As the ice melts, the tarmac is starting to warm up and the inaugural 2015 ADSI driving school and autocross event is this weekend on Sunday 4/26 8am-5pm. To say that I'm ready to get back into my car is a gross understatement. It was such a long winter that I feel like I'll be spending the first month just re-learning things I knew last year. But if that's the worst problem I face, I'm still a rather lucky bastard. 2015 is looking bright...
What has been great this winter is meeting even more like-minded folks who want to have fun with their hard-earned cars and learn to drive better. Our ranks have swollen, in a very good way, and I'm overjoyed to welcome all the new faces into our coterie. I thought we'd have a quite substantial crowd for this first event but, alas, our numbers have dwindled a bit at the last moment. We're down one Keith, one Jean-Yves, perhaps a Stephen M., and Josh P is a maybe. Alex G has a conflict too. Hopefully Ash and Guillaume will be able to make it. I think there is a RallyX event this weekend as well somewhere in MA or NH so we'll be missing DexterVW and her co-pilots Kathy and David. Probably Jesse and Jess too? One of these days, I'll be sliding one of my cars sideways on gravel but I'm not quite there yet. Attilio and I will be carrying the flag regardless and your loss is our gain in drive time.
Our numbers may be lower than expected but the amount of fun at the event looks as good as ever! I'm debating whether to run my tried-and-tested 997 that treated me so well last year or whether to give the new addition - "Copenhagen", the Copenhagen Blue 994 - her inaugural shakedown. She's got some fresh dampers on all four corners now and hopefully will start to display the sweet ride and balance that her brethren are known for. She needs some fresh oil and some brake fluid but that is easy stuff at this point. Would love to get the suspension alignment tweaked a bit but there is no time for that now.
These bump stops on the 944 weren't stopping any bumps anymore after 29 years of service.
Speaking of the 997, at the end of last year I, and a few others, notice a bit of a ticking noise coming from the engine bay. As I drove away from the last event of last year, I had the sting of dollar signs in mind as I raced through the potential causes. Spun bearing? Valve issues? Didn't change the oil frequently enough last year (guilty!)? Whatever it could be did not seem cheap nor easy. Not much really is where cars are concerned.
997 will run "404" on track this year. File (Speed) Not Found. Bad, I know. Brake fluid change done.
I cleaned her up for her winter sleep last year knowing I'd have to face the music sooner or later. I woke her up and took her for a quick drive to see if the noise was still there recently. Something was happening but it didn't sound quite so engine-centric. I got a fresh engine air filter from K&W this year to install so I popped the engine cover and started installing it. As chance would have it, I bumped the intake fan that is attached to the engine cover (it's an electric fan that expels hot engine air to make sure it doesn't get sucked back into the intake and rob power, I think), and discovered that the plastic shroud had a few ribs broken and the fan was nicking the shroud, creating the ticking noise. What a relief!! It was an easy fix. Had to pay the typical Porsche tax for the new fan - why sell a shroud when you can sell the whole unit?? - but it's all better now. She sounds like new and my mind can rest easy now. The force of my turns at the autocross must have done a bit of a number on the old shroud. Plastic isn't really designed for the kind of G's I must be pulling these days. And the tracks I run are the more challenging for the bumps. So a fan is a small price to pay. All's well that ends well.
53,000 on the odometer and I only lost 0.5mm on the rear rotors. That's surprising.
Some fancy kit from the GT3 is finding it's way onto my car - brake ducts. Better in front. New where there were none in back. Cooler brake temps means less fade and more decelerative capacitations!
If you thought changing your engine air filter was something you could put off, this might say otherwise. One summer on this one. Was told last year that dirt getting into your intake is the number one source of engine wear. So beware.
Gratuitous proud-father shot of my son receiving the Sportsmanship Award from this past season in karting. Being a good kid and a good part of his racing community is an achievement that I'm more proud of him for than any other form of success. Dirty racers can win races, but they will never win one of these.
If you're sitting on the fence about coming down and having some fun with your car on Sunday, the weather looks great and it will be great fun to get warmed back up. Come show us your mad skills! Or develop some new ones!