September 22, 2008 - I'll be posting video of many of the stages over the next few weeks, after I get home. But spectator video is starting to show up. You can see us at about 5:05 in this particular one. The Clarenville stage is the one where we caught up to the Corvette in front of us. Watching this, it's no big surprise why. It's really interesting comparing people's lines here. Keep in mind that this is the slower half of the pack, part 2 shows the rest of the field and the lines are better.
September 25, 2008 - Video! Not mine, this is from Flatovercrest.com. It's the highlights video we were shown at the gala after the race, and you should see pretty much every car in it. As I mentioned earlier, we didn't do anything dramatic enough to merit a lot of screen time. But you can see me briefly chasing down a Corvette with great enthusiasm.
September 26, 2008 - Another video! This is from the Brigus stage. There were only three or four corners on the entire rally where I hung the tail out more than was really necessary - and this is one of them. It was just so much fun, I couldn't help myself. You can hear me short-shift into the next gear due to the misfire. My appearance is at about 4:50.
October 29, 2008 - All of the videos are online! It's taken quite a while to add meaningful comments to these, but hopefully they add something to the viewing experience. Videos!
They're available both in fast Google video format and high-quality DivX. You can download and keep the DivX ones to watch over and over, but there are about a gigabyte's worth so be warned! entry 639 - tags: video
February 21, 2009 - A better look at the surface. These patches are actually similar to those I remember from Newfoundland, but thinner. Still, it's enough to toss the car around on corners, especially when combined with a number of creases and lumps. In the winter, this road gets a fair bit of grit poured on it so it's a nice substitute for the gravel that gets thrown on to the roads in the race. Plus it's only a few minutes from my house!
I was up on the TSR testing a couple of video cameras. One is a cool little unit called the Motorsport Hero that comes with a suction cup and a fisheye lens. I'll put some of the results online - it's really fun to play with. The other is a cheap HD unit I picked up that records to SD cards. Unfortunately, while the video quality is okay, the sound quality is abysmal. The car is simply too loud for it. I'll have to see what I can do about that.
The car's working well. I'm pretty happy with how the suspension is working. It's going to be so much fun to get it back to sea level where it'll see a 20% power increase. entry 657 - tags: testing, video
September 8, 2009 - Targa 2009 starts this weekend. I wish I was going to be there and I've been daydreaming about it more and more in the last few weeks, but so it goes. As we said right from the start, we always knew this was liable to be a one-time race for us. The cost of taking part is just so high - and not just in terms of money. Someday we'll be back. In the meantime, I'll be trying to live vicariously as much as possible.
Matthew Oldford, who ran a turbo Integra in the Open Class last year, posted a new video that shows the event pretty well from inside and outside the car. Just what I needed, something else to get me all wound up even further about the race. Watch for us at a couple of spots! entry 697 - tags: video, 2009
October 21, 2009 - The Stillen team has posted video. Watching Brigus, a few things become obvious. First, that car simply could not put down any power in the wet. Stillen claimed 620 hp, a big task even for an AWD car in those conditions. The thing is a beast.
Secondly, I don't see how this team could have won. The navigation simply isn't up to par. There's nothing wrong with running a novice navigator - heck, we did it - but while Steve Millen is doing a great job dealing with it, he's simply not getting the sort of instructions he needs when he needs them. Watching Gander reinforces this. Put a top-tier navigator like Brian Bourbonniere in that car and I think it could have easily taken the win. Maybe some better wet tires too. But blaming the factors isn't right.
Want a comparison? Watch us through Brigus. Because of the radical difference in conditions, our time was only a few seconds slower than the GTR. Listen to the pacing of the navigation instructions and how clear they are. Remember, they're being delivered just as fast as in the GTR. entry 705 - tags: 2009, video
March 28, 2010 - One of the first things we wrote on our "things to do differently" list after the Targa was "get a better video camera". The little Canon DV camcorder we used actually took some very good video, but after a couple of years of track use it was starting to malfunction. The biggest problem was that it would decide to start zooming in, and combined with the wide angle adapter this meant we lost focus. I wish I could watch the entire Leading Tickles stage, but alas all I have is the audio.
I'd been thinking about a pro-level unit like a ChaseCam, but they're expensive. When we do go back to the Targa, I might bring one along. But for the time being (and for the big event at Laguna Seca in a couple of weeks), I decided to try one of the cheaper options. Meet our new Flip Ultra HD. Because it's 100% solid state, I'm hoping it won't fall apart like the Canon did. It takes some decent footage as well, and is very affordable.
The biggest problem is that it's got a fairly narrow field of view. But with an inexpensive wide angle lens and a bit of superglue, that can be changed. The lens screws into a threaded ring, so I can go back to the normal Flip lens easily. entry 734 - tags: video
March 28, 2010 - Here's a before-after peek at the wide angle lens, taken up on the Targa Simulation Road. I think I need to move the camera up a bit in the car, but the wider field of view helps a lot with the sensation of speed. My other concern with the camera had been the lack of image stabilization, but that's not a problem. In fact, the video was rock steady even on this very bumpy road. So that's a big winner then. I'll post the video soon - that's another advantage to the Flip. Very easy to post video to various hosting sites.
I was up on the Simulation Road to see how the new dual-spring suspension worked. Pretty well, I have to say. After a couple of stops to set the shocks (it never ceases to amaze me at how one click makes the difference between "hmm, it's okay but not great" and "wow!") the car seemed pretty happy. This is a tough stretch of pavement and the car was certainly pitching, but it was stable and well-connected to the road. I doubt it would have worked as well if I'd been running the main spring rates alone - 650 and 425 lbs, I think. That's a lot of spring! I'll take it out on the highway later today to see how stable it feels at speed without the massive headwind and with the shocks set up. entry 735 - tags: video, suspension, testing
March 28, 2010 - Dyno run video. It's not exciting, I know. Really, this was just an excuse to practice uploading video off the new camera and make the changes in the website code to use YouTube instead of the no-longer-accepting-uploads Google Video. But if you want to hear how the engine sounds with the new intake, well, it might be worth your time. Video entry 738 - tags: video, dyno, IRTB, noise
March 29, 2010 - Another new video. This is a run up the Targa Simulation Road to test both the springs and the video camera. I'm pretty happy with both. We'll see how the springs do on-track this weekend. Video entry 739 - tags: video, testing, suspension, video
April 4, 2010 - No pictures of the new intake yet, but I have track videos!
The track day went pretty well. It was a fairly cold one and I only got about three sessions in the Targa car (along with the chance to drive a 350Z, a BMW M Coupe and a couple of FM Miatas), but my best time was a 1:04.959. That's about 0.2 seconds off my best in the car, nothing to be ashamed of. There was a time when simply dropping below 1:06 in any car was unusual!
The dual spring setup does allow for some body roll, but the lap times would indicate the car isn't suffering too badly. It absorbed the berms well and was very stable under braking. I'm trying to decide if I want to keep this setup for Laguna Seca or if I want to pull the secondary springs so the car corners flatter and has quicker reflexes. Tough call. If it can still hustle around our little autocross track here this quickly, I'm thinking the dual setup is working.
The engine felt good. For the first time, I noticed a lack of pick-up coming out of one of the hairpins at 4000 rpm - that's the dip in the torque curve. The heavier throttle pedal (due to a stiffer spring) took a little getting used to in order to be smooth, but I adapted pretty quickly. Nobody noticed that the car was particularly loud, so I'm hoping that's good for Laguna Seca sound levels. Hoping hoping hoping. I did have one person ask me if it was a V8 because it didn't sound like a four-cylinder!
Pictures of the intake are at work, I'll put them up tomorrow. entry 742 - tags: video, GJMS, testing, track, IRTB
April 14, 2010 - New videos have been uploaded! There's a video of Janel's fastest session on Friday as well as a couple with me driving in the middle of a fairly entertaining group. Videos
On Saturday, the event organizers gathered a few of us together for a video shoot. There was a hand-held camera in one of the cars, and the rest of us were basically tasked with putting on a good show. Two Spec Miata drivers and a couple of modified super Miatas - and my little rally toy. I was probably the least experienced track driver of the bunch, so I had to pedal pretty hard just to keep up! The extra horsepower of the Targa car let me reel in the Spec Miatas most of the time, but not always.
Still, it was like a little race. One of us would take the lead, then allow someone else to pass. Meanwhile, the camera car was zooming back and forth. I certainly wasn't the fastest driver or car in the group, but I consoled myself with the thought that if there was a speedbump in the middle of the front straight, I was the only person who could take it at full speed!
The Targa Miata is one solid little car. This picture was taken after Janel ran for a full day on Friday, and then she and I both drove the car on Saturday. On Saturday, the car was on the track for 20 minutes, then parked for 20 minutes before it went out again. And that's the state of one of the tires. A tire that we used in the Targa. A week long race, followed by a bunch of local track days, followed by two days at Laguna Seca last year, then repeat the local track days and two more days at Laguna. And it's only about half worn! Amazing. entry 750 - tags: play, laguna seca, video
THE DIARY
