Who's Doing What In 2009

[Aaron Goldsmith]

Ken, why are you obsessed with the shiny orange shocks? What makes them better than a 28? Who's going to be the first to drop the Sachs bomb

I'm with Jason. Top level shocks will all damp just fine and be consistent, you get the dampers that you can get the most support on locally and are easily rebuildable. Figure out your options there then factor in price.

And, for the record, there seems to be some confusion. The S2k is staying in the garage, I'm running the Elise, hopefully it will be more reliable this year. And Aaron won't fit well into it, so I don't have to worry about him trying to bum a co-drive

Hey, I don't think I could fit in the S2K either, haha.

[Jason Isley BS RX8]

Who's going to be the first to drop the Sachs bomb

They are on Peters CSP car.

[Jason Isley BS RX8]

Ken, why are you obsessed with the shiny orange shocks?

Duh, MOTONishi. Cant do that with a Koni.

[Jason Rhoades]

The problem with XP (and to a lesser extent, SM) is the "right" thing to do cost a ton of money. Each person has their own comfy spot on the price (price = time, effort, energy, hassle, in addition to $) vs. performance curve. I figure for the casual person, a mild LSx is probably about right. To a large extent I agree with Chris Ramey, displacement should not be used as a limitation or basis for weight minimums in an amateur series. But I guess it's better than nothing.

Ken, I second Jason's notion of 28's, if you want to have the most rediculously-damped econobox in the field, go for the new quad-adjustable 2822's with low-friction internals and Hyperco HSPs. ProParts built Konis won the '03, '05, and '06 STS championships, seems like a winning recipe. '89 CIvics are soooo old-hat though, why not throw the parts on a newer Civic or Integra? Or something else entirely in ST? My latest daydream is an '01-'02 CLK55 AMG for STU. Similar size and weight to Uyeda's IS300, but with a bunch more tire and 125 more hp/tq. They cost $75k new, can get a clean one for under $20k now. Throw on some GTR Dunlop runflats, could comfortably drive to events since the AC gets to stay.

Maybe I should skip the 335 front tire and go right to the 345/35-18, which looks suspiciously like my current 345-19 rear tire with a taller sidewall, which might be more inclined to squeeze on a narrow rim. I gotta finish the koi pond before I get to that through, right now the Viper is competing with Uyeda's GS for the most spider-infested and dust-covered car in So Cal...

[Jason Uyeda]

Who's going to be the first to drop the Sachs bomb

They are on Peters CSP car.

Brian's car is great. But I'm talking the "real" Sachs shocks, TRD FTW!

[Ken Motonishi]

Don't forget to post pics of the koi pond when you finish!

Sounds like you should be married already. :mrt:

[Kathy Teulie]

I am thinking of going to Sk1 next year in the S2000. If I don't like driving on street tires, I will switch back to AS. I need to save some money for awhile since my job is being consolidated back to the headquarters in Isreal at the end of January. I was thinking of doing this anyway since it is easier and cheaper.

Kathy

[Mako Koiwai]

Those Dunlop Star Spec Z-1's are R tire like at the limit ... nice big envelop. Nothing like R's under braking, but these aren't too bad.

One of our main clients just slashed their advertising budget by 60%

[Kathy Teulie]

Those Dunlop Star Spec Z-1's are R tire like at the limit ... nice big envelop. Nothing like R's under braking, but these aren't too bad.

I tried the tires in a practice and the first 3 runs were great. The next runs weren't very good but that could have been when my sway bar broke. At the next championship the sway bar was broken before the first run.

[Jeff Ringer]

my first full year of autox is almost in the books.. happy to pax in the top 20 or 25 in most if not every event in which i had a decent set-up this year

would love to co drive with some national trophy winners in 09 to further evolve my skills and fun factor - especially at the pro's and larger events

looks like not much is going on in es next year with eric moving to shifter cart
sk2 is fun but 14" rubber options are even worse then the 15" options people are griping about.. plus i dont really want to go back to slower times
pax is lookin like my class next year on used race rubber lol

possible options if business keeps moving in a positive direction for me:
-upgrade to a s2000 for Astock fun
-buy a mr2v6 swap car because i want one
-obtain a shifter cart
-find a apt/house for rent with garage

i think a shifter cart would look really good in toe behind the mr2!

[Ethan West]

I went to look at a couple Miatas today. Both 92's. I'm looking for a 90-93 NA, but preferably a 92-93 due to the big nose crank yet still being pre 1.8. Anyway, I really liked one that I drove today. Its a red 92 with 112K miles, all stock. It was pretty clean, ran well. The only potential problems I saw were that 1) it looks like it has been repainted before. 2) The front bumper and hood were slightly misaligned and the driver side parking light cracked due the owner bumping into wall in her garage.

I've been reading Miata.net religiously (my user name is EthanP71) and I've figured out what mods I'll be doing to start out. Here's what I have planned for now:

-Falken 615's on either stock wheels or on knockoff (pretty sure they are knockoffs because they are $280 for the set) 15X7 Volk TE37's I found on craigslist.
-RSR race springs with AGX's.
-Suspension Techniques sway bars with Flyin Miata mount reinforcement kit.
-Enthuza Budget Racer cat back exhaust. Down the line will be a header and high flow cat.
-Some time after all of that is done, a set of racing seats and a paint job.

[Mako Koiwai]

Buy Dunlop Star Spec Z1's instead of 615's ... tires make the biggest difference. Better not to save there ... hold off on one of your other mods if necessary.

[Ethan West]

They don't come in the right 15" size though

Is there any word on how the Kumho XS are?

[Mako Koiwai]

What's the "right" size?

[Ethan West]

205/50-15. The closest I see is 195/55-15.

[Bob Beamesderfer]

Ethan, sent you a PM.

Also, the XS comes in 205/50-15; only 15-inch size.