May 29, 2010

Renegade Miata's 1st Event

I want to start this post by giving a big ups to the service department at Liberty Mazda for all the help with my power steering issues, more specifically Mikey for doing a phenomenal 2nd power steering rack install on my car. The power steering issues in my car have been a constant bother for many events now, but I can confidently say that failed power steering is a problem of the past. Thanks Liberty Mazda, much appreciated as always.
Renegade Miata's 1st event was just what I needed this weekend, on such a beautiful day no less (At least in the morning)! The course was a lot faster then some of their usual courses, but had their usual "gotchas" in some spots. Never-the-less, I got to put my new steering rack to the test with Shane co-driving as well. I managed to drag out Jeff of Show Shine Detail & Performance for his first time (he didn't put up much of a fight!) and he did very well! Hopefully we'll be seeing more of him in future events. Big ups to Nayda for coming on out and taking some pictures of the race and all of us there. Very special big ups to Bill Paynton of TLC Design for the professional pictures taken of everyone at the event. I posted my favorite pictures of his in the posts here but there are still a few more to go around. I have his contact information should anyone like to get in touch with him. I believe I have seen Bill at a few other events with some great photography, but I finally got the chance to speak with him this time. As for the results, I managed to score 3rd out of 5 in pax but pulled 2nd place in times with a 1'18.1 in the "Other Mazdas" class. Gunner took 1st place in both time and pax, driving like a champ at the limit each run. Shane came in 4th with a 1'21.0 , and Jeff pulled in 21st with a 1'24.5 in the "Non-Mazdas" class. As usual, the final results are posted on the Renegade Miata website. Shane came up with the great idea of sticking the camera to the sunroof inside of the car. The videos came out great, allowing you to see what the driver is doing, as well as the course. The first video of me was my second best run of the day with a 18'5, with the second one being my slowest run (started raining in the afternoon and I was fighting with the windshield wipers, whoops). The footage of Jeff and Shane was mostly morning shots, as the batteries died before I could get more footage of everyone.






May 23, 2010

Black Mirror

Had an appointment with Jeff today to give the car some serious TLC. It needed it badly, as the last time the car received such treatment was almost 2 years ago now, back at Josh's. Jeff is a good friend of mine, as well as the owner of Show Shine Detailing & Performance, a small business that has a promising future, offering amazing detailing services at a competitive price, along with installation of aftermarket parts service as well.The entire job took us close to 10 hours to complete, along with painting the calipers black. I'll let the pictures do the talking, but all of the pictures can be seen here. If you don't have the time but want your car cleaned up, I'd shoot Jeff a line now and work something out with him before his schedule fills up. Trust me, his work is worth it, and that's why I'm proud to be sponsored by his company.

May 9, 2010

Corbeau Purple Harnesses

I was getting tired of the red on black theme my car was naturally taking (which is a theme that I really don't like in the first place) , so I decided to change up the harnesses to my favorite color; royal purple. These things are absolutely beautiful! I'm quite happy with the quality of the belts as well, as adjusting them is surprisingly easier than my old G-Force belts. Picked up some shoulder pads as well while I was at it. Picture up top was taken without a flash to show that the text is actually silvery white, and not a darker purple like it looks in some of the flash pictures. Now lets see how they hold up at the next event!

May 8, 2010

BHR 255lh Walbro Fuel Pump

Was reading various posts on the RX-8 Club about fuel starvation and how some RX-8 owners have been seeing such symptoms when racing and cornering hard. Great post by MazdaManiac explaining it all pretty much is here. Big ups to Ray from BHR for making this awesome plug-n-play fuel pump upgrade kit, which has the Walbro fuel pump in an OEM assembly. He also has available for installs a special tool that made my life a lot easier when trying to take off the o-ring on top of the fuel pump.I was originally going to make this a DIY, but decided not to as I would rather just review about it. Feel free to shoot me an email should you need some assistance with installation though. The pump has a interesting tone to it, almost as if a whining motor sound to it. It's slightly louder, but not alarmingly louder. The fuel pump will certainly be pushed during the next event, for now it has to deal with some "spirited driving" on some on and off ramps.

Some pictures of the new pump before installation, the old pump in the car as we are removing it, and Shane deciding that the old pump makes for a great football.

May 2, 2010

SCCA NER's Third Points Event

What a great day over in New Hampshire Motor Speedway! My first time ever coming here to the track for autocross. Was great to see and hear some spec Miatas and other cars racing around on the road course on break time. We held the event in the parking lot just past the main entrance, making a nice, snakey, 30 second course. Managed to pull off 8 runs total for the day.Managed to pull off 1st place in my class again! Was against a new contender to SM, a twin turbo Supra driven by Ben. Him and Dan with his 2010 Camaro were right on me with 31's and 30's. I took first place with a 29.1 as my best, but I scored a 28.8 at one point, but dirty sadly. Raw time of the day is here, pax time is here, and the final standings are here.Congrats to Dave for winning STX for the day, hopefully he'll make first place for the year this time around too! Mike managed to pull off 3rd in Novice, getting constantly tied with Matt in Sam's Prelude. Keith pulled first in CS as well, so looks like a great day for RX-8s. Good racing everyone, awesome times, and was great to see some RX-7s on the track. Check out this great photo album I ran across of the event as well.

May 1, 2010

Cape Cod Run 2010

It's that time again for the Cape Cod Run! This time we had up to 35 cars for the cruise and man what a great time it was! Started off meeting right before the bridge in one of those scenic parking/rest areas. After that, we all cruised up route 6 to the Cape Cod Mazda dealership for pictures, raffle of prizes, and snacks. Then we went to Kream 'n' Kone for lunch, followed by the beach for some pictures. Me and a few others went mini golfing after before heading back home, may as well make the most of the Cape while you're there, right? Plenty of pictures to go around. Be sure to check out Josh's gallery of pictures too.