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Dec. 12, 2007 - SCCA Slush Rd. 6 @ Oakland. I was able to yank Mark to this event. It was a good call becasue he really had a great time. I try to continure what works from the last round: softest setting in the rear swaybar, 3/4 stiff in the front, 3/4 & 3/8 f/r settings in the dampers. As far as tire pressure, we initially started with 36/32 psi. My thinking is that having low pressure will increase my grip in the rear since it helps the tire track the road with its whole width. However, Mark told me that that is also his setup on his 90 civic for oversteer! Wait, I thought pumping up the pressure will make the car prone to oversteer? (a la drifitng)  We talke to Cliff and he told us that increasing the tire pressure will also increase the grip up to a certain point where it then starts to decrease dramtically. That makes sense since I run crazy pressure when I am drifitng.(um, always beyond 40++ psi) Now its more clear to me, well kinna. Everything is about how it feels and adjust accordingly. Anyways 1st runs we ran 36/32. It was okay. We let the psi rise to 37/35. 2nd runs were better so we stuck with those tire pressures. I had a good day autocrossing, the track is great and flows smoothly except for the off-center slaloms. Mark was having a blast griving my car as well. I guess new tires and some thought in suspension setup really helps. Oh there was a new subaru sti that rolled and autox'ed. I just had to take pics since this sti isn't even out yet. The inner fender still rubs the tires on Konig rewinds. I guess now I have time to pound the inner fender so I can gain clearance. Round 6
Dec. 2, 2007 - SCCA Slush Rd. 5 @ Monster Park. Man, when was the last time I participated in any form of motorsports? I think it was March. Man, that's a long time! Anyways, I was able to prepare my ae86 for this autocross event. This last two slush events will help me setup the suspension settings on the car for next years championship season. I changed my swaybar settings to full soft in the rear and 3/4 in the front. The last time me and Mark went to autocross, He complained that the car was very loose, easy to oversteer. I hope the changes in suspension settings will help the car plant itself around corners. I also changed the damper settings to 3/4 front and 3/8 rear. I usually set the rear 5-6/8 and I think this makes the car oversteer too much.I also raised the front a little bit to have some suspension travel.  I have to remember that settings for drift doesn't apply to autocross. What I want is  neutal handling, rotating the car at will. (and not drift king angles) For tires pressure, I initially set it at 36/32. I really liked how the konig rewinds are on the car. With the new jdm kouki bumpers, the car looked more mean. That's sick! I still have some rubbing in the front and don't have a full lock. Its okay since im not drifting or whatnot and the steering angle where it starts to rub is pretty good. Candlestick is very slick! You look and turn, but the car still goes straight! 2nd and 3rd runs I compensated but still ver slick. On the second run, I trimed my time by 4 seconds! That's pretty good, but overall I was still slower. I also felt that I wasn't pushing the car into its limits. Well, I havn't driven for a long time so I guess it will take time for me to be faster. Round 5
Nov. 18, 2007 - Wake up from the dead yeat again! How many times, will this diary entry wake up from the dead? Anyway, good new is I finally got a job that is related to my engineering degree. I got a jon working at Hexcel in Dublin, CA. Hexcel is the leading composites manufacturer mostly in aerospace applications. I am a lab technician at Hexcel applying various test methods to compostie materials. All the while this summer, me and my friends got into mountain biking. I got an entry-level Specialized Hardrock that is good for tackling the trails around there in the Bat Area. My favorite is Tilden Park in Berkeley. This pretty good becasue it helps us to be somewhat fit and got more stamina. And lost some weight to boot! Well now that I have a good job, my eyes turned into my hard-parked ae86 for months. This time around, I am more interested in autocrossing rather than drifting. I dunno, I have been drifting for years now and although its still a blast, I do not have that level of excitement as I did before. Don't get me wrong, I still plan to hit up some drift sessions in the future, but my focus right now is autocrossing. I gues I got envious when my buddies got their SCCA trophies when they were able to complete a season. I said to myself, okay now its my turn to get one. Although I was an SCCA member back in '04, I think I only ran 3 events. So technically, I am still a novice. (talk about perpetual novice eh?) Now I want to create a car the way I like it rather than around SCCA's autocross rules. So I intend to run OSP-N for next year and the remaining of this slush series. OPS is basically run what you brung so my car fits in there. (although I know I will always get spanked. Finallyt, after years of owning my ae86, I finally got my jdm bumpers. The fronts are bought from max and the rear ones as well as the brackets are courtesy of luis. This rear bumper have a white paint becasue it came from a Keiichi white 86. I ordered a plastic paint stripper safe for the bumpers. It works great and I only have to touch up on other areas. I also obtained a set of Konig Rewinds with Falken Azenis RT-615 already mounted. I got the set for a good price and the tires were practically new. This wheels have good amounts of negative offset that will be beneficial for autocross plus it looks sick! I also got the color I want, bronze with a polished lip. Registration and insurance are now up to date, but I still have to pass smog. Luckily, I have a temporary sticker good until Jan '08. So I hope I have passed smog by then. With the sick negative offset, I had to roll the fender a bit. What I did is buy a wooden baseball bat from Toys R Us and a heat gun from Harbor Freight. It worked pretty well I must say. Good thing I test drove the car around the block! With the Rewinds, I cannot get full lock becasue the tire is catching the inner fender wall trim, eating the tires. Thank God I bought that heat gun. The sheet metal inside the fender was thick, heating it up with the heat gun helped a little bit before I pounded on them. I still don't have full lock, but I'm going autocrossing, not drifting right?