Pitchblack Motorsports Rally e30 318i (now with M50) - and some Porsche 924S stuff.

[Beske]

I saw that link in your topic earlier, in the Netherlands we also have the 325i challenge: http://www.325ichallenge.nl/

But that is way too serious/expensive for me ;)
A bunch of mostly stock e30's and some field to set a track on would be so much fun!

[irish44j]

Rallycross coming up Sunday to close the season out, and we have a full field for MR class, including a Porsche 944, which I'm interested in seeing how it matches up with the RX's and e30s (though I guess there is no more RX7s in this class now....)

Just in the nick of time my man Carlos at Condor Speed Shop sent me a little package with their new weighted Delrin shift knob (which I chose with the MSport cap, because racekar). This knob has a removable weight inside it that can be taken out if you want a lighter knob or left in for more heft. It's also taller than stock (and than the 80s BMW motorsport knobs it was modeled after). I put it on tonight and its a perfect fit and has three set-screws to secure it (I gave it a good tug and it's definitely secure).

I may have to get another one for the e21 down the line here, and maybe for the Chumpcar :)







oh, and we have some leaves here :/

[irish44j]

2013 Rallycross Season WRAP

The Dirty e-Thirties Rallycross



So, we finished up the season on Sunday, and it ended more or less as expected at this point. Coming in to the last event, Roberto had three season event wins, and I had two (but I also beat him in the one event where neither of us won). Unfortunately, due to my first-event spin and self-destruction, I had to drop that event instead of my lone 3rd place finish. So that left me only able to tie for season points, and only then if I won the last event and Roberto finished 3rd or worse (which he had only done once all season).

Roberto had supposedly sold his car the week before, but showed up with it anyhow to try to take the undisputed class win. Chris was back driving his Celica since with him tied with Nick for 3rd place going in, I didn't think it would be fair to loan him my car again. In the end, Nick would prevail in the e28 to take 3rd for the season, though Chris made it close even in a mostly-stock 85 Celica. Impressive driving, as usual.

Event started well, and we ran the "long version" of the Big course, with a double-loop at one end and most cars running over 100 seconds. I went out of the gate more aggressive than usual on my first run and I think I surprised him, taking him by 6 seconds. He actually said he was surprised that I went so aggro, lol. After that, we basically matched times for the rest of the day, both running very clean knowing every cone counted. In the end, I won out by about 8 seconds.

The real story was whether my "teammates" could take 2nd over him and give me the help to tie for 1st in season points. At the mid-day break Jim Spoth (in the ETA) had a 2-second lead on Roberto with Nick in the e28 2 seconds behind. In the afternoon, with a new course, Jim kept running fast but got a few cones, and Nick had a stuck throttle on his 3rd run and had to pull off the course. Nick and his co-driver Bobby both took their final 2 runs in my car and put up some great times, but it wasn't enough to get them back into 2nd. Nick actually put up the fastest single MR class run of the day on his last run in my car, when he was driving against hope of clawing back onto the podium.

non-sequitur picture


I hoped that Roberto might let off a little bit knowing that he had a tie for 1st no matter what, and letting someone else sneak in for 2nd behind me. But that wouldn't be like Roberto at all to not go all out for the undisputed win, and he didn't disappoint, and he is the undisputed class champ.

So here's the final standings for the last event (ignore the yellow highlighting on the Miata, that was for another thread showing that Miata isn't ALWAYS "the answer" lol)



So, that left me 2 points short of winning the season championship. But that's ok, I consider it to have been a good season, with the only real stain being the first event where I self-destructed.

Finished up with 3 event wins (4 if you count the non-points "tuner" event we had during the summer), and Roberto also had 3 event wins. The 7th event was won by Chris driving my car, so I'll have to take a little bit of credit for that one since I built the car, right? lol....

While I'm thinking of it, I want to shout out a "THANK YOU" to two people:

First - Adam Kimmett and the rest of the WDCR SCCA RallyCross organizers, who make sure we have this great venue, run great events, and set up awesome courses.

Second - Carlos at CONDOR SPEED SHOP, whose parts I use and whose parts I suggest YOU use, and who has been greatly supportive in many ways during this build and race season!



All in all, the "dirty e-thirties" did pretty well this year. Stephen Nichols took the championship in PR, winning the last four events. His co-driver Chris Helgesen came into the last event needing a 2nd place finish to take 2nd for the season, but Spencer (in the 318i) beat him for the first time this season, by like 1 second, and that knocked Chris into 3rd for the season behind

Chris kickin' it in the ruts


Shawn in the RX7 (the defending MR class champ who beat me last year). Spencer got progressively better throughout the season and if he runs a full season next year I'd expect him to be competing at the top, especially if he gets some rally tires instead of snows. Jesse in his 325i didn't come to the last 2 events after up-and-down finishes, so I'm not sure what his plan is for next year.

Shawn in the RX7, doing his usual awesomeness in a car with no actual suspension remaining



Spencer with some rear inside lift



For MR, you know how I did. Nick ended up 3rd in the e28 and pretty much put up solid 4th place finishes almost the entire season (with one 2nd), on snow tires. They just got rally tires for next season, and seeing how he drove my car I expect we'll be duking it out next year in MR. Chris Nonack is probably the fastest driver in the class, but he kills cars. Killed his very fast MR2. Broke his Celica somewhat, but it's not that fast anyhow. His best two finishes of the year were actually driving Nick's car (3rd) and my car (1st). I know he's actively looking for another car for next year, so I expect he'll be the one to beat in the class next year. Jim missed 2 events, and had to deal all season with having a 4-driver car running in PR and MR (which really wears a car down I'd say), but when he's "on" he's as fast as anyone in the class. Bobby, co-driving with Nick in the e28, finished up in 6th for the season. Pat and Jason had some issues with their car throughout the season but now have rally tires and seem to have sorted most of the issues out. Knowing Pat I'm sure he'll do some good work on the car (both for rallycross and for trackdays) over the winter and will run against the top of the class next year now that he has a full season of experience under his belt.

In other news, a bunch of Subarus won all the AWD classes, with the battle royale in M4 ending up a tie between last year's M4 champ Matt Berkabile and last year's PA champ (and rally chair) Adam Kimmett.

Only one car ran stock RWD this year (IIRC), and just at this last event.

And it was a Volvo Amazon. Love it!



So, before I post some more pics, I'll note a few small things I plan to do this winter:
1. Watch vids of Chris driving. Maybe that will make me drive faster, lol.
2. Weight reduction. I'm going to do some quick-release mounts for the bumpers. Dumping 100lbs off the extremities of the car will help I think, but I want bumpers for street driving.
3. ???? I have no other "big" plans for the car this winter, but who knows. I have a lot of work to do on the e21 project, and also will be helping with an engine swap for the Lemons/Chump e30 when I can.

So, some pics. I don't often get to see my car driving without me in it, so took a few myself that I like

also if you want to see the full album:

http://s78.photobucket.com/user/irish44j/library/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/BMW%20318i%20Rallycross%20-%20March%202013%20and%20later/10%20NOV%2013%20RALLYCROSS?sort=3&page=1

The boxers watching Nick



M4 co-champ Kimmett



Jeremy Miller, always keeping it interesting with powerslides and ripping his front clip off



Spencer



the ETA boyz





Ex-Spec Miata now Lemons car now rallykar



MR crew



Dirties

[phenryiv1]

Pat and Jason had some issues with their car throughout the season but now have rally tires and seem to have sorted most of the issues out. Knowing Pat I'm sure he'll do some good work on the car (both for rallycross and for trackdays) over the winter and will run against the top of the class next year now that he has a full season of experience under his belt.

I am not really sure what will happen with the car this winter. Since I already have all of the parts ready, I know that a front steering refresh is in the works (tie rods, ball joints, endlinks, swaybar upgrade to a 'vert sway, e36 rack), but after that, I really don't know. I have a chip to install, upgraded injectors, a new fuel pump, and I am really thinking about a side-dump exhaust (just because I can). I may also do some gauges so that I have some idea of what the car is doing- right now I just know if I have gas and if the temp is spiking.

I am really thinking about picking us a set of front H&R Sport springs. I like the rear height and travel, but I may bring down the front a bit.

I have to say, there are some things about RallyX that really rubbed me the wrong way. Most of it has nothing to do with the time behind the wheel, but all of the other crap really gets in the way of the part that is supposed to be fun.

One thing is clear- the fact that your car was so well sorted really makes a difference. All the time we (I) wasted searching for what was wrong with the car made events- and event prep- very frustrating, and missing events over mechanical issues is never fun. Hopefully with time on my side I can get the car up in the air and get the front end done so that I can concentrate on driving and not wrenching. This coming year, much of the time that I spent on weekends under the car can be spent with my family, therefore I can justify a little more seat time for non-RallyX events if I want to drive the car a little more often.

[UserError]

If you don't mind my asking, what "other crap" rubbed you the wrong way this season in RallyX?

[phenryiv1]

Some safety stuff, combined with attitudes. Differences of opinion on what was/was not safe, then the way it was presented. Adam ( the organizer) took the safety stuff seriously and we had safe courses, but we had some drivers with terrible interactions with my family (and directed them in a completely unsafe manner). Then this week we had some mechanical issues with cars that were handled safely for one car and then I got yelled at for refusing to do diagnostics 10 feet off of the race course on a car that had a throttle stick at WOT. The solution was a disagreement on safety, but for me to be yelled at by 2 people because I valued safety over 2 minutes to ensure that the car was safe before moving it was not acceptable.

[shiboujin]

lol I remember that.

[phenryiv1]

lol I remember that.

They told me to just push the car to the side of the road and do the diagnostics there, but I did not feel safe that close to the end of the straight, on dirt, with other drivers driving by. When the Escort was in the middle of the loop it was distracting enough for those 2 runs and it was way off to the side. They wanted Nicks car right off the course, closer to dark, with a brown car.

Sorry, not doing it. And nobody will convince me that it was safe. The one guy literally yelled "can't you do this somewhere else?"

[shiboujin]

I'm not sure they knew the nature of the break down. I couldn't tell from where I was. I saw the car moving under its own power. I figured something broke but the car was still drivable. In which case, get off track and fix it in the paddock right? But that's what I saw. I dunno what others saw. I was working at turn 8 (far away)

[phenryiv1]

I'm not sure they knew the nature of the break down. I couldn't tell from where I was. I saw the car moving under its own power. I figured something broke but the car was still drivable. In which case, get off track and fix it in the paddock right? But that's what I saw. I dunno what others saw. I was working at turn 8 (far away)

It stuck at WOT and Nick shut off the ignition. I got the throttle UN-stuck and wanted to check it with a few "blips" before he drove it to paddock. It took less time to do that to be sure he could drive it safely than it would have taken to push it off of the course and back to paddock. Worst we lost by being safe was 2 minutes. Towing it back with a tow vehicle would have taken longer than the repair. But under no circumstances was I doing diagnostics where I was told to do them. The guy that yelled at me was 6 feet away and opened his mouth without enough data to make a recommendation.

[irish44j]

Who was the guy that yelled at you? There are always a few dumbasses at any motorsports event that "don't get it" with regard to safety, trust me....I would talk to Matt B. (the safety steward) if you have concerns on that end. Matt is more hardcore about safety stuff than anyone I've ever met, lol.

The escort was there in the loop for sure (though I could hardly see it due to that being a sun-in-the-eyes area), but that's not the first time a broken car has been in sightlines of the course. There were a couple last year too. I prefer that to waiting 20 minutes while they call the Summit tow truck from the main paddock, personally. There are plenty of distractions to be had on course if you let yourself get distracted. My eyes don't leave the course when I'm driving, except a quick glance at flag stations - since I don't intend to take the car off the course and am only slowing down for a red flag :D

[ZM Blue Devil]

we just started on a MK2 rally build, hope to see you guys out and about next year.

[irish44j]

we just started on a MK2 rally build, hope to see you guys out and about next year.

Mk2 Golf, or Mk2 MR2?

[irish44j]

There's about an inch of snow and sleet out there. The e30 is sitting on very cold Star Specs. Time to do slow circles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDSTVuek6KU&feature=youtu.be

[Nick_S]

There's about an inch of snow and sleet out there. The e30 is sitting on very cold Star Specs. Time to do slow circles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDSTV...ature=youtu.be

Have you considered a career in Formula D?