A weekend at the 2022 Virginia City Hill Climb
09-22-2022, 03:41 PM
#1
Intermediate
Thread Starter
A weekend at the 2022 Virginia City Hill Climb
I have had the good fortune to attend the Virginia City Hill Climb - https://www.virginiacityhillclimb.com - (now having just run for its 51st year this past weekend) first in 2014, 2015, and 2016, first in my CTS-V wagon I had at the time...
The wagon was an unlikely hit with the Ferrari and Shelby clubs that put on the event. As can be seen in the Instagram link from 2016 below, the wagon became known for starting line hoonage put on by yours truly...
Things took a turn in 2016, as immediately following the hoonage in the video above, the wagon developed a front main seal oil leak and thus it went back on the trailer I had thankfully brought for the first time that year.
Depressed, I was urged by friends there to go find a rental car up in Reno - it does take place on a public road, after all - and shenanigans ensued:
Note my highly-professional lap timing system:
Never felt so good about taking out every coverage offered at the rental car counter... Easily the most fun 24 hours I've ever had in a rental... Anyway...
Nevertheless I ended up selling the wagon in 2017, and thusly missed the 2017-2019 events. 2020 was not held due to COVID, and then last year I returned in 2021 having picked up a ratty 2014 C7 'Vette:
They say with experience comes wisdom, but apparently I was still in short supply as I had decided the 'Vette needed an A&A supercharger prior to the event... Which then led to us discovering I was generating Spyhunter-like clouds of oil halfway up the 'hill as apparently the tired LT1 in the 'Vette did not appreciate ~7 pounds of boost being shoved down its throat (and consequently into the crank case...)
So in the ensuing year I ended up pulling the supercharger off the 'Vette and sold the car, and just this past June, I picked up my '17 TTS, pictured here last Friday in the lot of the Silverland Inn in Virginia City, NV:
Aside from attempting to install a BMS JB4 running Map 0 for datalogging purposes prior to the event, I hadn't made any mechanical changes to the car aside from an oil change, a brake fluid flush + Motul RBF 660 fluid, and new forged wheels and Pilot Sport Cup 2 Connect 240s on said wheels plus an alignment.
Everything was great at first on Saturday, until it wasn't:
Here I and friends are with the bumper off in the dirt parking lot at the bottom of the hill, desperately looking for a sign of a blown off charge pipe or vacuum leak - none of which was to be found. I had bought the car knowing it had a catless Soul Performance exhaust and likely a tune, but as it turned out the car had a few more mods on it including what I think are Fabspeed headers, an IPD y-pipe painted yellow, and cold air intakes. I'm pretty sure the turbos are stock and I know the intercoolers are.
However - on a parade lap up the hill early Saturday, the car suddenly began stumbling and missing hard, making no power, and as I brought it to a stop a third of the way up the hill, it stalled, and then re-started itself. I gently nursed it up the hill and back down the return road, having found that it had thrown dozens of codes. I was worried I had hurt it badly.
I got it to the bottom of the hill and due to needing to find some Torx bits, the car ended up sitting for nearly two hours. When I started it again to move it into some shade next to that motorhome to begin working on it - it suddenly started normally as if nothing had happened.
Unconvinced, we got into it anyway, and the only things we did were to clean the top MAP sensor off with some convenient gasoline as it was oily, and then to completely disconnect the JB4 in case it was somehow involved with the issue.
From there on - the car was fine! I was then fortunate to get in 5 practice runs on Saturday afternoon, 3 runs Sunday AM, and 5 more runs Sunday PM.
So, I got to business:
This resulted in some pretty good runs on Sunday (I forgot to hit Record in TrackAddict for one of them):
Here's a video of my best time of the weekend on Sunday - 3:24.656, which corresponds to the 3:23.797 run above - need to adjust the starting-line GPS coordinates next year to better-reflect the official timing.
The car definitely has a lot left in it as I need driver mods first; click below out to YouTube proper for 4k 60 fps:
TrackAddict does a really great job:
This ended up with me running the 8th/9th fastest (more on that in a sec) run of the weekend - note that my registration still shows a 2014 Vette...:
As such I ended up taking 3rd in the Porsche Turbo class:
A 992 TTS was run both by the owner to a time .5 seconds faster than me, and then (before said 992 TTS owner ended up glancing off of a guard rail and shutting down the hill for 45 minutes as he was towed off..) driven by a stunt-shoe to a stunning 3:13 time WITH the owner in the passenger seat in a car he couldn't even figure out how to put in D.
Conveniently however, said stunt-shoe also happens to be both the now-former King of the Hill for the past ~8 years, as he brought not his GT2 RS he had previously set a 3:06 Hill record in last year, and instead ran his wife's bone-stock brand-new 2022 Mach1 to a 3:23 this year.
Another terrific accomplishment was the original-owner gent in the '07 997 Turbo running a fantastic 3:23... Which is both a reflection of his skill as well as the fact that he's been participating in the event since 1991.
As you may have noticed on the above list, a new record was set this year...
The Senna driver/owner was a first-timer and nevertheless set an extremely impressive 3:03 new Hill record. As you might expect, my buddy with the GT2 RS is going to war next year... This was his 3:06 run last year:
Meanwhile, my goal will be to continue to find more speed both by way of seat-time and driver mods (just go faster, right?) - but I am also beginning to talk with Sam @ ByDesign about what next-steps with the car could look like.
Anyway - while it's always a long haul out from Denver to Virginia City and back, I look forward to this event every year.
Porsches were VERY well-represented up on the Hill this year, and as my buddy took a break from his GT2 RS, I get to be able to say I was also faster than all the GT cars this year.
I believe Registration tends to open around April 1st. Be seeing you... Follow @vchillclimb on Instagram for more photos and videos: https://www.instagram.com/vchillclimb/
The wagon was an unlikely hit with the Ferrari and Shelby clubs that put on the event. As can be seen in the Instagram link from 2016 below, the wagon became known for starting line hoonage put on by yours truly...
Things took a turn in 2016, as immediately following the hoonage in the video above, the wagon developed a front main seal oil leak and thus it went back on the trailer I had thankfully brought for the first time that year.
Depressed, I was urged by friends there to go find a rental car up in Reno - it does take place on a public road, after all - and shenanigans ensued:
Note my highly-professional lap timing system:
Never felt so good about taking out every coverage offered at the rental car counter... Easily the most fun 24 hours I've ever had in a rental... Anyway...
Nevertheless I ended up selling the wagon in 2017, and thusly missed the 2017-2019 events. 2020 was not held due to COVID, and then last year I returned in 2021 having picked up a ratty 2014 C7 'Vette:
They say with experience comes wisdom, but apparently I was still in short supply as I had decided the 'Vette needed an A&A supercharger prior to the event... Which then led to us discovering I was generating Spyhunter-like clouds of oil halfway up the 'hill as apparently the tired LT1 in the 'Vette did not appreciate ~7 pounds of boost being shoved down its throat (and consequently into the crank case...)
So in the ensuing year I ended up pulling the supercharger off the 'Vette and sold the car, and just this past June, I picked up my '17 TTS, pictured here last Friday in the lot of the Silverland Inn in Virginia City, NV:
Aside from attempting to install a BMS JB4 running Map 0 for datalogging purposes prior to the event, I hadn't made any mechanical changes to the car aside from an oil change, a brake fluid flush + Motul RBF 660 fluid, and new forged wheels and Pilot Sport Cup 2 Connect 240s on said wheels plus an alignment.
Everything was great at first on Saturday, until it wasn't:
Here I and friends are with the bumper off in the dirt parking lot at the bottom of the hill, desperately looking for a sign of a blown off charge pipe or vacuum leak - none of which was to be found. I had bought the car knowing it had a catless Soul Performance exhaust and likely a tune, but as it turned out the car had a few more mods on it including what I think are Fabspeed headers, an IPD y-pipe painted yellow, and cold air intakes. I'm pretty sure the turbos are stock and I know the intercoolers are.
However - on a parade lap up the hill early Saturday, the car suddenly began stumbling and missing hard, making no power, and as I brought it to a stop a third of the way up the hill, it stalled, and then re-started itself. I gently nursed it up the hill and back down the return road, having found that it had thrown dozens of codes. I was worried I had hurt it badly.
I got it to the bottom of the hill and due to needing to find some Torx bits, the car ended up sitting for nearly two hours. When I started it again to move it into some shade next to that motorhome to begin working on it - it suddenly started normally as if nothing had happened.
Unconvinced, we got into it anyway, and the only things we did were to clean the top MAP sensor off with some convenient gasoline as it was oily, and then to completely disconnect the JB4 in case it was somehow involved with the issue.
From there on - the car was fine! I was then fortunate to get in 5 practice runs on Saturday afternoon, 3 runs Sunday AM, and 5 more runs Sunday PM.
So, I got to business:
This resulted in some pretty good runs on Sunday (I forgot to hit Record in TrackAddict for one of them):
Here's a video of my best time of the weekend on Sunday - 3:24.656, which corresponds to the 3:23.797 run above - need to adjust the starting-line GPS coordinates next year to better-reflect the official timing.
The car definitely has a lot left in it as I need driver mods first; click below out to YouTube proper for 4k 60 fps:
TrackAddict does a really great job:
This ended up with me running the 8th/9th fastest (more on that in a sec) run of the weekend - note that my registration still shows a 2014 Vette...:
As such I ended up taking 3rd in the Porsche Turbo class:
A 992 TTS was run both by the owner to a time .5 seconds faster than me, and then (before said 992 TTS owner ended up glancing off of a guard rail and shutting down the hill for 45 minutes as he was towed off..) driven by a stunt-shoe to a stunning 3:13 time WITH the owner in the passenger seat in a car he couldn't even figure out how to put in D.
Conveniently however, said stunt-shoe also happens to be both the now-former King of the Hill for the past ~8 years, as he brought not his GT2 RS he had previously set a 3:06 Hill record in last year, and instead ran his wife's bone-stock brand-new 2022 Mach1 to a 3:23 this year.
Another terrific accomplishment was the original-owner gent in the '07 997 Turbo running a fantastic 3:23... Which is both a reflection of his skill as well as the fact that he's been participating in the event since 1991.
As you may have noticed on the above list, a new record was set this year...
The Senna driver/owner was a first-timer and nevertheless set an extremely impressive 3:03 new Hill record. As you might expect, my buddy with the GT2 RS is going to war next year... This was his 3:06 run last year:
Meanwhile, my goal will be to continue to find more speed both by way of seat-time and driver mods (just go faster, right?) - but I am also beginning to talk with Sam @ ByDesign about what next-steps with the car could look like.
Anyway - while it's always a long haul out from Denver to Virginia City and back, I look forward to this event every year.
Porsches were VERY well-represented up on the Hill this year, and as my buddy took a break from his GT2 RS, I get to be able to say I was also faster than all the GT cars this year.
I believe Registration tends to open around April 1st. Be seeing you... Follow @vchillclimb on Instagram for more photos and videos: https://www.instagram.com/vchillclimb/
Last edited by Tremek; 09-22-2022 at 03:56 PM.
The following 4 users liked this post by Tremek:
09-22-2022, 05:36 PM
#2
Former Vendor
Great video and lap, you were definitely hauling!
Sucks about the JB4, it would have been cool to see that data long on the track! Do you know what codes came up? Usually if the car is in limp mode like that it could be cause the connectors were fully seated etc.
- Payam
Sucks about the JB4, it would have been cool to see that data long on the track! Do you know what codes came up? Usually if the car is in limp mode like that it could be cause the connectors were fully seated etc.
- Payam
09-22-2022, 11:15 PM
#3
Intermediate
Thread Starter
If this had happened while I was on an actual run I would have telemetry recorded but as it was we were just on a parade lap cruise doing 4/10ths max. It was super weird. With that huge pile of codes at first I wondered if it was purely an electrical problem, and it DOES still have the original battery… But it’s never even hesitated to start and it seems like it’s charging fine.
TLDR: don’t know what happened. The top MAP sensor was oily, we ‘degreased’ it and stuck it back in, but even then it had already started normally a couple times by that point. Weird.
09-23-2022, 05:37 AM
#4
Former Vendor
Dang, yes it sounds like something with the JB4 connector to one of the sensors (I believe the one on the Y pipe). Is this system new or used?
Regardless, you can email me directly so we can go over it and I can get it fixed for you Payam@burgertuning.com.
So the bad part is that if you already have that system pulling CANbus data for the recorder the JB4 will not work with logging. Only one system can pull CANbus commands at a time and they will interfere with each other. That wouldn't be the issue the car went into limp mode as I see the boost sensor/temp sensor is giving a code.
Oh well, at least you had some fun with a stock car!!
-Payam
Regardless, you can email me directly so we can go over it and I can get it fixed for you Payam@burgertuning.com.
So the bad part is that if you already have that system pulling CANbus data for the recorder the JB4 will not work with logging. Only one system can pull CANbus commands at a time and they will interfere with each other. That wouldn't be the issue the car went into limp mode as I see the boost sensor/temp sensor is giving a code.
Oh well, at least you had some fun with a stock car!!
-Payam
09-25-2022, 09:38 PM
#5
Rennlist Member
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Metro Atlanta, GA area
Posts: 7,223
Received 2,102 Likes
on
1,324 Posts
Awesome stuff!!!
09-25-2022, 11:21 PM
#6
Rennlist Member
Good read!
Good buddy was up there in his 2016 GT350 (White with blue stripes) and it was his first time running that car in anything, he did a respectable 3:43(?).
I"m intrigued and would like to try....
Good buddy was up there in his 2016 GT350 (White with blue stripes) and it was his first time running that car in anything, he did a respectable 3:43(?).
I"m intrigued and would like to try....
The following users liked this post:
Tremek (09-27-2022)
09-27-2022, 08:00 PM
#7
Intermediate
Thread Starter
Kudos to your buddy!
Trending Topics
09-30-2022, 11:46 AM
#8
Rennlist Member
3:43 is extremely respectable for a first-timer in a naturally aspirated RWD car! There are definitely some braking zones you need to override the lizard brain and brake later than self-preservation instincts might otherwise try to convince you of to hit that time, especially as a first-timer… Same for speed you carry through corners where it might otherwise feel like you could oversteer off the cliff to your left…
Kudos to your buddy!
Kudos to your buddy!
You have a 17' right?
he sent me a video of your car running yesterday or the day before...
His name is Mario, white Shelby GT350......Cheers...