2012 Wheel n' Tire Setups

For the 2012 season, decided to FINALLY go 5 lug because WHY THE HECK NOT???!  Plus my 240sx has been 4-lug for like FOREVER. 

And because there's just SOOO many more nice wheel choices when you go 5 lug, I got some new shoes for my gal to strut her stuff in:

AutoX/Grip- 

Enkei RPF1s 

17x9 +22 offset 

Shod with 255/40/17 Hankook RS3s 

- Mmm mmm Sexy-

- Sexymoarback -

AND...

Daily/DRIFT:

MB Battles

17x9.5 +15 offset

Shod with 235/40/17 Nitto NT05s

- Concavityness -

- MOAR Concavityness Goodness -

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. -

The Rhyme and the Reason: 2011 Season Review Part I

RETROSPECT is a b*tch.  That being said, my 2011 Autocross season started out great but then ended not as how I intended.

And most of the blame has to be put on ME unfortunately.

The first half of the season was going good: I had posted 6 wins from January to July and the car was running good, setup was there. But then things started going south in August.  

I had started thinking sometime in June-July that maybe I should make a change to my car that would make it more faster than it was already because I was only winning by a few tenths to a near second over my nearest competitors.

Figured that if I do that, I would be able to separate myself from the rest of the pack and gain a bigger lead in the points standings.  BUT that didn't work out as I had planned...  The thing I wanted to change on my car was: Alignment.

Alignment can either help or hinder a car and in my case, it was helping me from January to July.  But before August, I read a few articles, threads, etc online SO an idea was planted in my head to try something different with the settings and see if that would make the car faster.

All I can say is: DAMN YOU INCEPTION!  Wonder if they could have done a mind-dive to take out that idea that had taken root in my head...

-

-Damn Inception: WHY MUST YOU ANTI-G FIGHT ME!!! Fight was pretty cool though...-

PART 2 of the season review to follow shortly...

Like the prodigal son, I have RETURNED!

SO...

Where have I been? Under a rock, in a hole, behind a tree???

There's both the long and short explanation but basically, I lost the motivation to write. Why?

To put it simply and bluntly: I did not win the championship in CST class, did not get the jacket...I came up woefully short and barely held on to 2nd place in the year-end standings.

And where am I now?  Somewhere between lost and found.

Here's to the first post of 2012.

Finally.

- 2012 AutoX Spec-