SCCA Track night: MSR Cresson

Posted on August 4, 2016 by chamba002

Another fun day at the track. This was my first time racing at this track and was pretty far drive from Houston (4hrs). I racked up about 800 miles part of which was because I stayed overnight in Austin. Even though I track once a month I joined the novice class becuase it is my first time here. I was thinking the track would be pretty empty since its was 102 degrees outside. Surprisingly I counted 11 cars in the novice class, and was actually less drivers in the intermediate and expert class.

When I got there, the covered garage was filled! Grudgingly I unloaded all my tools and tires in the Texas sun. I did leave my tires and tools in the shade, at least there was room for that. The silver Lexus IS300 is actually pretty fast in the straights, I later found out it was LS swapped! The track day included 3 sessions, each being around 20 mins. On the first session, I was behind the IS300 when it started smoking bad with the smell of burning metal. Soon afterwards it smoked very badly and pulled over to the side of the track. Then session was black flagged and required everyone enter the pits. We waited roughly 10 mins for the track workers to clean up the spill and I found out the IS300 blew a power steering hose. Thankfully we were able to get back on the track to complete our first session.

This Jaguar was just cruising on the track top down. Not that Im saying its slow at all but you could tell the guy was just out there to have a good time. Its about the experience.

Mini Cooper on Bridgestone RE-71R. I’ve seen a lot of people run RE71Rs on the track and autocross. They say its better then the RS3. I need to try those out.

The 2nd session went through without problems and I got in a friendly competition with the Mustang Shelby GT350R. These days you always see jokes and memes how bad mustangs handle. Even on YouTube, just a simple search and you can find videos of drift and burnout fails of mustangs. I got to hand it to Ford making a track oriented car. The GT350R could never pull away from me but I couldn’t pass it either. We were evenly matched and pushing each other to the limit. This was the hardest I pushed myself and the M3. The last couple laps my tires got too hot and grip fell off. I had to back off and let my tires cool but thankfully the checkered flag was waving. After the session we shook hands on a great race. Unfortunately, which seems to happen often, my memory card was full by my 2nd session and the epic battle wasn’t recorded.

This was the GT350R I had a friendly battle with. Definitely sounds like a roaring V8, and the owner recently bought it! Still has the paper plates! For those of you that don’t know the Mustang 350R here is a little info:

After such an adrenaline filled session, on my last and 3rd session I just played it chill and didn’t go to hard on the M3. I was shifting early and using 3rd gear on 2nd gear corners. That session went on without incident and was great. The 350R did catch up to me but I let him pass, I know he probably wanted another duel but sometimes if you go over the limit that when bad things happen. After the 3rd session, the sun was setting and was just that perfect lighting to take a picture.

Lady driven Porsche boxer was in our run group.

Lots of V8 today.

Mustang Cobra is supercharged with pullies and tune. The car is mainly used for drag racing but the owner still had a good time at the track.

This truck was a complete custom build, tube chassis, modified frame and with a supercharged V8. Unfortunately it only did one session becuase trucks are not allowed on the circuit. Look good though, like the rat rod look.

You get a good mix of cars in the run groups which makes things more interesting.

Four bangers were also out too.

I thought this S2000 was on Hankook TD but its was rolling on Ferderal tires… I wonder how they feel at the track.

Big Wang.

Harrys Lap timer was working seemlessly and I managed to clock 01:31.53 seconds, which I have no idea if thats fast or not. But it felt good just being out there.

Heat cycled Hankooks did a really great job. They only over heated once because I pushed too hard on my 2nd session and grip fell off. It handled the abuse in the 102 degree heat.

MSR Cresson consists of high speed long sweepers, late apexes with a few tight twisties (aka the rattle snake). The track isn’t terribly fast, but I managed to hit 100mph on the straights. With shorter straights and longer sweepers, the track isn’t harsh on the brakes compared to COTA or Harris Hill. You can with the amount of brake dust after my last sesson. What I really did like was how smooth the track was. The track is well kept and very close to gas stations, some even offering racing fuel. I’ll be back again.

TE Thursday

Posted on August 4, 2016 by chamba002

TE37 is like a white shirt…. Goes well on anything.

SCCA track night Harris Hill

Posted on July 16, 2016 by chamba002

Ever since my first track day at COTA, I’ve been going to track events once a month. But this will be my first time at an SCCA track night event, and I wish I knew about these events sooner. Its like HPDE except its a lot cheaper, with fewer sessions and you learn at your own pace without an instructor.

Harris Hill is about a 30 min drive from Austin, with elevation changes and long sweepers. My friend Jason, with his track oriented Miata was able to join in on the action. It was our first time at this track, so we joined the novice group. Thankfully there were only 7 cars in the novice class. Probably the Texas summer heat might be to blame for low number of cars but I wasn’t complaining. I hate to race in a crowed track.

SCCA track night is $150 which includes three 20 min sessions. The novice class also gets paced laps before the beginning of the first session, and drivers meeting between sessions. Luckily SCCA does offer discounts and I was able to get $25 off. The people are pretty chill and its about having fun in your car. You get to experience what a track day in a chill atmosphere. You don’t get an instructor, but in the paced laps, the lead car shows you the preferred line. I still like HPDE becuase they offer instructors and more track sessions (5), but the price sometimes is too much for some people. SCCA track night just makes it more affordable to the general public.

Unfortunately my lap timer was acting up and I wasn’t able to time myself but I still had a blast. My first impression was this track is slow but its decently fast. I was able to hit 110 mph on the straights with no brake fade! The stock M3 brakes are more than capable for track use. The only time I had brake fade was at COTA with stock brakes, Im pretty sure if I get track pads and higher boiling point brake fluid then it wouldn’t be an issue. I can really feel the g forces in the long fast sweeper. Harris hill is mainly a 2nd to 4 gear track. The only thing I didn’t enjoy so much was how bumpy the track was. My suspension isn’t super stiff, but if you are not careful the bumps could upset your car and lose control. I didn’t run into any issues, but it was a rough ride that my helmet would occasionally hit the roof. During the drivers meeting, the SCCA track host gave us pointers around the track which did help avoid some of the bumps. By my third session, I was pushing the car harder and I really enjoyed the capabilities of the M3. I will be back again.

Home

Dreaded Bleeder Screw

Posted on July 15, 2016 by chamba002

Since I do a track event once a month, and its the middle of Texas the summer. I knew I would be racing in 100 degree plus heat. I was nervous about about overheating during my next track day at Harris Hill. With my M3 hitting 60k miles, and just a week before track day, I took my car to ABR Houston for a coolant flush. Unfortunately the plastic bleeder screw is fragile and can break easily, which is what happened on my way home after the leaving the shop. My low coolant light came on midway driving home. I immidiately added distilled water from a nearby grocery store and the low coolant light never came back on. But when I got home and opened the hood…

Looks like the expansion tank spilled coolant everywhere! I was totally bummed and worried that I wont be able to make it for my upcoming track day. I let the car cool down and called the guys at ABR Houston. The service advisor informed me that some coolant did spill out during the radiator flush but when I first popped the hood to add distilled water the amount of spilled coolant was minimal. I didn’t really worry but I started thinking…. It only got worse when I arrived home after adding distilled water. I didn’t overfill the expansion tank since there is a bevel that tells the max level. You could still see the fresh coolant around the bleeder screw.

After letting the car cool and being all bummed about what happened I started to wipe the dried coolant from the engine bay. As I was wiping the expansion tank the top of the bleeder screw came off!!!

Worse case scenario, I have a partial screw that is stuck in the expansion tank. I did some research and found out that the plastic bleeder screw is known to break easily. I called up ABR Houston and spoke to Alex about the situation. Alex, the shop owner, was nice enough to drive from his shop to my apartment in downtown, and this was during rush hour! Alex was able to remove the broken bleeder screw with a left handed drill bit. The left handed drill bit catches on screw and which enables the screw to turn counter clockwise. The broken bleeder screw was replaced with an aluminum bleeder screw that wont break. So I was able to make it to my track day and race without any issues. The guys at ABR Houston know how to work on BMWs and really take pride their work. ABR Houston also did my engine bearing replacement the beginning of this year. VAC coated bearing with ARP rod bolts and no problems so far.

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Tire review: Hankook RS-3

Posted on July 15, 2016 by chamba002

In a couple of months I would have been tracking the M3 for one year. So far I have been through Michelin Pilot Super Sports (PSS), Nitto NT05 (2 sets) and now Hankook RS3. In terms of grip and track use I would rate Michelin Pilot Super Sports #3, Nitto NT05 #2, and Hankook RS3 #1.

Now the NT05 and RS3 are both in the 200 treadwear category. I was planning to buy my 3rd set of NT05s but I wanted to change things up and see if I could tell a difference with tires of the same treadwear. From what I can tell, it’s a big difference. The RS3 is slightly more expensive then the NT05s but its was something worth trying out at least once.

With my brand new RS3 mounted, I recently had a track day to test them out. The levels of grip on the Hankook surpassed the grip of the NT05. Unfortunately my lap timer wasn’t working properly so I wasn’t able to get any data. Hopefully next month at MSR Cresson I’ll be able to acquire data. Subjectively, once heat cycled, the RS3 griped a lot better than the NT05. I felt more confidence to push the car harder after every lap. The tire warms up quickly usually after a couple of laps and the grip is just constant! I felt more g forces on the corners compared to the NT05. I didn’t have any sidewall scrubbing or overheated tries. The road noise of the RS3 is about the same as the NT05, I didn’t really notice a difference, but then again I do have a loud exhaust. Looks wise the RS3 isn’t aggressive looking as the NT05 but its something I can overlook. After tracking on the RS3s I don’t think I’ll ever go back to the NT05s. Don’t get me wrong though, the NT05 preforms well on the track. Its NOT a terrible tire at all, but if you are looking to upgrade to something better in the same tire category, then the RS3 would be a good tire choice.

Learning Levels of Grip

Posted on June 12, 2016 by chamba002

Recently my last track day, the forecast called for thunderstorms. This was a good thing because I wanted to feel how summer tires fair in the wet when you are really pushing the limit. I was on worn out Nitto NT05, and on the dry they are great tires. This is actually my 2nd set and the cheapest 200 treadwear tire for my size. I would like to thank Alex from http://www.street-form.com/blog with the dope pics!

Unfortunately I didn’t have a tent for my tools and spare wheels so those got soaked. At least I didn’t need to use them. Out on the track its was a challenging to drive clean and being careful not to go off course.

What I learned racing in the wet:

1. Don’t go all out in your first run….. I noticed people at the track tend to go all out when its the beginning of the session. For me, thats not how I do it. How can you run if you can’t crawl, right? If you go balls to walls on the first run, you have a higher chance of spinning out or worse crashing becuase you are not familiar with the course or track surface. I like to go smooth and steady first and learn the course before I really push it. Slowly increasing speed and braking later with each run. You got all day, whats the rush.

2. Nitto NT05 work well in the rain even in when its worn out! I thought I was going to be all over the place but for the most part my car felt stable and grip was there. There is a long sweeper on the course and I was thinking the NT05 wont be able to turn in the wet but it gripped! I was even adding gas to the sweeper to see if it would understeer but I got oversteer, which isn’t a bad thing. I want oversteer instead of understeer becuase you can turn the car in better and can control it better (if you get it right). When the tires did loose grip, it was still predictable and progressive. The NT05 gave me confidence to push harder. I never had a sense that I was all over the place.

My tires my before track day

My tires after tack day. They wore out pretty fast even in the rain, but I was running nonstop with a couple of 15 mins rest sessions.

3. You can’t go as fast compared to the dry… Duh. I know it sounds dumb and common sense but to actually experience this is something that you really understand. The grip is very low in the wet and its something you have to account for. Your braking comes in sooner, than in the dry, and the pedal modulation is more sensitive to your input. I was learning to control the tires from spinning too much or sliding out of control. Hydroplaning is a big thing to watch out for and trust me when it was pouring, like cats and dogs, it felt like those tightrope walkers. One wrong move and its the end. You have to find that very small window of grip because too much or too little gas, brakes or steering can send you out of control. The faster you go, that small window of grip becomes even smaller. Yes is did go off course a couple of times but that is becuase of driver error and not the car. Here is video of me learning the course then losing it but luckily managed to stay on course.

4. A wider tract makes a difference! So last week before this event I went on to a autocross and I took off my spacers, because I was worried of rubbing. Well since it was raining I didn’t want to get wet removing my spacers, so I kept it on. I can tell the 15mm spacer made a significant difference. The 15mm spacer in the rear made the car feel more stable and planted than without the spacer. I was feeling this in the rain, what more when its dry!

Managed to get 0.8g in the wet! I honestly don’t know how accurate that is but I was using my iPhone for my car telemetry.

5. Its okay if your car gets dirty. Maybe I should pull up to Wekfest like this….

My fastest time I manage to get with a semi wet track:

Throwback Miata

Posted on June 9, 2016 by chamba002

3 years ago when I was slammed and recently bought a Miata. Sure changed a lot since then…. Then last year selling her becuase she kept on breaking down.

Natsukashi Garage Miata from chamba002 on Vimeo.

At her prime: Slammed, lots of camber and BBS wheels.

Time in the M3

Posted on June 6, 2016 by chamba002

It been awhile posting here but there hasn’t been updates to the M3. I’m pretty happy the way it is now and I’ve just been going to track events once or sometimes twice a month.

Recently I installed my 90mm wheel studs for extra strength and it’s nice having the option of running spacers. My Project Kics racing lugs compliment the studs. It about the attention to detail

I found some 15mm FK spacers I had at my parents place when I had my old BMW before I crashed many years ago. I placed it in the rear because I wanted to be more flush to the fenders. The fitment looked good.

Couple weeks ago I went to a autocross and I took off my spacers at the track because I was afraid of rubbing. I noticed it would slightly rub in city driving over bumps and steep inclines but noting severe when I had my GTI or miata. The autocross was my first timed event. The fastest cars was running in the 27 sec range at the track and slowest cars were around 40 sec range. The cars tuned for the autocross really killed it, so I knew I wasn’t going to get to their lap times. My goal was to get below 30 secs and I would be happy. There was a CTS-V and a stock 996 GT3 running 29-28 sec range and I figured that would be a good time to get. Unfortunately 30.8 was the fastest I managed to get. The event ended prematurely after a Shelby Cobra replica took out the timer. I was short by 2 runs but honestly I don’t think I was able to get pass 30.8 because I was really pushing it.

Here is video of me at the autocross but not of the fastest time… I got soo serious in trying to get below 30 sec range that I forgot to turn on the go pro. Feel good to chip away at your times though.

My experience in drifting

Posted on March 21, 2016 by chamba002

First post of 2016 lol. Since my last post of the M3 I haven’t done much to it, except for engine bearing upgrade but more on the that on a later post. I’m here to talk about my racing adventures.

I have been out enjoying my M3 in what it was built for in the first place…. to take it to the track and have fun!

I have wanted to take M3 to the limit but in a safe controlled manner and not worry about going to jail. HPDE (High Performance Driving Education) is fun and you get to race in cool tracks but its too expensive to do frequently. More like Im able to to do that once or twice a year. Autocross is cool but they don’t allow sliding and it seems to be a more serious crowd focusing on times when you are mainly in 2nd gear. Why time yourself if you are (for the most part) in 2nd gear? I would do autocross to learn car control, I don’t really care for the fastest time. BUT autocross is way cheaper than HPDE. Then there is drifting…..

Drifting is the driving technique you not suppose to do when at the track. You are purposely upsetting the car balance to make it slide around the corner. Its the slowest way around the corner but most entertaining. Drift events are usually the same price as autocross, just more fun in my opinion.

I recently found out Houston has drift events once a month for a really good price. The first event I went to was TXDF and its $55 to drift or grip (the organizers are pretty chill) at a closed facility. Its usually all day thing and the crowd is a bunch or regular car people that want to get some seat time for cheap and car tuning. For $55 I can do that once a month! Its nowhere near as fast like COTA or MSR but still $55 versus $300-$500 every month.

TXDF is held at the Houston Police Academy track. I found out about TXDF though Facebook and it was the day of the event. They have drift events once a month so you will probably be seeing more of me there. I didn’t even bring tools or spares, I just drove the M3 and paid at the entrance. The drift course is a 2nd gear course so you can focus on gas and steering input.

Then I did Lone Star Drift Round 1, and that was more of a serious event than TXDF since its an actual completion. They do offer practice session which is the same course as the participants drift in. In the past events, they had another course for beginners but this time they didn’t have that. I actually did prepare for the event this time. I brought my tools and spare tires stuffed it in the back of the trunk.

The first corner entry is 3rd gear, and I did hit 70ish mph before braking. This proved difficult for me, because it was too hard shifting into 2nd while maintaining the slide. The S65 motor is the high revving V8; therefore, I didn’t have to shift into 3rd gear. I just focus on the gas and steering inputs. Master basics first before doing advanced stuff. The M3 felt strong and I only let the M3 rest once because I had to readjust the GoPro. By the end of the day I was connecting the corners.

I do love how the BMW M3 chassis is engineered for grip or drift. Depending on the drivers actions you can do both easily. I didn’t trailer my car, I just simply showed up and it ran like a champ! Pretty thankful because I’ve seen other cars that look like they spend way more money than I did and were having issues. The M3 is truly a car to take to the track and then the same day go do your groceries.

Wekfest Texas 2015

Posted on November 3, 2015 by brandenc

Between all the things that come up in life (work, school, families, etc), I was starting to feel like I hadn’t really had a weekend with the people I used to kick it with all the time. Wekfest Texas 2015 was a weekend for friends. It was that simple, just a weekend where most of us would gather again and act like fools. This was our first time renting an AirBNB house, and it was worth it. We arrived the day before the event to do a bit of hanging in Houston as well as go to the pre-meet.

Our first stop was Waffle House. It should be noted that no real road trip is complete without at least one meal consumed at waffle house.

Lets look at Charlie’s silly ass communist face in his integra.

Biss’s new Fried150 transporting Cody’s ruckus and Chris’s grom

Arick’s actually clean car on the way there. He threw some Advan SA3r’s on there (Which I’m obviously partial to as my last car rocked them as well :P)

Our original plan was to see some damn space ships. Aall I wanted was to see some damn space ships and of course, robots. My lazy ass friends got the idea that it was too far, so we ended up at Screwed Up Records where my nerdy ass sure didn’t belong. However, I actually am a fan of Houston rap, grey tapes, SUC, bangin’ screw so I actually was excited when we rolled up.

We did do some quality hangs, ended up eating some tastey food truck food, and also wound up at an anime store…. All things that I do in fact enjoy. (As a side note, I was very proud of myself as I wondered into the anime store and did not spend a single dollar. It probably was due to everything that I thought was cool was well over $50 and I turn into a cheap skate unless it comes to motorcycles these days). We went back to the house soon after where we chilled and eventually fell asleep.

This says it all.

On to the show. I tried to get most of my shots before the public were allowed to enter as I like to avoid the traffic. With such a large event, however, there is never a shortage of people. The Wekfest crew always know how to put together a great show they did not disappoint this round either. The venue was actually double the size of the last two events, which made the show even more of a spectacle. As crazy as amassing enough quality cars to fill the original venue is, Wekfest had the near impossible task of finding enough quality cars to fill a venue double the size of the last one.

I apologize to the owner of this Z as I forgot your name, but I do remember that he was representing for Proper Garage. I spoke to the builder for a good bit and was really excited to hear about everything this car brought to the table. It seems to be harder and harder for me to find car builds that really rile me up, but this one did the trick. Everything from the stance, to the wheel choice, and color combo were on point. I mean, look at the headlights! Mad props

Taste the rainbow. Flashy is making a comeback, and I can say that as I become more open minded I really begin to dig all sorts of things, this build included!

A challenger I really was into. The lines of this model are timeless

American VIP? Yes, please

Say it with me now….

My buddy Fryer has had this damn car for forever. Each year it gets better, gets the shit beat out of it, and gets another single cam. Keep on keepin on good buddy!

Reverse stagger is still the tightest shit since sliced bread.

Lets have a moment of silence for this all Mugen EK4 SIR. Still one of my favorite builds, and it’s evolution from last year did not dissappoint

First you gotta line’em up and then attack…. or something

Got Sol?

The homie Jon Hansen is always building something sweet. We all look forward to kicking it with him when he makes it down here. It’s a shame he doesn’t live closer or he’d end up at our BBQ’s and other random bullshit we occupy our spare time with. His Merc took a well deserved 1st place in the Mercedes category this round. He always themes his builds and ties them together very well. He doesn’t spend his time throwing pointless money at his cars, but rather takes the time to think out a theme and executes it. Much respect, amigo

The 2000’s are back. So much yes here

Every angle of this timeless car looks great.

Roy from Annihilator Customs always has to out do himself each year. From green to red, I must say that this color really sets his IS300 off. Keep up the work dude!

I remember growing up and thinking that the Honda Primo/Verano banners were a must have to any “real” Honda

I hear the scooter game was in fact on FLEEK

The resident Texas prelude guy, Chris H. went full Mugen on his BB6. He’s had this car since it was brand new…. jealousy

This wagovan didn’t run, but it was still styled to my liking. Wheel choice is on point.

The home Hong’s food runner. He’s my resident Houston “large Asian”. If you’re going to any city where you have real friends, you’re bound to have that one “Large Asian” friend that will always be down for two things, chillin and food.