Trailer and Aero

After getting back from the DC ProSolo, I spent the next weekend picking up my birthday present to myself...my trailer!

15' EconoTrailer Steel Open Trailer - 6/15/2013

The next day, I wanted to try trailering for the first time with the new trailer so I went to the Meadowlands for yet another event. It was another top 10 PAX finish for Bumblestook so I knew she was working but I guess I need to get over the mental hurdle that is DC.

The egg and bumblestook together for the first time - 6/16/2013

NNJR SCCA Autox - Meadowlands, NJ

6/16/2016

Happy with her current performance, I wanted to continue max prep for the class so I picked up a spare trunk lid and had it painted Berlina Black to continue the Bumblestook black and yellow theme. This was all in preparation for aero to be added by JoeFis Racing.

Spare trunklid painted BB - 6/28/2013

New trunk lid installed - 6/29/2013

I dropped her off at JoeFis in PA and a few weeks later the aero was done.

Aero by JoeFis Racing - 7/14/2013

Oh so fine! - 7/14/2013

On my way home, I stopped by SJF performance for Alignment #5. No major changes, just validating that the alignment hadn't shifted since the DC Pro.

Alignment #5 - SJF Performance - 7/14/2013

DC ProSolo 2013

Bumblestook was finished just in time. I had two week left before the DC ProSolo so I did a double header to test all the changes and make any last minute adjustments to her. On a nice sunny Saturday it was off to the Meadowlands with the NNJR SCCA. What an incredible change from earlier in the season! She was doing everything I asked of her and for the first time she placed well ending up 5th in PAX overall. The only really stupid thing I did was forget to properly tighten down the rear sway bar so by the day it had worked itself loose.

NNJR SCCA Autox - Meadownlands, NJ - 6/1/2013

Getting somewhere - 6/1/2013

NNJR SCCA Autox - Meadowlands, NJ

6/1/2013

I drove straight from NJ to DC to attend the TnT at Fedex Field with the WDCR SCCA the next day. It was another great day with near perfect conditions and the she felt pretty good there too. That's really relative since I never do well at DC. I just can't get used to the weird off camber turns but from a testing perspective all systems seemed to be a go. I did have an ominous problem on the way home where the power to my Haltech expansion module worked its way loose and the ECU wasn't reading the wideband O2 so I thought I was running rich and pulled over. Once I reconnected that, the car ran well enough to go home. Another clear sign that I need to stop driving a BSP car on the road.

WDCR SCCA TnT - FedEx Field - 6/2/2013

Finally it was time for the DC ProSolo and although my trailer was complete, I didn't have time to go to PA to pick it up so I ended up renting a trailer at Barn rentals in Queens, NY since I didn't want to risk any issues getting the her home if I broke anything. Trailering for the first time on a trailer that was much wider than the trailer I ordered, having to load in torrential downpour and having the tie downs in the wrong place meant that it took hours to finally hook her up. I convoyed down with Mark and Lisa and we got stuck in crawling traffic and we ultimately missed the practice starts that Friday.

Bumper to bumper traffic in the rain in NY - 6/7/2013

Finally on site - FedEx Field - 6/7/2013

DC ProSolo - FedEx Field, MD - 6/8/2013

In the tradition of usual suckage at DC, I continued the suckage in 2013 and didn't really do well at all so I left as soon as my runs were done which I was glad I did because it was another mission and a half just to get the car off the trailer by myself when I got home. Also glad I trailered despite all the craziness because I found a screw in one of Bumblestook's street tires so I wouldn't have been able to drive home anyway.

Suckage at DC ProSolo - FedEx Field, MD

6/8-9/2013

Spotted on the way home - 6/9/2013

The egg and whipping her back in shape before the DC ProSolo

After the Devens National Tour, we were going to have a month of downtime. It was a good opportunity to do some post race analysis, fix anything that was broken and make some changes to make Bumblestook faster and more reliable. The first "mod" wasn't a mod at all but a much needed addition to the fleet. A support vehicle capable of towing Bumblestook to and from races so I picked up a Touareg TDI.

The support/tow vehicle - 5/4/2013

Now back to getting Bumblestook ready for the next race. First up was weight reduction in the form of a Shorai 4lb battery.

Shorai 4lb Battery - 5/6/2013

Since I didn't want to wait for the OSGiken replacement diff, I sent my other spare diff assembly to Karcepts where an ATS Spec III diff was installed.

ATS Spec III clutch type diff - 5/9/2013

ATS Spec III clutch type diff - 5/9/2013

It was shipped to Evans Tuning and the diff was installed shortly after.

ATS Spec III clutch type diff installed - 5/11/2013

Then it was back to SJF Performance for Alignment #3 of the season to adjust the alignment for the Hoosiers based on what I felt during the last two races. In the process we found that my caster bushing was torn again.

Alignment #3 - SJF Performance - 5/18/2013

I then went back to see JDV where we installed my new Saikou Michi dual catch can, Shorai battery and fixed the broken drain plug for the radiator that was leaking coolant.

Battery and catch can installed - 5/18/2013

Broken radiator drain plug - 5/18/2013

New radiator drain plug - 5/18/2013

After a month hiatus, I could finally take her back out to do some preliminary testing to see if everything was working right. She felt pretty good with the new diff. Really helped stabilize it...maybe a bit too much. It was a bit pushy now but when the rear wants to break loose, it's very predictable and super easy to catch. Definitely engages sooner than the OSGiken I had before. Really liking it so far. No drama unlike the stock diff.

NNJR SCCA Autox - Meadowlands, NJ - 5/26/2013

NNJR SCCA Autox - Meadowlands, NJ

5/26/2013

Since the caster bushing was torn and we were also having alignment issues, I figured it was time to just replace all the 11 year old bushings. Instead of replacing individual bushings, I just bought a whole set of new OEM controls arms for the her all around. JDV replaced all the control arms and put in new bolts while we were at it. We also reinstalled the Swift/Hyperco 1000lb springs all around (removing the 800/700lb Eibach springs that were on there) and lowered the car a smidge. Also, after constantly fighting with the Skunk2 TB, I gave up and switched to the Science of Speed big bore TB which is just a bored out stock TB. I probably lost a bit of power with this change since the SoS TB isn't true 70mm all the way through but it wasn't sticking and had very smooth operation.

New Control Arms - 5/27/2013

New Control Arms - 5/27/2013

1000lb springs all around - 5/27/2013

Science of Speed big bore TB - 5/27/2013

Then it was straight back to SJF Performance for alignment #4 of the season. The latest settings:

1000 lb springs all around

Gendron giant front sway bar at full stiff

Gendron rear sway bar on 3rd hole

Front: -3.6, 0 toe, 5.9 caster

Rear: -2.4, 1/8" (0.12") total toe in

Alignment #4 - SJF Performance - 5/27/2013

NJ ProSolo and Dover National Tour 2013

After all the insanity of early season testing, I was out of time and it was time for the first big event of the season, the NJ ProSolo. With the fear of more breakage, I could run the risk of towing a tire trailer so luckily Dan brough my race wheels and spares for me to the site.

Wheels and spares ready to go - 4/18/2013

The next day it was off to the Meadowlands for practice starts. I was fully expective to break another diff but luckily it held.

Practice starts - NJ ProSolo - Meadowlands, NJ - 4/19/2013

And then it was finally race time. I couldn't keep my runs clean so I had to dial it back a bit to get a clean run. I don't even remember where I finished at this event but frankly I was just glad she held together and felt good. Bonus for finally not getting raw timed by STR.

BSP/DSP S2 Grid - NJ ProSolo - Meadowlands, NJ - 4/20/2013

NJ ProSolo - Meadowlands, NJ 

4/20-21/2013

The following weekend, we were at it again, this time for the Dover National Tour in Delaware. I was comfortable enough to take on a codriver for this event since there were no hard launches to worry about so I asked Aaron to come codrive with me. Bumblestook was sporting extra decals this race to raise awareness for Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a conditional affecting Aaron's daughter. She generally felt good but on day two we were feeling some bogging with the engine. The first symptoms of what I'd later find out were problematic injector pigtails. Still, she held together well enough for me to get in 3rd and nab my first big event trophy.

Practice runs - Dover International Speedway - 4/26/2013

Raising awareness - Dover International Speedway - 4/27//2013

In Grid - Dover International Speedway - 4/27/2013

3rd Place - Dover National Tour - 4/27/2013

Dover National Tour - 3rd Place - Dover International Speedway

4/26-27/2013

More power and learning about failure, patience and perseverance

I was hoping not to have to do this but every in street prepared was moving towards Ethanol for more power so the gauntlet was thrown and I had to respond. Haltech makes a flex fuel sensor (really a rebranded GM part I believe) that works with their ECU so we put that in along with Injector Dynamics 1000cc injectors and Walbro 255lph fuel pump. I also needed a CAN bus and expansion module to support more sensors. She made about +10hp/tq through the entire power band on C85.

Haltech Flex fuel sensor - 4/3/2013

ID1000 injectors - 4/3/2013

Haltech flex fuel sensor, CAN bus hub and expansion module - 4/3/2013

Back on the dyno - 4/3/2013

A couple of days later it was off to Hershey, PA to do some more testing with the Susquehanna SCCA for a 2-day event.

Susquehanna SCCA Autox - Hershey, PA - 4/6/2013

Susquehanna SCCA Autox - Hershey, PA - 4/6/2013

Things didn't go too well right from the start. As I was putting on the race wheels, I noticed something shiny on one of the tires and sure enough, there was a puncture. We were able to plug the tire and I ran the entire event without incident.

Puncture...surely a sign to finally ditch these tires - 4/6/2013

Tire plug FTW - 4/6/2013

Susquehanna SCCA Autox - Hershey, PA

4/7/2013

At this point I had already made up my mind that I couldn't continue on the BFGs and all the early testing was wasted. Hoosiers A6es were ordered...285s for the front and 295s for the rear. Karcepts hooked me up with getting the tires double time and Rich Wayne helped get my tires mounted at Camber Toe since I was running out of time and I'd only have one day to reset the car to work on Hoosiers before the NJ ProSolo.

Switching to Hoosiers - 4/11/2013

NNJR SCCA TnT - Meadowlands, NJ

4/13/2013

I got 3 runs in the car and the car felt great and the car was immediately fast...a good 2-3 seconds faster with just minor changes to the suspension settings and then the big failure happened. On my 4th run, the OSGiken diff blew during a practice launch. It was a first gen OSGiken diff which was known to have this issue and OSGiken promptly warranty replaced it but with only a week left before the ProSolo, things just couldn't have looked worse.

Sad day. Bumblestook getting towed to the shop due to diff failure - 4/13/2013

This is exactly why Street Prepared cars are all trailered to events and despite my stubborn intent to just tow a tire trailer, it was made clear by this failure that if I wanted to compete seriously, I'd have to get a trailer too and the order was placed with EconoTrailer in PA for a 15' open trailer shortly after even though I hadn't even yet identified where I'd stow it or what I'd tow it with! Thanks to JDV, we had the car back up and running with my spare OEM diff the day after and I was going to have to run the ProSolo like that.

OEM diff temporarily in - 4/14/2013

This journey with Bumblestook was teaching me a lot about failure, patience and the perseverance required to push through. Nothing was going to dampen my spirits. Despite this failure, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel if only we could work through the issues.

Early season testing, hiccups and the BFG failboat

It was time to put Bumblestook through her paces. The first big event was only a month or so away so I had to get the car dialed in ASAP. The earliest event I could go to was at Warminster with the Philly SCCA and so off I went.

On the road to Warminster - 3/17/2013

Bumblestook in full race trim for the first time - Warminster, PA - 3/17/2013

The temps were really cold that day. There was a bit of snow overnight and Warminster had a thin layer of ice on course that luckily melted before our first runs. I immediately ran into issues. I couldn't get any kind of temperature into the tires. I was skating everywhere, the front wouldn't grip and the car just wouldn't turn. The throttle body was sticking wide open at times and I was running several seconds behind STR on street tirees!

Philly SCCA TnT - Warminster, PA 

3/17/2013

The following week I messed with the throttle cable a bit and that somewhat helped the sticking throttle issue but it was 40 degrees at the meadowlands and the same story...she drove like crap. Cornering was impossible. I suspected it was my driving but I handed her over to Jeff Hurst and he noted it felt like crap too. In order to even get the car through the course, I had to just putts around and go on a slow cruise. Just to make sure it wasn't car setup, I slapped on the street tires and did two runs and the car was already over a second faster and much easier to drive. I was starting to think the BFGs were a bad choice and certainly at these temperatures! I was also struggling a lot getting used to the new way the car drove and I was constantly hitting cones. I got one clean run that day.

NNJR SCCA Autox - Meadowlands, NJ

3/23/2013

To try and fix the issue, I went to SJF Performance to adjust my ride height, soften my front sway bar and redo my alignment. Anything to make the front of the car work better!

Second alignment of the season - SJF Performance - 3/24/2013

To further fix the lack of rotation, I picked up Noel's Gendron rear bar and installed it on site on his trailer (previously had no rear bar). Only issue was that it was hitting the exhaust but for now it would have to do and I also borrowed his tire blankets to try to get heat in the BFGs.

Gendron Rear Sway Bar -  3/30/2013

Trying to keey the tires warm - NNJR SCCA Autox - 3/30/2013

It took a lot of fussing around with the shock settings and tire pressures but at least she was starting to turn. The grip was much better with the slightly higher ambient temps and I could finally focus a bit more on my driving than manhandling her through the corners.

NNJR SCCA Autox - Meadowlands, NJ

3/30/2013

The next day I wanted to do some more testing but ambient temps dropped below 50 (mid-40s) and windy and once again the BFGs were faltering. Data logger showed a 0.3G drop in peak lateral Gs and I could feel it. Not even 10 back to back runs did the tires get up to any decent grip. I was almost certain at this point the BFGs don't start working until above 50 degrees and sunshine.

MSNE Autox- Meadowlands, NJ

3/31/2013

Much less body roll thanks to the rear bar
MSNE Autox - Meadowlands, NJ - 3/31/2013