 4-pin connector housing. I then soldered the other end of these wires to the wiring harness included with the P3 using the following pin diagram and sealed everything with heat shrink tubing.

PIN1 - White - Ground
PIN2 - Black - 12V
PIN3 - Red - Brake lamp signal
PIN4 - Blue - Trailer brake output

This pin mapping is found in Tekonsha's bulletin on on wiring up their controller for a VW Touaregs and Porsche Cayennes which is available as a PDF online. In that manual it says Pin3 should be connected to a relay but it's been determined by the guys on clubtouareg that for T3 Touaregs (post 2012?), you do not need the relay. 

Touareg to P3 wiring harness done - 10/3/2015

The next part I thought would be the hardest...trying to locate and fish out the OEM brake controller connector under the dash. I was expecting the worst and for it to be all the way up in the A-pillar but instead I got a nice surprise, it was dangling right behind the panel where the ODB2 connector sits. As soon as I pulled the panel (held by two Torx20 screws), I looked up and there was the connector hidden in the foam wrap that I then cut to expose to OEM plug.

The foam behind the purple ODB2 connector hides the plug

Cutting open the foam reveals the 4-pin female connector

The next part was super simple. I just plugged in the male connector from the Touareg to P3 wiring harness I made and mount the bracket for the brake controller under the dash just past my left knee angled up so I can the display and operate it easily.  I put the panel back and routed the wiring as much as I could behind the dash and then plugged the wiring harness into the back of the P3. I'll probably clean this up with a wire loom later but for now it works quite well.

Tekonsha P3 installed - 10/3/2015

 

P3 operational - 10/3/2015

Trailer hooked up and operational - 10/3/2015

Big thanks to Steve at SJF Performance for letting me use his shop to work from and letting me borrow some tools to make the install a bit easier.

Testing at NYR SCCA Autocross

After yesterday's alignment it was time to get some testing done. With no other events within a reasonable distance, I decided to make the NYR SCCA event at Nassau Coliseum. While I don't have anything against the NYR courses, the Coliseum doesn't provide a good surface to actually do any kind of tuning that would work anywhere else except maybe FedEx field in DC but if anything I'd get some data points running on a low grip bumpy surface.

NYR SCCA Autocross - 9-20-2015

Right out of the bat, the bumpiness of the lot was giving me problems with Lupa skipping all over the place making it hard to time the turn in and brake points. I remembered that I had done some funky shock settings last event to compensate for the weird alignment so I dialed the front compression down 1 and front rebound down 3. This greatly improved the front end response but she was still neutral with a slight leaning towards being pushy at the limit.

NYR SCCA Autox - 9-20-2015
Photo by: Rev Match Racing

For the afternoon runs, I opted to raise the rear bar up another notch to 4/7 and this worked magic. Finally she was giving me that telltale jiggly butt behavior you expect from a S2000. It was a bit too much though since it was a tiny bit too loose under power. To fix this I dropped the rear pressures down a 1psi and finally we hit the perfect balance of twitchiness and stability. With the times fairly stable, I started dropping pressures equally on all corners and dropped a good 0.8 seconds simply by dropping the pressures around 1psi. I ran out of runs to do more pressure testing but I'll be doing that in NJ instead where I can keep more variables constant. For my own notes, I ended up running at 30/29psi. I don't think I had a single clean run but it's all good. The important thing is that Lupa is feeling better and better to drive. The transitions, especially slaloms, are much better than last event and I can actually use the power to get that rear rotated now. Looking forward to the next NNJR event to give her a go on some higher speed, higher grip corners.

Not sure if autocross or rallycross lol
NNJR SCCA Autocross - 9/20/2015