Cars, Computers, Society in General
UMI Performance makes some pretty sweet parts. I have their upper control arms and their tie rod adjusting sleeves on the Buick. The UMI arms solved my problem with the exhaust melting the bushings from every other arm I tried. They really are problem solvers. Sorry, Moog. They’re a cool bunch to hang out with, …
Put on your big boy britches, because we hit a big track this weekend. Round five of the 2020 Optima Search For the Ultimate Street car was at Road America! I’ve never been to Road America. I’ve run countless laps of the track in sims, and I knew it would be fun and fast. I …
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So, the Optima DriveAutoX 2020 season had three points events, their first time running a points series. The year end points winner in each class nabbed an invite to UMI’s King of the Mountain invitational event. We got it. The outright win at the first event, and two solid performances at Trader’s World and this …
Round four of the 2020 Optima Search for the Ultimate Street Car was at Atlanta Motorsports Park this past weekend. The Probe was in attendance, making it’s USCA debut. Let’s talk about Atlanta Motorsports Park (AMP). This is a country club, but instead of a golf course, they have a race track. It’s carved out …
So lots to unpack here. DriveAutoX Round 2 at Traders’ World, just north of Cincinatti. I did not win. Not even close. Yet, still close. The SCN class was much more competitive than it was at UMI Motorsports Park. Eric Brown showed up with is SCCA STR prepped ND Miata, and just laid waste. It …
This past weekend I ventured to UMI Motorsports Park in beautiful Clearfield, Pennsylvania, for the first round of the 2020 DriveAutoX season. DriveAutoX is autocross from the same people that bring us the Optima Search for the Ultimate Street Car. The series features simple rules, a small class count (just five!), and LOTS of runs. …
As the country tries to open up after our nearly three month containment trying to stop COVID-19, automotive events are starting to actually happen again. Most states near me have recognized events like Autocross as pretty safe, so they’re starting to not be cancelled. Case in point was this past weekend’s South Bend Region event …
As I write this, tomorrow will be the first day of May. You’re probably reading this on the first day of May. We’re still stuck in COVID-19 limited contact rules, but things are looking up. At the top of things, my state of residence, Kentucky, acted aggressively back in March, and it seems to be …
Summary: The stuck tie rod ends from my previous post got unstuck. The good people (person) at DreamStreet Garage aligned the car (as best they could), and I took it to NCM, one of the most technical tracks in the country for a track day. And I didn’t die. First session went about like this: …
A seven day thrash complicated by illness and my day job has ended. The original suspension has been replaced by Tokico Illumina shocks with ground control coilovers, 500lb springs, and a new clutch. The suspension was mandatory for what I’m going to be doing. The clutch was optional. I didn’t know the condition of the …