I rode in a friend’s Ferrari (1978 308) recently and while I love how it sounds… I often can not get enough of the turbocharged sound. So if you love the sound of turbochargers doing work here you go:
Link for you RSS peeps.
It may be an older video of ours, but I love it and cannot get enough.
Update: Apparently I decided to post this exactly two years after uploading it to YouTube. Odd.
After a short while of spirited driving new tires are required. That time has come for my WRX. Normally, if I were happy with the OEM tires I would gladly buy them again and I was happy with them. Except this time around I found out my OEMs (Bridgestone Potenza RE92s affiliate link) cost $250/ea. Thats pricier than most race tires! I loved them, but $1000 just for the rubber seems a bit high for not top of the line All Seasons.
The top rated All Seasons were the Continental ExtremeContact DWSs (affiliate link). Plus they were one of the lower cost ones! That may explain why when I tried to get them, they were on back order. Plus they have a neat looking tread. So I could have chosen to wait for them or grab some other All-Seasons.
So with the DWS on backorder, I went with the Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Positions (affiliate link). Decent performance at about $150/ea. That’s $100/ea savings compared to the OEMs that come with the WRX. So far I’m happy with my choice, and the reviews of the tire claim I’m going to stay happy with that choice for a while (30k-50k miles…more likely <30k the way I drive).
If I had some extra wheels (winter wheels) kicking around, I’d buy some specifically summer tires and some winter tires for only a little more than I paid for the all seasons. Switching wheels is a 10-15 minute job with a jack and jackstands. However, if theres a freak snow storm this summer, I’ll be able to drive in it.
So Ford Motor Co contacted me and wanted to play up their 2010 Mustang. Surprisingly they had a Rally style competition between two guys in Mustangs. Here’s a video of it:
Link for you RSS peeps.
Now as for the competitiveness of the 2010 Mustang, there is no actual data supporting any claims. Utecht races a 1988 Mustang in the Central Group 5 series. He is a very good driver and has been winning events (and championships in the past) and is currently in 2nd for the Central Group 5 title. Unfortunately this says nothing for the 2010 Mustang as they have completely different frames, engines, suspensions, etc…
As for Hurst, while he does work for Rally America, I have been unable to find any info on him. I still prefer the Fiesta to the Mustang in terms of a Rally platform.
For any of you who missed the XGAMES 15 coverage of Rally Racing, here’s some stuff that went down:
Ken Block clipped the inside of a corner in practice and rolled it. His crew managed to get his car in working order for the race against Brian Deegan.
Foust is using an electro-somethingmotive sequential transmission in his Ford Fiesta rally car (hmmm, hopefully rally america starts letting this happen).
ACP succesfully landed his second jump of compeition vs Pastrana, but sadly spun at the end. Pastrana won his first race of the event. After the race there was a quick shot of Pastrana and his car being weighed on four scales (random scrutineering?).
Ken Block raced against Deegan. Ken Block tapped the rear right corner of his car against a jersey barrier and did not have enough speed to hit the jump, so he skipped it. Block DQ’d himself by skipping the jump, luckily for Deegan, who had a turbo hose pop off, essentially making his car naturally aspirated (read low power/torque).
Tanner Foust raced Kenny Brack (who beat Dave Mirra). Both fords jumped astonishingly well. Foust either pushed too hard, or was late with turning coming off of the second hairpin and overshot. This mistake cost Foust the race and Brack advanced to the Final.
Travis Pastrana lined up to race Brian Deegan. Deegan’s turbo hose couldn’t get fixed in time. Deegan’s car could not clear the jump with 1/3rd of the power, so he skipped it and was DQ’d. Deegan was shown in car so frustrated and angry to the point of crying. This is understandable considering something so simple as a turbo hose ruining your shot at an X-Games medal.
Travis Pastrana raced Kenny Brack (former Indy Racer) for the gold. Kenny Brack lost his bumper (mostly) on the first jump. Sadly, Travis Pastrana wedged himself into the trickiest corner of the race. Brack won, and this is Travis’ first loss in Rally at the XGAMES.
Kenny Brack: GOLD
Travis Pastrana: SILVER
Tanner Foust: BRONZE
Some notes: Everyone seemed to be using a sequential transmission (hooray new Rally America rules), but I’m pretty sure the Fiestas were using Electro-something sequentials, which would be hopeful for rule changes in Rally America.
These cars are much more powerful than during the normal season. The restrictor preturbo is larger in diameter, and these cars are at least doubling their power just for this event.
Being able to do loops the same way roller coasters and airplanes do could easily get put into the X-Games (knowing how crazy some of the competitors are). “But Charles! That’s impossible! No car can do a loop” Au contraire mon frere. It was done, here’s some proof:
Link for you RSS Peeps.
It was done by the folks at Fifth Gear. While I think most of Fifth Gear is worse than Top Gear, this has got to be one of their better stunts.
Now I may have joked about backflips being done by Travis Pastrana in Rally Cars on April 1st (some of you didn’t get that it was an April Fools joke), but this could actually happen. Speed Racer here we come.
The WRC brought in a new event this year: Rally Poland. It really wasn’t a new event, but the last time WRC cars ran in the event was 2003. It was, in fact, a really really old event that was first held in 1921 and was included in the WRC’s opening season (1973). The only older Rally being Monte Carlo (1911, if you were curious). It’s cool to see some history coming back into the scope with the WRC.
The footage from the race and the results lead me to believe it would’ve been awesome to spectate. Loeb CRASHED! Although, it was not a race ending crash, just a bad off. Still kept him off the podium but he ended up with 2 points. This lack of points dropped him into 2nd place in the overall championship standings. Loeb is right on the tails of Mikkkkkkkkko Hirvonen (only 1 point separating them).
So, some results: MIKKKKKKKKKOOOOOOO grabbed the 1st spot and earned himself 10 points. Sordo, Loeb’s teammate, stole second (and it’s 8 points) from Henning Solberg. Henning’s earning totaled 6 points which pushed himself ahead of YANNI MATTIE (Jani Mati Latvala) for 4th place in the series. Petter Solberg, one of my favorite drivers to watch, drove his privateered Citroen Xsara to 4th place. The points for Petter tied him with YANNI MATTIE. It’s the Solbergs v Latvala for the 4th place in the Championship. Side Note: I’m biased but I’m also pretty sure Petter is the fastest driver of a Xsara ever.
With 160 points left up for grab in the last 4 races (40 max), this could shape up to be an exciting end of season. I cannot wait for Rally Finland, which is coming right at the end of this month (July 31st, 2009).
So, I’m 10 days from graduation and in order to graduate I needed to do a Senior Design project. Since I didn’t really enjoy playing beer pong (long story), I figured I’d make a machine do it for me. That is how my partner and I came up with this:
Link for you RSS Peeps.
Mark was actually a huge help through out this project. He was especially helpful with machining and cannon implementation.
For more info and video on the project visit its website: http://www.ce.rit.edu/research/projects/2009_spring/Beirut_Bot/
Also, hell yeaaaa, 10 days to graduation. WOO.
Luckily, Jari-Matti Latvala is still around to talk about how crappy his Rally Portugal was. After rolling down a really steep hill/mountain he escaped without serious injury (along with his co-driver). Here is a video with portuguese commentating of the crash:
Link for you RSS peeps. It was even Latvala’s birthday! Speaking of birthdays, today is TwoGuysRally’s first birthday! We’re one year old today (April 6th, 2009).
Just got word from a buddy who lives in Maryland that Travis Pastrana successfully landed a backflip in a stripped down version of his competition car. Video isn’t out of it yet, but hopefully it will be! Someone got a pic of it though:
Travis Pastrana really is amazing when it comes to things with wheels and motors. I hope to see him start using this move in his rallies!
Uh oh, I just realized this could also spell doom for rally in America. Just like with Motocross he could be switching to the Freestyle variety. Freestyle Rally, X-Games 09 is looking like it has yet another sport to add.
Powered by WordPress | Blue Weed by Blog Oh! Blog | Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS). | 