I came out there last year, i think it was in november. You might remember my car, i had a white TII. I really didn't have anything against anybody but Ashraf. I spent most of the night talking to another first timer that also owned an rx-7 here in durham. The rest of the crew there seemed nice, but all they really cared about was autocross. This feeling was supported when i said something about getting some wheels to improve the looks of my car. Ashraf was getting all over me and telling me that i was waisting my money, and that i should be either getting better/sticker tires or rebuild the front end of my car. I told him several times that it was my daily driver and that i didn't need it be set up as a track car. But he still insisted that i should do one of those two things. All was fine and dandy but i wasn't gonna go back because it simply wasn't what i was looking for in a car club. I was mostly looking for an Rx-7 dedicated crowd that was dedicated more to the technical aspect of them, not simply how well a car can perform at VIR. I was also interested more in going fast then anything else. So i haven't gone back.

My troubles with Ashraf continued when he showed up at one of OUR meetings. I'm not necisarily trying to bash Ashraf, he can just come across as very arogent. I dont know how many time i had to hear about how freakin' bad his little miata was at VIR and how he loved pissen the drivers of the vipers off when his little miata was keeping up with them.

Then he finally walks over to my car and starts looking at it. Weather or not he rememberd me or not, I dont know. He asked me what i had done to it, so i told him. I also told him what my car had dyno'd at. Well, he didn't believe me and told me to pop the hood so he could inspect it. So he looked over the car. He didn't say a whole lot so i guess he didn't find anything wrong with what i had done to the car. BUT the he pissed me off when he said "You did a good job, Considering". Well, i wanted to know what he ment by this coment so i said "Considering what?" He simply closed the hood and walked off. Well that really pissed me off, as well as several other people that were there whent it happend.

Another thing was when he was looking at Josh's car. If you haven't seen Josh's FD, it is simply beautiful. Ashraf looked at it and the only thing he comented about was how dirty his brake fluid was and proceded to show him what it was supposed to look like. I guess this was the opertunity to show how clean his fluid was so he poped the hood and showed what clean break fluid looked like. I think this pissed a few people off as well.

So Judge for yourself. Ashraf know his stuff i will give him that, he just dosn't come across well at all. Its like he has to prove that he is better then everbody else by constantly finding something wrong with there car. Well, i'm going to bed. Can't wait for the next meet on the 14th. cya.....


Steve

 

!

 

I'd love to. I'll look into it when I get back in Greensboro and the g/f and I get settled there... right now I'm in Charleston SC serving my country, and don't get many chances to drive north.

IM me with your actual email and I'll work out the details with you.

 

Heh. This is getting fun.

Not really. Maybe? Not sure. Taking a 21 semester-hour course load leaves little time for social activities.

Well, on second thought maybe we couldn't all get along. Our original charter specified no ricers. Phat bling-bling dubs qualify. You would, from an driving enjoyment perspective, gain more value for sticky tires or mild suspension mods. From a 'look' perspective, though, those things don't count. I guess I care less what my car looks like outside since I'd prefer to spend more time inside them driving.

That is a contradiction. Do you mean you want to go fast in a straight line, or fast overall, or fast in the corners? Fast at VIR means at least two of those. Admittedly, if you talked about street racing a lot, we would have probably been pretty cold. Some of us have lost friends or aquaintences in street racing incidents. Since there are so many reasonably priced alternatives to possibly killing someone, we arent' too keen on street racers.

Without context I can't comment on that; I wasn't there. Everyone has a method to modding their cars, and some have been proven over time to work better than others. Such as, FC + open exhaust + FCD usually = overboosted motor. Maybe you had done something he didn't agree with.

What kind of person maintains a beautiful car and doesn't even do regular maintenance like brake fluid flushing? It's in the service manual for goodness' sake. Beauty only skin deep results in a beautiful garage queen. Now, I've never seen Josh's car.

You know, when I started being involved in this whole car thing the older, more experienced people were expected to offer advice to younger people, newer to the hobby. It's considered impolite not to. I guess in your experience it's impolite to make suggestions. I haven't heard anything Ashraf purportedly said that sounds denigrating or crass, only suggestions. If you don't like his tone of voice, then that is a problem between you two.

 

But you are and it is not fair. You all have made assumptions about him rather than asking him what he meant. We all are grown men and should be able to handle an opinion, comment or observation. Ashraf does not have to mention spent brake fluid or make recomendations. He does it because he cares.

I do not always agree with Ashraf. I often counter his comments. He offers his qualified advice and you guys beat and drag his name through a thread online. Never once has anyone expressed a problem with what he was saying or how he was saying it to his face. Only on this faceless forum...pathetic and shameful. The internet has made integrity a rare asset.

I've met many of you and I could come up with a list of fault for all of us including me. What good is that? People are different and maturity is what you use to deal with it in an unsderstanding way. I hear things I don't like all day long. So what? It is just information and I make choices on how to interpret that. The truth is you made yourslves uncomfortable by making assumptions in your intepretation of what Ashraf said and did. Ask him what he means if you do not know.

Ashraf shared his experiences in what he loves most in life. Tracking his cars. He does that because he wants to share. He wants us all to have the same level of fun that he has ahd on the track. And somehow that makes him arrogant?

I apologize to Ashraf for this. I hope that you will continue to inspect our cars. Please tell us what you think. And share your passion for motorsports.

I'm done with this thread. I'm sure a you all aassume I am some sort of *** now. You can bash me as freely as you like. I will not read any more of this banter. I will however be more than happy to discuss anything over the phone or in person. If you need advice or a hand, I am willing to help.

-Matthew

 

?

 

hmmmm, since i am moving from charlotte to greensboro, i was thinking about showing up at one of your meets BUT i am not so sure now that i see all this drama. any reason why there's so much animosity? hehe
--lauren

 

LOL. Dont worry, its not like this at the meets.

 

It really is a fun time at the meets. Everybody gets along great out there. Its a lot easier to do this kind of stuff online. I'm not going to say anymore about Ashraf. I simply wanted to state why there were people that didn't like him to much. Ashraf, I dont mind if you come to the meets. Just try to be a little more open minded and remember that not everybody puts there car on the track. The reason why we are out there is simply we love our cars.

On a side note, i took my non-turbo to the strip tonight. It ran a 9.7 and 72 MPH. I wipped up on and unexpecting Honda S2000 twice in a row. He then got pissed off and left LOL. It was great.

Steve

 

yes, the strip was great tonite. thats an 1/8 mile by the way before anyone starts throwin BS flags. the GTU held its own tonite.man, if only it had a 100 shot on it or somethin, she'd be "smoken'"! haha, whooped *** on some honduh's tonite. wish there had been other RX7s there. there were a couple people in the stands when steve was runnin askin what was done to it. if the turbo was out there we'd have a much bigger kill list.

 

Mike- First of all- Big thumbs up for the service you are providing for us all!!

Secondly- I hope we can do some bench racing sometime soon

Thirdly- Pro series Trans/AM drivers -Johnny Miller, & Jack Willes and - (hopefully)soon to be famous-(me) may be running the 13 hr race at VIR in the RotorSports 2nd gen RX7 ITS car- Johnny Miller - who was the runnerup in the Trans-Am series last year-was my co-driver with at Rd. Atlanta in the ECR event a couple weeks ago, and Jack has driven with us in several past events. Both have agreed to drive with me in this race- IF we can get the necessary sponsors for this event.

Again- Thanks and Godspeed!

Bryan

 

geez guys, i head up north for 4-5days and you guys tack on 4 huge pages of thread. i havent read all of it, just scanned.

i dont know ashraf that well, but i think sometimes his bluntness is mistaken for arrogance(though he does like to brag about his miata ) He gets straight to the point and doesn't dance around a subject. He'll tell you like it is (at least how he thinks it is) and I know that is hard to swallow sometimes.

on the other hand i know most of the drive-in guys really could care less about tracking their cars. I know personally I would like to hit a track from time to time, but that isnt why i build my car. For me the enjoyment is in working on the car so i continuously work and modify it with no other purpose in mind other than the enjoyment of working on it. Also, for those moments like Bert pointed out, that you park it and can look back and say "DAMN, that is an awesome machine" Honestly, I suppose I am a street racer. I love back road and I love to beat some1 in a straight line. Responsible, no. Fun, yes.

i think we need to be careful of creating divisions within our group. Personally, i try to focus on peoples positive attributes. Ashraf, is a fountain of practical knowledge on FDs. From the few conversations I have had with him I learned a lot. I do keep in mind two things when i talk to him; that he loves the track and his advice will always be skewed that way, also, that he doesn't mince words and gets to the point.

it bothered me last meet when i noticed the "older" members kind of divide off from the new members. true, we didn't agree with what they were doing with with their cars, but they are still rotary owners and came out to enjoy a meeting with other rotary nuts. It happens in every group, we try to find the people that are most like us, and form cliques. I don't think there is any way to stop it, but we need to try to at least be cordial.

anyhow, i think everyone has gotten the point. i need to get back to work.

Fellas, drink a beer and relax.
Ashraf, just remember we don't all track.
New people, don't worry the drive-ins don't break out into riots. come on out, and you'll see that we are all fairly civilized.

If i repeated something that was already said, i apologize, like i said i only scanned.

 

jeez, it was bout time we had an rx7 member break out, i thought all you guys were dead! haha, great use of words there josh, you put everything the way it needed to be said.

 

I saw on the Charlotte thread that you were moving but didn't catch where you were moving to. Hope all goes well on the move and you get settled with few problems. If you get the chance I would invite you to attend the MSCCofNC meeting on the first Friday of each month @ 7:00 pm and come to one of the Raleigh Rotary Drive-Ins on the 2nd & 4th Saturdays @ 6:30 pm. You can judge for yourself how the groups work and what meets your needs. I've been keeping up with what happens in Charlotte and from what I've read from y'alls meetings I think they're gonna miss you but I think you'll enjoy the drive-ins. With your organizational skills maybe you could get the triad's rotary owners organized and get a good group started in that area. We've had a few guys drive over from the G'boro area and enjoyed having them.

Please don't let the comments color your opinion of either group we're the new kids on the block, just been meeting since May and I think there is some resentment of us meeting in Raleigh and not making the drive over to Durham. All I can say is that Ashraf is a unique person who loves to track his cars. We are more of a social group that use our 7s as an excuse to get together.

Bert

 

Bryan, When will you be up at VIR for this race? I have tickets for the Grand Am race 10/3 and would like to drive up for another race and see the RPR teams do.

 

I was over at Brier Creek Shopping Center Sunday evening and had an FD turn in to the shopping center ahead of me. I thought it was Brent or Matt but when he stopped and I pulled up next to him it was a new owner. I wasn't in my FC so I didn't have any cards or flyers to pass along but told him about the group and the Drive-Ins.

 

Hey Johny, good to hear from you. You used "poetically" and spelled it right, I can tell you're more edgumicated now than you were before. I'm impressed with VA Tech already. To answer your question, no, you not a hokie yet just a certified red neck, that is unless you got drunk and releived yourself in public during the week. In order to be hokie qualified you must be sober when you releive yourself, drunk and indecent doesn't count. One week only gives you an opportunity to be hokie qualified, you must take the initiative.

Bert

 

thanks bert. when i get settled in at greensboro i will try to catch up with you guys.
--lauren

 

We'll be glad to have you, but I'm serious about using your skills in the Triad area to help get a goup started. From what I've heard on this forum there are plenty of rotary owners in the area. Maybe when you get settled and comfortable you can start a thread and see what happens.

 

I think this group would be a little low key for you lauren - I dont think there has been a single incident where a gun was pulled.

Speaking as someone who has attended meets at Burt's group in raleigh, Ashraf's group in Durham, and Lauren's group in charlotte, as well as meets in several other states, I have met at least one person I was glad to have met and learned at least one thing new at every meet I have went to. Meeting is good! So you dont like eveyone. So you dont agree with everyone. So what...

I for one will continue to go to every meet I can make it to. I am a rx7 fanatic and will try to meet as many other rx7 fanatics that I can meet.

Oh and I would be remiss if I didnt stand up for Ashraf. I have only met him a couple times and talked to him on the phone/emails several times but from what I know of him, he tries to be constructive and helpful when he meets. Now it is clear that people do not always take it that way as shown by all the people that are jumping on him, and I am sure Ashraf will take the feedback he is getting and move forward with renewed efforts to foster good relations in the rx7 community. No need for name calling or public bashings - just work it out with him or choose not to interact with him. I know I appreciate the efforts he has made to help me solve my car problems - and all I had to do was ask. Many thanks Ashraf.

I look forward to the next meet I can make, it sounds like it has grown since the last one I made it to.

 

Shawn, great to hear from you. I hope your move to Charlotte is going or has gone OK. It sounds like you're gonna have to fill Lauren's shoes. I never got the whole story about the last Charlotte meeting and what went down. If it would make her feel more welcome and at home we'll all bring firearms to a drive-in if she'll let us know when she'll be there. We don't normally bring'em, but whatever it takes to extend the same hospitality she is used to in Charlotte.

If you're able to schedule a family visit over a 2nd or 4th Saturday we'd be happy to have you stop by. Check the pics from the last drive-in on page 65 to see what the attendance was like. We seem to be growing every meet and it looks like there are a lot of rotary owners that just want to get together with other owners, the thing is just getting the word out.

Bert

 

Amen..but I'm at work...D'oh~! Durham guys... I saw that MB FD up at mr. engine on 70 this morning...anyone ever go over there and hand them a flyer? I also saw a clean red FB in the same area earlier today..anyone know who it is?

 

Thats the girl i was telling ya about at the last meet. She is a total hottie. I will let one of the FD guys go after that one. She's way out of my league.

 

hmm...I'm off tomarrow...if i see the FD there tomarrow , i might have to stop and say hi

broke up with my girl about 3 weeks ago too.. time to brush up on my mackin skillZ

 

Come on guys listen to yourselves, you guys are rotary hunks, you drive the most sophisticated, cosmicly harmonious machines ever created, no female is out of your league. She is driving an FD after all, Steve I'll bet everytime she has seen you drive by she has thought, "wow! what a guy, he is driving my dream car, an FC, I'd sure like to talk to him but he is way out of my league."

One of you guys invite her to a drive-in, its not a life time commitment here, just a car club meet. After all she's probably driving an auto FD!