Man, a badass day indeed. It was Sasca's 7th Autocross for 2009 at the AT&T Center here in San Antonio, TX. Weather forecast predicted sunny & cloudy conditions until 12pm where a 30% chance of rain would creep in. We got none of that, woot! We had an overcast morning which ended up in clearing in the afternoon. Definitely back to a smaller turnout now since Austin's Chapter, Spokes, wasn't with us like the last 2 times. 63 entries total. We got 4 runs in the morning and 3 runs in the afternoon. My morning session went pretty well but I started breaking out the rear end on my 3rd and 4th runs. I later found out that my tire pressures were at 40psi from the heat building up in the day. I set them back down to 35psi all around for the afternoon sessions and it turned out MUCH better. I DNF'd (Did not Finish) my first afternoon run b/c I went wide on a slalom cone but my second afternoon run I had Wei ride with me (autoX veteran) and I don't remember him saying too much while I was driving other than waving his hands and clapping (haha) but just his presence being there got me down to my fastest time of the day. I thought I pushed myself even harder on the 3rd afternoon run but I came up a full second slower. D'oh! Very fun day though! Oh and my new hat worked out perfectly for course-work with cone duty. Insta-shade!

The course (Start is below the Grid)...


My Photos (not too many, doh!): http://s389.photobucket.com/albums/oo337/ravynxmiko/S2000/autox/sasca/07-19-2009/

Final Stats (2nd place in Novice): https://axwaresystems.com/axorm/files/SASCA/07-19-2009_fin.htm
PAX Rankings (29th place): https://axwaresystems.com/axorm/files/SASCA/07-19-2009_pax.htm



;)

So I'm sure everyone remembers my incident heading home after Harris Hill Road. Well, my friend Adolfo who drives the 2003 Berlina Black S2000 and was one of the 3 with me that day went with the UTSA SAE team to Harris Hill Road a couple weeks ago to test and tune their Formula 1 SAE car. Well, Adolfo talked with one of the people who worked there and the guys asked, "Hey, didn't your friend wreck his S2000 a little while ago?" and Adolfo said "Yes". The guy replies, "Ok, so honestly, what happened?" Adolfo tells him the story and the guy's eyes light up and he says, "That punk who drives that Silver mustang with blue stripes is my neighbor's son..." Adolfo said they chatted for a little while and he said the guy looked pretty pissed. Adolfo found out that this kid has been caused enough trouble for other people to call the police on him. The guy said that he's pissed that the punk caused one of his customers to wreck his car going away from Harris Hill and that he was heading over to the parent's house after his conversation with Adolfo ended to have a talk with the kid's dad and the kid.

Wow, I can't believe that happened. JUSTICE! =D

As per request, here are some make-shift photos of the new S. I was going to give her a typical wash/wax until I started looking on the Wash & Wax Wacko sub-forums on s2ki. Having a dark-colored car makes it harder to keep clean and swirls show up MUCH MUCH easier as well. I'm going to be purchasing a Porter Cable orbital polisher to remove the swirls and restore the luster. That way I can just upkeep on the paint from there on out.

Here are the photos from when dad and I drove it back from Florida...

( Florida Trip )

And here are the photos from the recent autocross after I put my Work Emotion Cr Kai rims from the first S on the new S. Just note that since my car was all stock, I was in a different class for the autocross, hence the ugly tape. haha The numbers look great though. ;)

( Autocross #6 )

I've had the damnedest of luck as of late. My S2000 gets run off the road and totaled, lost Kristen as my girlfriend, my phone was stolen at the gym, and now my LCD TV has become saturated in red... Argh. What a stroke of misfortune. I guess I had been on the high end of the rollercoaster for a while and it was time to dip down to the bottom for a bit. Funny how things work out like that. Material things can be replaced, fortunately. =)

Caturday post is back and whoopin' some tail! Take THAT tiny dog!

POW! Right in the kisser! ;)

So when I got the new S last month, I found out the previous owner turned the system up too loud and broke the speakers. They still played but buzzed pretty bad on bass responses in the song. I purchased the equipment I needed and did the install myself with help from my dad. The hardest part was running the speaker wiring to each of the doors and then running power from the battery into the cabin. Running wires down the door sills and into the trunk area was a piece of cake. My dad helped me create mounting brackets for the new speakers since they were larger than stock and also a mounting plate to fit the amp in the spare tire.

Here are some of the pictures...

Components: JL Audio TR 650-CSi
Amp: JL Audio G2250 (250/2)

I kept the stock headunit and used a PAC Line Out and tapped into the stock wiring harness to convert to RCA cables to the amp; the RCA cables and speaker wire ran down the center console and into the trunk to the amp. Pics of the amp don't have any wiring to them because I took pictures early in the process. It's wired up, I just haven't taken pictures of it yet. Enjoying the system too much to be bothered. ;)

( ... Photos! ... )

So we all know my phone was stolen from the gym. I learned my lesson the hard way not to become too comfy and start trusting people I don't know around me. I was just lucky for 2.5 years that no one took my stuff (except that one time where someone took and never returned a glove and ball which sat outside but attached to my bag).

Anyway, last weekend my dad and I went to the AT&T store to discuss my options. Just note that AT&T does not offer an warranty for the iPhone due to conditions through Apple which don't allow AT&T to do so. So I can't purchase theft or damage protection on it which blows. So we were talking with the sales rep and basically my choices are...

1) Buy my own phone locally off craigslist/eBay and use a replacement SIM card

- 3G runs from $300-$500 on craigslist (and is probably stolen like mine)

2) Purchase a replacement iPhone 3G at full retail

- Full Retail runs for $350 I think? Can't remember

3) Purchase an upgraded iPhone 3GS at full retail

- Full Retail goes for $500 for the 16gb 3GS model

4) Cancel my current contract and get a new 2 year contract with an iPhone 3G (8gb only, my other was 16gb)

- $120 to Cancel my current contract and $99 to purchase a 8gb 3G on a 2 year contract

5) Cancel my current contract and get a new 2 year contract with the iPhone 3GS

- $120 to Cancel my current contract and $199 to upgrade to the 16gb 3GS on a 2 year contract

So even after all of this, it's STILL CHEAPER to cancel my contract and UPGRADE to a brand new 3GS phone. How sad is THAT? If there was a much cooler phone coming out in the next year I would have just bought a basic texting phone like my brother's that has a keyboard or something similar but since there isn't I'm sticking with the iPhone.

So Google has announced that they have moved GMail out of Beta (FINALLY!) and are also in the works of making an Operating System. They've already created the Android OS for phones but Google Chrome OS is in the works for Netbooks mainly but also for desktops and laptops. Google's philosophy is that the internet has taken over and many of the things that we used to do on our own computers can now be done on the internet. Take for instance, my computer at home does not have Microsoft Office or OpenOffice installed at all. Whenever I need to type a document or work in a spreadsheet, I go to http://docs.google.com/ and create it there. Heck I even have a spreadsheet saved online for my car's service records. Storage content is being held online for photos and backup recovery systems; I believe Google even has an app that lets you sync your windows folder to an online storage folder. I haven't used my StartMenu in ages. Granted I'm a king of keyboard shortcuts and use Launchy to run my programs, the only programs I really run are... Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Adobe Photoshop, Sony Vegas Pro... and yeah that's all I use my computer for. Unless I'm editing photos or video, I'm on the internet. So if I had a Netbook then Google Chrome OS would make perfect sense for me. As for others that still use desktop applications it might not be a good choice for them.

It's weird how I've become do dependent on the internet for my computer usage. Whenever I lose internet at the apartment I feel apathy towards using my computer and try and find something else to do. I keep in touch with everyone through IM, Facebook, Myspace, e-mail, etc.

I've really thought about switching to a laptop or a netbook but I just haven't seen the need for me to haul a laptop around to where I go. I'll keep my desktop for now since I don't forsee it "running behind the times" anytime soon on power/graphics since game development has been dull lately. Though, the extra space and lack of wire-clutter would definitely be nice. I would just miss it for any games in the future such as StarCraft 2! It shouldn't take much power to run that. ^_^ The only issue I would run into with a laptop/netbook would be the lack of power to edit video.

I've been going to this gym for 2.5 years now and I've only had 1 incident of theft and they only took a glove and a ball while I was playing a game and never returned it. Other than that... no one has messed with my stuff. Looks like I'll have to lock up my phone, keys, and wallet in the lockers before I play from now on. What a drag.

So I head to the gym tonight like normally any other Tuesday/Thursday. I gear up, hit one of the courts, play a game in another court. I send a text message to Eduardo and go back to practicing in the first court. There's some type of party going on in the jazzercise room for someone's birthday so there's more commotion than normal. As I'm practicing I look back through the small window in the door to make sure no one is trying to get on the court if they have it reserved. As I look back I keep noticing some guy in his 30's leaning against the wall next to the water fountain staring in. He doesn't seem like he was interested in the racquetball, just kind of looking with that face like you know something is up. I thought he may have been looking in like many do waiting for me to look back so he can signal to me that it's his court for the hour, but no. I continue practicing, look back and he's gone. I keep practicing and then take a break, talk to AB (another racquetball player) for a little bit. I go back to my bag and the pouch where I keep my phone is open... I open it the rest of the way, reach inside and my phone is missing. I frantically search all of the pockets, under the backpack, around the courts, in the courts. It's gone... I knew I had a weird feeling about that guy staring in, I should have walked out earlier, ugh. I report it to the front desk and they will report it when the manager is in tomorrow morning. I will go after the bank and AT&T store to see if anything is caught on the video camera surveillance. So I drive across the street to the police station (how convenient!) and make a report there too.

Man, what a freaking night. It's funny though because there were several times where I wanted to reach down for my phone to check something. For instance, the officer asked what address the gym was across the street. I wasn't sure so I go for my phone to check the map app and... ah fuck, no phone. Wanted to call Dad back to see if he reached anyone at AT&T about the stolen phone... ah fuck, no phone. I wanted to text Eduardo about the phone being stolen... no phone. doh! Heck, I couldn't even call him on another phone because I don't have his number memorized; only family and Kristen's. It's crazy how I've gotten so used to the Address Book feature in the phone that I've never had to remember anyone's phone number since I got this phone. Craziness!

Time for bed now. Gonna set my alarm clo... son of a bitch! *sigh* Everything was on that damn phone.

So since I've wrecked my car I've gotten a lot of sympathy, a lot of help, and comforting too. But what's really puzzled me is this phrase I've heard over and over again...




I guess you have to drive it to really appreciate what the S2000 really is. To me, it's a work of art. Honda racing heritage in a sleek low-profile form. It may not win the hearts of the show-queens but when you're driving it or being seen driving it... wow, it's fantastic. It's going to be extremely hard to find a car priced under Porsche, Lamborghini, Maserati that will drive/feel the same or even better. I will drive this car into the ground or whenever family comes along it will be set aside as either a weekend car or I will convert it into a full-blown track car.

I leave you with these 2 quotes and some others...

Road & Track
“. . . I dialed up Porsche for a test Boxster (99 percent of the time a successful shake-down). Only to be told, Sorry, but no. No? I couldn’t believe my ears. Apparently, Porsche was suddenly being hit up by every car magazine in the country asking for Boxsters, which could be due to only one thing: the Honda S2000's becoming available to the press. Porsche decided it was not in its interest to facilitate comparisons . . .”

Top Gear
“... if the Boxster wins hearts in the showroom, it's the Honda that will win souls on the road.” The English road tester, Vicki Butler Henderson, went on to buy one and I’m told she's now on her second one.

( More Quotes )

Alright so it's been... almost 3 weeks since Aaliyah has been wrecked. She was towed to Northpark Collision to be inspected. It took the adjuster, Annie, 4 days to get there to look at it. Her first estimate was $7,000.00 in damages but she needed a better look to see if there were going to be any hidden costs and needed to verify with the shop. Ok, cool, as long as I have my rental coverage I'm fine. To be on the safe side I started looking for a replacement S2000 in case Aaliyah happened to be totaled. I got lucky finding the gem that I did in Florida almost a year ago so I needed all the time I could get this time. So the weekend passes, I get another call from asking about my rims, are they stock or aftermarket? Aftermarket I said, and worth $300 each. She goes back to calculating. Another day passes and she says damages are up to $8600 and she needs to confirm with the shop. Another day passes, she's 'still' calculating and I ask is it basically totaled and she says "Yeah, it's enough to be totaled." Great, I just lost this beautiful gem that I've had a ton of fun in. Time to go shopping... again... >.<

So for a while now my friend, Hisham, that drives a 2005 Yellow S2000 (AP2, mine is AP1) always hints "You'll be converted to AP2 eventually" in a joking manner. I've never driven an AP2 before. From what I had read and heard Honda has refined the S2000 a lot between AP1 and AP2 models. The engine lost 1k RPM's but gained a good bit of mid-range torque to make up for it. The suspension is slightly softer, the shifting is smoother. On the 2006 and up Honda turned the throttle from cable-driven to drive-by-wire (electronic) and in all ap2's they put in a CDV (clutch delay valve) so when you launch the car hard it delays engine-to-transmission engagement so you don't grenade the weak stock differential. They also updated the body panels and rear spoiler (which I REALLY like) and a few other cosmetic things I can go on and on about. But I digress... I started looking for 2004-2007 models. At first I only wanted 2004-2005 because I had heard bad things about the DBW (drive-by-wire) system. I found a 2005 in Austin in Suzuka blue but when my dad and I were about to drive up last Saturday morning we called to check to make sure it was still there and ... nope, sold that morning. Argh! So we drove over to Northpark Subaru here in San Antonio to look at a 2006 Suzuka blue (had a mix of black & blue interior instead of my all-blue one). Upon first inspection I knew it was hit in the rear because the taightlights were not flush with the bumper and the trunk had no tension on it when opening/closing. I still test drove it because I wanted to see what the deal was with the ap2 and the DBW.

First impressions... it feels like I'm sitting a bit lower and further back from the windshield; I remember reading that ap2 seats sit a bit lower to accommodate for taller people. It's not an inconvenience for me, just a different feeling; my dad definitely liked having his forehead a bit further back from the top windshield bar. ;) The clutch is much much (yes, double much) easier to push in than any car I've driven but the gas/brake pedals have a bit more tension in them. Honda did this so that whenever you go over bumps that you don't accidentally press down on either the gas or brake so it doesn't upset the car's setting on the road. Another neat feature but something that will take me a while to get used to since I modulate those on the road/autocross/track. Shifting is slightly more smooth than the ap1 as is the ride/suspension. The steering is not as twitchy as the ap1 as well; you could also say it's not as responsive from the other end. Driving around it felt great but heel-toe shifting was definitely off since I'm driving on a different power-band now so I'm not used to where gears match in rpm's and sound when downshifting in corners; just another something I'll have to get used to. The test drive went well, it was mechanically solid but I just couldn't see myself purchasing a car at full retail for something that has been damaged. We walked away. I hung out at my parent's house for a bit and they persuaded me to go look at a 2007 at Fernandez Honda even though they were asking $24k for it.

We got there, it looks beautiful on the showroom floor aside from the nicks and scratches in it. I had them take it outside and I went on a test drive. I felt more used to the controls now so the pedals were feeling better as well as the steering. The only issue with it is that the rear bumper got "tapped" in a parking lot when the original owner had it so he had it repainted. Well, their "tapped" was really a "hit" because Kristen and I went back on Monday afternoon and after looking over it really well in the sunlight the bumper actually deformed a little bit from the hit. Basically you could see the "wave" in the bumper where it got crunched at or maybe it was just a really really bad paint job. Also in the sunlight, more chips/scratches reared their ugly heads and I believe there was some pitting on the windshield in the driver's view so that would get annoying after a while. When we went to "talk about prices" they said $23,995 was their "bottom-line internet" pricing deal. Kristen and I are sitting there going, "WTF?" Kelly Blue Book value for the car is $23,995 in Excellent condition. This was in Good condition so I offered 21k and they wouldn't take it and said we were leaving but he went back again and came out with $22,995. I still didn't take it and we left.

What is the deal with dealers? The car is not in excellent condition yet they still charge full retail??? Oye, I guess they'll find some sucker to buy it. Meh. =/

So as you can tell I've been searching for Suzuka OR Laguna blue, not just suzuka now since they're just so damn hard to find. I also started searching the rest of Texas hoping I'd only have to drive a couple of hours. I found another Laguna blue in Dallas that has the spoiler I want but I saw some scratches in the pictures so I asked Mat to help me out and scope out the vehicle since he's up in Dallas for the summer. He and Rachael checked it out and took pictures. After reviewing the photos it was the consensus between Mom, Dad, and myself that the Laguna blue at Fernandez honda was actually in better condition. The Dallas one had really long and deep scratches, the top looked like it was either installed incorrectly or worn at the frame, the shift knob was scratched to hell, a huge chip in the windshield possibly caused by a gun, and other minor things. We all think it was ragged on pretty badly. I passed on that pretty quickly even though they took off $2k their *drumroll* full retail value! after I asked them to. Oye...

So nothing in Texas... *searches nationally* haha! I actually found 1 in Florida that looks mint in the pictures so I posted a thread in the Orlando, FL section asking if anyone could go look at it. From that thread I got a private message saying their boss's friend is selling his 2006 Laguna Blue S2000. I've been in contact with the private seller since yesterday and it's looking to be the one of choice so far. Immaculate paint, front lip, sideskirts, rear spoiler, 22k miles. He should be sending pictures in the next day or so. Dad and I will be flying out to Orlando next Saturday. If the private sale falls through and the dealer still has the 2006 in Florida we can always go to the dealer.

Phew! I may actually get a mint condition 2006 after all is said and done! The only issue with the private sale is that it has the low-spoiler like Aaliyah did. I can live with that but I REALLY want the taller spoiler as it fits very nicely with the new body panels. We'll see. ^_^

So myself, Shane, Adolfo and Hisham are heading home from the after-party at Harris Hill Road which was after the Spokes Autocross heading towards highway 21 doing 35-40mph on the back roads. A left hand curve came up, making our way around, I saw an oncoming Mustang which was pretty close to the yellow center line so I moved to the outside edge of my lane almost through the end of the curve and my passenger rear tire hit grass/dirt since it's such a small lane. The car starts to slide off the road so I counter steered, got back on but the rear swung out to the left from loss of traction in the dirt, I counter steered that and the car swung back to the right 180 degrees. I put clutch and brake in and I went backwards off the road and into a tree.

The rear driver's tire was pulled out from the car so it was not drivable. I called my insurance and got a tow truck out there and a cop ended up swinging by and we told him about the Mustang and what happened. No citation since there weren't tire marks from doing something stupid. The situation probably went as smoothly as any accident could have so I'm thankful for that.

I just want to let everyone know that I'm alright and the damage isn't 'too' bad. It definitely could have been a lot worse. Thank you very much to Hisham, Adolfo, and Shane for sticking with me that night and helping me get back home. It definitely means a lot to have friends I can count on.

( Wreckage Photos )

So I've been eyeing this event for quite some time but just haven't gotten around to it. If you haven't heard of either, the Alamo Drafthouse is a movie theater just south of 151 on 410. Anime Night is an event they hold every Monday from 7:30pm till ... I don't know, we didn't stay long enough. We left at 9:30. We saw 4 episodes of Last Exile. It was an... interesting... Anime... The animation was pretty good but they were trying to mix old gunships with new high-tech ships which just didn't fit quite right. The story was all over the place as well. The main story is about these 2 kids (Claus and Lavie) as letter couriers flying in vanships to deliver their letters. The first 4 episodes they were bouncing around between delivering a letter during war, to trying to make it to a vanship race event, and then stumbling upon a courier mission which was rated at 7 stars (unheard of to them, they were dealing with 3 star missions). That's basically where we stopped at and had to head home for the night.

I was talking to a co-worker today and he said it's actually a pretty good Anime. It's just that it picks up around episode 16 out of 26. A bit too long to wait if you ask me.

This is SO you, Dad. ;D

Growing up, I remember liking cars, wanting to drive them, always asking my parents what the lines on the road meant or what different signs meant. Aside from video games, I really got into cars. I started watching racing on TV (WRC, Formula 1, GT, MotoGP) and that's where it all started. Ever since I started driving I've been dreaming about making it out to the track to really go fast. My ultimate goal at the moment is to make it out to Laguna Seca Raceway in California so I can take the corkscrew turn; that looks like so much fun. Dreams aside, having an S2000 is getting me closer to being a true sports car and I heard on the forums about "track days" out at Harris Hill Road (H2R) in San Marcos, TX. Intrigued, I inquired about it. It was $150 for a full day with an instructor, breakfast & lunch. People are divided into groups based on previous track experience and skill level so I didn't have to worry about getting run over by the big dogs. I've been having a lot of fun on the S2000 weekend drives and felt like I was being held back by others so I decided to get my speed fix out in a controlled environment. I registered for the April 5th, 2009 track session and prepared myself for the fun ahead.

Prepping Aaliyah wasn't too big of a chore. I had to change the oil, bleed the brake system, and get her tech-inspected by a shop here in town. I talked to Gunn Honda and they wanted $90 for a 25 point inspect which I thought was ridiculous. I found a local performance shop, Precision R, and they charged me $50, which was MUCH more reasonable. I chatted with them for 1-2 hours after the inspection was done and they have their heads and hearts in the right place. Once all of that was taken care of, I packed the car the night before and got a good night's rest before heading out in the morning.

Photos: http://s389.photobucket.com/albums/oo337/ravynxmiko/S2000/track/harrishill/april5_2009/

April 5th, 2009... track day is a go! Nothing but sun and lots of wind ahead in the day so ventured out to the track, registered when I got in and set up camp. Definitely lots of cool cars there and a good handful of S2000s. Kristen came in not too far behind and hung out before the driver's meeting up at the clubhouse. They explained the track layout, the passing and no passing zones, track etiquette, and track light signals. Every group gets four 20-minute sessions out on the track. Harris Hill Road is a 1.8 mile course with 11 corners. There were 5 groups total ranging from newbie to instructor (Green, Blue, Yellow, Red, White) Green group (that's me!) got to go out first with their instructors with no helmets and not exceeding 50 mph. My instructor was Richard S, whom I met at Austin when Adolfo and I drove up there during the week to attend an "Into the Track" session for the S2000 group. Richard is a pretty cool guy and he drove for the first 2 laps, pitted, and now it was time for me to go out. He showed me the lines to take with Aaliyah to maximize the speed out of the corner exit and different tricks of the trade on steering and throttle input. As all of the S2000 autocrossers know, I tend to baby my car and not really punch the throttle in the corner for fear of spinning her out. Well I started out nice and easy in that first session but when the second session came around Richard was pushing me to push Aaliyah hard through the corners. It felt like the rear end wanted to come loose but the more I pushed it the more it kept sticking as long as my steering and throttle inputs were smooth. Lap by lap I would keep picking up speed, taking corners at a higher rate, and enjoying it so damn much! So much that I started tailing the others on the track and actually passing them!





My second session had ended and Richard was quite pleased at how well I was doing for my first time out on the track. He knew I had only done 3 autocross sessions but was still very surprised. He said I was doing better than some of his Blue session students. They held a small session before lunch for Q&A about how people were taking turns on the track, how hard they were braking, etc. It was a helpful session because I was having some difficulties braking enough in turn 7 because I was going in pretty hot after the long straight and the kink of turn 6.

Speaking of turns, here's the layout of the course looking at the maps there. Turn 1 is an extremely fast turn because you come out of turn 11 and by the time you hit the kink going left at 1 I was doing 90 mph. You let off the gas just slightly and get back on to make a sharp left for Turn 1. Hard braking going into Turn 2, turn in to rub the tire over the rumble strip on the apex of Turn 2 and then you track out and bypass Turn 3. This puts you on the far left edge going uphill into Turn 4. Turn 4 is interesting because right when you get to the red zone on the map you actually turn right into the apex, brake extremely hard and let the incline of the hill help slow you down. You hug that and come out in the middle going downhill now into Turn 5. Turn 5 you turn in left into the apex and track out to the right edge of the track and slowly make your way to the left side of the track as you're accelerating into Turn 6. This is a really fun corner because you're going full throttle probably near 80mph and instead of letting up on the gas you watch for the pylon cone at the apex of Turn 6 and turn right for that cone clipping the right apex and tracking out left before going into Turn 7; very exhilarating. You have to brake very hard for Turn 7 because you've picked up a ton of speed and also because it's a decreasing radius corner (keeps getting tighter and tighter). You track out to the left and make your way back to the middle for Turn 8 which is where you use throttle and steering control to keep the car balanced and then clip the apex and track out to the right side of the track. From Turn 8 to Turn 9 you're at full throttle hugging as close as you can to the right side of the track all the way through Turn 9. When you see the cone at the entrance to Turn 10 you aim for it, brake hard, and then turn in to Turn 10. You clip the apex and track out to the left side of the track and hug Turn 11 going left and track out to the right side to prepare for Turn 1 again. Phew!

Lunch time came and they had people grilling burgers and lots of people chillin' out at the clubhouse. Sondra, who was hosting the event, came around and told everyone that the track was open up to everyone for Parade Laps with no helmets and not exceeding 45mph. Since only the Red (Well Experienced) and White (Instructors) were allowed to have passenger ride-alongs this gave me the opportunity to give Kristen a ride around the track and also Joey let me borrow his HG20 camcorder to try it out. The video came out pretty well and it led me to the purchase of one this past week (more on that in another post). I was greeted by the track owner I believe during lunch and he wanted to test out the decibel level of my car because he thinks it was border line on exceeding the track's set limitation of 95dB from 30 ft away. No problem, I drove Aaliyah to the clubhouse and bounced the tachometer between 8k-9k rpms for a few seonds. It came out at 95.7dB but he said that was fine and I got to continue racing. woot! *hugs exhaust system* It's so beautiful! I got complimented on it several times today too!



Session 3 is on! I'm really pushing it hard, Richard is telling me to keep the speed up and keep pushing it. I'm passing people left and right and now I'm starting to lap the others. I noticed some smoke coming out from my car going into Turn 1 and later found out it's a very common issue on S2000's at the track. More details on that in another post. Videos below were taken on my point-n-shoot camera. Richard says I have really good control of the car because the car broke loose in the rear once in Turn 10 and another time in Turn 8 and I regained control easily and kept her going.






So Session 3 finishes and Richard seemed quite impressed at my progress in my 2 full speed sessions. I'm checking the oil and my tire pressures and over comes Sondra with Richard and Sondra says "Okay, so you've won the overachiever award today, haha. How would you like to move up to the Blue group, Solo (no instructor). Richard thinks you're definitely ready for it." Knowing me, I'm shocked yet I'm hesitating because this is my first time out and I don't know how well the Blue group drives. I agree to give it a shot and I stage up behind everyone else since Blue was the next group out. Richard runs up to my car and says that he'll be riding along with someone else behind me for a couple of laps and says to keep doing what I've been doing. So we all head out and I'm expecting to be tailed and I'm holding pace really well and actually pulling ahead. I actually passed quite a few cars as well! Richard's driver stayed somewhat on my tail but not enough to be pushing me for a pass. I was definitely ready for the Blue group. Soon... Yellow!

After my Blue run, Richard asked if I wanted to ride along with him in the White group in his Lotus Exige. Oh hell yeah! How could I pass THAT up? He drives a black Lotus Exige which is the supercharged version of the Lotus Elise. I got in and he has a 4-point racing harness. "Alright, so pull the straps so tight that it starts to hurt... then pull some more." haha It was definitely tight but man I was held in realllly good. It was amazing riding along with Richard. He was always on the border between grip and slip always adjusting steering angle or throttle position in the corners. His braking was much later than mine, much harder, but very smooth. It made a huge difference. He probably has racing brake pads and whatnot while I'm still on the stock system and fluid but still he had really really good technique. Riding along with him really helped boost my confidence even more about pushing the S through the corners and not worrying as much about spinning her out.

So we're all chillin' on the sidelines and it's getting close to 5pm which is when we were supposed to start packing up but they decide to move it to 6pm and let the other sessions go which meant that another Blue session was up and I got to go again making it a total of 5 sessions today. Sweeeeet. I'm going pretty fast and got held up in traffic behind a blue Toyota MR2 followed by a silver Infinity G35. The MR2 just wouldn't let anyone pass him even though the G35 and I were right on his tale. The G35 hot-lapped (went into the lane for pits but slowed down to let traffic pass and got back on) while I continued behind the MR2 which finally decided to pit next time around. What I noticed though was that a big plume of blue smoke (oil burning) would come out just before Turn 1 like earlier so I came into the pits to check my oil, which was fine and went back out only to return shortly after since the session ended.

All in all I had a BADASS time out there on the track and I can see why they call it Crack because I'm definitely hooked. It's a lot more fun than autocross because you get a lot more time out on the track. You get four 20-minute sessions as opposed to six to eight 1-minute runs for autocross in the same amount of time. I'm still going to autocross because it's only $20 a session as opposed to $150 + $50 tech inspection for a track day but whenever the S2000 group does a track day I'll be out there.

I recently found out that Austin has a track called Driveway Austin which is renowned for training drivers across the world. They have a Driving School which allows you to advance with Licenses. The course has 7 layouts and different layouts require different Licenses. To drive the full 2.0 mile course requires a Level 3 License. I'll have to find out what requirements it takes to go to Laguna Seca but I believe getting up to Level 3 License at Driveway Austin should prepare me for Laguna Seca. Gotta love setting the bar high. >;)

Photos: http://s389.photobucket.com/albums/oo337/ravynxmiko/S2000/track/harrishill/april5_2009/

As bad as this title usually sounds, minus the sarcastic enthusiasm at the end, I actually skated away with no (currently apparent) damage to Aaliyah. It was 1:50am. I had just spent the afternoon at Kristen's with her and her family chillin' outside with a campfire and watching movies/anime after playing golf with my dad in the morning. So I'm driving back and can probably see 50 ft ahead of the car due to the heavy fog. So instead of 80mph I'm doing 55mph because I remember Kristen hitting the deer in mid-curve. Everything is going fine until I see a deer pop up on the right hand side already running and she dashes across the road so I press down firmly on the brakes enough to stop without locking the wheels and sliding off the road and this gives the deer just enough time to get across the front of Aaliyah but I still end up nicking the deer's leg or hind quarter with the left side of the front bumper. It wasn't too hard of a hit, just a thump. I come to a stop, put the hazards on and give the front a once-around and I amazingly don't see any damage to the bumper. All I saw was fur/hair starting at the middle of the front section stretching to behind the driver's side headlight. I get to the gas station in Floresville to fill up and I park her under a bright light to get a closer look and I still don't see any apparent damage. I'm going to give her a bath after I wake up here and hope I don't see any spider-cracks in the paint. *crosses fingers*







That is all. Time to hit the sack, I'm tired. >.<

So I finally found a name for my S2000. She shall be known by Aaliyah. Aaliyah stands for rising, ascending, lofty, sublime, exalted and definitely fits her characteristics when driving. ;)

I will make a full Track Day post after this because I should really be heading to bed here but thought I would share a couple thoughts beforehand. Aaliyah got new rear shoes on Tuesday. I can't believe it was time to change them out already. I had Falken FK 452's put on her back on October 22, 2008 and she had 20,546 miles. As of rear tire replacement, she had 28,970 miles. So 8,424 miles in 6 months. Crazy! I've been driving this car so much more than my previous ones because I found an awesome group to go out with on hill country drives and no autocrossing and track days. The mileage does suck because I was used to getting at least 30,000-40,000 miles out of a single set on my Integra and Grand Am but like many of the people on the S2000 forum said... "You have to pay to play." and it's definitely true with the S2000 but it's soooooo damn worth it!

I think the small contributing factors, other than my assertive driving and autocross, are the fact that the front tires are 7" wide and the rear tires are 8" wide. This means that I cannot rotate the front with the back. I also cannot rotate the fronts with each other or the rears with each other unless I had them remove the tires from the rims and put them on the opposing rims. This is because the tires are uni-directional and are only allowed to spin in 1 direction. My camber is not aggressive so I have no need to worry about rotation.

The good thing is that on these cars, the front set lasts through two rear sets. I don't have to worry about replacing the fronts (and rears again) until the October time frame. Then, if I want to and probably will, try out a different tire set. It's not good to mix-n-match tire brands/models between the fronts and rears because this causes the car to spin out easier with the different traction ratings. I have, at least, a good 6 months to find out what set I want to go with next. ;)

On another note, when leaving work today I noticed the odometer read 29,000 on the dot. Almost to 30,000. =)