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Title says it all. They've got the north end of the lot blocked off - any idea what is going on?

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Nick Jackson
04 S2000 - BHP Brakes
71 240z w/some stuff

They are having a "tire evaluation" event. Drive this car with crap tires then drive another with Yoks. It was an invitation to secret squirrel club members kind of thing. Lots of BMW and Porsche club individuals got an invite. Gutter drivers did not get asked, especially the King!

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SLUF

Yup found this after a quick search on google:

 

 

I received the following invite from Colby McGehee at Yokohama Tires. He wants to invite PCA club members to the following event at the Family Arena in St. Charles. He also invited the BMW club.

We are hosting a Ride and Drive at Family Arena on May 7-9 for our local tire dealers in the St. Louis market. We would like to invite members of the STL BMWCCA [and STL PCA] to attend the event. The Yokohama Ride and Drive program has been in existence for over 15 years and is designed for our tire dealers to learn about our products through a tire tech session followed by a tire testing program. We have found this to be an extremely successful program that allows the tire dealer to experience the handling capabilities of the tires first hand. This where the rubber meets the road.

We have 2 semis that travel the country carrying our (5) Mazda RX-8 along with our supplies for the event. ... You get to burn up our tires and gas and have fun competing against your fellow members. We set up a 60 second non-looped road course outlined by orange cones in the parking lot. On event day we run 2 sessions, one from 8 am - 12 pm then another group from 1 pm - 5pm. I will need 5 members per session to attend. There will be around 25-30 employees from our local tire dealers also participating in each session. Everyone who participates in the event will sign a waiver, after everyone has signed in we will give a 45 minute tire tech session about the 5 tires they will be testing. We also go over driver safety such as seatbelts, braking and acceleration, eyes on the track, and seat adjustments. We also go over the course layout, starting points and finish points, course safety, and driver rotation. The driving portion is about 2 hours long. At the end of the driving portion we recap about the products we tested and thank the participants for participating in our event by giving away hats and t shirts.

Each participant will start in our touring tire car and progress through the tire line until you reach the ultra high performance tire. Each car is timed through the course to demonstrate to the driver the increased handling capabilities of each tire. It is our way of educating the participant that there is a major difference in rubber compounds and tire designs. That tires are more than round, black, and hold air...that tires are the most important safety and performance feature on your car.

If you have any questions about the event feel free to contact me.


Colby McGehee
Yokohama Tire Corporation
Performance Marketing Specialist
601 S. Acacia Ave
Fullerton, CA 92831
(714) 269-4547 office
colby.mcgehee@yokohamatire.com

 

Bill Schnardhorst - might be worth it to send this Colby an email and find out some details about how much they are renting the lot for and who they talked to. And maybe put a word in about us being disappointed that we were not notified of their presence. If you want I might just send him an email anyway as a rep of the STL SCCA Solo group. Actually - I'm going to stop by at lunch and talk to them and see whats up if the rain stops.

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Nick Jackson
04 S2000 - BHP Brakes
71 240z w/some stuff

SerNick:

We set up a 60 second non-looped road course outlined by orange cones in the parking lot.

Wha?  So the group in St. Louis that's actually dedicated to doing that exact thing isn't invited because we don't have BMW's and Porsche's?  Shenanigans.

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#12 STS 2007 Scion tC
#24 ITS/DSP 1991 Nissan 240SX

SerNick:

. And maybe put a word in about us being disappointed that we were not notified of their presence. If you want I might just send him an email anyway as a rep of the STL SCCA Solo group. Actually - I'm going to stop by at lunch and talk to them and see whats up if the rain stops.

\

Yeah, especially since I am about to lay out $325 each for some Yoko Advan Neova's for the Shelby and maybe the Vette too.  The world does not revolve around Porsche and BMW.  However, when I owned a Porsche, I thought it did.  So, I ain't mad at ya'.  Can't imagine too many Shelby drivers are flocking to buy Yoko's. 

 

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Dr. Kyle Langley
'07 Shelby GT #5 FS

SerNick:

Bill Schnardhorst - might be worth it to send this Colby an email and find out some details about how much they are renting the lot for and who they talked to. And maybe put a word in about us being disappointed that we were not notified of their presence. If you want I might just send him an email anyway as a rep of the STL SCCA Solo group. Actually - I'm going to stop by at lunch and talk to them and see whats up if the rain stops.

I bet they pay FULL Price to rent the arena - just like the circus or a concert pays.  The problem we have is that we can't afford FULL facility rental and they can't schdule us on the lot and then get a chance to rent the entire faclity while we are there. (Most events need ALL the parking lot to park attendees)  So they will rent to us for an amound we might be able to pay but they won't/can't confirm it until a week or 2 before the date.  They are a business and must watch the bottom line.  I bet if we went there and asked for May 18 we could get it.  But a few years ago we tried to run our solo schedule as we progressed thru the season and didn't have a calendar settled at all as we tried to wait for other venues to decide if we could get the lot.  (Can you hear Hammond yelling about that type of schedule - hahaha).  Anyway, IMO that type of schedule hurt our attendance.  No one could plan ahead at all (and see what out of town events they could go to and avoid our events - hahaha Chris!).

GIR will give us dates earlier and they is usually no conflict as the season progresses.  Last time I go tthe lot for the JDRF Chairity - I got them to give it to us with 25 days notice.  Also I would think that we would have to present a noise control program to them to use it.  (Kansas City has to do this to use Arrowhead). 

I think we need another venue just in case - we talk all the time about it, but I think Verizon in Riverport and Family Arena aren't going to work. I don;t know of anything else in St. Louis.   Anyone know anything in Illinois?   

 

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Janice Rick

www.soloperformance.com
We offer the autocross, track day, road racing, rally and rallycross products you need at the best prices on the internet.
SCCA Logo Merchandise now at
www.sccagear.com

Doctor_Fun:

 

Yeah, especially since I am about to lay out $325 each for some Yoko Advan Neova's for the Shelby and maybe the Vette too.  The world does not revolve around Porsche and BMW.  However, when I owned a Porsche, I thought it did.  So, I ain't mad at ya'.  Can't imagine too many Shelby drivers are flocking to buy Yoko's. 

 Write a letter QUICK, Kyle and tell them! I wrote one and told them of the 600+ StL SCCA Members.

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Janice Rick

www.soloperformance.com
We offer the autocross, track day, road racing, rally and rallycross products you need at the best prices on the internet.
SCCA Logo Merchandise now at
www.sccagear.com

Several years ago Mercedes held a test drive and ride along event at Family.  The grapevine said they were paying $20,000 per day.

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2002 Mercedes C230k, retired, 2005 Nationals STU DFL

1969 Beach Solo Vee and 1985 Lynx B Solo Vee

Short story: Stopped down at lunch and started asking questions. Like it was said above, the setup is for their dealers in the area. Emphasis is just placed on having fun and getting to limits of the car in a controlled manner. They ask a few groups if anyone wants to come join because they typically have 5 open slots for each session. He even asked me if I wanted to stay and play for the afternoon (sadly I had to come back to work). They can't really advertise to a group like the SCCA with 600 members because the next thing you know you end up with 50 people trying to fight for 5 spots a session. Well that and he's just following the marketing goal of their tires. They really aren't meant to be a "racing" tire here in the US - they are told from above that they are to market to a high end luxury sports car group.

 

The instructors are just Joe Schmoe's who work in marketing and sales for Yoko. No real expert drivers or anything. Emphasis is placed more on fun like I said above.

 

 

Anyway - I'd be willing to bet if you showed up tomorrow they might let you play. Also look for the Neova to be offered in 15" and 16" sizes starting in '09 

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Nick Jackson
04 S2000 - BHP Brakes
71 240z w/some stuff

Nick also got info and maybe we can use Family Arena. Nick has offered to take the lead on trying to pursue the use of Family Arena for events!  That lot is HUGE! Way to go Nick. 

 

 

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Janice Rick

www.soloperformance.com
We offer the autocross, track day, road racing, rally and rallycross products you need at the best prices on the internet.
SCCA Logo Merchandise now at
www.sccagear.com

The course backgrounds are on file and the team is ready for an Event @ Family Arena!

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Bryan S.
Autocross semi-sabbitical 2008
Thanks Jan for the 06, 07 Mini co-drive
'91 Miata (STS2 for 09?)
Course Chief
Novice Autocross School Chairman
Support my MS 150 Bike Ride: bikemos.nationalmssociety.org

I guess I'll have to buy some tear-offs if we get back there.

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2002 Mercedes C230k, retired, 2005 Nationals STU DFL

1969 Beach Solo Vee and 1985 Lynx B Solo Vee

A little birdy told me that there's another event like this by Hankook in the area next weekend.  I never heard whether it was confirmed or where and, sadly, was not invited to that one either.    Where's all these perks they promised for being RE, hmmm?

RX555:

A little birdy told me that there's another event like this by Hankook in the area next weekend.  I never heard whether it was confirmed or where and, sadly, was not invited to that one either.    Where's all these perks they promised for being RE, hmmm?

Maybe you could contact them?

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Janice Rick

www.soloperformance.com
We offer the autocross, track day, road racing, rally and rallycross products you need at the best prices on the internet.
SCCA Logo Merchandise now at
www.sccagear.com

RX555:

A little birdy told me that there's another event like this by Hankook in the area next weekend.  I never heard whether it was confirmed or where and, sadly, was not invited to that one either.    Where's all these perks they promised for being RE, hmmm?

I had understood the Hankook ride-and-drive had been done already.  I don't understand the reference to Porsche and BMW, they're using RX-8's at the Yokohama ride-and-drive going on now.

H's & K's,
Rick Ruth

Well it was a somewhat interesting and informative morning. It would have been a lot more fun had it been dry. Two of the tire models being "tested" were obviously traction impared by tread depth and the heavy rain and standing water that occured at just the wrong time, making true comparisons dubious at best. The 5 RX-8s were automatics and we were required to keep them in "full auto mode", which meant they shifted when THEY wanted to. I had a hard time anticipating that and keeping them hooked up because of it.

Each of the 5 cars was equiped with a different model of Yokohamas for comparison (again difficult). The RX-8s were supplied by Mazda for this program. The BMW Club may have been at the forfront possibly because their HPDE Event in June is also being sponsored by Yokohama and many Porsche Club members are "duals" as well. As indicated earlier, had they contacted SCCA they probably would have had a few HUNDRED willing participants, and BMWs and Porsches are directly in their market targeting. My favorites, in that weather - with those tread depths, was the   "AVID V4s"   and the   "S.drive"  . Did I say I wish it were dry? I would be interested in hearing from someone who was there this afternoon. Kieth Emery was rumored to be coming then.

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Mike Byington
28 Year Member
Solo, Rally, Rallycross,
National Flag & Comm,
"Drivers have races. Workers have enduros."