Santa Raises the Bar

by Sterling V

Happy holidays, merry Christmas, happy Hannukah, joyeux Noël, happy Festivus and whatever other things you celebrate to you all! I hope Santa filled your garages with everything you wanted this year!

I'm happy to report it was a year of safety upgrades for me. A Simpson Hybrid is on the way to keep my neck in one happy, healthy piece along with a new helmet with the attachment posts to match. It will be far more comforting to know that I'll have about 20 times more protection in the case of any unplanned incidents in the coming year. I might have to dig around for a metal-to-metal fire extinguisher mount soon, just to quell the perennial inspection-day shenanigans where my inspection shop reiterates that my factory-supplied plastic mount does not meet the specifications of the Porsche Club. It's all rather ridiculous, but most of life is, isn't it?

Reports are trickling in that the bar has been raised this year. The coming season should be exciting. Attilio graciously gave me a spirited drive in his monster STi last night and he's got it very well sorted at this point. The suspension is supple enough while still offering good stiffness. The power from the bigger turbo is impressive both in volume and, surprisingly, linearity. Who would think that a big turbo would respond so nicely to the throttle pedal? I'm now a believer! Thanks, Attilio!

Alain T. has raised the bar substantially by trading his GT3 for a shiny non-metallic black 991 GT3 RS. What a machine! He's got the carbon buckets in there. And the vents on the front fenders are gorgeous. That is going to be a heck of a sight out on the local tracks. I hope I get to take it for a spin.

And Alex G. has also pushed the bar up to stratospheric levels with a Cayman GT4. My somewhat uninformed opinion is that it may be the best driver's car in Porsche's current lineup. The 3.8L motor from the 991 CS together with lots of suspension bits from the GT3 and...wait for it...A MANUAL TRANSMISSION!! Not sure I could add much more to make it any better. 

And Ron S. has hinted that new Ford GT may find a home in his stable alongside the other amazing bits of kit he has on hand. The best news is that his surgery was successful and we'll once again see him tearing up the tracks of New England. I'm sure the 996 Cup car will still be performing most of the on-track duties, but maybe the GT2 and either of his two Ford GT's will make an appearance so we can hear either the amazing V10 or turbo eco-Boost 6!

George C. at ADSI is looking seriously quick with his Cobalt and HHR! George is a man after my own heart - spend wisely and go fast. His driving has really come along well and he may be the man to both beat at ADSI...and emulate! Looks like he got some sweet new tools too!

David and Kathleen have moved into a new house in my town (very excited for them!) and look to be ready to take on our local power line trails with their dirt bikes and other fun machines. My little company, Envigna, is proud to be a very modest sponsor of David's Baker's Dozen Racing team and I can't wait to get my act together and see a new sticker on his car announcing it to the world! I love the fact that David took his VW rally car completely apart by hand and put it all back together to go racing. And that Kathleen helped build it back up, navigates, and does some driving herself! That kind of diligence and dedication to a pursuit is exactly what my little company strives to achieve so I can't be happier to be associated with this racing effort!

I probably missed lots of folks and for that, please accept my apologies in advance. Hopefully I'll get my act together with a karting event up at F1 within the next month or two. We saw some good, friendly competition last year and hopefully this year will offer more of the same. I am hoping to take a few more steps toward becoming an instructor-level driver with the Porsche club to try to give back some of the amazing knowledge that so many great folks have provided to me. There are still many things to learn for me, too!

I do have to say that I'm struck this year by how lucky I am to be able to enjoy such a ridiculous pursuit and how thankful I am for all of you who share my passion in whatever manner works for you! Merci beaucoup!

All the best to you and yours. Look for some karting scheduling in the near future!

Your gasoline-fume-scented keeper-of-the-madness,
-Sterling


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Once you really start tracking the car it wears on your car which starts to wear on your wallet, and you. Everything becomes a wear item that you have to know to change after X hours of operational use. You don't have to do this for the most part in a street car other than oil, tire and batter changes with the occasional shock or bushing, but ignore this in a track car and it will either fail expensively or spectacularly out there with very damaging results. It started to wear on me so much too the fact that this year both my children are doing homework so they don't get to play with me during the week hardly at all. Weekends are the only real time I can enjoy with them and racing is eating too much of that. I've decided to put down the track more or less for good and just enjoy my car for what won't wear it, me or my family life down with a few autocrosses. Calculating what I spent the last two years the money I am saving and freeing up for other hobbies is insane. Ernest Hemingway once said that auto racing, mountain climbing and bull fighting are the only three true sports because everyone else just plays games. Well this year I will spend my money on family time, but hey, I can still make it  pass muster. Lots of tires, brakes, motors, fluids pay for a whole lot of bows, arrows, trips and whatnot. Combine the mountain climbing with hunting bull moose and you really get an experience! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzRTb5WwfaA Lots of quality time spent together and best of all it's low carb. Warmest regards to all racers, here's to a beautiful, safe 2016! From: Posthaven Posts To: alberto_savoretti@yahoo.com Sent: Sunday, December 27, 2015 10:22 AM Subject: [acf - New Post] Santa Raises the Bar -- Reply above this line to comment on this post --Sterling V createda new post on acf: Santa Raises the Bar Happy holidays, merry Christmas, happy Hannukah, joyeux Noël, happy Festivus and whatever other things you celebrate to you all! I hope Santa filled your garages with everything you wanted this year!I'm happy to report it was a year of safety upgrades for me. A Simpson Hybrid is on the way to keep my neck in one happy, healthy piece along with a new helmet with the attachment posts to match. It will be far more comforting to know that I'll have about 20 times more protection in the case of any unplanned incidents in the coming year. I might have to dig around for a metal-to-metal fire extinguisher mount soon, just to quell the perennial inspection-day shenanigans where my inspection shop reiterates that my factory-supplied plastic mount does not meet the specifications of the Porsche Club. It's all rather ridiculous, but most of life is, isn't it?Reports are trickling in that the bar has been raised this year. The coming season should be exciting. Attilio graciously gave me a spirited drive in his monster STi last night and he's got it very well sorted at this point. The suspension is supple enough while still offering good stiffness. The power from the bigger turbo is impressive both in volume and, surprisingly, linearity. Who would think that a big turbo would respond so nicely to the throttle pedal? I'm now a believer! Thanks, Attilio!Alain T. has raised the bar substantially by trading his GT3 for a shiny non-metallic black 991 GT3 RS. What a machine! He's got the carbon buckets in there. And the vents on the front fenders are gorgeous. That is going to be a heck of a sight out on the local tracks. I hope I get to take it for a spin.And Alex G. has also pushed the bar up to stratospheric levels with a Cayman GT4. My somewhat uninformed opinion is that it may be the best driver's car in Porsche's current lineup. The 3.8L motor from the 991 CS together with lots of suspension bits from the GT3 and...wait for it...A MANUAL TRANSMISSION!! Not sure I could add much more to make it any better. And Ron S. has hinted that new Ford GT may find a home in his stable alongside the other amazing bits of kit he has on hand. The best news is that his surgery was successful and we'll once again see him tearing up the tracks of New England. I'm sure the 996 Cup car will still be performing most of the on-track duties, but maybe the GT2 and either of his two Ford GT's will make an appearance so we can hear either the amazing V10 or turbo eco-Boost 6!George C. at ADSI is looking seriously quick with his Cobalt and HHR! George is a man after my own heart - spend wisely and go fast. His driving has really come along well and he may be the man to both beat at ADSI...and emulate! Looks like he got some sweet new tools too!David and Kathleen have moved into a new house in my town (very excited for them!) and look to be ready to take on our local power line trails with their dirt bikes and other fun machines. My little company, Envigna, is proud to be a very modest sponsor of David's Baker's Dozen Racing team and I can't wait to get my act together and see a new sticker on his car announcing it to the world! I love the fact that David took his VW rally car completely apart by hand and put it all back together to go racing. And that Kathleen helped build it back up, navigates, and does some driving herself! That kind of diligence and dedication to a pursuit is exactly what my little company strives to achieve so I can't be happier to be associated with this racing effort!I probably missed lots of folks and for that, please accept my apologies in advance. Hopefully I'll get my act together with a karting event up at F1 within the next month or two. We saw some good, friendly competition last year and hopefully this year will offer more of the same. I am hoping to take a few more steps toward becoming an instructor-level driver with the Porsche club to try to give back some of the amazing knowledge that so many great folks have provided to me. There are still many things to learn for me, too!I do have to say that I'm struck this year by how lucky I am to be able to enjoy such a ridiculous pursuit and how thankful I am for all of you who share my passion in whatever manner works for you! Merci beaucoup!All the best to you and yours. Look for some karting scheduling in the near future!Your gasoline-fume-scented keeper-of-the-madness, -Sterling View the post and reply »Unsubscribe from new posts on this site Change your Posthaven email settings
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