hey guys!

well, the Probenstien and I are back from Hyperfest; we gave it our best, but i let the Probe down on Saturday's short race - I qualified poorly, and was quite a bit down the grid for the start of the race. I got a good start, and drove super hard, and eventually got back to 2nd in PTE, behind Scott's #67 SE-R. I had used up the tires, and there was nothing i could do... 2nd place! i have some limited video footage of the race -- the camera came loose from the mount and fell off, hanging upside down by it's safety strap; most of the footage is upside down, of my feet and the floorboards!

Sunday's long race was a different story; i qualified 2nd in PTE, and there were only a few cars between me and Scott (this Hyperfest weekend we were mixed with a bunch (maybe 10?) H2 Honda Challenge cars which are much faster than PTE cars). I got a good start, and the race was on! in very short order i was on Scott's rear bumper, trying to attack, but i had 3 much faster H2 cars behind me, also wanting to get by the both of us.... it was a real mess, with the H2'ers filtering in and out and at one point really separating Scott from me... I just drove as hard as i could, without burning the car down, and i reclosed on scott. we went at it really hard, and......

i guess it's better to just watch the vid! (camera did NOT fall off this time!):

http://www.vimeo.com/5265084

excellent racing.

the top three of us PTE'ers ran best laps of within less than a tenth (1:27.7 + or - a titch), and the track was NOT fast (i think it was at least a second slow). T1 was a mess, and the carousel was not good). we were moving.

see you all at VIR!

todd
ReidSpeed

todd did you get the results on sunday?

what type of lap times were David and I running?

todd did you get the results on sunday?

what type of lap times were David and I running?

They are on mylaps.

1 Todd 1:27.745 13
2 Scott 1:27.659 19
3 Darren 1:27.722 14
4 Wade 1:28.210 14
5 David 1:29.068 15
6 Stephen 1:30.079 8
7 James Slechta 1:30.502 7

I think that next month at VIR that we will have a PTE dogfight when we don't all get separated by the H2 cars.

BTW, I would have finished fourth out of 10 in H2. H2 should be waaaay faster than PTE.

Imagine if I could take my Sentra, take out a couple hundred pounds, add 40 HP with a motor swap and bolt on a double wishbone suspension. That's an H2 car.

but scott you know as well as i do, it's all about the driving.

sunday i was slower thanks to the toyos in the rear. i went off in 10 at about lap 3, luckily kept it off the burm, and got it back on track around start finish. the alignment was then all out of wack, on top of the rear end sliding everywhere. it was no where near as driveable, and i mean, drivethehelloutofitable as it was on saturday.

1) have to figure out why the right rear locks up every time, even with the softer pads. i'm thinking sway bar isn't quite right??

2) need to replace some hankooks, new tranny, as i can barely hold it in 2nd with my hand, and 4th requires a perfect shift. i think i'm forgetting something else.

3) when i get back in town in september, i'm going to try to add some goodies as well for VIR in october. i taste blood =]

hi dave!

dood, if you were still running race-oriented pads in the back of that honda -- ditch 'em! i'm telling ya, just about every other honda racer who doesn't run an adjustable brake bias valve runs 'el cheapo' auto parts store pads in the rear!!!! on my H1 honda car, i run autozones; i've been there, and tried that, with the recommended carbotech rear pad, and all i did was lock up and fishtail like a mofo everywhere.... before you go crazy and try to fix a problem that isn't really a problem, try a stock set of cheapos on the rear...

sounds like you need to locate a nice low mileage tranny, too. mine was grinding unbelievably on sunday's race; my third gear has practically no synchro left in it, and downshifts from 4th to 3rd are becoming mighty tough....

see ya at VIR in a few???? :)

todd
ReidSpeed

David, I echo what Todd said.

Most of the SER guys use autozone pads in the rear. You need a bias knob or less grippy pads in the back ASAP. It also might help to add a pad in the front with a higher torque value. This would decrease overall braking force and help with rear lockup.

I'm in the opposite situation. I removed all of the stock brake proportioning valves in my car and installed a bias knob that is in the full "off" position. I'm going to switch to a lower torque front pad to INCREASE my overall braking pressure to get more juice to the rears.


Anyway, keep working on your setup.. You're probably more comfortable at VIR and I'm sure you'll do well there....again.

thanks guys, i'll think about all that. on the old car i did run the autozone pads in the rear, and the braking was horrible at summit, especially in 5. this weekend was the first time at summit i felt the brakes actually stood up to the test.

however, the pedal does feel soft right off the bat. BUT, it stayed that way the entire time and was consistent. also, i really like the feel of the xp10s. they just feel natural, if that makes sense.

i am just as comfortable at VIR as I am at summit. thing is saturday in the rain for qualifying was new to me as i've never done summit in the wet before. in the race on saturday however, i'm really proud of how i drove pushing harder than i ever have. hopefully i'll have the video up soon.

looked at my motor last night from the missed shift coming out of 10, as i said at the track, broke three rockers on intake side, plus the cam broke .............pulled the cam out last night, there is a large gouge where the cam sits (over cylinder two) (i don't know what you call it, but the smooth part of the head the cam actually sits (and spins in) , it is not on the horizontal side, more on the vertical side............if that makes sense, it is really a gouge where metal was chipped and i may be able to sand it down ??? think my head is toast or think it is still useable? (assuming valves aren't bent)

think my head is toast or think it is still useable? (assuming valves aren't bent)

You're talking about the cam journal? If so doesn't sound good, I wouldn't reuse it.

Dave -- check this pic out:

http://www.catesracing.com/flp/2009_events/2009-hyperfest/stinger_race/IMG_3161.JPG

I think you might need a stiffer FRONT sway bar or stiffer front springs. It's like a table with 2 legs too long, when the front right compresses the rear left is light and I think that's the one you're locking up into T5.

A couple of PTE pics:

http://www.catesracing.com/flp/2009_events/2009-hyperfest/stinger_race/IMG_3066.JPG

http://www.catesracing.com/flp/2009_events/2009-hyperfest/stinger_race/IMG_2881.JPG

so i called Jim Wolf, they were nice enough to split a set of S5 cams they had in stock and are sending me a new intake cam to replace the one i snapped in two ;-)

You're talking about the cam journal? If so doesn't sound good, I wouldn't reuse it.

Dave -- check this pic out:
[/IMG]

actually i don't have a front sway bar. the problem of locking up was the right rear. the left was fine. if the left rear locked up it was from trail braking, as i sort of flick it into five when i'm right on the threshhold and get some good rotation.

actually i don't have a front sway bar. the problem of locking up was the right rear. the left was fine. if the left rear locked up it was from trail braking, as i sort of flick it into five when i'm right on the threshhold and get some good rotation.

What spring rates and suspension are you running?

ground controls, 800/front, 1000/rear, koni OTS revalved.

so i called Jim Wolf, they were nice enough to split a set of S5 cams they had in stock and are sending me a new intake cam to replace the one i snapped in two ;-)

Dude, you are my hero, how the hell did you split a cam!
Where did it break at? Close to a lobe? Need pics....

Dude, you are my hero, how the hell did you split a cam!
Where did it break at? Close to a lobe? Need pics....

Steve has a unique combination of the ability to break things spectacularly coupled with eternal optimism.

He wants to put a stock cam in and check the compression b/c he thinks the valves/head might be OK. ;)

Is the gash in the shiny journal where the cam actually rides, or on the vertical surface next to it?

ground controls, 800/front, 1000/rear, koni OTS revalved.

Ok so we have the same setup -- I just have 900 fronts...I had to go to 900 to keep the front suspension from compressing too much. It was cracking open the axle joints and the axles would fail.

I've heard of countless complete brake failures that happened this weekend. Mostly in CMC, but I was wondering if those problems bled into the Stinger group at all.

It's very strange but 4 guys lost their brakes in the same race. How the hell does that happen!?!?

Here is two of them in the same lap, same corner!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTv_o_w9BVE

the gash is actually on vertical part where it turns out the cam doesn't actually sit (ie. cams sits on journal at first bearing/cap(again, dont' know my terminology but i'll call it bearing cap with two bolts that holds cam in (there are 5 of this total), middle bearing cap and last bearing cap, gash is on journal where second bearing/cap is and cam doesnt' actually physically touch the journal so should be less of an issue


last night i put a stock intake cam back in, tightened everything down, cranked her over with torque wrench on the cranshaft/pully nut and she turned over like normal, then ran a compression check, she made 180 to 185 on all 4 cylinders .

so at this point, i am going to wait for replacement S5 intake cam, put it in and hope she runs fine ;-)