SCCA Colorado National Tour blog

[OZMDD]

Figured I'd just start a new thread instead of adding on to the previous SCCA thread.
Man, what a drive! The car did great, and I was getting 32 mpg once I filled up with real gas in Wichita Falls and again in Amarillo. That's a 4 mpg bump. The RS3's actually didn't have too much road noise, though they do tramline on some of the NM roads.

Surprisingly, the long-tube header/midpipe with the Race Single exhaust was very tolerable at highway cruising speeds. Its pretty noisy at WOT, but was really not even noticeable at 75 with the cruise on. I was able to listen to talk radio satellite stations at a comfortable volume. Definitely could not do that with my previous exhaust and the race muffler. The long tube seems to have a lower tone.

I knew I'd be way down on power, but it is still startling when you feel it from a dead stop. Put in the oxygenated good stuff once I got here and ran it nearly dry then reset the ecu. Hopefully it will adjust enough to pull some fuel and run a little stronger.

The site is incredibly grippy. Oddly shaped and slopes pretty dramatically, but not too shabby. Kevin Youngers is the course designer, and he seems to like slaloms and "unmarked" corners (where there are few/no markers to indicate a line between the gates that make the beginning and end of a turn element.) VERY different than JJ courses. He also loves lay-down cones. There must be 50 or more on the course. Should be fast and painful in spots. Well, as fast as my car will go with 90 hp. Its like driving the yaris again!

[POS Racing]

I just wanna tell you: good luck. We're all counting on you.

[TxCoyote]

Who's inflating the autopilot. There's no Jerrett with the bandit

[altiain]

Good luck Mike. Running against Thorne on his home turf will be a real test.of how good the car is!

[sammm]

Good luck Mikey! Keep us posted!

PS
...and don't call me Shirley.

[cone-cerned]

Good luck Mike. Remember; more gas, less brakes.

And, do you have the vector, Victor?

PS.....I have an uncle named Shirley.

[jrj512]

Try not to disappoint us.

[Squid]

Good luck Mike -- hope your string of quick continues!

[Bigsrturbo]

Good luck!!!!

[ken o]

Mike is leading STR by .033!

[OZMDD]

Update - lead the first two runs after leapfrogging Robert Thorne on the 2nd. Overdrove a turn on my 3rd run and slowed down a bit, but so did Thorne. Another S2K local (who had the 2nd fastest raw time at Nats) threw down a smoker on his final run and passed me by 0.6 sec. Disappointed that I didn't hold the lead going into day 2, but really pleased that the car is holding its own and I'm in the hunt. Good news is I know of 3 places (at least) where I made mistakes, so there was at least a second left on the table. If I can pull it together a little more tomorrow, I think I can still win this thing.

MarkW is running in SSP so they would make contingency. Hes up against a couple of fast Exiges and Elises, but he's holding down 2nd and was leading until the end of the 2nd runs. His tires are starting to go, so 2nd may be the best he can do, but I wouldn't bet against him.

[jrj512]

Nice job Mike!

[OZMDD]

Thanks, but hold that thought one more day. Gotta go get that half second back. :)

[jbh]

Run Bandit Run!

[wrx74]

...just, WOW!

[POS Racing]

Yea Mikey!

[POS Racing]

http://sololive.scca.com/STR.html

[altiain]

Congests Mike!

[jrj512]

Nice job, Mike!

[sammm]

Way to go Mike...lay down the smack on the StooK's!