Branden’s first track day

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Two weeks ago I saw a link to meetup.com that was something along the lines of  “Austin Sportbike Riders.” I immediately thought “Shoot, this is cool I need some people to ride with!.” With that I headed to their Noob event and met a bunch of great people. Long story short, after talking to some fellow members, (Ignacio, Art, May,Candace, Dannen, Cory) I was given a chance to go to a track day with a few of them. Normally I would have had to go through a lot of trouble to find transportation but ASR’s Ignacio coordinated it all for me. These people really know how to make someone feel like family, and did all they could to make sure that I could go there at any cost. Cost was another problem as I’m still in school and paying for my first super sport, so the fact that all things were worked out just so I could go and race around a track in a safe manner. You can’t really ask for better people than that.

Long story short, after trying to sell my xbox (failed), I still found a way to make it out, even though it was only for one of the two days of the event. Before we go any further I would like to give special thanks to my amazing friends Ignacio, May, Candace, and David for helping me so much these past two weeks, and for being truly awesome human beings. Through them I have started to realized my dreams as a racer.

I arrived with my duffle bag on my back. Since I had to ride over to David’s place I was trying to be a minimalist

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My friend David has a pretty awesome race bike. He’s a fellow Honda head as well, and used to own a variety of great cars. He now, however, has moved on to racing motorcycles…. something that I could see in my future.

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Close up on that awesome exhaust

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Shout out to David’s sponsor

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That Honda Racing life

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After Candace showed up at about 6:30 PM we loaded up (we as in Candace and David) and head off to Cresson

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So by 11:30 we made it to the track. After unloading the bikes we headed to our sleeping quarters and got some rest.

We started the morning early at about 5:30 AM. When we woke up it was time to get everything prepped for the day. Needless to day I didn’t have much work to do, but while everyone else was putting their bikes on stands and firing up those tire warmers I walked around and snapped some shots of the place.

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Prep Complete!

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Even the cruisers had their own class! ‘Merica

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Race bike out and out. Sometimes farings just get in the way.

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Most of the day’s ASR group

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Don’t worry friends, even your fit’s can tow you to the track!

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May has a cbr250r like I did, except her’s is all tracked out. Unfortunately someone (not pointing fingers) forgot her key and so she ended up riding some else’s ninja 250. Ignacio’s track bike on the right is a little track monster. For those who don’t know the 07-08 600rr is the fastest 600rr to date, and his was a testament to this.

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May and Ignacio posted up like champions, leanin’ like a cholo

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When you don’t race, you read. Get your education on noobs.

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All types of bikes show up. As always I’m partial to the 600rr, especially 07-08’s (those little monsters), but those super motards are boss

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For those of you who don’t know, racing bikes that run slicks or DOT tires use tire warmers to get their tires up to operating temp so they are ready to run right when they get on track. They also serve as a safety precaution since cool racing tires are hard.

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This bike reminded me of my old hatch with the paint pens everywhere.

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The man told me his niece’s and nephew’s went crazy on it. You gotta love My Little Pony right?

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Our bikes in prime form

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IP’s wife May and their son Zane having fun with the pit bike

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There was no shortage of money at the track.

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Street fighter GSXR. This bike just looked awesome, sadly he went down later in the day and had to replace a radiator. The awesome part about RideSmart is that everyone there extremely nice and helpful, and people were immediately ready to help him as soon as he was back in the pits.

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That day there was a CMRA mock race for those who were getting their liscense. My two friends Candace and David  were there doing just that. Here is a little pre-race mind game action for you.

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Candace and David in their battle stance

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The rest of the day went well. I was feeling much faster and much more confident in my riding. This was one the best experiences I’ve ever had and I can’t wait to go back (I am actually on my way to Texas World Speedway as I write this to do some corner working for RideSmart).

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Later Candace!

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I would again like to give special thanks to ASR (and all my friends there) and RideSmart for making this a great weekend. If anyone in the Austin area is looking to ride please look up ASR on facebook at http://www.meetup.com/austin-sportbike-riders and also RideSmart for your Texas track days at http://www.facebook.com/ridesmart1

 

Fumoto oil drain plug install and Dieselgeek Panzer skid plate update

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After doing my Unitronic Stage 2 tune, I decided to change my oil every 3,000 miles instead of the 10,000 mile oil change service from VW. I figured the more frequent oil change will help improve the engine life since the boost is increased and keep the engine feeling fresh.

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I bought my Fumoto oil valve drain from ECS tuning. The part is pretty straight forward, remove the old oil pan bolt and then then replace it with Fumoto oil valve drain. The valve is simple to use and it eliminates the risk of someone over tightening or striping the oil pan drain bolt.

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To do the oil change I needed to remove my skid plate, and you can see my skid plate is put to work. For anyone slammed status or just want to protect your oil pan and transmission BUY the Panzer Diselgeek skid plate. Houston roads are horrible, Ive hit reflectors, bumps, small rocks, and dips going 80mph. You’ll hear a loud bang and see sparks but its just the skid plate.

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You can see the two bottom bolts that hold the skid plate were cut down paper thin from the roads. Thats low life, some people dont get it but thats fine, you dont need to. I used my adjustable wrench and pliers to remove those bolts.

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After i got those removed, the two front bolts holding the skid plate were in good condition, because they were not exposed to the road and carnage.

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I used a 30mm socket to remove the bolts.

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You can see the diference from the bolts and how much I scrape. Since the two bolts are scar faced, i bought new bolts from Dieeselgeek and its a direct replacement.  I only waited one day to get my bolts with the basic shipping.

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With my aluminum skid plate off, it may not look thick but its not weak. I can tell Dieselgeek did some engineering  because you cant see any bends, open holes, or deformities.  The skid plate can take a beating.

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After seeing all the scrape marks from the skid plate, Im sure if didn’t have it I would have been stuck on road with a busted oil pan or transmission several times. The skid plate already paid for itself many times!

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With the skid plate off, I can now get to the oil pan. I used a 18mm socket to remove the OEM oil drain bolt and let the oil drain out.

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The Fumoto oil valve drain plug has a lever were you move it to open and close the valve. You can see there is a spring, to lock the lever in place to prevent it from coming lose. Fumoto also comes with an extension and washers but you dont need a extension for the MK5 GTI.

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After the oil has drained, hand tread the Fumoto oil drain bolt. Then use a 18mm socket and torque it to the factory spec 22lbs. Now you dont have to worry about someone over tightening or striping the oil pan bolt! The Fumoto oil drain valve makes oil changes easier and less messy. I just have to put back my skid plate.

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When putting back my skid plate I had some clearance issues. My Fumoto oil valve bolt was touching my skid plate. No big deal though, I use a hack saw and cut of a part of the tubing.

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Ahhh, more clearance.

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Dont forget to add thread locker to the bolts when attaching the skid plate!

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My illest sticker holding up pretty well.

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With the car on leveled ground, time to put the oil. The oil I used was OEM spec, Castrol Edge 5w-40. The engine uses 5 quarts but I used 4.75 quarts when my dipstick showed it was max level. I left it that way because overfilling is bad for the seals and gaskets. After topping off the GTI with oil, I drove it around and no problems. I didn’t change my oil filter because it is rated for 10,000 miles before I need to change it. Just some basic maintenance to keep my car healthy.

Cupcake Meet 16

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Right after TX2K13, the next day I woke and left Houston for the 3 hour drive to Cupcake Meet 16 in San Antonio. I met up with the rest of the Natuskashi Garage crew at the meet and they were pretty much setting up the tent when I arrived. Still tired from yesterday’s work and TK2K13, being reunited with the Natsukashi Garage crew was worth it. Now, for those of you who dont know Cupcake Meet, its a car show that all the proceeds go to charity. A car show with a cause!

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The weather was perfect with clear blue skies. Thaison thankfully brought some sun block lotion, because with any outdoor car show that lasts more than 2 hrs you are most certainly going to get sunburn.

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This is Cody’s slammed Honda wagon, you dont see too many of these cars this clean. He even owns a dope Honda Ruckus too!

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Our newest member, Arick and his boosted Miata.

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2 door roaster and a bike, the perfect combo for any bachelor. Those days are gone for me haha, but I have my fiance and my GTI doe.

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Ruckus love

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Thaison’s crazy F20C swapped, Levin front end Hatchiroku!

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This CCM also had a drift event from the cars in the Lone Star Drift Series.

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This was the first bagged Turbo Beetlle I’ve ever seen. Im pretty sure the owner is saving up or waiting for his dope 3 piece rims.

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One of cleanest Hondas out there, I think saw this Honda at Wekfest Austin.

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JDM yo.

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This BMW is from the Squirrel Squad and they were definitely representing their hometown.

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Dem gold lips doe.

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These rims are fairly new from a new rim company called WatercooledIND. These are CC10 wheels and they will make any offset you want with these one piece wheels! I was actually going to get these wheels for my GTI but I went a different route and bought the Enkei RPF1s instead. But the CC10 are killer wheels.

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Liking that teal engine bay

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Because race/drift car

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This S2000 was at Wekfest Austin last year except it was plasti-dipped white. Looks better in yellow, in my opinion.

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BRG representing also, another very good team with their cars. I think they got 3rd place at Wekfest Austin for best in crew category.

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I was loving this STI and the Enkei NTo3 fitted this car very well

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Bent Work Equips 01, can also be used as a very expensive chair too!

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The meet ended at 7pm but the drivers at the drift event were giving rides for the spectators. The drifters went all out for the spectators and put up a very good show. The layers of sunblock really helped me not get sunburn. I know some of the other people that came to check out the show were red as a tomato at the end of the day. After the meet, Natuskashi Garage drove to Big Lou’s Pizza but the wait was 2 hrs long!!! So instead we ate at a chicken and wing place couple blocks down. After chowing down on some delicious chicken, and chillin,  the rest of the Natsukashi Garage crew went back to Austin and I prepared myself for the 3hr drive back to Houston. I’ll be back for the next CCM!

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On  a side note….. Coming back to my GTI at the end of the meet, I found a Sarap Buhay sticker lying next to my seat! Just wanna say thanks Sarap Buhay for hooking me up with this dope sticker!

TX2K13

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Texas 2K13 is a yearly car event were all high power cars from all over the United States come to Texas to compete in a 3 day race event. The event was held at Lonestar Motorsport Park which is the home of Hennessy Performance. After my hospital orientation I headed down to TX2K13, it wasn’t that bad of a drive, just 45mins from Houston (without traffic). The cars that showed up were V8 muscle cars, Supras, GTRs, RX7s, Corvettes, Italian supercars, Mercedes, Sport bikes, High HP SUVs and trucks. Rolling up in my stanced, Unitronic stage 2 tuned GTI was probably one of the lowest horsepower cars out there.

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Club 420, Manila represent!!!

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While visting the the Philippines I have some friends that are in team called Club 420. Gotta say the cars are legit and to get in is by invite only.Paolo said “People might have a nice car but they have to get along with the group to get in.” Soo true to avoid any team drama. The people were in the team were chill and and didn’t mind me taking pics. My friend Nikko told me there are more people in the group but were unable to make it. They even have a Lamborghini in the team!!

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Import Face Off 2013

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After a busy night in the ER, and zero hour of sleep, I went directly to IFO with couple of my Houston buddies. The drive to IFO was very nice, the weather was perfect, smooth roads, and I didnt feel sleepy at all. My friend’s front end rabbit gti looked really good while rolling down to IFO. Later the rest of the Natsukashi Garage crew from Austin came down.

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Lay Low Hookah Meet

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I love car meets, especially when the cars are not rice. The Lay Low Hookah Meet was one of those meets. The meet was hosted by Team BottomOut and they are a cool group of people to talk to. I was worried at first the meet was just going to be a bunch of rice but the cars that showed up were legit. Some members from Strictly Gs, and Team Apocalypse came out to the meet. The meet was very chill and had a laid back atmosphere. No pressure to race other, or drifting or do burnouts. Its just a bunch of people getting together and talk about cars.

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Houston Auto Show 2013

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This was the first auto show for this year that I attended too. Its not like car shows where you see modified cars but its a show were auto makers show their latest car models and inovations. The crowd is more family oriented and it reminded me when I was a little kid and would go with my brother and dad to the Austin auto shows.

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Protect your investment, Dieselgeek Panzer Skid Plate

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Since Houston roads are well know to be in horrible condition, my factory plastic skid plate came lose after hitting a transition on the road. I did end up zip tying it, but came lose again on the highway. I wanted to go lower on my GTI but I didn’t want to go through several oil pans, so I went with Dieselgeek Panzer Skid Plate.

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Buying this skid plate is one of the best investments I bought for my car. This skid plate is very heavy duty, and I do have a peace of mind knowing the my oil pan and transmission are protected. The guys at Dieselgeek were quick to ship my skid plate, and its a complete bolt on. The skid plate bolts on to the frame of the car and it is very sturdy.
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