darkonion

iTrader: (31)

One day... I want to do a swap, but that's a little out of the question at the moment. I want to do a solid season in auto-x before I decide to do any major upgrades. I can barely drive my car well as is. I think I've pretty much done every major upgrade to the car without touching the engine.

darkonion

iTrader: (31)

So... I finally bought a tire pressure gauge. I just got the $12 from Kragen. keep it simple. I think it reads fine. I'll have to compare with someone later.

So a few things:

1) This coming Sunday is Round 5. I'll be there. It should be fun. Going back to Oakland. It'll be a lot better than Golden Gate Field. I am really looking forward to selling how the new tires run. I've more or less broken them in. Maybe 200 miles on them, MAX. Should be ready to go.

2) I submitted my car to SubieSport last week. I haven't heard anything from them, so I don't really know much. I am keeping my fingers crossed. I wonder if I'll get in. Who knows?! Regardless, I am proud with what I've done with my car. Takes a lot of time and effort, and I am always open to learning new things.

3) SFR SCCA SOLO Divisionals is around the corner. I'll be taking off my CF hood and running my stock one for that event. At the regional level, I am kind of on a gentlemen's agreement with the class. I am so outclassed, both skill-wise and car-wise that I don't really present a threat. You kind of run with what you got. For the most part, if you are going slower than me... well... let's just say that I have a lot of things working against me. 2.2L NA displacement, inexperienced driver, catback that steals 10-12ft-lbs of torque understock, and an automatic transmission that doesn't really provide that great of responsiveness from the throttle.

4) I am thinking about SubieFest 2008. That day is also Round 15 for auto-x, but I think that I'll have enough events that I can skip the event and go down south. I am actually really interested in doing the time-attack. I'll be in no ways competitive. Last that I remembered, I put out 37whp and 124 ft-lbs of torque on the GST dyno. Even if I put out 120 whp, I don't think I'll be competitive. I would really like to go down there, have a good time, and maybe get some seat time in mean time. Just go out there and see how the car fairs compared to other cars.

5) Things I need to do to the car:

Yeah... I don't really know about this part. I definitely need to do my rear pads and rotors. I am sure they are probably near the end of their lifespan. I think the car is more or less track ready. I can't think of too many other things I could do to make the car track ready. I think it is in pretty good shape. That's really the needs portion.

The wants portion is that I would like to get a bucket seat. I don't really need it, but I figure it would help. Just anything that would hold me in a little better. Maybe even for the passenger side at some point. My Corbeau seat is fine, but it is starting to get old and worn out. Not a big deal really, but for something that can be a little bit more fast paced, might be wise to invest in one.

Speaking of which, I still need to do an alignment. That'll be on my list as well.

That's really about for the moment. Just planning ahead for auto-x, maybe a track day or two as summer approaches, but mainly just growing as a driver.

darkonion

iTrader: (31)

I just checked my CafePress account and saw that a few of you guys have purchased shirts and hoodies. I just wanted to say thanks for supporting me.

I'll be posting a thread in a little bit for a group buy of Chick Magnet T-shirts.

darkonion

iTrader: (31)

I submitted some of my pics to the WheelDude gallery. The last set of pics they have of me was like 2 years ago. Haha.

http://www.wheeldude.com/gallery2/v/submissions/

darkonion

iTrader: (31)

Good event today. Hopefully, there will be some pics posted around later. Good meeting everyone today. My best time today was a 49.4xx. My other times was a 49.7xx and 50.030 +3. Not too bad. Yup.

HKS_WRX_STi

looks like you've been making some fair progress. i've seemed to hit a roadblock. my car has been painted to WRB now and the next step i was gonna do was get a CAI. but heres my dilemma, some people are saying to just get a drop in filter because the stock air intake is pretty decent. plus its cheaper. but at the same time, from what ive heard, the Cobb air intakes have been known to sound pretty mean and give a pretty good pull up to the redline. i REALLY dunno.. LOL ugh... my head hurts

darkonion

iTrader: (31)

It really depends. For the NA models, the aftermarket intake really doesn't do much. For the turbo's, it really depends. I would try to avoid modding the intake if possible. Especially if you don't need it. If you decide to get an intake, just know that you'll need a tune at some point.

MyNikonLens

iTrader: (2)

i have an 07 wrx and got the spt intake at the same time i got the the tbe. so there is no way i know if it helped anything. i have to tell you though, it makes an annoying sound that you will want get rid of it after a while.

darkonion

iTrader: (31)

Here's one of the pics one of the guys on davismsports.com took.

Mike Meier (m610 on davismsports.com)

HKS_WRX_STi

good looking picture! so what else do you plan on doing with your car from here on out? i'm sure youve considered a ginormous turbo =D =D

HKS_WRX_STi

and as for your license plate, itd be cool to have flames coming out ur tailpipe.

darkonion

iTrader: (31)

Well, I still have the rear brake pads and rotors to do. Wear and tear item... I am also thinking about a bigger sway bar in the rear. I might also consider a rear strut tower brace. We'll have to see though.

I've considered a swap, but not until after I graduate. I can't really afford the downtime. Mainly a AT to MT swap in the future. After I collect the money for the brakes, I'll start putting money aside for the parts for the AT-to-MT conversion.

Hehe. I was driving home from the auto-x site, and a Nissan pull ahead of me, and one of the passengers in the back sticks his, or her, hands out the window in the hadouken gesture. Good stuff.

medicSTi

iTrader: (22)

sick pic of the auto x driving kev

darkonion

iTrader: (31)

Thanks Steven!!

darkonion

iTrader: (31)

Hi all. Here is an update for this weekend. Auto-X at Golden Gate Field on Saturday and Sunday. Really looking forward to it. I am going to have Bryan (Ballz) refinish my hood if he can fit me in. I know he has been busy with another customer. If not, I'll have that taken care of next week or the week after or something. If that doesn't work out this weekend, I might run the carbon fiber hood, despite its legality. There are only two visitors so far from out of the region. I don't think it'll be an issue and I might take my chances with that.

As for the t-shirts, we are only 5 shirts away from putting an order in. If anyone would like to join in our group buy, please let me know. Check out this thread for more info: https://www.i-club.com/forums/norcal-classifieds-96/group-buy-darkonions-chick-magnet-t-shirts-182712/

I'll probably be using my tax stimulus to take care of rear brake pads and rotors. Anything extra, I'll save up for some gauges. I am still unsure what I should get. The main thing is that I want to do a few track days and I would like to put a warning system in place so I don't blow up my car. Keep in mind that I don't really drive that hard, but this is the only car available to me and it would be a great inconvenience for it to die.

Yeah... that's really about it.