One More Reason Turbochargers Rule [ November 19th, 2008 ] By: Charles Smith Posted in » Ramblings

It has been getting cold around here and sitting still in a car does nothing to help keep warm. Luckily I drive a WRX and that means it is turbocharged. Besides the added torque/power it makes, one really nice thing in the winter is that my car heats up faster.

Turbos spin really effing fast, and most turbos are cooled and lubed by the engine oil. The turbocharger is transferring heat from the exhaust gasses and its own spinning into the oil. This beautiful heat transfer results in warmer overall oil and so your cabin heaters work that much faster.

Oh how I do love my turbocharged car. There is one caveat, with the turbocharged car you have to be much more careful about running the engine hard (especially when it is cold) and shutting off the engine too soon after running hard. If the turbo gets very hot from running hard, shutting off the engine shuts off oil flow to the turbocharger. The oil left in it can burn off/cake in the turbo (BAD!!!).

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Rally Racing Online: Season 1 Is Over [ July 10th, 2008 ] By:Charles Smith

My time spent practicing for Rally Japan of the RSL was well spent. With 2 stage wins and consistent top stage finishes I placed 1st in Japan. Which bumped me up to 3rd overall in the championship 1 point ahead of VMethos. This was the final event of the season, and I sneaked by into 3rd.

It was a close race, and VMethos lead the rally up until Stage 5 (Noiker) where I overtook him by .08 seconds overall. I proceeded to beat him on Stage 6 by 12.17 seconds bringing me ahead of him overall by 12.25 seconds. Apparently VMethos and I had prepared well for Japan as we came in 2nd and 1st respectively. We had finally beat Turbo and Wild Swede consistently through a rally.

Wild Swede jokingly claimed that this driver was seen exiting the Citroen Xsara I was driving:

I am happy with a 3rd place overall for my first RBR Season. Hopefully I can be more competitive in the future and pose a threat for 1st place overall.

July 10th, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Rally Racing Online: Japan [ July 7th, 2008 ] By:Charles Smith

The past few weeks were riddled with practice sessions in a rally racing video game called Richard Burns Rally. Why was I practicing? Because I’ve positioned myself to possibly take 3rd place overall in the Rally Sim League’s RBR Rally.

This week I am racing Rally Japan, which is the sixth and final rally of this season. It is the most technical rally in the lineup. It has the slickest off-road surface so having an off or going wide through a turn has a huge effect on the overall stage time when compared to all the other rallies we have seen this season. It also has the longest and highest speed stage in the series: Nokier. And that 7:30-8minute+ stage is driven twice, once forward and once backward.

So with 1 point separating me and ‘VMethos’ I have to place the best I’ve ever placed on the hardest rally. It is also impossible for me or VMethos to get 2nd place as 1st and 2nd placers have gained more than 17 points on 3rd and 4th. However the race for 1st overall is still raging strong between Wild Swede and Turbo. This season of rally has come down to a nail biting finish.

Hopefully I can sneak past VMethos and place on the podium my first ever season with this game. More updates as they come, check back later.

July 7th, 2008 | 1 Comment

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