Still rocking the Azenis and tape numbers after the event.
Enter the C4. In it's current state, it could do very well in SSM. Decent power, not too heavy, decent suspension setup, and a decent driver (me!). Most people in SSM are short at least one of these things. This left me needing only 1 thing: tires. But not just any tires, big tires. SSM has gotten faster lately, with several C5 Corvettes, STis, Evos, and all kinds of random fast cars. I needed some big, sticky tires. I wanted to run Nitto 555RII's, but they have exactly 100 treadwear, which isn't legal. Toyo RA1, Nitto NT-01, and several others would also work, but didn't meet the treadwear requirements. This lead me to the Falken Azenis RT-615. Very popular in the SCCA street tire classes, mainly with smaller cars. I needed big ones. One good thing about C4's is they will swallow huge tires. So, I reached into my bag of miracles and managed to get my hands on a set of 315/30R18 Azenis. But...I didn't have any 18" wheels. Some scouring of CorvetteForum allowed me to piece together a used set of 18x10.5 OEM Z06 rear wheels for cheap (under $470 shipped for all 4).
The first auto-x rolls around, and it is time to make it happen. I have the best car and setup, I just need to make sure I win. It had been a while since I auto-x'ed last, so I started a little slow, but I manage to pull out the victory. Norm in his WRX got second (a mostly stock wagon, he was WAY too close for comfort) and Zach in his Z06 was third. My last run was a full second faster, but I coned it away. The long term goal is to win the semester championship, so I have 3 more events to go. Anything short of a win at all four will be short of expectations.
Still rocking the Azenis and tape numbers after the event.
In addition to the auto-x events, the club makes trips to Sealy for some drag racing. I'm not much of a drag racer, and the car isn't setup for drag racing at all (way too much rear springs, too much rear camber, etc). But, I wanted to see how much power it was making with the new hotcam. I didn't feel like driving the car to Sealy again: no A/C, no radio, no muffler don't really make for a fun drive. So I borrowed a truck and trailer to use. While it was a little more work to load and unload, the piece of mind of knowing that if I broke I only had to push it onto the trailer was nice. Previously, the best I could manage was a 13.1 @ 105, with a slow 2.07 60'. I was certainly hoping to go faster this time. In addition to the cam, I also removed my rear spoiler to help pick up a little top end. For tires, I bought a pair of used BFG drag radials a while back for a mere $30. They stick pretty well, so long as you get them nice and toasty. This time my times were better: 12.85 @ 111, with the same craptastic 2.07 60'. What I thought was tire spin turned out to be clutch slip while watching some video from my runs. Ouch. I really don't want to have to do a clutch, but it sure looks like I will in the near future. Plans include a lightweight flywheel to go with the new clutch. I would really like to see what the car would do with a decent 60' time. A 12.4 feels like it is within reach...
Lined up next to Zach, he was faster than me all night, with a best of 12.4 @ 113 ish, taken by Russell Hall
Parked in the pits next to old Tamscc'er Jeff Cheserr's cam/headers LS1, taken by Russell Hall
Loaded up and headed out of town, taken by Russell Hall