She's just bitter that I haven't designed a logo to accommodate the other half of the human population. However... I am working on that, and hopefully, it'll be up sometime soon.

lol sweet

Dude Magnet? Stud Magnet? or Guy Magnet?

Yay. I just found out I just sold one of my textbooks on Amazon. Gonna get $40 from it. Not too bad. Just more money to go toward something. Once again, if you want a "ChickMagnet" t-shirt, let me know. If we can get enough, we can do a bulk discount.

[QUOTE=darkonion;2144529]Dude Magnet? Stud Magnet? or Guy Magnet?[/QUOTE]

Suby Babe (taking Jayme's SN)

[QUOTE=wrxtunerd;2145852]Suby Babe (taking Jayme's SN)[/QUOTE]

That's actually a better idea.

How about Subie Babe, or Subie Chick? os Suby Boobies? :p

Hehe.

suby boobies!!!

Hehe. Let's try to keep it family oriented. :p

Yo DarkOnion did you go to MSJ high? lol

Yes I did.

Tshirt designs for you ladies. Not sure what I really want to do. I might want to tone down the pink in the second one.

[img]http://www.kimete.com/pics/subiegirl1.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.kimete.com/pics/subiegirl1pink.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.kimete.com/pics/subiegirl3pink.jpg[/img]

looking good

Thanks Steven. So... you gonna buy one for your gf?

haha we'll see how the first one comes out :)

nice. . .

Thanks.

wow lol nice designs man. ever think about getting the chick magnet one as a tattoo? lol i'm sure it'll be pretty impressive when u show the ladies that tattoo then they find out the cars actually yours haha

[QUOTE=HKS_WRX_STi;2146657]wow lol nice designs man. ever think about getting the chick magnet one as a tattoo? lol i'm sure it'll be pretty impressive when u show the ladies that tattoo then they find out the cars actually yours haha[/QUOTE]

Thanks. I've thought about this design for awhile. Had some friends help me out with it, too. Tattoos? Uh... I think I'll have to pass on that. I dunno, not a big fan of tattoo's or weird piercings.

[QUOTE=darkonion;2146666]Thanks. I've thought about this design for awhile. Had some friends help me out with it, too. Tattoos? Uh... I think I'll have to pass on that. I dunno, not a big fan of tattoo's or weird piercings.[/QUOTE]

lol i hear ya im not really a big fan either lol

I only have a few turn-off in terms of girls/women. Smoking, tattoo's, weird piercings. Mainly the first one. I'll somewhat put up with the other two, but not the first one.

well what if she was "smoking" hott!? lol..

[QUOTE=HKS_WRX_STi;2147428]well what if she was "smoking" hott!? lol..[/QUOTE]

Maybe... but at some point, you got to kiss that mouth...

Got my auto-x magnets in the mail today. They look awesome. Can't wait to sport them at the next event.

Alrighty. Just ordered new tires. Will be having them mounted and balanced on my second set of wheels on Friday!!

Got new tires on my second set of wheels today. I am going go to Subway now to get some lunch then head to Speed Element for Steering Rack Bushing install. Yay.

+1 for the SpeedElement. Just got back from them installing the bushing onto my car.

Thanks guy for the work.

what tires did you get kev???? Should I be afraid for sunday?

Be afraid. Be very afraid... Hehe. Just got the RT-615's in 235/40/17. Should be a good base to learn on. I still haven't put them on the car yet. That'll be tomorrow I hope.

I got the same tires...they are awesome. at least a second better in AutoX.

they last a long time too, I've done over 10K miles on mine daily driven and they still grip like fcku.

Looking forward to seeing my new numbers Kev :)

Haha. I am looking forward to seeing your numbers, too.

Tomorrow, I'll be putting on the new tires. Going to see how that'll go.

Alrighty. A little update for you.

Saturday, I spent some time putting the new tires on. They actually fit. Yay.

Sunday, I went auto-x'ing at Golden Gate Field. A lot of new peeps were out there, which was good. Great to see a lot of Subaru participation. I did pretty well. Still learning how to drive. The car seems to be set-up pretty well. Tires were okay this weekend. The course had a ton of gravel on it. There was like no grip. I clocked in at 40.0xx +1, 40.2xx +1, and 39.7xx. Not too bad.

Gagan, who ran my car for Fun Runs, gave me some tips for tweaking the car. So, I'll be doing a few adjustments in the next few weeks. He clocked in at 39.3xx, 39.0xx +1, and 41.xxx. The last run was interesting. Haha. I am sure he'll be more than happy to tell you about that.

Other than that, good times. New magnets, new tires, new steering rack bushing. Looking forward to Round 5 and Divisionals this month.

Here is a picture that Mark Mervich took.

[url]http://markm.zenfolio.com/p736810735?photo=h38414755#943802197[/url]

Just did a height adjustment at Karlton's (xtremevolk) place. Thanks Karlton for helping me do that. So the front is about half an inch higher now. Hopefully no more rubbing.

I am really looking forward to divisionals.That's going to be fun. I'll take pics of the car later.

[img]http://www.hgutierrezphotography.com/Redline_03292008/IMG_4902.jpg[/img]

I think you should make your car look like this.

Hehe. GST-Greg and I already talked about this. $150k and no life for a year, and it can happen. The no life for a year, I can do. It isn't like I have one right now. The $150k part... that's a different story. :p

[QUOTE=darkonion;2161168]Hehe. GST-Greg and I already talked about this. $150k and no life for a year, and it can happen. The no life for a year, I can do. It isn't like I have one right now. The $150k part... that's a different story. :p[/QUOTE]

yeah those guys are sopose to be pretty tallented, I second the thought you should bring it to GST for "upgrades"

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.

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.

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.

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.

[url]http://www.wheeldude.com/gallery2/v/submissions/[/url]

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.

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

[QUOTE=HKS_WRX_STi;2174583]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[/QUOTE]

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.

[QUOTE=HKS_WRX_STi;2174583]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[/QUOTE]


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.

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

Mike Meier (m610 on davismsports.com)

[img]http://images.streetfire.net/photos/0001/58/15/1038551.jpg[/img]

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

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

[QUOTE=HKS_WRX_STi;2175826]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[/QUOTE]

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.

[QUOTE=HKS_WRX_STi;2175828]and as for your license plate, itd be cool to have flames coming out ur tailpipe.[/QUOTE]

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.

sick pic of the auto x driving kev

[QUOTE=wrxtunerd;2175906]sick pic of the auto x driving kev[/QUOTE]

Thanks Steven!!

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: [url]https://www.i-club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=182712[/url]

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.

Course was fun today. Can't wait to go back tomorrow and attack it the other direction. Yeah... I am tired, but still alive. My times were pretty decent. I got last place in class, but that's okay. Hella out powered. I did a 65.2xx, 63.0xx, and a 62.490. Not too shabby at all.

Kosti caught a few pics of me. Here are the links:

[url]http://basedonbass.com/gallery/albums/userpics/AutoX/AutoX%20016.jpg[/url]

[url]http://basedonbass.com/gallery/albums/userpics/AutoX/AutoX%20017.jpg[/url]

Alrighty. So the weekend is over and so is another event. For those of you who don't keep up with the auto-x scene, this weekend was Round 1 of the California Divisional Series. Pretty much, it is one of three events in California between the major SCCA auto-x clubs, to see who is the fastest in California. Mind you that this event is open to anyone and people coming as far north as Washington and as far south as Arizona were in attendance.

Friday night was registration, tech, and course walk. Since I was coming back to the bay from Davis, I decided that my one drive from Davis to Fremont was enough driving for one day. I figure that I could show up early Saturday morning to sign-in, get teched, and walk the course.

I left the my mom's house in Fremont at 5:45 in the morning to arrive at Golden Gate Field a little before 7. I helped doing the waiver gate until registration opened at 7. I had to buy a rule book, and had to pick up a few required decals in order to be "legal" for the day. Once that was all done, I went back to my car to prep it.

Edison (vietnameeh) was already there prepping his car. I pulled out the magnet sheets in order to make some reusable decals. I didn't want to run all these decals on my car on the drive home. All the typical prepping. Pull all the junk out of the trunk, put my numbers on, crawl under the car and set the suspension. All that good stuff.

Anyways, ran the first day. Did okay. It was an interesting course. It was definitely more difficult this direction than it was the next day. There were a few tight corners that I kind of went hot into, but hey, things happen.

The second day, I did a lot better in my opinion. The course was awesome. Very fast course, very smooth, very well prepped. For those of you who don't know, Golden Gate Field has a pretty crappy surface. The guys cleaned it off really well. I did a 60.01x, 58.8xx +1 cone, and a 57.3xx. Not too bad at all. I was really happy with the set-up with the car. Still getting used to the new tires and the new set-up, but I think I got it where I like it though.

After the run group, I actually had a chance to throw the car onto the scales. The car weighed in at 2,767 lbs with a helmet, empty trunk, no spare tire, no jack, and half a tank of gas. Surprised me. A little less than I thought it would be.

Anyways, here are a few more links to pics.

Pics by Doug Ko.

[img]https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2304/2450342907_5a2fc2f325_b.jpg[/img]

[img]https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2074/2451165106_e86c9dac91_b.jpg[/img]

good stuff kevin ! arent u glad you did the event

I am glad that I did the event. Hehe. Edison, you should buy a shirt. +30whp.

Hey you goin to the meet on the 24th?

[QUOTE=youpers;2188757]Hey you goin to the meet on the 24th?[/QUOTE]

Haven't made plans to, but we'll see. Hehe.

More photos from this weekend. Pics by Bryan Heitkotter.

[img]http://www.kimete.com/subaru/cadiv01.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.kimete.com/subaru/cadiv02.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.kimete.com/subaru/cadiv03.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.kimete.com/subaru/cadiv04.jpg[/img]

So... I finally got my hood clearcoated today. Thank you to Bryan for doing that for me. He did an awesome job. At the moment, I am unable to find my USB cable for my camera, so I can't really take pictures off of it, but yeah... When you see the hood, you'll know. +1 for Ballz. I'll try to post pics up as soon as I get back to school where my USB cable is.

Alrighty... Lots of updates!! So... we'll do this in chronological order. First off... the hood. The hood doesn't look 10x better. It looks a gazillion times better!! The first 4 was when I picked it up from Bryan (Ballz). The last two was just now. I took the pics in my driveway.

[img]http://kimete.com/subaru/hood/hood1.jpg[/img]

[img]http://kimete.com/subaru/hood/hood2.jpg[/img]

[img]http://kimete.com/subaru/hood/hood3.jpg[/img]

[img]http://kimete.com/subaru/hood/hood4.jpg[/img]

[img]http://kimete.com/subaru/hood/hood5.jpg[/img]

[img]http://kimete.com/subaru/hood/hood6.jpg[/img]

He did a really nice job on that. The car is looking good. Keep it up. I am 5 speed swapping mine this summer!

Cool. Let me know how it goes. I want to do a 5 speed swap eventually, but for right now, just improving as a driver. Don't forget to take a lot of pics.

very nice job on the hood

Yeah. Bryan did a hella good job. Like I said in my previous post, I am really happy about it. Can't wait to show it off. Haha.

Pics from Sunday. Not much to really say. Auto-X in SF. Course wasn't too great in terms of condition. Spun out twice. Yeah... Thanks to Noel and Gilbert for loaning me tires. That was fun. Haha. Here are a ton of pics.

Pics by Mack Tsang

[img]http://kimete.com/subaru/round7/IMG_3357.JPG[/img]

[img]http://kimete.com/subaru/round7/IMG_3358.JPG[/img]

[img]http://kimete.com/subaru/round7/IMG_3359.JPG[/img]

[img]http://kimete.com/subaru/round7/IMG_3360.JPG[/img]

Pic by Mark Mervich

[img]http://kimete.com/subaru/round7/_J5V4967.jpg[/img]

Pics by Craig (glider)

This isn't of my car, but two of the four wheels on the ground are mine. Haha.
[img]http://kimete.com/subaru/round7/picture-6.jpg[/img]

[img]http://kimete.com/subaru/round7/picture-10.jpg[/img]

[img]http://kimete.com/subaru/round7/picture-19.jpg[/img]

[img]http://kimete.com/subaru/round7/picture-20.jpg[/img]

[img]http://kimete.com/subaru/round7/picture-21.jpg[/img]

[img]http://kimete.com/subaru/round7/picture-22.jpg[/img]

haha spinning out wow

Yeah. The course was pretty slippery. It happens. No big deal anyways. I was running out of class, so I was doing it for fun anyways.

So... I signed up for the June 20th track day at THill. So... from here on out, I need to set up a time-line for the car. Here are my priorities.

FSB and RSB bushings.
Rear Brake Rotors and Pads
Oil, Oil Filter, Air Filter, AT Fluid
Corbeau seat if I still have money. Hehe.

SFR - Round 8 - Oakland

Great to be back on quality surface. Haha. Candlestick last weekend was... frustrating. I was talking to Ed and I was like... I learned something really important last week. R-comps don't work well on surfaces with lots of gravel... Hahaha. The day actually went really well. I was out of Oakland by 11:30, which is crazy fast. The first run group, probably because of the low attendance, breezed through really quickly. I was helping set-up course, so I was actually the last person to grid up... which means... first one out on course. Hehe. That's okay. My runs were actually okay. On my first and third runs, I coned at the same area. It was a funky slalom. Oh well. Times were pretty decent. 50.4xx+1, 50.8xx, and 49.2xx +1. I had a pretty good raw time. I am getting there. I think the set-up is pretty good. Edison rode along with me on my first run and he thinks that the car is set-up pretty well. I think the set-up is pretty good as well. I might make specific changes for different surfaces, but other-wise, I think it is pretty balanced. I was watching a video of someone else running the course and I think I know of a few things that I can really work on.

Anyways... so far... this is the only picture of my car this event I know of. Pic by Paul Valmores.

[img]http://kimete.com/subaru/round8.JPG[/img]

This past weekend, I stuck around in Davis. At some point... too much driving is too much driving. Gas is incredibly expensive. Even more so when you don't have much of an income. Anyways, the Sacramento region was having their yearly Shriner's Charity even in Rancho Cordova. I decided to hit up the event on Saturday as well as their regular event on Sunday. Pretty much ran it for fun. Test, tune, and practice really. Fun times. I got a chance to practice with slow hairpin turns, which is good. The Sac region hasn't quite posted the results yet, but I hope to see those sometime soon. The only picture I know of is this one. It was taken by KingsFan on NorCalEvo. Enjoy.

[img]http://kimete.com/subaru/mather01.jpg[/img]



Stuff that needs to be done before the track day:

FSB bushings, Rear sway bar clamp, Front endlinks, rear brake pads and rotors, oil change, oil filter, air filter, ATF.

Lotsa stuff...

oye that's a lot of cop cars in the background haha

[QUOTE=xtremeyolks;2211171]oye that's a lot of cop cars in the background haha[/QUOTE]

Haha. Training cars. The site was adjacent to the Police Driving Training Facility or something like that. Haha.

Small problem. My brother's graduation might be the day of the track day. Darn... Don't know what I am going to do about that. I might have to let go of my place at the track day. Stupid graduation!!

^pwnt

[QUOTE=BLUEJ20;2211557]^pwnt[/QUOTE]

Seriously. :(

I just signed up for auto-x school on June 21st. Going to be doing that. Hopefully I won't be exhausted like last year. I definitely want to be drive Round 10 or 11 or whichever one it is that weekend.

Here is a picture from the JDM Theory Fundraiser Event.

Thanks to dspec for taking the pic for me.

[img]http://kimete.com/subaru/novella1.JPG[/img]

Auto-X was awesome yesterday. I am really happy with everything. I am not quite making the times that the WRX are making, but hey, it's kind of hard, especially with the experience some of the STX drivers have. All and all, a great event. I loved the course. My favorite type, despite it favoring the turbo peeps.

Anyways, here are my times: 42.8xx, 41.7xx, 40.5xx. Good stuff.

Also had a chance to pick up some AMSOIL 5W-30. Going to give that a try. I did an oil change yesterday, so that is now in. Good stuff. Haha.

again man, she looks really cute, but its hard to tell if its just the pic or if she is really cute in person. Who is she?
lol

[QUOTE=stealthrex68;2219637]again man, she looks really cute, but its hard to tell if its just the pic or if she is really cute in person. Who is she?
lol[/QUOTE]

She's a model. :p I think she's good looking, too.

^^ name? lol

You should start buying some more shirts lol. Should be a tradition or something, buy some shirts and get girls to pose with them at events!!

[QUOTE=stealthrex68;2219713]^^ name? lol

You should start buying some more shirts lol. Should be a tradition or something, buy some shirts and get girls to pose with them at events!![/QUOTE]

Haha. You really want to know her name don't you? I think she's taken. :p Wait... what happened to your gf?

I'll have to order some more shirts. I have a little project I am working on with the shirts.

[QUOTE=darkonion;2219678]She's a model. :p I think she's good looking, too.[/QUOTE]



it likes like she likes your shirt, so go for it!

lol

Her name's Novella Nicole for those wondering...

I have still have a gf. Whats wrong with wanting to know her name? :noidea:

^^ Thanks. I was just wondering.

This should be another AUDT when you get enough pics of models posing with ur shirt. Except I think it will be an epic thread!

damn kev, im jealous of all the pictures you have of yourself driving!

[QUOTE=medicSTi;2223815]damn kev, im jealous of all the pictures you have of yourself driving![/QUOTE]

Thanks Steven. You should come out some time. The drive for you to Oakland or Golden Gate Field isn't too bad. Come out and play some time.

in the 08 ;)

[QUOTE=medicSTi;2224036]in the 08 ;)[/QUOTE]

Hell yeah.

Pics from Auto-X School today. Pics by Craig (glider). Thanks Craig.

[img]http://www.kimete.com/subaru/autoxschool/picture-6.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.kimete.com/subaru/autoxschool/picture-10.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.kimete.com/subaru/autoxschool/picture-15.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.kimete.com/subaru/autoxschool/picture-18.jpg[/img]

Okay... So I am work installing SP3 on machines. Anyways... I am finally going to do a write up about the auto-x school. For some of you who don't know, the SF region holds and auto-x school every year. Veteran auto-x'ers volunteer their time to help us noobs learn how to drive faster. As I understand it, the instructors usually learn something new, as well as us noobs benefitting from the 1 on 1 instruction.

Sunday morning, I wake up at 5:30. I quickly get dressed, and dressed appropriately for SF, fill my little water sprayer thing, hop into the car, and drive to Monster Park. I arrive at approximately 7. We prep our cars, get our cars teched, and meet up with our instructors.

The first thing we did was ride along with our instructors. We ran the full course. My instructor was Mark Mervich. Mark is the Chief of Tech for Solo. I got the chance to ride along in his '02 WRX. Man... as soon as the turbo kicks in, there is just so much power and speed. Totally different than my car. Anyways... he really pushed the car. I've never really had the chance to ride along in a more powerful car. Just my car really. Man... that was crazy.

Anyways, after that, each students got 2 runs of the course. I was kind of hesitant about Candlestick because last time I was there, it was crazy gravelly. I mean... gravel all over the place. I was actually surprised how well cleaned up the other day was. Not too bad at all. Anyways, I ran my two runs. That went pretty well. What I was trying to work on was being more aggressive. Being an under powered car, you have to make up time somewhere, right? Can't really rely so much on the cars. Anyways, I didn't think I did too bad. Things worked out.

Afterwards, groups were made. Each group was designated a certain corner, where we practiced different techniques. Our exercise course was pretty simple. What we did was really try to get the car to rotate. In more simple words, try to get the tail to come out. Ever since I put on the wider tires, it has been a little harder to do that. Yeah...

After the exercises, we had lunch. Nice hot lunch. Not too bad, huh. Auto-X school, lunch included. Nice... While we were having lunch, the course was being set back up again. The full course. Each student then got three runs. I think I did pretty well. My best time was a 57.2xx. Not sure how many cones I hit though. I might have mauled one or two, but no matter. The course was really tight. I think more of a practice course than anything else. Fun, fun though. One of the Evo guys I was talking to, he did a 56.1xx. Not too bad. Only a second off of my time. Keep in mind that I only have 37whp. The EVO is probably pushing anywhere from 250 whp to 300 whp. Not too bad for hoopty from 1997. Haha.

So... what did I learn at this school. I honestly have no idea. Haha. I guess I learned a little more about my car. I know this sounds kind of corny, but I learned to trust the car a little more. I think the car is set up really well. I just need to learn how to drive the thing. Haha. The other thing I learned was not to be scared of losing control. It is a huge mental barrier. I know there is still a lot of time to squeeze out of the car. I just think I have to develop as a driver in order to get to it. Not to mention, I got a lot of valuable information and advice from Mark.

Anyways, I am really looking forward to Sunday. I would really love to put my new found skills, at least I want to say skills, into action.

Picture by Kyle Kikawa.

[img]https://img136.imageshack.us/img136/2184/autox62208068mi8.jpg[/img]

sweet onion

Thanks Steven. I am going to be at Golden Gate Field on Sunday, so hopefully some more nice photos over next week.

looking good, i have to try that out next year when it comes around


hey i might see you there, possibly going with a friend with an forester xt

Rizzo, what's the news on your car?

[QUOTE=medicSTi;2242298]Rizzo, what's the news on your car?[/QUOTE]

Yeah... How's that going?


As for tomorrow, I believe the STX/STU guys are running third. I don't think we'll start running until 11:30, and even possibly later. Can't wait for tomorrow. Just filled up half a tank of gas. Should be enough to get me to Golden Gate Field. I try to fill up the car the day before so that when I arrive on site, I have about half a tank left. Between 1/4 and half a tank. 6lbs a gallon. Haha.

Pics from Round 10. Pics by Paul Valmores.

[url]http://dorihachigo.zenfolio.com/p44669892/?photo=h1636A2FD#372679421[/url]

[url]http://dorihachigo.zenfolio.com/p44669892/?photo=h1636A2FD#198131567[/url]

[url]http://dorihachigo.zenfolio.com/p44669892/?photo=h1636A2FD#249974060[/url]

you looked good out there yesterday, definetely out powered but everything seemed pretty clean. you should have seen us in the forester, it was rediculous. it was lowered and had some suspension mods, but we were running on 225/60/16 all seasons. but I managed to pull of a 51.4 something with no cones. what was your fastest time?

as for me, i have been working a bit with my mentor greg (roo) and a mechanic and from i can tell, we are running out of options so i might be transporting the car to LIC for awhile

Kev,

Those last set of pics were pretty sweet man!

[QUOTE=salvator_rizzo;2244324]you looked good out there yesterday, definetely out powered but everything seemed pretty clean. you should have seen us in the forester, it was rediculous. it was lowered and had some suspension mods, but we were running on 225/60/16 all seasons. but I managed to pull of a 51.4 something with no cones. what was your fastest time?

as for me, i have been working a bit with my mentor greg (roo) and a mechanic and from i can tell, we are running out of options so i might be transporting the car to LIC for awhile[/QUOTE]

Cool. I saw some pretty cool pics of the Forester. My cleanest time was a 51.8xx. My best raw time was a 50.3xx. I hit 2 or 3 cones on the slalom somewhere, though. No big deal. I knew that all the turbo's were going pull on me on the straightaway at the beginning of the course. I tried to be aggressive in all the places that I could, but yeah. Didn't really work out. Not a big deal though. I already knew that I was overpowered and I knew that I had to be aggressive to make up the difference that the WRX's were going to make on that straight.

To reflect on the course a little bit, I kind of had a difficult time grasping the course. In some of the turns, I went in a little too hot. In other places, I didn't quite grasp the situation with grip. I think they cleaned up the course a bit more when the afternoon rolled around. Anyways, all and all, nice event, nice weather, good people, and yeah. Oh... not to mention GOOD AIR!! Nice cleaner air. Haha.