Another Year, A Little Harder: 2012 Season Review Part II

So, where did I leave off....oh yeah, the blown engine...

KAs are stout motors made by Nissan, designed more for torque than peak power.  That being said, they're pretty robust and can take a good beating as long as it's well-maintained and properly prepared.  Same can be said for any motor that's used and abused for racing.

BUT when you have a motor that wasn't designed for boost when it was produced AND when you don't prep that motor to handle it, you get (K-A)-B-O-O-M when you push it beyond its limits. Get it?

So when the KA blew due to the piston ring lands cracking yet again, I knew right then and there that I was very, very dumb and utterly stupid because I should have done what I was now forced to do in the first place: RACE-BUILT MOTOR. .

Stock piston & rod on left, new beefy hardware on right. That nice, curved piece of metal-chunk is what broke on the stock pistons, UGH.

This race-rebuild consisted of lower compression forged pistons, beefy rods, ARP head studs all installed in slightly overbored and honed block. Took about 2 weeks to fully put together from the motor being pulled, disassembled, then reassembled to dropping the motor back into the car. And we fired it up the Friday right before practice on Saturday too! Impressive yes no?

The finished race-prepped KA24DET

To move things along and not dwell on details of the motor (which I might do in another post), we ran it with the timing retarded purposely to make sure the break-in went smoothly. Issues were only minor: a small oil leak (which was coming from where the oil feed line connects to the oil pressure sending unit) and a fully stuck open blow off valve that caused my car to not hold idle and die. That forced me to buy a shiny new HKS blow off valve to make things work.  For race day, we bumped up the timing a few more degrees and ended up placing 7th in the first event back since blowing the motor. Not bad for getting a motor rebuilt and running just in time for the next championship but I myself was just happy I made it.

So from April on until the end of the of the year, the rest of the season went regular as usual in that things didn't go my way: An endless cycle of drivers came into and out of class for whatever reason and that didn't help my championship bid since valuable points got gobbled up by them... another 2 race co-drive stint with my former co-driver of last year didn't go as planned since he beat me in my own car... And finally, my added status and weight of club rep responsibilities took up more of my resources and concentration which I found to be taxing at times but I worked through it. 

I had talked about this past year of racing with one of my good friends who then asked me: "Man, this is the 3rd year straight you've competed and still no championship jacket?!  You must be frustrated and angry, I bet..." 

Yup, it has been a straight 3 years of competing full-time in autocross and what I have to show for it is two 2nd place finishes and this past year's 4th place finish in the yearly championship. Some would say that's really good but to me, it's not. Lady luck has not smiled on me that favorably these past 3 years unfortunately...frustrating is an understatement, disappointing is more like it. Ah well.

Despite it all though, I had fun....despite being frustrated and downright dejected at times during the season, I still managed to put a smile on and laugh about it, carry on. 

I raced hard and raced the best I could with what I was given...I guess that's all anyone could ever ask for.

SO, onwards to 2013 and hopefully this time I can finally claim a championship jacket. 

So long 2012, bring on 2013! 
(Pic by http://members.fotki.com/makofoto/)

Another year, A Little Harder: 2012 Season Review Part I

The final four AutoX events have come and gone and the final results are clear:

I will not get that championship jacket yet again for a 3rd straight year unfortunately.

Finished 4th in class, total bummer.

Whereas I felt that I practically gave away the championship last year due to some really dumb, boneheaded quest to make my car faster (which was NOT necessary), this year I was basically outclassed and outgunned by some good drivers and one driver who should not have competed in my class at all (dishonorable hack). And to top it off: I didn't even win one single event at all this year...none, zip, zilch, nada.

The highest I finished in any event this year was 2nd with the worst being 8th.  Doesn't help you out if you can't win one event while your competition wins multiple times. Talk about really sucky, sucky year.

Yeah, I felt like this guy did for most of my 2012 racing season

The year started out good with a 2nd place finish but then quickly went south as the car swallowed some water during a rain practice event in March which in turn caused me to break the starter in a vain attempt to get the car fired up. And so, the car was towed back to shop where we did some emergency repairs and got it running it time for championship the following day. Finished a dismal 6th due to changing track conditions which saw some dry running for some and wet running for mostly others.

Lowlight of the year: Getting towed from an event due to blown engine

The lowest point of the season came in April during the Super Regional however.  Car was running good as I was sitting in 2nd place after the 1st day of the 2 day event.  Then a little birdy (who happened to be my autocross "sensei") whispered in my ear and said: "You look slow out there...turn up the boooost...."  And so like an idiot, I listened to him and did.  You can guess what happened next (see pic above). 2nd time the car got towed back to shop for the year and instead of throwing up my arms and giving up, I dug down deep and got determined to rebuild the engine to make it stronger and better so that it would not blow up again.

More on the engine rebuild and rebirth plus the rest of the season in Part 2 of the review...

And she was running sooo good too up until the point she blew...

COLAB Drift July 2012

Colab held yet another one of their great drift events this past July 28th...always fun and a blast to instruct and staff for them! LOTS of seat time as well too.

-  Almost FULL Lock...Car performed great! -

 

Video HERE:

 

The BitterSweet Years of 2003-2004: Euphoria of the car-fates

"Cruelty, thy name is woman..." 
- A Shakespeare quote modified by me


Back in 2003, it was my 3rd year in college and it was my first year of owning and driving a 240sx: A bone stock, "super-black" 1991 SE model coupe that was clean inside and out. Definite upgrade from my previous ride which was an old, faded silver 1985 200sx hatchback (still loved nonetheless since it was my first car). I was not actually racing at that point because I didn't really know there were driving events such as autocross or track days along with the new sport of drifting that was blowing up here in the U.S. at the time.

Things seemed like they were going in a good direction: College life, fun/debaucherous roommates and a new-used car that happened to be a 240sx. Only thing that was missing to complete the whole thing: The girl. 

- My first S13 back in 2003-

And that girl did come along in the spring of 03' and when she did, I thought things were actually going to be complete for once- Finally had a smart, beautiful girl riding shotgun with me in my car plus she liked it too.   But alas, it was not meant to be as she only came into my life for but a brief moment and then was gone. And I really, really liked this girl...I even uttered the 4-letter terrible, deathly, got-you-by-the-ballsack word to her too. Geez, did I ever fall on my sword for her...

So like any good romance novel that's remembered, there was no happy ending unfortunately: I ended up being the one with the broken heart and a 240sx to show for it. Victory? Actually not- later that December I ended up totaling that black 240sx SO, talk about insult to my already injured heart.. Scroll down below to see the aftermath (WARNING: may cause excessive cringing and twisting of the face)...

- Heartbreak.-

- Head-on collision with a Maxima...thank god we both survived -

Now I bet most guys have this same story of how they got into which hobby, occupation, whatevers but I think few would actually openly admit it, much less talk about it at length which I am doing right now.  

SO when I look back at the many years I've been grip racing and drifting, I sometimes wonder and think about how exactly I got into it....Was it because of some other friend who was doing it or a flyer I happened to see or online posting/announcement or peer induced ridicule?

It was none of those. When I think back, it was because of that certain girl AND it was not because of her but because of what she did:  She broke my heart for the very first time.

First-time heartbreak just plain SUCKS. This one for me was like I was "kicked-to-the-curb" and left for dead...didn't want to feel bad but couldn't help it. The scar she left cut deep- so deep that it will stay with me for the rest of my life.  I can always forgive her but I can never forget what she did.

Maybe if she didn't break my heart, I would have been with her and would have never gotten into racing cars, much less doing it with my 240sx. So those of you who do know me personally, you can thank her for helping me get into racing/drifting.

But enough of my philosophical and sappy love talk. As much as this is a blog about my activities racing cars and its relation to life, love is linked in with all of this. So instead of having the possible love of my life with a girl, I ended up having one love of my life with racing cars.  That other thing concerning a "special lady" still has yet to be fulfilled.

Hey guys and gals, it's all relative.

At least there was some redemption:

- 2004: My 2nd and current 240sx AND first year of autocross and racing -

This 240sx/S13 was the "Sweet" to the "Bitter" that happened in the years of 2003-2004.  

I will never forget it.

AutoX July 21-22nd Vid: All systems GO GO GO!!!

Latest vid of my car in the last autox practice: 

As you can see, she's running GREAT after the rebuild!

AutoX Super Regional June 2012: Blown.

I'll skip the first day and go to the 2nd day which was more interesting: 

The 2nd day started off good. got my course walk in, felt good that I could win the whole 2-day event after sitting in 2nd place after the 1st day. I had turned up the boost in my car by about 1-1.5psi (from a base of 6-7psi, so 8psi total after change) because it was suggested by my "AutoX Sensei" to do so.

As I strapped into my car, put my helmet on, and sat and waited for my turn to come up to the the line for my first run, my thought was: "I'm gonna blitz this course and run f*ckin' faster than anyone today..."

And then the first run came....car was flying through the corners...felt in good rhythm with the course and my car....and then the run was over.

And so was the engine.  

- Puff of oil smoke: Foreshadowing of destruction to come -

After I crossed the line and got my time slip, I started smelling oil and then came the billowing bluish-white smoke out of the back of my car.  It was at that point that in my mind I thought: "OH CRAP."  I drove back to my pit spot where I was greeted by a bunch of my fellow competitors asking: "What happened???" and "I saw the smoke, is your car OK?" 

The writing was on the wall at this point: My car's engine was done and I was basically done for that weekend.  My former co-driver had the big heart to let me drive his S2000 (thanks SO MUCH Mike!) for my last 2 runs but at that point, my mind was elsewhere and not thinking about racing at all.

Final result was 4th place, small consolation for my efforts that weekend but I'll take it. 

More stuff to follow...

- She'll be back...-

COLAB Drift Event @ HTM Vid Clip