Just got back this AM from Utah (actually, Salt Lake to LAX, then redeye to Dulles - thanks United!) - here are some pics from the Nationals at Miller Motorsports Park. The scenery, track, people, and cars were all well worth going for. 8)

In no particular order, some early shots from day one, meeting with Christian Rado and his wild tC (also met Stephan Papadakis...two big time import drag racers turned road racers), Audrey Zavodsky, ultimate badass highly accomplished racer, former NFL cheerleader, fighter pilot, and Ford Racing hotshoe, the golf cart that saved our legs from ruin, a wild rear mount turbo'd American Iron Extreme Mustang that pulled 170+ on the straights and the quickest times of the event, and the unbelievable museum of Larry Miller's toys.

More here

We just hit 100k posts in the lounge. You sick, post-whore bastards.

Well, this sucks. As many of you know I spent all summer fixing up this bike, I love her and I really don't want to sell it, but the start semester has rendered me broke and hungry, making a fraction of the money I made last semester, and something has to go.

Since I've had the bike I have:

-repainted the tank and fender, White with BRG stripes
-replaced the battery
-replaced the rear brake line and reservoir
-bled the brakes
-added front turn signals
-added another LED brake light
-rebuilt the top end of the motor (moot point apparently)
-wrapped and sealed the exhaust
-replaced the motor with a 10,000 mile motor from an '89

Before I got the bike it had
-a Katana FE
-a Veypor Gauge
-new tires (currently less than 700 miles on them)
-new pads and rotors
-a recently powder coated frame (metallic black)
-full yoshimura exhaust system
-diamond star headlight modulator

I've ridden about 1000 miles and it rides like a dream, its not perfect or museum quality, but it's a great, awesome looking little bike. Almost everything on the bike has under 1500 miles of use, she's going to last for a long time to come. One of the valve guides is a little worn, and every 3rd or so time I start it cold, it smokes for about 30 seconds. That's not hurting anything, and is an expensive repair, so I've just been keeping an eye on the oil level.

I'm asking $1500 for MM'ers only, fairly firm. The bike is located in Harrisonburg, VA. An inordinate amount of money has been spent on this bike, between the previous owner and I. Now that she's finally finished, I can't afford to keep it. Hopefully someone can pick this little thing up and enjoy it, and I can save up money and try to buy another bike next spring.

We went last month; here are the pics my wife and I took: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://archives.derecola.com/europe2010/4-race/">http://archives.derecola.com/europe2010/4-race/</a><!-- m -->

Spa is awesome, I highly recommend it to anyone... even if you don't have the vaguest interest in F1.

Is anyone aware of a device you can install in a car/DME that can detect and report if a map has been changed? Due to HP limits, the main concern of people racing in 944 Cup is that people change maps during the race and then change back for the dyno pulls. Cars are inspected for telltale signs of such devices, but there's still a chance people are outsmarting the inspections. Ideally it would monitor output/status throughout the course of a race and could then be checked after the fact to see if people are pulling the switcheroo. A lot of people know a lot more about car electronics than I do in here, so I figured I'd ask.

I have a set of D2 RS coilovers and shocks for a 90-97 Miata complete w/ top hats. The set has around 1k miles on them. 36 way dampner and rebound adjustable monotube full coilover system. The setup has seperate height and preload adjustments allowing for optimal adjustment and allowing full strut travel at all times.

http://www.d2racing.com/content/products/RS_coilovers.

They list for $1,375 for the set.

$600 obo

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://translogic.aolautos.com/2010/09/17/cambertire-reinventing-the-wheel/">http://translogic.aolautos.com/2010/09/17/cambertire-reinventing-the-wheel/</a><!-- m -->

Quote:

John Scott aims to take the auto industry by storm, doing what the old adage tells us is a waste of time: Reinventing the wheel. More accurately, Scott has re-imagined the tire as an asymmetrical circle.
If you think of a standard car tire with symmetrical sidewalls, it has a square shape when you look at it head-on, the so-called CamberTire, from Scott's Wales, Wisconsin-based company Optima Sports, has more of a trapezoid shape, with the outer sidewall having a slightly longer diameter than the inner sidewall.

If you're wondering why he'd want to do such a thing, it's to provide the wheel with what's called negative camber. Scott claims this can simultaneously improve performance, handling, ride and fuel efficiency. It involves a trick long used by sports car makers to give their tires more contact with the road during cornering. Manufacturers have generally added negative camber by adjusting the suspension, which improves grip but tends to produce a a bumpy ride and excessive wear and tear on parts of the tire's tread. Scott's idea is to modify the tire itself to achieve the handling and ride benefits of negative camber -- without the downside.

Because the CamberTire strikes the road -- bumps, cracks and all -- at a slight angle, there's less jostling for passengers than would be normal for a sports car with conventional tires. Similar to a boat's bow cutting through the water, said Optima spokesperson Denise Harris, the CamberTire strikes bumps at a slight angle, minimizing the initial impact and transferring it across the tread surface as the tire rolls along.

"You could put your 90-year-old grandmother in a high performance car and she'd be entirely comfortable riding across the country," said Scott, adding that the ride quality could be up to 10 times better with CamberTires than with the stock tires for performance cars.

Scott secured a patent more than a decade ago for a tire with a constantly decreasing diameter, and now he's working with a 7-person team to bring his invention to the masses. It's an ambitious goal, but Scott claims "distributors are clamoring" to get the CamberTire. He aims to secure licensing deals with tire makers and major car companies, while also working to scale up Optima's own manufacturing capacity.

Although the company has yet to complete tests determining how much efficiency might be gained through these designs, Scott claims his design offers a number of environmental benefits. To start, the CamberTire can deliver more performance using less material. With a square tire, Scott explained, you would need a wider tire to get the same level of grip that can be achieved with a narrower tire with negative camber. That means CamberTires require less raw material, weigh less and deliver a lower wind profile, compared to currently available options, he said.

Negative camber can also eliminate the need for what's called "toe-in," an alignment setting that increases rolling resistance and tire wear. Typically wheels are set slightly pigeon-toed -- forcing one tire against the other -- in order to keep the steering feeling centered, Scott explained. But when the tires have negative camber, they "want to turn in."

Ever the inventor, Scott told us he's already looking ahead to new designs. While his initial CamberTire design features just two degrees of camber, he said he has developed a pair of tires that have three and four degrees of camber, as well as "rockers," for two different wheel sizes (255/35-18 and 265/35-18 -- nomenclature that means the tires be 255 millimeters and 265 millimeters in width, be 35 percent as tall from wheel to tread as they are wide, and span 18 inches in diameter). He also aims to develop a 3-inch-wide tire with a whopping 15-20 degrees of negative camber for an "extreme fuel economy car."

So far Scott has personally funded the whole CamberTire project (Harris emphasized that the small team has also put in a significant amount of "sweat equity"), and he's looking to bring in some investment, in the range of $500,000 to $1 million, from friends and family while shopping around for partners, customers and potential acquirers. In 2010, he said the company will produce an estimated 5,000 tires through its partner M&H Racemaster. Next year, he expects to produce "hundreds of thousands" of CamberTires.

Scott's lofty goals don't stop there. Long term, he's hopeful that the U.S. government will require negative camber tires on every car sold in the U.S. due to their capacity to make vehicles more "predictable and controllable," and also more efficient.

For now, the job at hand is winning over customers and partners. Scott said the products are slated to hit the replacement tire market next year, and Harris told us the company hopes to make its first major commercial deliveries within the next 12 months. But when it comes to a timeline for when big automakers might use the design on mass market vehicles, he declined to venture a guess. If it were up to him, he said, "it would be eight years ago."

soo yeahhh i need to do the basic tune up on my accord: oil change, trans.fluid change, sparkplugs/wires

i got a basic socket/wrench set but left most my tools at home

wondering if anyone else needs to do maintenance work and wants to do it together?
lil maintenance-work-day kinda thing :]

Obviously I posted in the Autocross thread but figured id break it out.

A bunch of us are going to do the classic MM cruise up 33 west and back; along with the classic "photoshoot" on the other side of the mountain. We want to be back for the BBQ with plenty of time to help setup the BBQ/Wrench Day. Therefore we will be meeting at Rockingham Dorm on Port Republic (right where the Exxon is) at 1:30, we will be leaving no later than 1:50. I will be bringing my go-pro and other camera mounts to catch some cruising. Please no dumb stuff until at least outside of HBurg. Just look for the M3s in the parking lot.

Please post up here if your a current student without a car and want to ride along. Its a beautiful drive on some gorgeous twisties.

Hey my name is Lincoln Jones, i am currently a freshman at JMU, majoring in Justice Studies. I drive a 2001 Audi S4 (2.7 twin turbo) current mods are...ABD racing Quickflow system with an ABD Big Bore intake. Corbeau CR-1 Racing seats (five point harnesses coming), JHM motorsports Solid short throw shifter, JHM boost gauge, JHM Boost control, AWE Twin 1 exhaust (not installed yet, along with Vast 3" catless downpipes), 7" touch screen deck with a single 10" sub in the back for some good music....Upcoming mods include: GIAC performance chip, Forge Diverter valves, i have Eibach pro sport lowering springs but waiting to install them with Eibach pro dampers and sways, JHM FMIC, all working towards the full stage III swap which would be completed after a KO4 turbo swap and Vast stage III clutch....I have huge plans for this car and hopefully i'll be able to swing it down next year for some of these auto-crosses....As you can see i love cars and i love JMU...and Madison Motorsports brings the two together (obviously) and thats more than i could ask for. Im really looking forward to being a part of this family.