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CDC Autocross at Harry Grove Stadium, 9.5.09

It was a great day for the GeorgeCo BMW powered by Beano. The weather was perfect and the course challenging and fast. The CDC runs an index system based on weight, horsepower, and tire. We’re running a street tire to try to be competitive on index time. We’ll see if it works. The car is really running well and all traces of the drive-line shutter are gone.

NCC BMW CCA Autocross Event 6, 8.30.09

Saturday was a good day for GeorgeCo Racing. The GeorgeCo BMW sponsored by Beano ran well all day. GeorgeCo narrowly missed the win in class by .06 seconds. On a typical autocross course, that’s less than 3 feet. But more importantly, we edged-out our chief rival (and friend) Greg who (was also driving the GeorgeCo BMW) to stay competitive for the season class title. With two events to go, it’s going to be close.

Georgeco

New Wheels for the Stealth

New Wheels

I made the big wheel and tire swap last week. Since the BMW is almost done, I’m returning the MINI to normal–well closer to normal. I swapped out the R-comps on the MINI race wheels for a street tire. I took out the rear strutbar and removed the splitter. I also sold the MINI 15 inch wheels and moved the RA1s on to a new set of 15×7 lightweight wheels for the BMW. I also picked up another set of 16 inch wheels to put on the BMW with my old Goodyear F1 Tires. The 15 inch wheels have already sold and a couple of people are interested in the Hankooks. I should be close to break-even when all the dust settles.

BMW at MSP

It was a beautiful day for an August autocross–not too hot and not too humid. The NCC course at the Maryland State Police Training Center was fairly simple. There was a slolom, Chicago box, a couple of sweepers, and a skidpad circle at the end. I haven’t swapped out the driveline yet so I still can’t hammer the throttle, but I managed to win my class (I’m not saying how big the field was….) I’ve been working on smoothness and steering as the rack in the BMW isn’t as fast as the MINI. I really enjoy driving it even if the power is at the wrong end.

BMW running

August A is for Autocross

Busy weekend for autocross. After a month off — back in with both feet. Yesterday it was a sweltering event with the CDC, and today it’s back to FEDEX Field for the SCCA event.

The GeorgeCo MINI powered by Beano ran well yesterday. All four runs were within .sec of each other. We had the fastest MINI at the time we left. Today the team is hoping for a solid mid-field placement in Street Mod. It looks like rain so perhaps we might do even better. Start your rain dance.

rainy day

The rain dance almost worked. The event Sunday was delayed two hours. When it finally picked up again, we only got 3 runs each. I opted for the RA1s over the slicks today. It was almost the perfect choice. Almost, because by the time Street Mod ran, we had an almost dry course. Grip was good, but not great. I think I was mid pack again, but with a fast group so that’s OK.

And the Beat Goes On

BMW

It was a beautiful morning for an autocross. The National Capital Chapter of the BMW CCA held another points event at the MD State Police Training Facility in Sykesville. I was eager to get the BMW back on the road, so I gave it a try, even though the U-joint beats the drive-line like a madman. The 16 inch MINI wheels and R-comps are a bit too tall for the E30. I can’t quite get lock-to-lock without some rubbing in the wheel well. In the future, I’ll have to stick with the RA1s on the 15 inch wheels instead.

The steering rack performed flawlessly. It’s probably psychosomatic on my part, but it seems easier to steer and more responsive to input. Maybe that’s because the system is holding pressure and not just pumping fluid into the boots. The drive-line is something I’m going to have to deal with. I think I progressed backwards today: my fastest run was the first one; slowest the last. I found as I went on, that the vibration became worse and by the end, I couldn’t give it full power without shaking the whole car.

Caliper Paint

I also managed to finally finish painting all of the calipers last week. Red calipers must be good for .2 secs a run…

Update: 6/14/09. Just checked the results and I won my class!

In action

Thanks to the NCC website, I just got some photos of the Stealth in action last week at Sykesville. There are a couple of things to note in these photos. The first one is under hard braking, just turning-in to a fairly tight right turn, body roll isn’t bad and the front doesn’t seem to be really loaded.

The second thing I notice is how much better the paint looks on the door and front fender than the rear quarter panel. That’s because I haven’t painted the rear quarter panel yet. I’m also thinking that if I really want to stick with the whole black-out theme, I need to tint the windows and paint the chrome trim black as well.

turn in