ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

We were green for a little but, until fog came out with visibility looking back to T14 and up to T1 almost non-existent

Race officials made the call for a race stoppage until the weather cleared up. Mickey came in and said he could barely see the cars around him out on track - safe, good call



and now we wait under yellow...



Rain or shine, we always have fun!


We waited a good 45 minutes before we went green again

ZumSpeedRX-7

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The fog eventually cleared, the rain soon stopped, and blue skies came out

Mickey stayed out in the car having primarily being under yellow through the morning, still being relatively fresh. His speed was picking up lap after lap, with lap times being more in line with his Saturday's pace as the track was drying out

He fought his way back up to the front of the pack, and made up some solid ground

All was looking good for us to get back into a rhythm until we heard squealing coming out of T13 / T14...

We all looked to see what was happening and to see who it was, hoping it wasn't our guy

Unfortunately it was the S2000. Mickey did a phenomenal job scrubbing speed, essentially spinning the S2000 like a top down T14 by engaging both the brake and clutch, and just barely kissing the wall. Remember fellow track junkies, there is definitely a right way to spin a car - in a spin, both feet in! Definitely not an ideal situation, but so glad Mickey ended up unhurt

Race control was slow to react, as Mickey was left out there under yellow as the race field continually put us down a lap, lap after lap. After four laps, a wrecker was finally sent out to tow the S2000 out of the wet grass...

...down another lap...

...and dropped him on the track


Mickey pitted in and we quickly assessed the damage. Paddy did some trackside sawzall surgery, we did a driver change to send Pete out for the second stint, added some fuel, filled the coolsuit box with ice, changed out the water bottle, and I checked the tire pressures and cleaned the dirt and grass out of the wheels

We sent Pete out down about seven laps on the race leader - unfortunately our race was lost


Pete had gone out and ran consistently quick before we called him in for what should have been a run of the mill driver's change

Our pit stop was looking good until Pete went to tighten Paddy's lap belt and the lap belt came out of the camlock bracket completely - seriously scary stuff!

We had changed the tightening configuration the previous morning from pulling down to pulling up to tighten, and had one bracket upside down. Anyone who has set up harnesses knows this was going to take some time, so we brought the car behind the wall to get it squared away



We redid both lap belts just to ensure the brackets were correctly configured, and sent Paddy out. I checked coverage with the crew then headed up to T1 and T2 to grab some action shots before the race ended

Paddy fording the river approaching the T1 uphill

ZumSpeedRX-7

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With the race just about finished, we started packing up

and put down our best pit stop of the weekend with our third, and last mandatory stop


Pete set out to finish the race, radioing in periodically to stay out of class leader dog fights at the front of the field



One more to go

and our race weekend is wrapped up with a first place finish Saturday and eighth place finish Sunday



This is how race cars should look after a long weekend - in one piece, good and dirty!


Mary prepared a dinner for us all as we rehashed the weekend, laughing over beers, a good meal, and great company


It wasn't an ideal race Sunday, but it was definitely a good learning experience. And fun as always

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

I had asked Jared to grab some shots of our last pit stop - I was pretty excited when I saw he did a full series of the stop


For posterity, here's the anatomy of our pit stops

Step 1: shake the nerves getting ready to jump over the wall



Step 2: I run to the passenger side of the car with a fire extinguisher as Jason works with Tom to get the trunk open to get to the CoolSuit ice box



Step 3: Pete's over the wall to help to get Paddy out of the car, as I open the door for Jason with a five-gallon fuel jug and drip pan, while Tom's loosening the straps on the ice box



Step 4: Jason puts the drip pan under the fuel cell overflow and opens the fuel valve, as Pete drops the window net connected to the roll bar, while Tom's getting the lid off the ice box



Step 5: Paddy's out of his harnesses and working his way over the roll bar with Pete moving the harnesses out of the way, as Jason engages the dry brake with the fuel cell with me standing by with the extinguisher, while Tom's pouring ice into the ice box

Step 6: Paddy's out of the car as Jason and I are still fueling up, with Tom getting the ice box lid on, with Pete getting ready to hop in



Step 7: Pete gets over the sidebar with Paddy stepping in to assist, as Jason continues to pour fuel in, with Tom beginning to strap the box back down


Step 8: Paddy assists Pete with his harnesses as Jason and I finish up fueling with Mickey keeping track of our pit duration, as Tom works the ice box


Step 9: Fuel jug and drip pan are on the wall with Paddy getting Pete set up in the car with his CoolSuit, communications, and drink bottle, as Tom finishes up on the ice box, and Jason begins to get the hood up as I start washing the windshield



Step 10: Hoods up as I'm continuing to wipe that window with Paddy still tucking Pete in as Jason runs to the back to give Tom a hand with the ice box (I tackled the ice box in an earlier pit stop, oddly enough it was the trickiest piece of the whole pit stop with how we had it set up - we'll have to remember to iron the set up out for next time)



Step 11: Tom and Jason square away the ice box and close the trunk


Step 12: Tom runs to the engine bay and checks the oil level, with Jason running to the front with oil, as I grab the tire pressure gauge, while Paddy works Pete's lap belts

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

Step 13: Tom and Jason add some oil as I check the tire pressure, with Paddy working Pete's harnesses



Step 14: Tom gets the dip stick back in with ice bag in hand as Jason drops off the oil and funnel, as Paddy starts to tuck in Pete's harnesses and get the window net ready, as I keep chipping away at chipping at bleeding tire pressures down


Step 15: Tom does a once over of the engine bay before Jason drops the hood, as I finish with tire pressure, and Paddy installs the window net and shuts the door



Step 16: Jason drops the hood and latches it up, then we're all out of the way and send Pete out then we're all over the wall as Mickey keeps communications open while he's out on track



Thanks for the great shots Jared. It all happens so fast and its hard to look back on how it went - great stuff!


So that about wraps up our AER double header race weekend. We had some bad luck Sunday but I believe it was overshadowed by an amazing Saturday

I am not sure of our next race yet, but whenever it is, I'm ready and can't wait!



As for Rotary Amuse, I'm behind a little bit on editing with having run New Hampshire Motor Speedway a few weeks ago and Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park this past Friday

I'll be editing the photos and video footage from both track days shortly and will have updates out sometime this week


In other motorsports news, is anyone heading to Lime Rock Park this coming weekend for both Tudor USCC and Continental Challenge races? I bought a weekend pass so hopefully I'll see some of you there


Cheers!

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

I had signed up for another track day June 27th out at New Hampshire Motor Speedway almost immediately after my track day out at Whiskey Hill - the track bug bites hard!

I had taken Friday off to do some last minute prep work before heading up to the track: the much needed car wash, worked through the packing list, number plates, timing card, and class designation on before the car gets covered in dirt, then a good once over before heading out

Note to self: do not head up to beach country New England at rush hour on a beautiful weekend. I thought I had left early enough, but what should have been a quick two hour drive up turned into a four hour trip in stop and go traffic without a radio, A/C, and the occasional request to "rev it up" and "spin the tires", and one person wondering how fast I've gone. Lessoned learned

I had found that I was one of a few who had decided to stay over the night before, so I had unloaded the RX-7, adjusted the tire pressure and dampening, washed the windows, then headed out to see who was on hand. I met up with some COM track day regulars who are always willing to share the latest and greatest in race car tech, met up with my instructor, then headed back to my paddock to have some dinner and relaxation



The track is oddly serene and comforting by yourself



Having fully exhausted my to do list, I did what I naturally do and took some pictures

I'm a pretty big fan of my new T90 class designation magnets; making them every event out of painter's tape had gotten old quickly



I had eventually made my bed on my work bench and tried to get some sleep

Another note to self: work benches do not make good beds even with your wife's yoga mat



I woke up from barely sleeping as the paddock started filling up. I was excited to have seen a familiar face in Blaine with his 7s Only, 12A powered RX-7


This had been my first track day running the NASCAR south oval variably banked at 12% degrees in turns T1 and T2. I had done my homework weeks prior to my arrival to try to figure out the best approach in taking it, but quickly found in my first session that a well written PDF track guide translates minimally to what the speed actually feels like running through it

I had found myself coming out of T12 from the North chicane at a good clip, approaching T1 well into triple digits approaching a solid wall and not fully knowing my tires maximum adhesion levels and the speed I could carry through. Best approach: start your lifting point early, get your braking done early, then see how you come through T1 and T2. Too slow: push everything up a bit. There is also a best approach in fine tuning how to take the oval in what lanes you utilize in various positions through the turn. I found working my way in this approach worked best: four-three-two-two-two-two-two towards T2 apex-two to track out on straight (this pattern might make more sense with the Youtube video below)

We had picked up a great amount of speed as I started to understand and fine tune the line. NHMS' 1.6 mile road course may be short, but it is pretty technical and can be a lot of fun once it starts to come together - especially of the speed you get with the oval

This new found speed almost caught me out and into the back of a slower moving Camaro (or Challenger? glad I didn't find out the difference figuring out what I'd owe in damages) approaching T3 as I overlooked what should have been the instinctive calculation of "ok, I'm carrying this much speed tracking out of T2, my normal downshifting and braking point starts just before the first cone, ending before the third to last cone before turn in to T3 over the rumble strips by the tire wall, BUT there's traffic so I should push my braking start and ending points to X (variable undetermined to what could have been an epic and terribly display of fiberglass and carbon fiber carnage)"

I believe I all but stood on my brakes and came almost to a complete stop inches before almost making contact with his bumper just as he started accelerating into T3. Crisis averted and lessoned learned - adjust lines, shifting, and brake points based on speed and traffic (however stay on correct line in traffic regardless of what the car is doing in front of you)

I met up with him in the paddocks after our session to tell him how excited I was with how that scenario could have gone and how it ended well. His response was "oh yea, that Corvette almost got into the back of me!" My response: ? ? ? "Oh, right... I'll see you out there... ?" Turns out he didn't even notice, which makes sense as most of us are looking in our rearview mirrors slowing down from triple digits approaching quick right handers


I had run a quicker third session, but found the added speed wearing heavily on my brakes. I had begun to feel some minor brake fade towards the middle of the session, and found my pedal travel getting to an uncomfortable level at one approach coming into T6 before the carousel

I had notified my instructor, having not wanted to test my brakes approaching T1 triple digits, and pitted in to see how everything looks


Blaine was in between his own sessions and gave me a hand looking through my brake set up. I had brought a bottle of RBF600, but failed to notice it had been previously opened before packing it up. Lucky for me, Blaine had a spare bottle on hand

We had begun bleeding the brakes before his third session, then ended the job just before my forth and final twenty-minute session

I had thought I had bled my brakes recently, but the gunky fluid that came out said otherwise



I tested my brakes approaching pit out then again in the blend line, and all felt normal before we got the car up to speed. I pulled my braking points back until I regained confidence in the feel and found that all was good

Our forth session went off without a hitch, but I found my speed had decreased as I lost my momentum from the earlier sessions with the brake bleed set back. My goal was to nail my marks and get the line down at a slightly slower pace, which wasn't a bad way to end a good track day


Huge thank you to Blaine for your mid-session track help and Nate for your great instruction




Cheers!

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

Oh right - and the all important "home in one piece" picture



well, less a few grams of carbon fiber from the uphill out of the infield approaching T4

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

Continuing with the "track bug bites hard" theme, I signed up for a Friday track day out at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park's 1.7 road course this past Friday July 17th with COMSCC

Unwarranted paranoia struck after NHMS with my brakes, so I had ordered a set of Hawk DTC60s/HT-10s for my next track day

My brother, Hunter, and I headed out to Paddy and Petes the weekend before for what I thought would be a pad change then a thorough once over


Turned out it was all in my mind as I had a significant amount of pad left front and rear - I'll just be ready for when the pads go this season or next



I got to talking to Paddy about what a pain my Kics Project lugnuts were having two different locking keys, and he offered up one of his many sets of 17mm NASCAR grade MSI Racing lugnuts at a fair price

The color's not ideal, but it's already making track life so much easier


I still have my Kics Project R26 black chrome lugnuts if anyone is interested in picking them up; PM me a fair offer and they're yours


My brother and I also reworked an intercooler coupler issue that I didn't catch at NHMS


I wasn't a fan of the white FAL logo on the rear window, so I doubled down and threw some track driven and endurance race support merit badges on in my downtime at NHMS a few weeks prior

My brother and I headed to the skatepark having our afternoon back. I eventually dropped him off, then headed back to Providence where I impatiently waited out the work week



My wife and I headed out with our furbabies in tow Thursday night after work. I dropped them off at my mother-in-laws then headed to my mothers to do another once over assessment, wash the car, loaded her back up, then threw my number plates, timing RFID card, and class designation on before heading in to hang out with the family and then to try and get a good night sleep

I woke up early and headed out, then met up with Tommy and his drop dead gorgeous NSX trackside to join him for his first track day with the NA1



Tommy and Tony had taken out Tony's S2000 to Watkins Glen the week before for a track day with SCDA, and it seemed Tommy was bitten. "What do you think, Rick, think I should take the NSX out on Thompson?" "Tommy - you already know what I'm going to say... absolutely." Thompson has become a pretty popular track locally, so Tommy ended up being waitlisted for the event

I was pretty excited when I saw he was confirmed to race a few days prior to the event - this should be a lot of fun


Paddy and I had discussed Thompson the week before, and he said he might be able to come out and instruct me. He was able to work it into his schedule and requested me as a student. I got the assignment notification that he'd be my instructor the day before - this should definitely be a lot of fun!

My Mom and brother showed up just before my first session, and my brother snagged my camera and headed out around the track to grab some shots. The 5D is by no means an intuitive camera, but he did an awesome job figuring it out on his own getting some pretty good action shots

Coming out of the oval into T9 in a close drag race with a lawn mower



Misaligned entry into T9



I had a great first session out with Paddy - the track begun to click again as I worked my line, braking and throttle points



We brought it in from session one, then Paddy took me out for some laps in his wife's IS250 to show me the right line. He put it well that it's sometimes easier showing someone what to do then trying to explain it on a race track. It was definitely helpful being able to look around a bit more at where we were placed mid corner and try to gain reference marks along the way (signs, posts, pavement transitions and patches, etc.)

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

Then I started to lose some of the good session one momentum as I picked up speed and tried to put it all together in the second session, converting Paddy's feedback through my head then hands and feet. I believe I start to overthink the track with instruction, especially in second sessions it seems; definitely something I need to work on

One huge problem for me was dialing in T9, which is easily the most important part of the track gaining speed through 10, 11A, and over the bump at 11B into the front straight. Not sure of the exact amount of speed lost as I only nailed the line perfectly through the complex a few laps and didn't track my maximum front straight speed, but it must have been good for a significant amount of time gain - bleh! Well, its something worth coming back to dial in


My brother found some more pretty gnarly vantage points for the second session

Coming into the bridge at T5




and chasing down my old "attainable dream car" Exige S260 into T6, before catching and passing him between the T8 and T9 straight


We brought it in from session two and I was in a bit of a funk with frustration

"I need to get you in a faster car to properly show you the track - lets go see if Nick's M3s in the garage..." Some background: Nick Fontana is one of the faster racers with COMSCC, and is consistently setting P1 in his class (T80) during time trials and occasionally FTD. Not sure if anyone else watched it, but he was chosen to be one of the top 16 competitors in the first season of GT Academy at Silverstone where he finished sixth. Lucky for me, he is also a good friend of Paddy's

Long story short - his E36 M3 was definitely fast enough! Paddy and I took it out for a full session, where we battled it out with a few other instructors. One of which was Nick in the passenger seat of a students car: "was that instructor giving us the finger out the window?!" "Haha, yea that's Nick!" Nick's student was in a pretty quick Camaro and I'm not sure of what feedback he was getting, but he was doing pretty well to not give it up to us too easy. Paddy eventually got him on a straight - "do you think we should give the salute back? "Eh, the student might misinterpret it!" Ridiculously funny and so much fun. The session continued with Paddy picking off students in run group four (including Tommy, it was awesome seeing him out on track though - his lines looked good and his car looked great), one after another, and then eventually a pack of instructors. We had a good two or three lap battle with the chief instructor, where Paddy hung within feet of him before forcing an error on him that we were able to capitalize on. He caught up with us in the garage after "hey, you're not Nick! That was a hell of a battle!" It sure was, and I believe we won

Having done a few track days, I am going to have to say that session is definitely in my top three sessions ever... and that was just in the passenger seat! Paddy is one hell of a driver and I felt like a child trying to best position and brace my body in the seat to take the G's he was throwing at me - great stuff!

Sorry - maybe that was long story long?


We cooled the cars down after my session two and the ride along with Paddy in Nick's M3. We grabbed some lunch and hung out with Tommy's mom and brother, Andrew, and some of the COM regulars



I'm really liking my brother's shooting style!

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

I felt a lot better after some rest during the lunch break, then Paddy and I had a great third session. I was able to shake off and work through some of the morning's frustrations



I was able to begin to piece together the T9-T11B complex a bit more, and was able to set my second and third fastest laps of the day (1'27"775 and 1'27"830)



I also somehow managed to pass the full session three field, which was a little weird but pretty awesome - now if only I could get myself as fast as my car!


There was a professional track photographer on hand, Clarus Studios. I was impressed with the quality, so I purchased my full set in digital downloads



and just like my last track day at Thompson, there were a few more fire ***** - my wife hates them!

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

Paddy and I brought the RX-7 in from the third session and discussed our day together

He had great feedback, I learned a lot from him throughout the day, and truly appreciate the opportunity to have been able to work with him in the FD. Request him as an instructor if you ever get lucky enough to sign up for a COMSCC day - you won't be disappointed!

Thanks friend!



Paddy had to head out for the day, but was confident in me going out solo for my forth and final session

All was going well, and I was able to click off my fastest lap of the day with a 1'27"690

I was working my way through the run group three field, and received a point by from a pretty slick Porsche 912 approaching T9 when something seemed off...

...my coolant light came on and my water temps were skyrocketing!

Fortunately I was approaching the pit lane, so pitted in immediately, parked the car at the paddock, unlatched the hood pins and kept the car running with the fans on to cool the car down with my fingers crossed that all was well as I assessed the problem

Scary stuff!



I let the car cool down as Hunter and I headed out around to grab some pictures of Tommy out on track in his NSX

We came back after Tommy's forth session. The engine was cool and we begun to assess what could have caused the FD to overheat, which has become an almost obsolete occurrence since upgrading to the v-mount setup (my track temps have averaged around 85* since ditching the FMIC)

We couldn't find anything, so we began to tear down our paddock and pack the cars to head out

We had everything set to head out, said our good byes to the COM crew, and jumped in our cars to head out...

...until the RX-7 didn't start. I looked around the engine bay trying to figure out what it was. Couldn't see it! A fellow AER endurance competitor (driver, not crew like me), Nick L with an Integra GSR, noticed that the tensioner bolt nut was missing after a few failed pop start attempts

That'll definitely keep me from being able to turn the car over

I had a coffee can full of random hardware, but of course not the nut size I needed. We worked our way through the group to find something, and were able to grab a nut that fit from our American Iron series neighbors

We got the nut on, tightened up the alternator, and the car turned over and was back to running like a top

The car ran swimmingly on the way home, with nice and even temps and great boosting, but I would want to take a look at it before the next track day out at Palmer


...and here's the scariest/best feeling, all important home in one piece picture of the season so far



Huge thank you to Paddy and Hunter for getting the car pre-track day prepped to run out on Thompson, again to Paddy for your help in the car with some great instruction, to Tommy Mrs Le and Andrew my Mom and again to Hunter for the help trackside, to Hunter for some great trackside photography, to Clarus Studio for the amazing photo set, Nick Fontana for letting Paddy and I take out your ridiculously fast and beautiful E36 M3, Nick L for your help with the alternator, and as always to my wife for your never wavering patience and support

Hunter, Tommy, and me looking like a tired gumba as always



We missed the COM BBQ that smelt awesome in trying to figure out the turn over and starting issue, but Hunter and I were able to head out to dinner with our Mom after we got back to the garage which was even more fun than that could have been (ahhh shucks < 3 love you two - that was a lot of fun!)



Now on to what you've been waiting for - pictures of Tommy and his beautiful NSX out on track

Great job out there - can't wait for our next track day together!


I'm currently downloading my Thompson video footage and will have it uploaded shortly

Other than that, I think that's about it for Thompson. Overheating aside, it was another great track day!


Upcoming blog updates:
- Tony, Tommy, and I headed out to Lime Rock Park this past weekend for the Tudor United SportsCar Championship GTD/PC and Continental Tire Sportscar Challenge ST/GS races. I have about 1,100 pictures to go through, so that might take some time but I'll have something up soon
- Paddy and I did some work and made some tweaks to the RX-7 this past Sunday in preparation for another track day (see below)
- Paddy, Pete and I will be prepping the S2000 this Friday to set Pete up as best as we can to set a class record with some new sticky Pirelli slicks out on Palmer Motorsports Park / Whiskey Hill Raceway with COM's time trials
- I will be running another track day this coming Saturday back out on Palmer Motorsports Park / Whiskey Hill Raceway


Should be a fun but busy weekend!



Cheers!

jasonn

iTrader: (10)

Great looking car. Very Tsukuba-ish

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

Thanks Jason

Your FD looks pretty bad *** as well! That new hood's going to look great with the hood diffuser - I've been meaning to grab a set, but its almost better to wait until offseason to make the wait a little less painful. Do you have any quick Japanese import options?

Have you done any more track days? This photo's pretty awesome - begging for some more track days! Battle Evome-ish for sure


Did you end up painting your car or sticking with the vinyl wrap? Looks good either way with the bronze ZE40s - definitely an original look




So I wasn't able to sort out my fastest laps from my third session at Thompson, but here's the full session - although I set my fastest lap in my forth session, I might have had the best rhythm to date in this one. I somehow manage to lap almost the entire run group three field. I'm kind of impressed considering it's a 1.7mile track

jasonn

iTrader: (10)

Thanks for the compliment! It's wrapped right now but I'm waiting for all my parts to come in before I paint it white. I've been on a few more track days but my cars currently down and I'm planning for a track day in Oct. In the mean time, I had a civic as my track car but I just sold it recently. As much as I like the bronze on purple, it's too GT-R-esque.

As for quick imports, I usually have my dad help me since he lives in Japan but my RE parts, I went through my friend's friend over at Car Shop Glow. However, my Feed parts will most likely be air shipped by RHD Japan.

Your car looks really planted and complete! What else are you planning on?

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

What race tracks have you run in California? Any pictures or videos from your recent track days?

They're so addicting! I just did another track day this past Saturday and my next one won't be until October - I am not looking forward to the wait

Your car must feel pretty solid with all that aero, and should be pretty quick with that turbo set up. What boost/power setting do you run it with? Minimal lag?

Not sure what you have lined up before you paint it white, but I can't wait to see it I'm not on Instagram (I'm a little outdated with my flickr) but somehow found your page - great stuff!


As for my RX-7, there are a few small things I'd like to pick up over the winter - I have a list, but we'll see how my budget looks then. I am slowly working towards calling the build done and just throwing all my money to more track time... we'll see

RE-Amemiya

For some reason I just LOVE this angle of your car; looks incredible!

jasonn

iTrader: (10)

Oh nice! What track do you hit up in the east? Over here, I've ran Laguna Seca, Willow Springs, California Speedway (Autoclub Speedway), and Buttonwillow. I've been meaning to head out to Chuckwalla and Spring Mountain but time haven't allowed me to do so. I don't have much photos of my recent track day with the Civic but in the end, it's just a civic. My previous track car was a s2000 so I went tracking a lot with it. The FD has only been to Buttonwillow and Laguna Seca.

The car was really loose when I was trail braking without a wing so the spoiler helped a lot but I feel that there's a slight understeer when going through fast sweepers so I might have to build a splitter. The previous setup felt okay with not that much lag but I was getting a lot of ignition break up. This was partly due to my engine going but I'll let you know on the new Borg Warner setup.

Share your plans on what's coming up! I might be able to save you $ on parts!

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

Thank you sir



I have done track days at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut, Monticello Motor Club in New York, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park in Connecticut, and Palmer Motorsports Park in Massachusetts. I have done a few recce laps of Virginia International Raceway in one of our driver's rental car at Charge of the Headlight Brigade, but have yet to do a track day there. I am thinking of flying down for a Skip Barber race school one of these years at VIR though. Either VIR or fly out to Laguna Seca - win win with either one

Sounds like you have a good amount of tracks in your area and some experience under your belt. Some track and race cars are faster and better built than others, but there is no such thing as a bad car if you are using it on a race track.

I ran an HPDE where a kid brought out an old automatic outback wagon - he was ridiculously slow on track, but he was so excited outside of the car. That's what it's all about! Civic, RX-7, S2000, outright lemon - doesn't matter as long as you're having fun, not hurting yourself or anyone else, and learning a thing or two. Alright, that concludes the old man speech : )

I have always known it, but have only recently fully realized it: aero definitely makes a world of difference. Have you started thinking about your splitter design? I am sure you've already done it, but do your homework - you don't want it flapping, flying off or tearing your bumper off. Did you do an ignition amp to try to sort some of that ignition breakup? That helped mine out a bit. What are your Borg Warner specs?

As for what I'm thinking of over the winter, I'm considering ordering a few more aero parts from TCP Magic and RE Amemiya. I was thinking of going through ISS Forged again for the TCP Magic parts and RHD Japan for the REA parts. I am afraid to call them out explicitly because that will set in motion a plan to make it happen that I am stubborn enough to see through... Doesn't make sense, that's just how my mind works

jasonn

iTrader: (10)

I have friends with accounts for both and can help you somewhat with it.

Yes, for ignition, I used an HKS Twin Power and switching to new iridiums helped but I still get some break up here and there. I'm switching out to the AEM ignition coils right now and hope that will help me.

As for aero, I worked at a friend's race shop a few years ago and I went there again not too long ago to borrow some splitters to see if they fit my car. Surprisingly, an e92 splitter fits perfectly with all the mounting holes lining up. I'm still looking into the end plate design but I have an idea. I'll probably be copying the Top Fuel RX-7 design.
My friend's shop car

Top Fuel RX-7


Borg Warner is just a basic S360 1.0 AR. I wanted to keep the response up as high as possible but didn't want to dip into the s260s. I agree that any car is fun on the track but it's frustrating not being able to go as fast as you really want. It's still fun and different from the FD but I'm just glad to be focusing on one car now.

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

Thanks Jason, I'll definitely keep that in mind over the winter

Having some time at Platte Forme AG won't hurt. I love that E46! I've seen a few TCP Magic bumpers with the front diffuser and a splitter, but I'm still driving my car to the track and know that would be a terrible combination. I'm still running 180 treadwear tires until I'm licensed, so I don't need the extra aero just yet

Yea, that FEED splitter and canard set up looks pretty legit. I'd like to see where you come out with your upgraded aero. Hopefully I'll be licensed for early next season so I can rebalance my car's weight, grab some A048s or A005s, and start to really dial in the aero and overall balance. Right now I've been pushing an extra ~150lbs around the track, so I haven't tweaked much other than tire pressures and dampening trackside

jasonn

iTrader: (10)

Oh nice! It'll be very exciting to see your car in final form! Keep up the updates! It's interesting to see other builds from like minded people!

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

Thanks Jason - I'm looking forward to seeing what you have got in store as well




August and September were hectic months with a few vacations, a business trip, some general slacking, and a good amount of photo editing

I'm a few posts behind, so please bear with me


I have opened up the Rotary Amuse name to my like minded local friends since we've got a great team-oriented feel going

Rotary Amuse was never anything in particular, just a central idea I have poured my motorsport focus into for the past thirteen years. From the short lived drag racing phase, to jumping into SCCA SM2 autocrossing seriously for three plus seasons with a local Nationals event in the middle, to changing my focus completely to track days, and eventually evolving into a full time trials assault

Rotary Amuse has evolved into more than me and my RX-7 since conception, with friends pouring themselves into the cause with countless hours in the garage working on our projects, or talking and enjoying motorsport. I have always felt like an enthusiast anomaly being in the rotary niche in a primarily Subaru-oriented New England, but I have been able to share my passion more branching out with like minded motorsport enthusiasts

I have never fully understood what Rotary Amuse was, but I am looking forward to the umbrella concept that it could grow into with us all pulling in the same direction


Tony earned his number plate after several years of hard work and dedication to get his COM license. He has poured a lot of effort to get his car set up properly, tweaking parts and changing things out to get to the beautiful state his car is in now. As much effort as his car shows, he has put just as much dedication into making himself a better driver having just completed a Skip Barber school in the spring.

He is getting ridiculously fast behind the wheel and I am looking forward to see where he goes with his speed



I'm really liking the Petronas teal design he and Tommy came up with




Welcome aboard friend!

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

Even though my car is world's apart from the competitors, there is an inherent connection that I have with professional GT racing, where watching GT racing is almost as much fun as a track day for me

...almost

Throw in Prototype racing, and you'll have one hell of a weekend!

When Tony started to get a group together to head out to Lime Rock Park for Tommy's birthday and the Tudor United SportsCar Championship (Prototype Challenge/Grand Touring Daytona) and Continental Tire Sportscar Challenge (Grand Sport/Street Tuner) races I couldn't say no

We took Friday off to catch as much as possible of what was shaping up to be an action packed weekend, with practice and qualifying sessions going on all day before race day Saturday

I met up with Tony bright and early Friday morning, parked the E92, and packed up the X5. Good thing we didn't take the coupe; Tony doesn't mess around when it comes to camping!

We met up with Tony's friend Joe on the way over, handed out the walkie talkies, and I laughed my *** off the whole ride to LRP


We arrived just in time to catch the first practice session and began setting up our camp site

Tony and I were going to share a tent but Joe had something else in mind - a pretty cool hammock with waterproof and fly tarp coverage (picture does not show it fully assembled)



We set up our camp site, met our neighbors, then headed over to No Name Straight and the Uphill



My GTD favorite - AJR GT America



Local (north shore Massachusetts) favorites


The beauty of spectating at Lime Rock is that you can see just about every square inch of the track, and can walk the whole perimeter in no time

I ventured out to find some much needed coffee and scoped out the spectating spots along the way



TMS pointed the right way...



...then the wrong way. This would not be their only mishap during practice and qualifying, but more on that later

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

We headed into the paddocks to see some of the beauty up close

Not a bad safety car



Looks like I am inadvertently on par with my TE37 / MSI combo



We ran into an old S2000 forum friend of Tony's, Andrie Hartanto, while walking around. He brought us around the BimmerWorld complex, walked us through his ST #81 328i, and talked us through his amazing (albeit hail mary seeming shot) trip to getting to a paid ride


Awesome, down to earth guy with a really great story - I'm a fan!


We wished Andrie luck with qualifying and the race in case we didn't catch up with him later, and moved down to the next paddock of shiny objects


We ventured down a bit and met up with another one of Tony's friends in Billy Johnson, geared up to pilot this beautiful GT350R-C



Ohhhh hello!


Although it was unfortunately the slowest GTD car come race time, this Compass360 R8 was definitely one of the prettiest




We then made our way down to the Turner area by Big Bend

We seemed to have missed it walking through the paddocks, but it looks like Marsal had a little shunt when "a squirrel ran across the track"


I'm sure he was able to remain in good spirits

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

Oh right, there's a race track all around us...


Then back into the paddocks to find some more coffee


and some more masterpieces


Freedom Motorsports getting ready to be Oscar Mike. I ran into the Freedom crew member that gave us a hand with the dry break for the McParland Motorsport S2000 down at VIR before The Charge of the Headlight Brigade - the motorsport community really is a small one