Given my time constraints I may be looking for somone to haul my FP class Boxster from Santa Cruz down and back to/from San Diego in April. Car would need to be to SD for tech inspection which I believe starts on Friday or worse case guess it could go for late tech Sat morn.


Two ways of doing this.

1. Offer a free co-drive seat and all driving expenses paid by me using my truck/towing rig to person willing to drive truck and rig down and back from my place. Ideally you would have decent level of AX experience and are all signed up with SCCA.

Or if youre not interested in driving and want to make money I pay to have you hual the car down hang out and help with car and then haul the car back.

If you have interest in either senario send me a PM.

Schedule

2010 San Diego National Tour
Date: April 10 — 11, 2010
Event start time: 8:00 am
Location: Qualcomm Stadium

Test and tune and registration is on Friday


http://scca.com/documents/Solo_Forms/Tour%20Schedule.pdf

Side note. If any of the Porsche suppliers here want to have a decal on my car I'd be happy to apply something to the car. Should get some good photo coverage.

2010 San Diego National Tour
Date: April 10 — 11, 2010
Event start time: 8:00 am
Location: Qualcomm Stadium

Test and tune and registration is on Friday

Would be great fun! And we could go after Brit again with a car that has a little more of a chance. Car is still a bit of an underdog due to higher weight and lower HP from top of the class cars but it wont be a slouch if well driven.

Still have some time to try to get it down to 1900 lb class weight min. Think I can get it to 2000 lbs. Beyond that its going to be tough going.

I also need to find somone who can reflash my ECU to allow higher redline.

To this point I'm just registered. Would plan to stay somewhere close by Qualcomm. Ideally would be there early enough on Friday to Tech and do test and tune, but I'm flexible.

I would fly in Friday afternoon and take a taxi to Qualcomm. Then would plan to fly back. Would be great if person going down with truck and car could get car tech'd and even possibly do test and tune without me.

Modified form could be I drive back Sunday - that would be push but I'd be up for driving back. I just cant leave on Thursday to be there with car Friday morning.

No sweat regardless as worse worst case I would drive down Friday and drive back Sunday and just be wiped out at work on Monday. Just thought it would be fun to share experience with someone who would enjoy going to one of the few National class events on the West Coast.

Do it, Dan. Every autocrosser should take in at least one large SCCA ax. They are....... a happening. Slid back to the 60s for that term......

Start working on your first 3 now.

Grant, why would you go all that way to do an AX when you can do an LPR AX on Sunday 4/11 at Marina??? Are you looking for a re-match with Brit?

Not that I'm aware of. I have attended 3 over years but I dont see anything that says you need to attend 3.

No,no, I mean you only get 3 runs each day, the best of which is your time for that day. Add the best time of the 2 days for your total time. Going out quick takes some doing and the courses are usually large... in the 50-60 second range.....not to tight, not too fast, but sometimes tricky as to best line. The guys at NTs are generally quite good at this.

Not sure what you guys are used to but Qualcomm is quite a rough place so I would take that into consideration as far as car set up. Just thought I would throw that out there. It also is very tough on tires, compared to El Toro. I plan on going down on Sunday so I can see PB and the Sh$t Box in person.

I traditionally run fairly soft sprung cars as I do hillclimbs. Bumpy roads and extreme uphill gradients dont lend themselves to high spring rates so Phat B should be OK.

Qualcomm is a bit bumpy in a couple spots and there is a lot of elevation change for an AX site. We've found the exact opposite tirewear wise. Qualcomm is the easiest site we run at for tires, then AAA Speedway, and then El Toro.

I may skip the Barber Grand-Am event.. I'll know this weekend. If I do.. then I'd be willing to come up and get the car Grant.. then install all the suspension stuff I talked about (phone conversation) Pick it up early by a few days and test on WSIR Skid pad.. or have Dan show up a day early with it at my shop do the install and have Dan test it.


B

I'm all over that if it works out! Can we change spring rates at that time too? Dont want to go too crazy but I was thinking car should at minimum have springs that arent designed for street driving - I'm not sure progressive springs in front are best setup!

No problem Dan. I have a couple people interested. I just prefer to offer ride to people I know. I hear Carl in So Cal is fast. Anyone know if he would be intersted in co-driving a zoomy Boxster.

I am sure he would be if he already doesn't have a ride. I can PM you his email if you like.

He co-drove my 914 a couple times and it worked out well.

Evan youre welcome to drive the car as well. My seat is on sliders and wheel can be moved so car can be setup for different size drivers. Let me know if you are interested. I'm not precluding you and I hear you are fast too - I just hear Carl has Boxster expereince. However I have to say this boxster handles closer to a 914 than a traditional Boxster.

Carl will have a car of his own. Promise.

I can change the spring rates. Just have to decide what rates we want. I have a spring tester (digital) and a shock dyno at the shop. Springs are easy to come by. I can test the current springs and make an educated decision. I'd probably fly up and drive back.. then fly back. Southwest flights are cheap.. and my time is more valuable now-a-days.



B

Carl is wicked fast in his Boxster but he was over a second slower in my 914 than my self (seemed to have a hard time adjusting to a non ABS, non traction control car). Since then though, he has gotten quite a bit of experience driving Rad's Ferrari as he co-drove it with Rad at Nationals last year. Carl owns CamFx the in car camera company (as well as a couple others) so if you wanted to use his sweet 3 camera set up as seen here with Carl driving my 914 at the Q http://www.vimeo.com/5661271 he certainly has that, plus he is a super nice guy, to offer.

I would love to have the opportunity to drive your car, my experience is limited however to driving Rad's Caymen S at one event, driving my 993 at one event, and 3 years of autocrossing my 914 and my dad's 911 (roughly 40 events). I am a PCA AX instructor, and did win our regions version of PAX this last year so I am not exactly slow but I wouldn't say I am national champion material quite yet. I do seem to be quite good at putting heat into tires though . I have a single camera in car system that we could use for comparison/ run review which I think is helpful in a 3 run format situation as the course always looks different at speed than during the course walk.

Let me know if you would like some more references for my driving or feel free to talk to Brad as he and I have spent a bit of time together and he has a bit of first hand experience with my driving. I also have a quite open/flexible schedule so can probably rearrange my schedule to aid in any car setup/ transport/ whatever needs.

-Evan

Id pay for your flight up. I can drive back after Sunday. Let me know when you can pickup the car if you can do this.

I'll know by Wed. this week. I leave tomorrow for Homestead/Miami Grand Am event.



B

Grant now has a co-driver Now lets hope I can see over the windscreen It should work as I am all torso, my head rubs on the roof in the back seat of a e36 coupe. If my legs matched I would be over 6'.

I'll have a back up plan for you (Evan) I may get the car down as early as possible and "fit" you for it up at the shop. This way you can test drive it also and not show up COLD to the event. You can also help with the suspension mods..

Today I received a phone call from a competitor asking me not to help Grant out before this event..



B

Should be great fun Evan! I wanted a 914 driver to share the car so this is perfect. I honestly dont think you will have issues. Seat can slide up and I'm thinking of cutting the part of the wind screen that comes up and replacing with plexi.

Now I need to get the car down to Brad for weight reduction and suspension work!

I have a few HP tricks up my sleeve also


Funny.. that competitor is calling me now..


B

I have learned a lot about the little 2.5 engines. Cam timing is HUGE. Porsche gives you +/- 7 degrees of play. The engines produce more torque at one end of that range and I know what end that is



B

LOL! Come on I'm not that good! I need I'll the help I can get just to not get creamed by the fast FP cars and drivers.

Grant,

when were the wheel bearings done last? Are you willing to really go that extra step? If I had wheel bearings that produced 3-4 mph at the end of every straight and they where say.. $200 a piece versus $52 stock.. would you go for it? They require a little more maintenance. Less rolling resistance.



B

I am very much looking forward to it and it should be a blast. I think we have Brad's interest in PB doing well so I am sure that he will work some magic on the car.

I have the 18th to the 28th of this month off of school if there is anything that I can do to help get the car ready.

Yeah.. depending on Grants schedule.. fly up from John Wayne and bring the truck/trailer down!! The sooner I get it the sooner I can get started. I fly out to NJ on March 12th and return the 16th.



B

Grant,

I "made" Evan learn truck/trailer pulling



B

II'm game but $800 for wheeel bearings? Just as important is figuring out how to get 68 to 70 in second gear. Can we get 8000 rpm out of the boxster motor for the occasional fast sections? Need to figure that out if we are going to have a chance. Will fenders be available prior to this event? We do need to get car to 1900 lbs .

I'm headed out of the country this weekend. I need truck but if there is spare truck to Haul car down to you it coulld go now.

Ya in Brad's truck that had at least one entirely missing shock and the others that may still have been attached but not necessarily doing anything . When I towed the 993 up from San Diego, I could not get over how much better the 3k mile old Chevy UHaul truck pulled a trailer. It was like driving a normal truck, not one that was a bit... more driver involving

what do you want for a truck that has 240k on it I rebuilt the front end back in Jan. and put 4 new tires on it.



B

HUm.. maybe we break out the 18 wheeler for this event



B

Grant,

the later 2.7 tranny has taller gearing.. and I happen to have one.. It is the same tranny Carl runs. and your LSD slides right in.




B

If that doesn't intimidate the competition, I am not sure what would. Can you even get a semi in to the gate at the Q?
We would have plenty of room for Grant's new "Honda"

Of course you can.. how do you think the Charger games are broadcast? NFL 18 wheelers.



B

Youz guys know it wasn't me. I would urge all my competitors to have Brad help them.

While you're at it, why don't ya just stick a hot 3.2 in it and ballast up the front end like Brit is doing. You'll get better grip up front and better accel on the straights. You can save $800 on wheel bearings!

I have a 3.2, 3.4, and 3.6 that we can install


B

Man, if the competitor is in FP they're running the WRONG class, considering John Thomas (13 time National Champion) is the current FP National champ and has the most Solo National Championships of anyone ever. If you're in FP you need to be interested in running against Prepared's best. Same reason we chose to run PAX against (2009 SCCA Driver of Eminance) Tom Berry, Bill Schenker, Mike Simanyi, etc locally, Running against the best is how you up your game, it's also the way to make sure you haven't won an event in a year and a half. Haha.

The Boxster and the Evo should be the cars for the class, boxter on the light end and evo on the heavy. The car should do fine ;). Toby has been talking about building one for about a year.

I was running against the "Rocket Man" in a 240Z 20 years ago.. sad to hear that it still wins..



B

Aaron these guys are showing up just to see how they fair against some of the best


B

Thats my line of thinking. I dont care how I place ultimately and I always want to be running with top notch cars and drivers. I want to be running with the best so I can learn. Vic asked me this past weekend if I minded him running in XP class or did I want points? First off thats very classy on Vics part to ask but secondly I absolutely wanted him to run XP - I'm pretty sure just knowledge of him being in my class pulled me past the fast EVO that usually gets me in XP class locally. I'd rather get blown out by 4 seconds by great competition than to know I have signficant advantage over my competiton becuase my car is so much faster. I have encountered this before when people contact Brad to ask him not to help me on my 914. Now the Boxster? Frankly I just think its sort of weird. But I have learned that while I am focused on self improvement a few people are a little more focused on being crowned champion. Thats OK its just not my gig with AX.

I want to go to my first NT event just to have expereince of seeing top cometitors drive and to see how I do.

Here is my vision for the Boxster as a competitive FP car.

Stay with 2.5 liter motor to allow car to run at 1900 lb minimum. Pump up motor to 250 HP with headwork, increased compression and ECU tuning. Build motor to spin up to 8000 RPM. Keep 2.5 second gear. Get real suspension under the car with proper spring rates for AX. I think I have almost everything else covered in current build.

If I go with bigger motor the car will get heavier. Dont want to go there. I'm a lightweight car guy. I appreciate that I could probably drive a HP car faster but light cars challenge me. You have to be much more precise with light car to assure you keep momentum up.

Having driven HP car with AWD I can make stupid mistakes and cover those up easly with HP. Much more difficutl to drive a momentum car fast but when you do its very rewarding! I think well prepared FP EVO would be easier car to drive fast on most courses.

I just took another look at the SCCA rules for FP. I was confused and thinking about the XP formula for wt/dislplacement. The XP rules reward displacement with a little less wt. whereas the FP rules are linear (.75#/cc). I just think that you are getting into the 914 issue of easy to remove wt up front and difficult at the rear. Not knowing your corner wts, I would think that you might want to concentrate on removing wt from the rear or pick an engine size that lets you set up a car with near 50-50 wt distribution and meet min wt specs easily.


Maybe someone can explain it to me, but what I'm experiencing is that the front of my 914 is too light and I can't get any temp and get a fair amount of understeer. The only time the car felt like it was working well was a day when temps were over 100F. I couldn't bring myself to add ballast up front, but now I want to try it. I think the extra wt and tire temp up front would more than offset the loss in accel on the straights.

I still have ton of weight that can come from the rear. You saw how stout that rear quarter panel was compared to the front when we tried baseball bat on it. Still have stuff bolted to motor that can come off too. Lots of metal structure in the rear for crash protection. Current corner weights are still OK

I'd rather go approach of going under 1900 lbs and then ballast. Hill climb class I'm running doesnt have much of a weight minimum. And if I do PCA stuff they reward aggressive weight removal with lack of points. I could get car down to 1800 lbs and then have 260 HP it could be competivve for ax and hillclimbing.

But who knows I may go route of a 2.9 liter motor. I just dont want to go over 3 liters. If I do then I have to go at least 3.4 or 3.6 to be competitive in classes. A high displacement and heavy Boxster in FP would be eaten alive by 2500 lb Evos. Need the weight advantage.

And you know I have to read the rules - I just know weights but I'm clueless about what FP allows and doesnt allow. Need to make sure I'm class legal. LOL!

Interesting......so what/which are the fastest door slammers-semi street type cars? How much do they weigh?
If you can finger that out, it'll give you a clue as which direction lays truth.

As for weight distribution, what is the rough distribution of purpose built race cars?.....discounting aero for a bit.

Emod? I'd guess as long as you still consider those street type cars.. yikes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBVVssJwx2Y

Hey Grant, another great reason to have the car there friday is so that when you're don teching the car you can weight it on the scca scales that you'll be weight on during the event. At least you have time to add some ballast at that point if you're gunna be close.