The Best Weekend of My Life. (very long.)

#1 10-20-2002, 04:47 PM

The weekend started on the proper foot with the 3rd (sort of) New England SVX Meet. Truly a fine collection of individuals and automobiles, including one particular Subaru which happened to be badged with a blue-and-white roundel.. strangest thing, but it was AWD and had a six-cylinder, so it MUST'VE been an SVX...

After the meet I cruised home to a wonderful dinner at a friend's 21st birthday, then proceeded to get a good buzz going at the bars. Finally, I drove to my girlfriend's parents house and crashed on the couch.

At 5am this morning I was awoken by my girlfriend's father who said "You ready?" "More than you'll ever know," was my answer. My girlfriend's father club races a 1988 BMW M3 with a slew of modifications and tunings. He and I loaded into my SVX and sailed to New Hampshire International Speedway. He had left his car there with his truck and trailer, so we were able to enjoy some good conversation on the way up. Well.. as best conversation as can be had at 5 o'clock in the morning.

Allen is (among other things) a driving school instructor and the current Technical Steward for the White Mountain chapter of the BMW Car Club of America. Thusly, he has a certian amount of pull, and was able to get me immediately into the action. There happened to be a driver's school going on today in addition to the BMWCCA club event, and I helped to perform technical inspections on all the student cars, as well as a few instructor cars..

A few vehicles of particular interest:

2 Blue WRX's.. one wagon and one sedan, both nicely accessorized.

One Porsche Carerra 4S

One 6.6 liter Trans Am painted burnt orange

A whole mess of BMW M3's, both new and old

A rusty old BMW 2002

One ram-air firebird with license plates reading "M3EATR"

And my personal favorite:

A beautiful black Honda S2000 attached to a MONSTROUS supercharger. Part of the tech inspection involved asking the drivers to blip their throttles and listen to make sure everything sounded good. I had given the S2000 driver a particularly lengthy compliment, so he was sure to run the motor all the way to its redline when I asked for throttle

After that, the instructors took to the track to both practice their own skills and to show some students in their passenger seats how it's done. Allen managed to get me a ride in the passenger's seat of what was undoubtedly the fastest driver on the field at that particular time. He was driving a brand-new Avus Blue M3 and MAN could he make that car turn. We took what must've been 12 or 13 laps, over the course of which we managed to lap most of the cars on the field.. I use the term "we" very loosely....

Something interesting I noticed while were were on the track. One of the instructors was driving a 4-door Impreza 2.5 RS.. the old '99 style. He had removed both the hood scoop and the spoiler from the car, presumable because in addition to lacking actual function, they created more drag than they were worth. At the day's end, I noticed that he had re-attached them both. Since the hood scoop is completely non-functional, I can certianly appreciate its removal, but I was actually rather pleased to see that someone had put that kind of thought into that sort of thing..

Finally we came in from the track, I gave the driver an enormous "THANK YOU," and proceeded to gallop, smiling from one ear to the other, back to Allen's trailer to shower him in appreciation. I found him jacking up the M3, and I helped him bleed the brakes and rotate the tires. Finally it was time for him to race. I assisted the race steward in gridding up the cars and headed over to the pit lane to await Allen's mandatory 5-minute pit stop (During the 1-hour enduro, each racer was required to pit for no less than 5 minutes, during which he could refuel, pee, drink (not Ouzo), whatever).

Allen started the race in 8th place in a field of about 40 cars as a result of a fantastic finish in the rain the day prior. He managed to slip all the way back to 19th by the end of the race. "These guys are running suspension packages that cost more than my house," was his explanation. After all, his M3 was only running stock street suspension.

No matter though, he was still all smiles, and as I pulled away from the speedway this afternoon, I knew what I needed to do:

The SVX needs new back rotors and a front-left drive axle. After that and as soon as I can afford it, I'm going to start taking driving schools. This is seriously too much fun to just let pass me by. I don't think I could bear to get very competitive with the SVX--it's just too heavy and I'd hate to crash it or even damage it more than it's already damaged. Besides, who knows how many laps I'll get before simultanious four-sided wheel bearing failure occurs in conjunction with the transmission dropping out the bottom of the car.

I'll buy another car. Maybe not this year, maybe not next year, but I'll buy another car, rip its insides out, put in a roll cage, upgrade the suspension and start racing. I need to do this.

-Adam

Landshark · #2 10-20-2002, 05:02 PM

if i had alot more time and money i'd make one of these for racing:

http://www.v8914.com/

the 914's are VERY cheap, handle like a go-cart, and with a V8 do 0-60 in a little over 4 sec. i'd hate to see what the performance specs for the one above are!

immortal_suby · #3 10-20-2002, 05:39 PM

One of these days I'm going to find an awd xt-6 with a 5 speed and it will definitely be auto-x'd

shoden · #4 10-21-2002, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by alacrity024

I'll buy another car. Maybe not this year, maybe not next year, but I'll buy another car, rip its insides out, put in a roll cage, upgrade the suspension and start racing. I need to do this.

Yes, you need to do this! I'd been wanting for several years, and finally got started this spring. Only doing rallycross and autocross for now, but I need the practice, and it's still great fun. Don't wait a few years to get an expensive car though. Buy something cheap and start getting experience as soon as you can.

I started with my 89 Honda CRX Si ($2700) and then put a nice competition suspension on it (another $2000). That put me in a class where I'm not even close to competitive, but like I said, it's still fun.

Then when my CRX broke (timing belt and bent valves), I picked up a 92 Nissan Sentra SE-R for $1500. I'm keeping this car completely stock, and I've already raced it twice in the 3 weeks I've owned it. The last autocross of the season is this weekend, and then it's time to work on fixing the CRX for next year... eventually it will be a Group 2 rally car

So, to summarize... do it, do it soon, start cheap, have fun!

#5 10-21-2002, 09:57 AM

Heh. You guys are cool, though I'd have to say the best weekend of my life involved a female.

- Ca$h

#6 10-21-2002, 10:29 AM

*sigh* yeah, well it's going to be awhile before I can even afford a CHEAP car.. I've had my eye on a 1988 Isuzu Impulse (turbocharged, intercooled, RWD, 5-speed, 70k miles, the guy was asking $3500 two months ago, and it's STILL sitting in his lawn) that I think would make a perfect starter car.

*sigh*....

-adam

#7 10-21-2002, 11:38 AM

I have a 87 Nissan pulsar NX. I put 4500 into it, but i was now thinking of selling it for more svx stuff, but i am still considering the engine rebuild and 2nd hand turbo and make her a FWD speedster. I just wish it was RWD it looks good for the cash i have put into it. Another 2 grand and it would be a perfect car for the FWD rally or touring car, if you can call FWD that

wasions · #8 10-21-2002, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by alacrity024
*sigh* yeah, well it's going to be awhile before I can even afford a CHEAP car.. I've had my eye on a 1988 Isuzu Impulse (turbocharged, intercooled, RWD, 5-speed, 70k miles, the guy was asking $3500 two months ago, and it's STILL sitting in his lawn) that I think would make a perfect starter car.

*sigh*....

-adam

IMHO the Impulse would NOT be a very good starter car anyway. It really isn't the best handling car out there (by a long shot) and any pipiness normally inherent an a turbo would just make it worse.

Better, cheaper, more reliable and competitive choices might be (all stock, by the way):
Nissan Sentra (especially SE-R)
Toyota Corolla (or MR2 if you find a good one cheap)
Honda Civic
Subaru Imprezza (Yes, that's the one!)
Dodge/Plymouth Neon (I hate myself for that.)

It you're just looking for fun, and don't necessarily care about whooping everyone's tail (you aren't likely to anyway your first season), then any reliable car you can get your hands on will be a winner.

#9 10-21-2002, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by wasions
Nissan Sentra (especially SE-R)
Toyota Corolla (or MR2 if you find a good one cheap)
Honda Civic
Subaru Imprezza (Yes, that's the one!)
Dodge/Plymouth Neon (I hate myself for that.)

Sentra? Eh. Hard to find an SER in good shape.
Corolla? ACK.
MR2? Cool, but pricey and insurance is $$$
Civic? Zzzzzzz and no torque at all. Blech.
Impreza? Yes, but $$$
Neon? HELL YEAH! 3k will net you a 5 spd in good shape. Throw some konis on it, some falken axenis, and you're SET.

- Ca$h

#10 10-21-2002, 05:01 PM

well the thing with all these vehicle suggestions is that they seem like they'd work great for autocross, but in my club racing experience, a car not only needs to handle like it's on rails (which, by the way, the Lotus-suspensioned Impulse does very nicely), but it needs to MOVE.. I suppose a newer turbocharged mr2 would ge the job done, but in a field of cars like the ones I saw on Sunday, I don't think a civic or untuned Impreza would stand much of a chance..

-adam

wawazat?? · #11 10-21-2002, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by wasions

Dodge/Plymouth Neon (I hate myself for that.)

Why do you say that Steve???

Landshark · #12 10-21-2002, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by alacrity024
well the thing with all these vehicle suggestions is that they seem like they'd work great for autocross, but in my club racing experience, a car not only needs to handle like it's on rails (which, by the way, the Lotus-suspensioned Impulse does very nicely), but it needs to MOVE.. I suppose a newer turbocharged mr2 would ge the job done, but in a field of cars like the ones I saw on Sunday, I don't think a civic or untuned Impreza would stand much of a chance..

-adam

here you go, pal. leaves alot of $$$ left for motor, upgrades

http://www.bensrallypage.com/forsale...h_porsche.html

#13 10-21-2002, 07:12 PM

i would go get that thing if i had that much sitting around.

If anyone is interested i may go check it out for you, is a good start though. Seen a few of them things around here.

wasions · #14 10-21-2002, 10:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Landshark

here you go, pal. leaves alot of $$$ left for motor, upgrades

http://www.bensrallypage.com/forsale...h_porsche.html

Yes sir!

That's the car I meant to mention!

Landshark · #15 10-22-2002, 04:25 AM

the 914 may be the ugliest Porsche ever made, but they will clean up at an autocross, beating more expensive and powerful cars. cars that have a lot of power are fun to drive, but cars with insane handling are even more fun, in my opinion.