autocross season starts tomorrow at TSMP, and we have about 3 inches of snow today. i was going to take the miata.... if we dont cancel i may end up in the gti.
2024 VW GTI 380 S
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We ended up cancelling :/
So yesterday I got the new wheels and tires on the GTI. Getting an alignment before too long today.
So yesterday I got the new wheels and tires on the GTI. Getting an alignment before too long today.
Got an alignment done at Firestone but they told me the camber isn’t adjustable in the rear.
anyways, my daughter came with me to AX Saturday, and ran over a curb on the way to the event lol. So the bumper and possibly camber is damaged. I was able to clip the bumper back together really well but the inner bumper support, bumper lip and some other plastic is devastated.
she did really well, cutting 30 seconds off her first run. We had 12 runs. The car performed well all day but temps were creeping into the 230s with two drivers and the car was cutting power a bit.
anyways, my daughter came with me to AX Saturday, and ran over a curb on the way to the event lol. So the bumper and possibly camber is damaged. I was able to clip the bumper back together really well but the inner bumper support, bumper lip and some other plastic is devastated.
she did really well, cutting 30 seconds off her first run. We had 12 runs. The car performed well all day but temps were creeping into the 230s with two drivers and the car was cutting power a bit.
yup she has been driving sporadically since last august. graduating from high school next month.
You guys like coupling fluids, this was $90
Here are some great photos of the new wheels on the “good side”
Fun interior shot
Here are some great photos of the new wheels on the “good side”
Fun interior shot
Good Miata day… full scrub. Going to clay and coat tomorrow.
Took the Miata to the Mother’s Day AX and had… a day lol. I finished mid pack fighting it trying to spin me all day. The tires were not even close to being good given their age and treadwear. It was a good refresher in rwd car control. I didn’t spin or hit any cones.
and here's the video. iphone image stabilization makes it look way less slidey.
it was a rough one where we doubled back twice. makes it tough... way more cones than needed for sure.
you folks may not always see the other side of track days, but Connecticut Autocross and Rally Team always tries to bring the best competitor experience for a good price. I have been involved for a number of years now to elevate the experience for an SCCA time trial in the new england region.
we have a great partnership with raceresult... they primarily deal in running/cycling timing and more recently kart and motorsport. we have been grateful to use their timing systems for our track days and have been for nearly a decade now. the system is comprised of a passive loop (either buried or taped to the track), active transponders and a decoder box. that box connects to an app on the pc either through USB or LAN and reads the chip times into a data file that produces our results. everything we've built has been custom worked for our application. at EOD we massage the results in excel.
we've had some ups and downs. originally we were using motorkart transponders on the old blue box that was powered by USB. the length of the loop was not ideal for the power generated (40% strength due to length). transponders had to be as low as possible for a predicatable repeatable read. the read height was about 12-14 inches. the transponders are glued up so battery replacement isn't ideal. we run 1-3 events a year so they are good for about 3 years before the cr2032 inside runs low ($75 each). we modified a number of these and welded leads to replaceable cr2032 housings and that did work for a bunch of them. when it rains, the tape comes up and we would have to switch to our raceamerica box for the time trial and do some excel trickery to produce the time trial results. we mitigated this by cutting and sealing our own loop at thompson speedway motorsports park in CT.
with the new red box, we can run the existing loop length at 100% power and achieve a clean read at around 3 feet. including the new red transponders we are not expecting any swaps or drops tomorrow.
i'm entirely too excited! my 17 year old daughter is going to work in grid and at EOD i'll be able to do a few laps with her. she is a bit stoked. as the president of the club i take a lot of pride in ensuring our paid competitors get the best experience.
we have a great partnership with raceresult... they primarily deal in running/cycling timing and more recently kart and motorsport. we have been grateful to use their timing systems for our track days and have been for nearly a decade now. the system is comprised of a passive loop (either buried or taped to the track), active transponders and a decoder box. that box connects to an app on the pc either through USB or LAN and reads the chip times into a data file that produces our results. everything we've built has been custom worked for our application. at EOD we massage the results in excel.
we've had some ups and downs. originally we were using motorkart transponders on the old blue box that was powered by USB. the length of the loop was not ideal for the power generated (40% strength due to length). transponders had to be as low as possible for a predicatable repeatable read. the read height was about 12-14 inches. the transponders are glued up so battery replacement isn't ideal. we run 1-3 events a year so they are good for about 3 years before the cr2032 inside runs low ($75 each). we modified a number of these and welded leads to replaceable cr2032 housings and that did work for a bunch of them. when it rains, the tape comes up and we would have to switch to our raceamerica box for the time trial and do some excel trickery to produce the time trial results. we mitigated this by cutting and sealing our own loop at thompson speedway motorsports park in CT.
with the new red box, we can run the existing loop length at 100% power and achieve a clean read at around 3 feet. including the new red transponders we are not expecting any swaps or drops tomorrow.
i'm entirely too excited! my 17 year old daughter is going to work in grid and at EOD i'll be able to do a few laps with her. she is a bit stoked. as the president of the club i take a lot of pride in ensuring our paid competitors get the best experience.
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oh yeah. this is my 2nd term! i was previously membership director for 2 terms.
with this updated RR timing box our event went great. the event stayed on schedule and we switched zero transponders and competitors who ran all the sessions and time trial got 2 hours on track. we did have one small issue with a formula Vee that we setup a new class after start for and their results did not drop properly into the sheets but we were able to get their times manually with an excel export. we will be reporting that bug.
with this updated RR timing box our event went great. the event stayed on schedule and we switched zero transponders and competitors who ran all the sessions and time trial got 2 hours on track. we did have one small issue with a formula Vee that we setup a new class after start for and their results did not drop properly into the sheets but we were able to get their times manually with an excel export. we will be reporting that bug.
i hate that my 380, while much faster and comfortable overall, feels so lifeless compared to my ND. i feel like i got so much more car for half the price (we won't talk about the huge lack of storage lol). it sucks driving both cars on the same day. ive been driving the miata alot more lately.
on another note, my daughter is graduating high school next week! we have a financial advisor lined up too so we can see the numbers to send her to a small tech college about 45 minutes away a few days a week.
once ayla is all set with her license and a car this summer i am going to look at trading in the gti next spring for a used miata club rf. or maybe i will keep the gti too.
on another note, my daughter is graduating high school next week! we have a financial advisor lined up too so we can see the numbers to send her to a small tech college about 45 minutes away a few days a week.
once ayla is all set with her license and a car this summer i am going to look at trading in the gti next spring for a used miata club rf. or maybe i will keep the gti too.
Now that racing has slowed a bit; I had time and picked up a new front lip and was going to get it installed but pulled the lowers off and saw the bumper support was bent and pushed back about 2 inches. Even the horn was bent. I was able to move it back about 1/2 inch or so and bend the horn up so it’s mostly flat underneath now. The wheel well plastic will also need to be replaced. Bumper will have to come off so I can get a bigger pipe wrench or bar on it to bend it back into place.
Yup. I like my cars a little more raw. If I could have the S2000 with the NC Miata power hardtop, that'd be pretty close to ideal.
