Marine Blue

Odd....Brian has been MIA for almost a day. I wonder if his wife found all three cars in the same place. Hope he's still alive.

mark kibort

What is "Lemons" anyway. i guess I should know what im getting myself into!

sounds like a crash up derby.

If not, why not use the biggest wheels you can fit on the car and put the cheapo tires on them.

Is it 24hours? I was able to run Laguna in 1 gear (4th with Chucks euro and 3rd with my car) to a 1:45 (which is the fastest of the fastest miatas), so if it is bout keeping the car safe and without injury, there are things you can do to keep the stresses very low on the car. I would bet I could run 25hours of thunderhill on only 2 sets of tires. think about the time saving that would give you. Its all about being smart about pit stops and driver changes.( and car dependability) Watching out for traffic is huge. If its not a crash up derby, there are a few things you can do to make sure you NEVER, (or at least reduce the risk) of getting touched by anyone
One of the nice things about the euro is you can run an entire race with only using 3-4th gear and still run pretty quick times.
Hey, if we run out of brakes, it is possible to run 1:48 without any at laguna (i.e. just a few seconds behind the fastest miatas! )

mk

IcemanG17

Yes I am alive....& no the wife does NOT know about this lemons car....well I kinda mentioned it, but not until sharky is driving to her new home tomorrow in LA......then I will "mention" it... I just don't see a way to swing the smoking deal GTS and still live however...I have more than enough "toys" to keep me amused for now... :>)

It appears I have wheels covered from a GENEROUS offer from George...if I can find a way to make those mondo wheels fit (think WIDE) I will use them...if not its Mark A's $50 per wheel rears all around...which I still may do as a backup since its SO cheap...

Good news is the engine runs fine now on the Volvo pump at least at idle and putting around the shop (easier then pushing), but there is an issue with the starter....so that will need to be replaced...

MK
Its technically about 12 hours per day, with no racing after dark....all in the daylight hours.....so about 12 hours Saturday and Sunday...but we will have to pit about once per hour for fuel....

IcemanG17

Pics....I don't really have any from the outside...but here is some I took of the interior, thats in pretty good condition, a quick cleaning and its nearly perfect...

shmark

MK - it's 16 hours of racing spread across 2 days, so 8 hours each day. So far I've run both the "LeMons South" events and registered for the upcoming September race too and at least around here, they are NOT demo derbys. Fun and a little silly, yes, but the racing is real and everyone takes it seriously. I know we've finished mid-pack twice (but FINISHED!) and are looking for a serious improvement next race. Running for an entire weekend is a real different experience and you'll be tired, drained and elated all at once. Most fun I've had at the track, period.

Keys to win - time on track, period. Reliability is everything, even at the expense of fast lap times. In the last race the top 3 cars spent an average of just over 1 hour off the track and were not the fastest lappers (but they were quick). We spent just over 3 hours off the track and finished somewhere in the 30's. If we had spent 1 hour off the track like them we would have been top 3!

Marine Blue

Thats a nice looking interior! Hmm...Interesting key chain you have there Brian.

Glad you're still alive.

zoltan944

well, this should be fun! Representing Pasha at the race

Lizard928

well you should be able to sell the interior and spend abit more money on the car.

IcemanG17

Bingo we have a winner......thats the whole plan.....you sell off everything you don't need and use the "profits" to reduce the price of the car

Lizard928

What was the starting price of the car?

James Bailey

Lifted from The Contra Costa Times ..."This is the first fatality or serious accident the race has had since its inception in 2006. Cars do not go particularly fast. The track is configured for an average speed of about 35 miles per hour, but for a few seconds could go as fast as 70 miles per hour. "..........

shmark

I'm pretty sure that is the accident with the Volvo last year. According to what I saw, the driver had a heart attack and subsequently lost control. They thought he was dead before he even hit the wall. Not to say racing isn't risky, but LeMons safety is taken pretty seriously with full corner worker and safety staff at the race. As for the speeds, well they do shorten the tracks to keep things reasonable, but I will bet you that average speed includes pit stops/repairs/driver changes/etc. Race speeds are, well, race speeds. Even a clapped-out Mustang GT can easily hit 100+ on the straights.

James Bailey

The Altamont track is probably the slowest at about 60 seconds for a bit over a mile track...I have watched several video clips of the action and there are a lot of instances where two or more cars are trying to occupy the same place. Sure looks like FUN !

IcemanG17

Yes the guy who died was DOA before he hit the wall........sure the wall didn't help....but we won't be racing at Altamont anyway & there isn't hardly any walls at Thunderhill...plus they put chicanes all over to slow the speeds down...

This 928 (helga) is being built with safety as a priority....the cage will be a mirror of the widows cage (same fabricator & same shop)....the steering wheel will be quick disconnect, there will be a "off" switch on the cage & the seats and harness also will be top quality (possibly the racetech out of the widow)....the car will be sorted out and ready or we won't race it.....plain and simple...

James Bailey

Did not mean to bring up the crash just found the quoted speeds interesting. The Thunder Hill track is probably much longer than Altamont that will spread out the cars quite a bit that should make for cleaner racing !