Last weekend went much better than I expected; setting goals and achieving them can be quite satisfying. I wanted to step up my game for events seven and eight of the Rio Grande SCCA by placing top 5 in PAX. The course was higher speed than usual so that was enjoyable; sometimes I question if autocross is truly for me. I don't enjoy the events as much as time attacks, leave if you like but its a lot of preparation for such little seat time. Regardless when you're in the moment its still incredibly enjoyable (not to mention safer....or at least its supposed to be....) and when your goals are within hundreds of a second it gets intense (not like camping which by the way, is really overrated). This marks the half way point for the season and I'm already itching to buy a supercharger. STX class is fun but since this post seems to be all about honesty lets face it, rules suck. I want a 300 HP BRZ already; E85, a supercharger, and Hoosiers would kick ass. Pretty sure I'm going to jump into SM class next year; there's this dentist I want to beat. Plus I could go wide body while in the process, as long as it stays in one piece it would be pretty kick ass. Despite how well the BRZ is currently setup for STX I really want to join SM so I could design my own areo components. I recently got access to a CNC solid state laser table which makes designing and creating my own components a mouse click away. I've always enjoyed the modification process as much as racing so naturally the first thing I created was a light weight (one of the few things STX lets me do) battery bracket. From lines on a screen to a device that serves purpose, these machines are truly incredible. Three variations in and I still have new ideas and tweaks but from concept to creation here is a light weight battery system that dropped approximately 25 pounds (thanks BWG) off the front of the BRZ.
First prototype in action
Without a doubt loosing weight is a big help but the biggest change to the car was more front camber. The last event I wasn't satisfied with my performance, sure you can always improve but something was different. Turns out I also was packing 1.5 extra (explains the under-steer during left turns) degrees of camber on the right rear of the car! This was a little odd because I'm still not sure how it happened. Despite how much I hate SPC lower control arms they didn't seem to be loose, but the truth was it had 3.3 degrees of camber instead of the 1.8 I had originally set up. After a few minutes my buddy and I were able to rectify the problem and added .3 degrees of camber up front bringing the total to 3.1. After the first run I knew all was right in the world. Anyway I also must dedicate a few lines of text to how well the RE-71Rs are doing, just as much grip as the day I got them. Truly amazing (sponsor me Bridgstone!!!!!) tires. The top picture was taken after the events and they may seem low on tread for it being mid season but those truly know they have already experienced much more. And on the bombshell, here is the beautiful bean footage......already looking forward to watching the epic three on Prime.
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