[mxpop]

Hey suby-ites,

I had a great day at Horsethief last Sunday. Speedventures put on a great event and we ran CCW on Sunday for the first time. Check out speedventures and come out and support them. they have a great 2007 schedule.

http://www.speedventures.com/HOME.ASP

I had fastest time in the first session (with UTQG 140 street tires and my son as a passenger) and then put on my Hoosier R6 and ran solo for the next session. My best time was a 59.6 which I am told is a record for DOT tires and the only confirmed time below one minute. I even did a 1:00.3 (in traffic) with my son which would have been the fastest time as well. The next closest cars were two Z06's with a lot of track prep and slicks who are the usual front runners that I am always chasing. I beat them by almost a full second.

Of course there were the usual crowd of lotus, M3, , vettes, Porsche turbo, Evo, etc and a bunch of STI. I am happy to say that all of the other STI drivers made a great showing as well.

Click on the following link to see the 2-18-07 Horsethief mile results, Look for me, MXPOP. There were many more participants but this list is just for those that used the event's transponders.

http://www.speedventures.com/event_results.asp

I had the chance to take a few other passengers with me including some guys from Stop-Tech brakes, some instructors, and some other STI drivers. It was a lot of fun to take them and I really appreciate their positive feedbacks, I think they had some fun too...

A few months ago, a video called "on the touge" was filmed at HTM with some of the best tuner cars being driven by a few top Japanese drivers. Granted, they werent familiar with the cars they drove but the fastest car barely got into the 1:02 range. My car was an alternate for that event and I think that I made a good statement for next time. Check out their promo below, I dont know when the video will be available.

http://www.bestmotoringvideo.com/AT3/

A big thanks to everyone for the support and all the good fun! Other than some track days, my next big event will be at Redline's Time Attack at Buttonwillow on April 28. Come out and race or at least support the STI guys.

http://www.redlinetimeattack.com/index-5.html

MXPOP

[mxpop]

12345

[AndrewSS]

Good job, impressive times

[spazegun2213]

nice times!!!

is that your DD or track toy? if its your track toy you should try some wheel-2-wheel in that car

haha, still the times are GREAT and its nice to see an sti beating vettes thats all i really care about

keep up the good work!

[Stizzer]

damn! thats a really fast time!! congrats on that..

spazegun; iirc that is his DD and his track toy.

very impressive

[Stizzer]

oh btw.. Jean, I will see you at the BW event. Will you be running in street class or modified? You should run in modified so I have a chance in placing

[Dos531]

So any tips for that track? I am going on march 3 for the srt track day and it will be my first track day with my car.

[mxpop]

http://jcmotophoto.smugmug.com/galle...130899885-M-LB

This picture of my tire gives me wood!

You guys are really great and supportive, thanks for all the positive feedback!

Yep, it's my DD but is less and less comfy with my race seat and harness bar for the back. I will remove them whenever my next track day is more than a few weeks away. I also turn my shock damping all the way down for the street which helps with teeth rattles.

Sorry Stizzer, I'll be in street AWD class again at Buttonwillow . I know I can beat Robbiesports time from last year so he had better bring his improved "A" game or I'll take him for the overall! (I hope)

DOS531, HTM is great, esp for our cars! I suggest really attacking the turns directly and avoid too much sweeping approaches. Also, try and get out of the turns as straight as poss without taking too long to unwind your steering angle. Take a clean and inside line for the top turns, no point in going a longer distance than needed. The bottom turns can be taken with more traditional lines but dont overcook the entry, that will kill your turn in and ruin your tires. The lower section near the start/finish is the hardest place to make time since our cars dont like long sweepers much. Use clean lines and dont overdrive the front tires, if they are squeeling a lot then you are overdriving them, esp on the sweepers and tight corner entries.

BTW, I really like CCW better than CW but both are fun. Which way are you driving it and with what organization?

.

[Dos531]

I dont really know which direction we are driving it. I am going to the srt trackday http://srtmotorsports.com/srttrackdays/ with my friend who drives an evo. I dont have any experience driving my car on the track but I used to kart a lot, so hopefully some of that skill will translate.

[Granny Shifter]

Yup, any tips? Not sure on the configuration at all, but any proper lines, proper braking spots, etc.? Thanks.

[MaxSTi]

Originally Posted by mxpop

I'll be in street AWD class again at Buttonwillow . I know I can beat Robbiesports time from last year so he had better bring his improved "A" game or I'll take him for the overall! (I hope)
.

Nice times!

What mods are you running, giving you 475 hp, per the SV results posted? And suspension mods?

[Andy STI]

Read his sig he mentions Cusco coilovers.

Nice job at the track. I am getting anxious, I envy you warm weather drivers (30 and freezing rain today ).

[mxpop]

Originally Posted by MaxSTi

Nice times!

What mods are you running, giving you 475 hp, per the SV results posted? And suspension mods?

Thanks, sorry for the slow response.

Actually, I have about 375whp, not 475. Speedventures asks you how much HP you have when you sign up and I said "300+", they must have come up with the 475 which actually may be close to what is at the crank. Who knows... They also ask you about tires and a lot of people on slicks claim to be running race tires and some say street tires when they have "R" tires. None of this is followed up on so .

My suspension mods are Cusco Zero 2R coilovers, COBB sways, Perrin ALK, stiffer bushings all around, Whiteline chassis bolts, Cusco strut bars, and a good alignment. I have about $3k in my suspension alone. That seems like a lot of $ but many people I race against have $10k-$15k in their suspension alone with Motons, Penskes, or Ohlins etc and major linkage mods, set up, testing, etc. I am planning to get rear lateral links soon, along with doing a corner balance, but that will be about all I am willing to do. There is not much I can do to make my car much faster without spending a lot more $. I think wider wheels/tires (widebody), getting a lot lighter, and significantly more power is what it will take (as always...).

I think that I will dedicate my car to the track starting next winter and I'll start by removing as much weight as possible. I noticed that I add between 1-2 seconds per lap on average when carrying a 150-200 lbs passenger. By that method, I should be able to lose about 500 lbs which should net me somewhere between 2-4 seconds per lap (or more) without any other changes. Getting lighter is the cheapest way to go faster up until you start using exotic material like CF or Ti. Without any other changes, that should let me start knocking on the door of some of the fastest AWD time attack cars around. Give me some more rubber and just a bit more power and I think I'll be there. We'll see!

[MaxSTi]

Originally Posted by mxpop

Thanks, sorry for the slow response.

Actually, I have about 375whp, not 475. Speedventures asks you how much HP you have when you sign up and I said "300+", they must have come up with the 475 which actually may be close to what is at the crank. Who knows... They also ask you about tires and a lot of people on slicks claim to be running race tires and some say street tires when they have "R" tires. None of this is followed up on so .

My suspension mods are Cusco Zero 2R coilovers, COBB sways, Perrin ALK, stiffer bushings all around, Whiteline chassis bolts, Cusco strut bars, and a good alignment. I have about $3k in my suspension alone. That seems like a lot of $ but many people I race against have $10k-$15k in their suspension alone with Motons, Penskes, or Ohlins etc and major linkage mods, set up, testing, etc. I am planning to get rear lateral links soon, along with doing a corner balance, but that will be about all I am willing to do. There is not much I can do to make my car much faster without spending a lot more $. I think wider wheels/tires (widebody), getting a lot lighter, and significantly more power is what it will take (as always...).

I think that I will dedicate my car to the track starting next winter and I'll start by removing as much weight as possible. I noticed that I add between 1-2 seconds per lap on average when carrying a 150-200 lbs passenger. By that method, I should be able to lose about 500 lbs which should net me somewhere between 2-4 seconds per lap (or more) without any other changes. Getting lighter is the cheapest way to go faster up until you start using exotic material like CF or Ti. Without any other changes, that should let me start knocking on the door of some of the fastest AWD time attack cars around. Give me some more rubber and just a bit more power and I think I'll be there. We'll see!

Thank you. Great that you mentioned (put priority on) suspension upgrades. This is the route I'm going before anything else (oh, tires also, of course). Esp. when our STIs need understeer cure badly! Safety is next (love my Autopower 4-pt rollbar!). I'm keeping my motor/ECU stock for now, just trying to optimize my driving. I run RA1s with lots of front camber. Like you said, STIs like straighter lines through turns to maximize exit speeds more than carrying speeds through the turns in most cases.

Keep up the good work putting that STI on top of the charts.

[Dos531]

Hey mxpop I am getting a set of cusco zero2r and I was wondering if you have any tips for setting them up? I will be running them with the other suspension mods listed in my sig.