I went to my first autocross of the season today. It was organized by the BMW Trillium Club but their events are open to all makes. This one was in one of the infield parking lots at Mosport. There was also a BMW Club event on the GP track and the paddock was full of straight piped Porsche Caymans and 997 GT3 RS's and Cups, and a 918 even showed up. And of course I didn't have my camera with me. The event organizer had one of the nicest E46 M3's I've ever seen. Purple wrap, big brakes, sweet wheels, nice stance, sounded incredible and an absolute beast on the course. Despite the fact that it looks a little stance nation it never rubbed or bottomed out and he drifted it like a pro. He's a regular at the track days I've started going to also so this car gets driven hard.
This is him hooning around the the course near the end of the event.
Seems to be the place to get tires among the the modified crowd.
Today was a good day. I picked up my coilovers from my mechanics shop; KW Variant III with height, compression, and rebound adjustment. I still need to collect a few more parts so they'll sit in the basement for a few weeks.
I also picked up my Whiteline Anti-Lift Kit
I had forgotten about the Tyrolsport Subframe Deadset Kit group buy but I saw the thread yesterday so I managed to get in on it just in time. All that's left to order are camber plates.
Went to Barrie for autocross today. The day started off a bit cold but it warmed up eventually and then rained.
Tow Hook Cam - Run 2
My GoPro tow hook mount was a bit loose at this point so that's why the view bumps every time I get on the throttle or brakes.
Helmet Cam - Run 4
This was my first wet run. I don't have much experience in the wet so I figured I'd push it and see what happened. The rear stepped out into the slalom and I managed to counter-steer twice but in the moment never remembered to floor the throttle and pull myself out of the slide so I ended up spinning. It was a good learning experience, hopefully next time I remember to try driving out of it.
Helmet Cam - Run 5
This is the run after I spun. Wet and clean.
I got the last two deliveries for my suspension upgrade this week. A set of Integrated Engineering camber plates and a Tyrolsport Subframe Deadset Kit. I don't know anything about camber plates aside from what their purpose is but the IE plates look like very high quality items. I'm taking Thursday off work to have everything installed and having an alignment done while I'm at work on Friday.
I went to my third autocross event of the season today and came in fourth in class. Third was half a second ahead. I'm really happy with my times considering they're on stock suspension and the cars ahead of me aren't. There's also the not so small matter of my dampers being basically destroyed. Turns out they're leaking, and have been since last summer, but they're in such bad shape now that I can feel the car bouncing around violently through corners. Couldn't have picked a better time to replace them.
I decided to start taking my camera along with me so here's a few pictures of come cool stuff. This is a Mitsubishi Mirage on Volk Racing TE37 SL's and Tein coilovers, with an APR Performance front splitter and rear wing. It only has 60hp so it's pretty slow but I love seeing people bring cars that are so far from what you'd expect and standing out from the crowd.
This is one of only 300 Lotus Elise's in Canada. They only sold it here for one year. It's always in the top three times and the owners a really nice guy. I went for a ride along once last year and it was an experience I'll never forget.
There are always a ton of Miata's at these events and most are budget builds with very few mods but there were two today that stood out. An NC with an LS swap and an NB with a turbo, center exhaust, carbon hood, and a front splitter. Both on Volk Racing TE37 SL's. I didn't take full pictures to avoid showing their plates which at the time weren't covered. And I just love TE37s.
If I could own any one car that comes to these events it would be this G35 coupe. It sounds absolutely amazing, has nice wheels, Wilwood's all around, and a nice carbon rear valance. It's not the fastest car by a long shot but I've always really liked these things and like the GTI it's very versatile.
Another car with very little power, 90hp, is this 1983 320i. It's always mixing it up with more powerful cars and proving just how meaningless power is. Cars like this and the Mirage are the reason I haven't touched my engine yet and don't intend to for a while.
I went to the first CSCS (Canadian Sport Compact Series) event of the year. It's kind of like a real life Forza Horizon; they have show cars, time attack, and drifting. This one was held at the driver development track at Mosport.
I love them. Ride is very comfortable. Rides a little rough on surface streets (I think this is because my rebound setting on the rear is a little too high) but it's really me being nit picky but the car feels great on the highway. Performance wise, the only suspension mod I have are the KWs and car feels very confidence inspiring on canyon roads. I'm a rookie when it comes to driving "spiritedly" but the KW makes it feel very safe even when the road gets bumpy. It's hard for me to explain it since I'm not very familiar with the lingo but when you start driving quickly the car seems to hunker down around corners as if it's getting sucked into the road. They might be overkill for what I'm using it for but to me, it feels like the perfect balance of a comfortable daily driveable coilover that makes the car a whole lot more fun to drive.
I love them. Ride is very comfortable. Rides a little rough on surface streets (I think this is because my rebound setting on the rear is a little too high) but it's really me being nit picky but the car feels great on the highway. Performance wise, the only suspension mod I have are the KWs and car feels very confidence inspiring on canyon roads. I'm a rookie when it comes to driving "spiritedly" but the KW makes it feel very safe even when the road gets bumpy. It's hard for me to explain it since I'm not very familiar with the lingo but when you start driving quickly the car seems to hunker down around corners as if it's getting sucked into the road. They might be overkill for what I'm using it for but to me, it feels like the perfect balance of a comfortable daily driveable coilover that makes the car a whole lot more fun to drive.
I have a friend that put his C5 A6 on Bilsteins last year and he said the same thing about feeling like the car sucks down to the road the faster he goes.
I was a little worried the VIII's would ride too harsh but I've heard from a few people that they can be set up to be comfortable so that's good. Matt Farah's one take of a MkVI on VIII's made me feel a lot more confident before ordering them.
I have a friend that put his C5 A6 on Bilsteins last year and he said the same thing about feeling like the car sucks down to the road the faster he goes.
I was a little worried the VIII's would ride too harsh but I've heard from a few people that they can be set up to be comfortable so that's good. Matt Farah's one take of a MkVI on VIII's made me feel a lot more confident before ordering them.
