October 20, 2009

2010 Renegade Miata Dates

The dates for next year's events were posted on Renegade Miata! I'll be updating my Google calendar later on with these dates, as well as doing my annual calendar post that has a list of many different clubs and car show events. Here they are for now

April 10th - Saturday
May 29th - Saturday
June 20th - Sunday
July 31st -
Saturday
August 21st - Saturday
September 11th - Saturday
October 16th - Saturday
October 23rd - Saturday

October 17, 2009

Renegade Miata Final Event!

Well, this is it everyone! The last Renegade Miata event for the season. A lot has happened this year, and I would have to say it's been a great roller coaster ride. I've learned a lot from my peers at Autocross, learned a lot from codriving with a few different people this year, and have definitely grown a lot with my car. It's too bad that it has to end, but with how cold it is getting in New England (was in low 30's this morning, highs of low 40's) there is just no way we could continue to race.
Today's course was unfortunately a crossover course due to the low amount of people registered. A crossover course is where you go up the runway, and turn around at the end and go backwards a bit, go up the other runway, turn around, and then cross the finish line. Very challenging to a variety of skilled drivers from new to old. If you remember from last year, my very first autocross was a crossover, so this brought back some bad memories for sure.
Big ups to Bob as I got to codrive with him today, and we got to use his 285 sized Hoosier A6 R compounds on my car, wrapped around some nice looking black Konigs (factory wheel spec as he is in B Stock). I was surprised how well it looked on my car with that offset and a black wheel, but I think I'll stick to my silver wheels for now! Today was really a bad luck day for me, both on and off the course! The car's power steering began to give out on me on my first run, but then came back for the rest of the day until the very end of the night when I was ready to leave. Ran out of oil (luckily I remembered my usual extra container of oil), ran out of gas near the end, lost a piece of the splash shield/oil cooler covering on the course and managed to run it over, and went off course almost every run. Not sure if I even managed to secure 2nd place due to all that, but hopefully I got something!

This race taught me a lot, and I already can't wait for next year to apply what I've learned. The settings I should be running, what to work on for driving, take some Autocross Evolution schools, and maybe even a 3rd club for more seat time. I'll be updating this post with results when they come out, for now enjoy the pictures and keep checking back as I'll be updating not as often, but probably getting back into media reviews and other neat things. I have some body work project planned around December while she sleeps, maybe another mod, so stay tuned!


UPDATE: Results are posted! Great job Bob for getting 1st for the year! Good job Kevin and Bill! Looks like I secured 4th, so maybe next year I'll be able to secure a higher position. (As I've said before, my wheels look great on anything, even Bob's truck!)
(Big ups to Bruce for letting me try out his car on fun runs! Car is just as fun as it looks! Rocked a 1'26 in it. Not bad I'd say!)
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October 11, 2009

SCCA Final Points Event!

Well this is it everyone! Do or die was how I felt today as I was really aiming for 3rd Place for the year. Results haven't been posted yet due to software problems apparently, but I have a good feeling I've secured 4th place in SM. Out of how many, unsure of that as well. The event overall was pretty hectic as it was the Stirling Moss Run Offs, so we had no lunch break and were racing until almost 6pm with only 5 runs for the day. The weather was very cold out, to the point I was wearing a sweater and a leather jacket with a hat. The car said it was 60 out, but the cold wind is what made it worse I think. This was great practice for racing in the cold though, as I have to learn some time or another. I was still running with my summer settings of 8 clicks in the front and 6 clicks in the rear on my dampers, with 29 PSI in the front and 32PSI in the rear. As I took my morning runs, I had to play it easy as the car felt very uneasy, like walking on glass. The slightest touch of the gas pedal and I could lose it or something.
After talking with Brian and Keith (Thanks again, appreciate it big time guys) I learned a great setting for the cold that made the car feel very planted, and even better than my previous setting in the hot. Full soft rear, 2 clicks in the front with 28PSI in the front and 30PSI in the rear. It is just too bad that I figured this out on my last run only, getting me higher than desired times. But it is all a learning process and I'll know for next year for sure.

I'll be updating this post with a link to the results as soon as they are released, but for now enjoy the pictures and hopefully see everyone at SCCA for the last event, SCCA Team Challenge! Check out what the new Liberty Mazda magnet! Trimmed off the edges and fit perfect next to the numbers.

UPDATE: Results have been posted! Check out the Final Results of the day, the Pax Time Results, and Final Raw Results.

October 7, 2009

Showing Some Liberty

Liberty Mazda's Service department has really helped me out so many times that it's pretty much second nature to call them instantly if I need any sort of service done. The amazing service, quality, making sure I'm taken care of as well as any friend of mine that I've sent over for service as well. For that, I had asked if there was a way I could return the favor (not just by paying the bill!).

So here is a magnet from them with their logo and information on it. Looks great! I may modify it a bit to fit nicely somewhere on the car, but we'll see. I'll try it out this weekend. Thanks Liberty!