[destoups]

I'll just leave this here. Congrats Mark!

[13vertss]

Originally Posted by destoups

I'll just leave this here. Congrats Mark!

Doesn't link to anything as far as results.

[conemark]

The link was to indexed results for the San Diego Match Tour. Mark and Des placed in the top 20.

[13vertss]

link works now.

[JRL1LE]

Originally Posted by destoups

I'll just leave this here. Congrats Mark!

Congrats Mark and Des!! Great job

[destoups]

Originally Posted by JRL1LE

Congrats Mark and Des!! Great job

Mark was the better part of two seconds ahead of me. One of us did a great job, and the other just did good

[JRL1LE]

Originally Posted by destoups

Mark was the better part of two seconds ahead of me. One of us did a great job, and the other just did good

I'll give a to both of you

[race2win]

Thanks Des and John, it was a fantastic National debut for the 2.0T!! I'm buried in work at the moment so a more detailed update coming very soon...but the short story was a D-Street 1-2, 3rd in PAX overall on Sat, 2nd in PAX overall on Sunday, and the #1 & 6 qualifiers in the shootout

[decke003]

Originally Posted by race2win

I also got a chance to drive a friend's Cadillac ATS Premium Coupe 6-Speed that was on RE-71Rs as well. They might be the "same" chassis, but they both drove like different cars. I will be doing a more in-depth comparison between the 2 "Alpha" chassis cars later, but I can say the ATS is no slouch, and actually might prove to be quite competitive in D-Street!

I'm very curious to hear your opinion on the ATS. Do you think it can be as quick as the Camaro? I've been looking for a baby seat friendly car that could be competitive nationally. I've looked at the WRX and the Focus ST, but I would be very interested in the ATS if it potentially has the chops

[rickwelch69]

would love to see the scale after your upgrades, kinda curious how much wieght shifts to the front with the exhaust replacement.

Great thread by the way.......................

Originally Posted by race2win

Weekend Update #2

I received both sets of wheels I will be using this year last week, huge thanks to Sam at Strano Performance Parts!!

Before I get into the wheel details, while the car was at the shop getting the tires mounted I got the chance to put it on scales. Remember my car is a zero option 1LT, this is with about 1/8th tank of fuel and still has everything inside (floor matts, owners books, etc.), take a look...



Basically about 70-100~ lbs lighter than I thought, considering most published curb weights were in the 34xx range. This puts the car right at 200 lbs LIGHTER than an Ecoboost Mustang with the Performance Package (like the one I drove last season), and will get even lighter with the competition wheels and a cat-back exhaust!! It's still about 600 lbs heavier than a BRZ, but it also has a lot more power/torque and bigger tires

On to the wheels, the first set are TR Motorsports C4's, 18x8.5 in light gray, 30mm offset and come in at about 21.5 lbs each. I'm still waiting on tires to be delivered for these, but here is what they look like...



However, here is what I'm really excited about...I'm absolutely in love with these wonderful Forgestar CF5V's in Gun Metal Gray! 19x8.5", 25mm offset, and right at about 22 lbs (yes about the same at the TRM C4, but remember this is a bigger wheel), wrapped in 265/35-19 Bridgestone RE-71R tires. I could not be more pleased with how they turned out





The Forgestars will likely be used in most situations, but I wanted to try a set of 18's so decided to get both. Both wheels represent great values, especially the Forgestars due to their light weight, strong construction, and custom made-to-order specs. Check out www.forgestar.com and then give Sam at www.stranoparts.com a call for a great deal!

Next up will be a competition alignment before the first event 2-weeks from now!! Can't wait!

[destoups]

Our buddy @race2win had a very good weekend at the Fontana Pro Solo:

First in D Street by a pretty healthy margin (too healthy, actually). He says it was closer than it looks.

2nd overall in Pax

Raw-timed every other Street class except Super Street and AS -- AS winner, in ZO6 Corvette, got him by .01.

(Note that these results will be overwritten by the next national event in a week or two)

[detltu]

Very nice. Keep up the good work!

[conemark]

Congratulations Mark! Those are some pretty hefty names in the top 30 to out PAX!

[race2win]

Originally Posted by destoups

Our buddy @race2win had a very good weekend at the Fontana Pro Solo:

First in D Street by a pretty healthy margin (too healthy, actually). He says it was closer than it looks.

2nd overall in Pax

Raw-timed every other Street class except Super Street and AS -- AS winner, in ZO6 Corvette, got him by .01.

(Note that these results will be overwritten by the next national event in a week or two)

Thanks Des, yes it was a good weekend for the Camaro 2.0T at the SCCA Fontana Pro Solo! I've been super busy with business and family for the past month, so time for an update!!

For those that don't know, Pro Solo is a mix of autocross and drag racing. Two mirror image courses are set up with a full drag race-style launch pad, including the "Christmas Tree", stage lights, etc. Here is a great video explaining Pro Solos...

We had 10 cars in DS for the Fontana Pro, including 2 Ecoboost Mustangs, some BRZ/FR-S "Twins", and a couple Subaru WRXs. Fresh off a strong win at the San Diego Match Tour I was cautiously optimistic about my chances, but I knew I would be at a disadvantage at the starting line due to the all-wheel-drive launch advantage of the WRX. Additionally, one of the Ecoboost Mustangs (driven by an ultra-fast National Champion) actually had an automatic transmission...somewhat unheard of in autocross, but he chose it for it's favorable gearing to the M6 version. Without having to deal with clutch/throttle timing at the line, he was going to be tough to beat.

Saturday morning runs got started in a bad way for me...while in grid preparing to line up for runs I could not get the stability control to shut off I ended up making all 4 morning runs with it still on, and while it wasn't "that" intrusive, it still was holding the car back in places. I ended up with a slight 2-tenths lead, but I knew everyone else was going to get faster.

Turns out the TPMS system was the culprit of the stability issue. Apparently the system needs to recognize 4 sensors, or no sensors...anything else and the computer will not allow the stability control to turn off completely (huge thanks to Des and Ryan Otis for the tip!). I have sensors in my 19" Forgestars, but not in my 18" TRM wheels...and I was running the TRM wheels at this event for the gearing advantage. The computer was somehow still recognizing one sensor, so I disconnected the battery to hopefully reset the system. This worked, and I was back in business for the afternoon runs

For the afternoon runs I was paired up against a very well driven WRX, and as expected he thoroughly destroyed me at the line. The 2.0T is no slouch at the line, with consistent 2.2 second 60-ft times on a very slippery surface. But the WRXs were pulling 1.9s Since final results are computed by combining your fastest left side run with your fastest right side run, that meant I needed to make up around 6-7 tenths on course!! Everyone picked up a bunch of time from morning runs, and going into the last run I was sitting in 2nd place. I pulled out a flyer right side run and got back into the lead by about a tenth, and at this point I think there were 3 or 4 lead changes already!

Sunday morning came and we all had 4 more runs (2 on each side) to decide the outcome. Once again we start off with me slipping into 2nd place after first runs, however that run was a red-light for me and the time was very quick, so all I needed to do was duplicate the run without red-lighting. I finally got a good start on my final left side run and was able to go even quicker than the red-light run... and I padded the victory even more on my last right side pass, enough for a solid 8-tenths win Oh and by the way, the car is still completely stock with only tires, wheels and my "garage" alignment

Huge thanks to my sponsors Strano Performance Parts and Bridgestone Tires for the support, we are off to a flying start this season!! Next up the Crows Landing Pro Solo and Championship Tour the next 2 weekends!

Videos of my fastest runs on each side.
Left side
Right Side

Note - If you listen closely you will hear me using the very cool "no-lift-shift" feature when shifting to 2nd after the start