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Thread: The thread of discussing my stupid cars and how I waste my

  1. #1
    Blood In The Water sharkythesharkdogg's Avatar
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    Default The thread of discussing my stupid cars and how I waste my

    ...time. A few people were interested in my little hobby. They were persnickity enough to demand pictures, videos, and even wanted me to explain this ridiculousness.

    So be it!

    I am a member of the SCCA. While officially that stands for Sports Car Club of America, in reality it stands for Social Club for the Consumption of Alcohol. When we aren't standing around in the evenings, slightly intoxicated, making excuses for why we're so slow we're actually out driving (very, very sober at this point) our cars and enjoying being big kids.

    The SCCA has many different stages of membership and participation. Do you own a car? Did you know that you, yes you, could be a member and participate in sanctioned SCCA events?!?!? All you need is a car, a driver's license, and nothing better to do! In fact, you don't even need a car to be a member. It's a club based on volunteers and we could always use more volunteer help.

    The entry level events are called autocross, also known as the gateway drug, and that's where most people start. It's a chance to get your street car out (or other car) and push it's limits and yours in a safe environment.

    From there the levels of car preparation, speed, and driver qualification begin to move up.

    The next stage is called Solo 1 and Solo 2. These are events on closed courses where the driver is still racing against the clock, and not actually against other drivers. As you move up in this class however, the cars become more prepared. This is the stage in car development where you begin to see roll cages, racing seats, 5 point racing harnesses, suits and helmets.

    From there, the final stage level full wheel to wheel competition. You must go to a school to earn your racing license. There are many different car classes at this point. You have very large, very quick GT cars, open wheel formula cars, closed body prototypes, and a very large section of cars, in many different clases, based off of production vehicles. This is the area I race in. The class is called "Improve Touring" or "IT". You have ITC, ITB, ITA, ITS, and ITR. The last two are relatively new classes. I race ITA.

    Each class has a set of rules of what car are eligible in each class, and what can and can not be done to modify them.

    Some of these production cars can be modified much further, and move in a class called "Production" or "Prod". You have HProd, FProd, and EProd depending on motor size. My father races in FProd.

    So any way, here's a few pictures.


    First up is the ITA Mazda Miata #2. My car.

    (SPOILER)












    An observant person will note the car says Henry Payne, and not Joe Bryan Payne.

    It's only recently become mine. I was co-driving it with my father, but frankly he became tired of me being faster than him in the same car. So....

    We are developing his FProd. They look similar now, but as the car is developed it will look and be much different.
    (SPOILER)













    Last edited by sharkythesharkdogg; 04-26-2013 at 01:41 PM.

  2. #2
    Stupid Malaka Rebellious Eagle's Avatar
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    Wow, that actually sounds really cool! :o I love your car. How fast can it go?
    Era Vulgaris
    "My life's a chip in your pile. Ante up!" ~Setzer, FFVI

    "Knights do it two-handed!" ~Drunkard, FFV

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    Your car is quite arousing. Suffice to say, reading that post made me incredibly jealous. That's awesome.

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    Very VIP person Tech Admin Rantz's Avatar
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    I'm not the biggest car buff around and those pictures still got me moist. I want that car!

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    ...you hot, salty nut! Recognized Member fire_of_avalon's Avatar
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    I have a couple of concerns about you riding around in this car. Chief among them; how do you steer with the steering wheel sitting beside you?

    Signature by rubah. I think.

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    Ghost 'n' Stuff NorthernChaosGod's Avatar
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    That's some sexy car. Tell me more about it! Or them, I guess.

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    Wow, that actually sounds really cool!


  8. #8
    Blood In The Water sharkythesharkdogg's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by fire_of_avalon View Post
    I have a couple of concerns about you riding around in this car. Chief among them; how do you steer with the steering wheel sitting beside you?
    Mind control.

    Quote Originally Posted by Rebellious Eagle View Post
    Wow, that actually sounds really cool! :o I love your car. How fast can it go?
    Not as fast as you think. Most tracks it's 115 -120. This last track we saw 130 , maybe 135.

    Quote Originally Posted by NorthernChaosGod View Post
    That's some sexy car. Tell me more about it! Or them, I guess.
    Sure, but what would you like to know?

    Here's a picture of another car we've retired, and have for sale. It's still competitive, we just don't race in that class anymore.

    (SPOILER)









  9. #9
    Ghost 'n' Stuff NorthernChaosGod's Avatar
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    Well what are their stats? HP, torque, displacement, etc.

  10. #10
    Martyr's Avatar
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    I don't know much about that type of racing.
    I just hauled down a drag strip.
    Do you have a car with a good quartermile?

  11. #11
    Blood In The Water sharkythesharkdogg's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by NorthernChaosGod View Post
    Well what are their stats? HP, torque, displacement, etc.
    Every class has rules, and you can't just build the car to your desires and put it in any class you want. So you'll probably be disappointed.

    Spec Miata basically stands for "Factory Specifications". That means the motor is a sealed unit. The ECU is stock, and you're not to mess with it. You are not allowed to change any of the internals. You can run certain intakes, adjust the timing, and run premium fuel. The car has a spec suspension package (A Bilstein/Eibach setup), and spec tires (Toyo RA1s) that all competitors must use. The biggest adjustments from a factory car (besides stripping it out and installing a roll cage.) are made to the cars suspension, tires, weight, and brakes. Steel braided brake lines are popular. These are not horsepower monsters. You'll probably see 118hp from the 1.6l and perhaps 125hp from the 1.8l. That isn't to say people don't cheat, they just are not supposed to. With all cars being equal, it's driver vs driver and makes for very close, very fun racing.

    IT or Improved Touring allows for more in depth modification of the vehicle. Since it's a class that allows more than one type of car, there are certain specific rules for each vehicle. The vehicle's motor is no longer sealed, but it's not completely open. You can run an oil cooler, reroute coolant for better cooling, run cams with slightly more duration, slightly over bore (very lightly), the engine is blue printed and balanced, and you can modify the intake. All air must still travel through the stock AFM, but it doesn't have to function. It's just there to restrict how big you make your intake. One very important mod is that you can replace the factory ECU with an aftermarket programmable one. This gives you the ability to fine tune the car for max performance. On a good day you're looking at 145hp from my little 1.8l. It makes it tough to keep up in straight line with some of the 2.4l cars, but that's where being able to make the car even lighter and run better tires comes into play. At this point the car is also much lower, running stiffer springs, and much larger sway bars.

    I can, and will eventually, run a front air splitter for aerodynamic purposes.

    You still can't change the size of the brake calipers or rotors.

    Production is the most modified a factory car can become in the SCCA.

    Now many parts of the car are open. The vehicle can be much lighter still. Tires and wheels are allowed to be wider, you can run a full widebody kit (which it needs to cover the wider wheels and tires.), the windsheild and top are removed for better aerodynamics, and two piece brake rotors can be installed for better unsprung weight. Lighter aluminum suspension arms can be used to replace factory steel parts and reduce weight more. Brake ducting, air splitters, and under chassis down force modifications are allowed. A dual reservoir brake master cylinder with adjustment controls for the driver are allowed. Much more aggressive cams, higher compression pistons, and other engine internals are allowed. A more powerful programmable ECU can be used, and that allows for different things to be done. (There's still limits, but the rules are far more open.) The intake is no longer restricted, routing and filter placement are open. The suspension is more open. A full sequential racing transmission with straight cut gears is allowed. (They're also stupid expensive and incur a weight penalty )

    Our 1.6l FProd makes right under 190hp on a good day. Dyno runs change depending on atmospheric conditions and a multitude of other things. So take that with a grain of salt.

    Basically, no matter what class you're in, the Miata is what's called the giant killer. Or a momentum car. They don't have the power of some of it's competitors, but it embarrasses them by carrying more speed through the corners and braking later.



    Quote Originally Posted by Martyr View Post
    I don't know much about that type of racing.
    I just hauled down a drag strip.
    Do you have a car with a good quartermile?
    As you probably gathered from above, these aren't straight line cars. We've modified street cars for customers that are faster in a straight line than our race cars. It's just a different type of autosport.

    EDIT UPDATE!

    I'll mention this even though I plastered it all over facebook and G+ becaue I'm quite glad I found it. This could have been very bad!

    Had a bolt fail on the driver's rear upright of my ITA Miata. It didn't work itself out completely, but the bolt had sheared and worked about halfway out. That explains why it was getting so hard to keep from getting loose in the corner during the last race. Instant camber change! I thought my tires were going out, and that must have been the bolt getting more and more loose. Now I don't feel so bad about second place and that Honda getting away from me through the corners.

    Thank goodness it didn't completely fail going through the banking, since we're doing around 130 or so. Glad I found this before the next race!
    Last edited by sharkythesharkdogg; 08-25-2011 at 08:03 PM.

  12. #12
    Ghost 'n' Stuff NorthernChaosGod's Avatar
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    Well now that's a smurfing post. Kind of make me want to race.

  13. #13
    Eggstreme Wheelie Recognized Member Jiro's Avatar
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    jesus christ sharky I'm glad you're not dead for smurf's sake

    They see me rolling. They hating, patrolling.
    Trying to catch me riding dirty.


  14. #14
    Quack Shlup's Avatar
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    That's such a stupid hobby. Why can't you be into something useful, like Japanese DVDs and figures?

  15. #15
    Blood In The Water sharkythesharkdogg's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jiro View Post
    jesus christ sharky I'm glad you're not dead for smurf's sake
    It's not so bad. I think it would have hurt my wallet worse.


    Quote Originally Posted by ShlupQuack View Post
    That's such a stupid hobby. Why can't you be into something useful, like Japanese DVDs and figures?
    I'm sorry, I've gone to classes to try and fix myself. I'm forever a social outcast.

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