SCCAForums.com

Annnd there you have it. Sticker Hoosiers seem to make a huge difference into how fast the ITR is. Funny how that works. Chris and I are gonna have to step up our game this year. I've got to figure out how to do those spin or win runs (but keep it clean ). I'm getting slightly annoyed at coming in with a fast time and honestly having no idea how I managed it. I will say that adding the extra HP and big change in throttle response has given both of us some things to work on with controlling that right foot. The car doesn't drive like a big, fat Miata anymore.

solo-x:

Rodney, those tires I bought off of you? Yeah, finally threw them away. I put 30 runs on them. Good till the last drop!

i will have another set after friday... want them?

Rodney:

solo-x:

Rodney, those tires I bought off of you? Yeah, finally threw them away. I put 30 runs on them. Good till the last drop!

 

i will have another set after friday... want them?

Nah, over the next couple of months I may be the one offering 30-40 run tires up for sale. The set we're on right now are coming off to make way for fresh rubber to run at the Devens tour. We'll run that set at the DC Pro. Then fresh rubber for the Toledo Pro which will probably be run at the FL Pro as well. Then fresh rubber for Nationals. Of course, this is assuming that the weird tire wear issue has truly been resolved with the corrected tire pressures. After what I learned using a probe type pyrometer this weekend, I need to recant on my previous comments regarding a pyrometer. Maybe not a tool to use for fine tuning things, but can help you figure out if your WAY off on something!

Yeah, go figure, fresh rubber sticks way better then year old, slightly corded, flipped, "done" tires. You and Chris will be on fresh rubber for the Tour right? So that'll be the real telling tale. If old Hoosiers are .5 quicker, then I still have a bit of work ahead of me!

Mike Shields:

Not sure yet. Are < 12 run Nats tires stored in bags over the winter new enough to match fresh rubber? What I have on the car is now up to over 60 runs. They're fine for local events, and I wish I had a second set of wheels so I didn't have tire mounting costs to swap around.

You and me both. Of course, a second set of fronts for me is much cheaper then a full set of wheels for your car.

*edit* According to Hoosier, the A6's performance isn't supposed to fall off very fast unless your car happens to abuse tires or you under inflate them. Performance should stabilize after the first couple of runs. To hell if I know though, I'm a n00b when it comes to real tires.

solo-x:

Performance should stabilize after the first couple of runs. To hell if I know though, I'm a n00b when it comes to real tires.

imho, the a6's are fast out of the box. i do one easy run on them then store them. next time out, they are perfect immediately.  

solo-x:

We still weren't happy with the balance of the car, but suspected tire pressure might have been a contributing factor. When we first started running the car we found that the front tires were wearing oddly. Suspecting that we were low on tire pressure we raised the front pressures. We didn't really check them after that when we were on the test course, assuming that they had stabilized. They hadn't, and actually grew a couple of pounds more. So Sunday we started out with the car the way it was on Saturday, just with a closer eye on the tire pressures.

What kind of tire pressures are you running in the front and rear now? 

Mike Shields:

I think I'm going to have to consider the source for this info when making a decision

Well, if you're gonna use those 12 run tires, now would be the time to do it!

A little update. I'm currently investigating options on freshening up the motor. I bought the car knowing it used a touch of oil. Turns out, when you start auto crossing it again, it uses a bit more then a touch. I'm up to 3/4qrt of oil for a 10 run event. Including driving too and from the event I've been using 1/2 to 1qrt of oil every weekend. The car hasn't gotten bad enough to smoke at idle, but it isn't far from it. It now smokes on acceleration and smokes heavily on decel. I'm planning on a poor man's rebuild, reringing the motor in the car to hold me over until winter when I have time to yank it and freshen it up for real. Looking into getting the head done while its all apart, but the guy to do that kinda work up here is on vacation this week and has a back log of work because of it. So, that isn't looking good. Getting the oil usage under control should still be worth a handful of ponies at any rate, plus I won't be embarassed by my misquito killer anymore.

Second update, the car has eaten its first axle. I'm lucky that I found it though as it wasn't an outer joint that I routinely inspect. It was the inner joint/bearing on the driver's side. I happened on it while chasing the source of a different noise from the front end. Quite odd for the inner to fail, though it looks like at some point someone pulled the outer half shaft away from the inner, so that may have damaged things. I haven't lunched an outer joint yet, but I'm starting to increase my search for good used axles to bring as spares.

Devens tour next. A new set of fronts going on the car. Hoping to keep the BMW guys honest and claw my way onto the podium while declaring jihad on the Devens misquito and black fly populace.

solo-x:

A little update. I'm currently investigating options on freshening up the motor. I bought the car knowing it used a touch of oil. Turns out, when you start auto crossing it again, it uses a bit more then a touch. I'm up to 3/4qrt of oil for a 10 run event. Including driving too and from the event I've been using 1/2 to 1qrt of oil every weekend. The car hasn't gotten bad enough to smoke at idle, but it isn't far from it. It now smokes on acceleration and smokes heavily on decel. I'm planning on a poor man's rebuild, reringing the motor in the car to hold me over until winter when I have time to yank it and freshen it up for real. Looking into getting the head done while its all apart, but the guy to do that kinda work up here is on vacation this week and has a back log of work because of it. So, that isn't looking good. Getting the oil usage under control should still be worth a handful of ponies at any rate, plus I won't be embarassed by my misquito killer anymore.

 Something is definitely wrong when you consume more oil per mile than a boosted 240sx with an exhaust drawn evac system.....   The good news is you DO know where to find an ITR motor that isn't smoking

Oh please Nate, you don't know nothing about mosquito control - yer an amateur !

20 ESP, DSM smoke bomb 

solo-x:

A little update. I'm currently investigating options on freshening up the motor. I bought the car knowing it used a touch of oil. Turns out, when you start auto crossing it again, it uses a bit more then a touch. I'm up to 3/4qrt of oil for a 10 run event. Including driving too and from the event I've been using 1/2 to 1qrt of oil every weekend. The car hasn't gotten bad enough to smoke at idle, but it isn't far from it. It now smokes on acceleration and smokes heavily on decel. I'm planning on a poor man's rebuild, reringing the motor in the car to hold me over until winter when I have time to yank it and freshen it up for real. Looking into getting the head done while its all apart, but the guy to do that kinda work up here is on vacation this week and has a back log of work because of it. So, that isn't looking good. Getting the oil usage under control should still be worth a handful of ponies at any rate, plus I won't be embarassed by my misquito killer anymore.

Second update, the car has eaten its first axle. I'm lucky that I found it though as it wasn't an outer joint that I routinely inspect. It was the inner joint/bearing on the driver's side. I happened on it while chasing the source of a different noise from the front end. Quite odd for the inner to fail, though it looks like at some point someone pulled the outer half shaft away from the inner, so that may have damaged things. I haven't lunched an outer joint yet, but I'm starting to increase my search for good used axles to bring as spares.

Devens tour next. A new set of fronts going on the car. Hoping to keep the BMW guys honest and claw my way onto the podium while declaring jihad on the Devens misquito and black fly populace.

Double post removed

Charles,

Seriously, Nate is right up there with you. That is not a healthy engine.

Mike Shields:

So not for Devens, but in between any other of the upcoming events?

That was for after Devens and before DC. All the other events have shorter time frames because of the extra travel time. I can drop FL Pro, but I think I'll need the points. Plus I'd rather drive it then work on it, so if the oil tips Rodney gave me work and cut the oil usage to a manageable level I'll just drive the effin thing. Still has a bunch of other things that could be done to get more power on the engine I currently have and I've yet to drive it to its fullest.

Charles, this thing makes DSM's proud.