Feel free to come out and watch. you might get a little dirty... when i get pissed off i'll need someone to "drag the old man out from under the car and crawl in there and break the bolt loose."

Things to do:
1. Swap Transmission/Flywheel
2. Front Pads/Brake Flush
3. Remove Rear Wiper (drop'n LBS)
4. Install Coolant Gauge/Pod
5. Remove front/rear bumpers... maybe reinstall with quick disconnects
6. Remove airbags and install Momo wheel and NRG hub (drop'n more LBS)

let me know if you are coming... that way i know how much beer and food to have on hand.

So right now I'm in Palm Springs for the NSX launch.  As you can imagine, when I found out I would be able to attend, I about had a priapism. However I had never driven any cars in the supercar class.  Not having any points of comparison would make it very difficult to contribute any opinions of substance after driving the NSX.


To fix that, I decided to spend last weekend in Vegas and head on over to Dream Racing to drive a few of the cars that either are either competitors to the NSX, or would provide for useful comparisons.  I ended up choosing the 911 Turbo (7 laps), 911 GT3 (5), Huracan (5), 458 (7), and 488(7).


Orientation
They start the experience out with doing a short presentation explaining what 'the line' is and how to shift the cars (all of them were DCT's).   Then they move on to a room with about 10 iRacing setups with full-on race seats, steering wheels, pedals, and a mock roll cage.  An instructor has you take a lap or two around the track, and he gives feedback on what you're doing.


I thought that was a pretty cool innovation, although the instructor gave me some strange advice about braking.  Basically saying I shouldn't threshold brake, and that I should use only 50% of the braking force so I can spread out the grip over all 4 tires. Then he said something to the effect of, ‘you don’t want the front tires doing all the work’.  I didn't want to argue with him, I figured it was just one of those things they tell people so that they limit their speed, especially since this guy didn’t know I had track experience.



On to the cars
My instructor ended up being an Italian guy named Alessandro, who actually races professional in IMSA on a 488 GT team. He ended up being great in that he had me push the pace a bit towards the end, and he let me go relatively fast throughout. It was a little bit weird for me to be getting turn-by-turn instructions again, especially but my instructor was great.




One of the options with each session is to add 3 orientation laps in a Cayman GTS for $99. I decided to add that to my first session so that I’d be more comfortable once I got into the heavy metal.

The way they count laps is that the in lap and out lap count so with the Cayman I didn’t get much time to really evaluate it, but that wasn’t my goal anyway. I was just trying to get warmed up for the 911 Turbo.


911 Turbo S
I picked the 911 Turbo S because it’s one of the cars that will directly compete against the NSX in that market segment. Similar horsepower, similar price, both with AWD, with the 911 having the weight advantage, and the NSX having the torque advantage.

The Turbo S was easy enough to drive, it was friendly and relatively neutral with smooth power delivery. I would almost call it soft, but that would be relative to the other cars. Didn’t really encounter much understeer and Porsche manages the boost well enough that you don’t get any sledgehammer hits of power.

Unfortunately the car I was driving had these weird button shifters on the steering wheel to operate the PDK transmission, rather than traditional paddles. There was a button on each side, and if pushed it from the front, it would shift up, if you pull it from the back (the same way you would do with a normal DCT) it would shift down. I found myself asking for the wrong gear multiple times to the point that it was a distraction. I haven’t checked the option sheet to see whether it is standard or not, but straight up, I hated it.

Overall the Turbo S perfectly reflects its mission in life as a practical supercar. It’s not a raw or emotional car but it’s got plenty of power and can do the business around a racetrack.

GT3
So the GT3 isn’t really a natural competitor to the NSX but it’s a car I really wanted to drive and I got a little discount if I signed up for the 2 car package with the Huracan. Why not sample what all of the P car hype (and inflated MSRP’s and waitlists) were all about?



Unffffffhhhh. From the moment you turn the key on you know the GT3 is gonna give it to you nasty, just the way you like. Much sharper engine note, weightier steering, great steering feel, and a chassis that is toit like a tiger.

You can feel that it’s down on torque to the Turbo but it feels so much better in the turns and so much more rewarding. It’s the car that you can put where you want, when you want. It almost melts away and lets you focus on your driving rather than focusing on the car. I can see why some of the magazine journos say that this is the car they would pick to pile on the laps at a track day.

I wish I had more laps with this car because I was short shifting it during most of my sessions, forgetting that it’s got 8500 rpm of power band to play with.

Huracan

The Huracan is a car that is a bit too pricey to necessarily be directly cross-shopped against the NSX, but since the R8 V10+ will be using the same engine as the Huracan, and the new R8 isn’t out yet, I thought the Huracan would be a good way to evaluate the heart of the new R8.




In some ways the Huracan was the most emotional car I drove that day. The car sits extremely low, and the door opening is sleek and compact to the point that I had to do a little twisting and turning to get into it. And what a badass cockpit it was. The Huracan easily had the coolest interior of the cars I drove. I feel like Lamb got the memo that the Gallardo’s interior looked too much like an Audi. The Huracan’s interior says fighter bomber more than R8.

The Huracan was probably the best sounding car of the group, which is a good sign for the forthcoming R8. The engine was also the most lively, with all kinds of burbles, belches, and crackles coming from the exhaust while decelerating and with partial throttle.

While that sounded fucking cool, I found that sometimes the backfires could slightly upset the car under steady partial throttle in a long turn. Not a huge deal at the pace I was going but could lead to a Code Brown in other situations.

[youtube]9pVUtbb1cPU[/youtube]

F cars to follow…

Date: May 21st weekend

I know it is far in advance but I'll be working Friday - Sunday and driving DE2 solo on Saturday and Sunday. Laura has put me as grid (shitty, but whatever).

She said she will definitely be putting up MM together whether it be at Best Western or at VIR depending on how April event goes and pre-registration money wise.

I'd say email Laura if you want to work (current students) so she can get an idea on the room situation and also that you are guaranteed a spot to work.

What old people are coming?

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Howdy, everyone! I hope you're ready for the best Madison Motorsports Car Show yet!

Facebook Event: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1490983207877431/">https://www.facebook.com/events/1490983207877431/</a><!-- m -->

Car Show:
James Madison University C4 Parking Lot (By the hillside dorms, accessed via MLK Way) for the Show

Saturday April 2nd (Show) 9AM - 2PM




Auto- X:
Hosted by the Blue Ridge Region SCCA:
Augusta County Government Center
18 Government Center Lane
Verona, VA 24482
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Sunday April 3rd

Big Thanks to Ray Schumin and BRR-SCCA for hosting this Auto-X for us!
Link to register for Auto-X: Select to pay on site if you attend the car show, as paid entrants receive a discount for the auto-x the next day. <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.motorsportreg.com/events/brr-scca-2016-solo-championship-event-2-augusta-county-government-center-079909#.VqmFGPkrLIU">http://www.motorsportreg.com/events/brr ... qmFGPkrLIU</a><!-- m -->

Entry to have your car in the show is $5 at the gate. Please arrive at 9 - 10am if you plan to enter your car.

Spectating is free.

Free food provided by Steven Toyota.

Categories:

Euro
JDM
Domestic
4x4
Classic
Motorcycle
and
BEST IN SHOW

Top winners will have a first pick in prizes including a Photo shoot at Steven Toyota.
Prizes:
Prize buckets from Advance Auto on South Main
NASA Swag
15 Trophies presented by Tarmac Apparel
Dinner for Two from Cracker Barrel

There is a rear bumper for my M3 in my color in Atlanta if any of you all are heading down there for a track event or something any time soon.

I'm guessing buying that for $250 is probably cheaper than having mine painted. I can send cash plus whatever you want to pick it up.

I've found myself thinking about what to buy after college, or even whenever I get rid of the E46. It made me wonder what all you would buy if I handed you a set amount of money and said "buy a car."

For these set amounts, what would you buy? Has to be stock, or near stock, and it has to be a realistic option. Really think about what you would ACTUALLY buy with this amount of money, and it has to be something you could actually go out and buy right now. Not some concept car, not a car that doesn't exist anymore. Assume you can afford the maintenance to an extent. (I.e. You have the cash to afford a Veyron, so you can afford to keep it up with the basic maintenance. NOT buying an F1 car and affording to maintain that and race it.) Assume this is your daily driver.

$1000

$5000

$10,000

$25,000

$50,000

$100,000

$500,000

$1.5 Million

I saw on Facebook that some of you guys went to the DC auto show this year and was just wondering what everyone's thoughts were on what they saw.

Camaro
Thoroughly impressed with how much GM has improved the interior quality on the Camaro. Still not my style but it really looks good.

Canyon
Very nice for the money, I liked the soft close gate. Still doesn't have the interior volume or practicality my Ridgeline had, even though it looks way better.

Alfa Romeo Giulia QV
Wow. I thought it looked good before but in person it looks even better. Lots of little touches of style with carbon fiber tastefully integrated throughout. The front seats were carbon fiber buckets (which I'm sure are $$$), something I've never seen in a sedan. This is probably a really expensive car but it's definitely the style leader in the segment.

ATS-V
Good looking exterior, cheap looking interior. A shame because the performance puts it at the front of the pack.

New Civic Sedan
I was only at the concept launch last year, hadn't seen the interior in person yet. This is easily the best Civic Honda has ever made, looks more expensive than it is. Which is a problem for the Acura ILX, because the Civic makes it look cheap by comparison.

Jaguar F-Pace
Very sexy, definitely worth a look when they go into production. Unfortunately there was a line to step onto the turntable and check out the interior and I didn't feel like waiting.

McLaren 570S
Looks better in red than the pewter color I saw it in before. Didn't get close enough to see if they fixed some of the chincyness I saw at the unveil. Hope I get a chance to see/drive one in Vegas this month.

BMW M2
Looked cool, but the fender flares were a bit wimpy, just not as visually impressive as I would've liked.

Miata
I loved this car way. I've never really felt attracted to the Miata, I've always liked what it represented but I've never felt the want. The ND just looks more aggressive and scultped, and the interior really was great for a $24k car. Modern, sharp, and great build quality. I really liked the body color inserts on the doors. Makes me think about eventually having two street cars but realistically that doesn't make sense for me right now.

So the Blue Blaze has been plagued with a series of maintenance issues as of late as the mileage is increasing on the car. 56,000 when I started in 2012 now up to 136,000 as of Feb. 2016. Yeah I know crazy I drive all over and drive up and back from the valley to cville 2 times a week. I have been starting to replace parts such as shocks, oil gasket, sensors ect. from wear and tear but its increasing with frequency and becoming a cost issue. I think I am going to give the car one more year and by Fall if things have not improved or significantly gotten worse then I am ready to move on. I love the car its been relatively good to me up till the last few months. I had a few minor accidents 2 flats, running over a raccoon, a ditch and a box of junk all in one year (when it rains it pours!) a battery cable had a recall and I got it fixed free of charge. But these were driver/driving condition incidents and no fault of the car minus the battery cable. I have owned an e30 and an e46 before and they were great cars and lasted at least 7-10 years of decent driving and that has been my car history thus far. I am not beholden to BMW but it will be hard to move onto something else as I am most familiar with that line of cars and spent tons of time with them. However, I am willing to swallow my BMW pride and look for other options. What I am currently looking into is something of a sporty sedan, unique possibly blue or black and awd and reliablilty.This seems to be steering me towards Subaru, but I am not sure. Anything but a boring beige box on wheels. Anyone have ideas or a direction that I should be looking towards?

We're moving into a new place soon, and we thought it would be fun to set up a home theater in the basement since it seems like you can put together a pretty decent setup for the cost of a 60" flatscreen.

I've been trying to teach myself about projectors to see how little we can get away with spending, but it's hard to tell what features are important without actually seeing them. I figured some of you guys might've gone down the same path and could give me some advice.

It seems like at the <$1000 price point you have two basic choices, 3-chip LCD or 1-chip DLP. The DLP offers better contrast ratio for the price, but you can get a "rainbow" effect during fast scenes due to the color wheel. I used to have a DLP TV and never noticed it, but I'm not sure if projectors are different.

I think I want 1080p but some articles I read say 720p on a 100+ inch screen still looks really damn good, seems logical, especially if you could get a much higher contrast ratio and lumen rating for the same or less money. I don't care about having 4k or 3D capability.

The room has a window and double door that leads outside, but it won't get direct sun because it's under the porch, and we can put up some curtains, so I don't think we need a ridiculously high lumen rating. That being said, it would be nice to not have to black out the room so the picture doesn't look washed out. I'm guessing we want at least 2500 lumens. I have no clue how much of a contrast ratio we need.

Here's a 720p LCD for $375: http://www.amazon.com/Acer-H5380BD-720p-...0155283011

A 1080p LCD with a slightly lower contrast ratio for $600: http://www.amazon.com/Epson-Cinema-Brigh...ctor&psc=1

And a 1080p DLP with a much higher ratio for $549: http://www.amazon.com/Optoma-HD141X-1080...+projector

Beyond the projector, it looks like I can build up to a 120" screen for about $50-60, and get a ceiling mount for the projector for about $20, but I need to make sure I mount it in a way that doesn't require lens shift, because none of the projectors in my budget have that feature. Not sure how to do that exactly.

For sound I'd probably pick up something similar to the Vizio 5.1 soundbar kit we have now, unless anyone has any new suggestions in the $250 price range. It would be nice to move the current setup we have downstairs and pick up a cheap multi-zone receiver for the upstairs living room, so we could run speakers all over the house, but that might start tearing the budget to shreds, so another fairly basic setup is fine.

Is there anything else I'd need that I'm not thinking about? It seems like I could do this for $800-900 all in, which is what you're looking at for a decent LED TV. Seems like a no brainer since we have the space for it. :dunno:

Figure I would post this up if any 4x4 MM'ers are free this weekend.

I will be out in the GWNF with the guys from DirtRoadTrip.com and the Mid-Atlantic Overland Society.

We'll be camping out at the following GPS coordinates:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/38%C2%...!1s0x0:0x0

More info can be found at their site.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://dirtroadtrip.com/blog/trips/winter-camp-out-2016-details/">http://dirtroadtrip.com/blog/trips/wint ... 6-details/</a><!-- m -->

Only about 50 minutes from the Harrisonburg off of Long Run Rd. :thumbup: