The Reason and the Rhyme: 2011 Season Review Part II

August was the beginning of the demise, start of the end, "insert dramaticky, epicky, words here."  I finished a hard-earned 3rd after driving the pants OFF the car and for the rest of the season, I did not post any wins AT ALL.

Talk about SLUMP.

In a manic-panic I started reading some more, digging some more online...I kinda went mad trying to find the answers.  I talked with fellow autocrossers trying to find a magic handling-unicorn where there was none. Because of all this stuff, I did these changes to the car:

> S14 Subframe (a supposed improvement over the S13 subframe)

> A LESS-TIGHT locking Cusco LSD (80% out of 100%)

> SBC Manual Boost Controller (which didn't work out that good so I sold it)

> Increased boost pressure via HKS adjustable wastegate (BIG MISTAKE).

That last item was the KILLER because it was what lead to this:

-GRENADED! Yep, this is kinda similar to what happened to my car...-

OK, the picture is a little bit over-dramatic BUT it's a good representation of what happened to the car when I OVERBOOSTED (yes, overboosted).  Yours truly got a little bit greedy and was desperate for a little bit more power so, being a dumbf*ck, he adjusted the length of the actuator rod a wee bit too short and result was lots and lots of smoke like in the pic above.  Probably killed a lot of mosquitoes too. 

Luckily, I had a spare KA engine block complete with pistons SO I did a rebuild (and added some good parts too) in less than 2 weeks to get the car ready for November's Autocross event.  But even that wasn't enough to make a comeback and so after November's event, I was surely going to finish 2nd for the season.

I'd like to thank my sponsors FRSport.com, Nismoshop.com, and Crown Auto Repair (C.A.R.) for supporting me with all the parts and accessories I've really really needed AND most importantly, I would like to express my gratitude to all my friends, family and supporters who have been there behind me this past year.  Without you guys, none of this would be possible.

Here's to a WAY more successful 2012 season!

- In the immortal yet misunderstood words of Awhnald Schwarznegger: I'LL BE BACK. -