Messages

My 1996 GTS had Eibach "dual rate" springs and Konis on it that I removed when I installed the used Motons and non-dual-rate Eibachs that I purchased from Dan.  I like the Moton setup much better (although that was a bigger and more expensive mod than just springs; and my purpose was tracking).  If just for looks, I assume the Eibachs would be fine, however, you have to be concerned about your tire and wheel combination (and FUTURE tire/wheel combos) fitting.  I had a small scraping problem in the back with the dual rate Eibachs that I fixed using an air die grinder (see attached pictures).  I may be willing to part with the Eibachs, although I was thinking of hanging onto them in case I ever want to "restore" the Viper to how I purchased it if I sell due to an upgrade one day (although at this point, I may have gone too far for a "restore").

On the flip side, if anyone wants to buy my HRE wheels, check out the last picture!  Those I'm selling for sure (although, not cheap ;-)

Ken,

Did you decide on 335 x 30 x 18 or 345 x 35 x 18 rears?

I have some used 345 x 35 x 18 Hoosier R6s, but they are a bit tall for a GTS.

Thank you Dan!  I just happened to be speaking with Tim Jelli yesterday about brakes and it turned out he had a pair of barely used 335x30x18's sitting around (and 315x30x18's) he wanted to sell.  He was able to ship them yesterday, so as long as they show up tomorrow, as scheduled, I'm golden.

I signed up today.  I hope some more people can come out and play!  Aaron says there will only be a handful Monday.

I'm in if I can find some used 18" Hoosiers before then.  If anyone knows of anyone getting rid of some, let me know!

The only thing I could do was to put a small part of me into the event and hope for the best.
Each attendee got a special So Cal Viper desk clock.  Mr. Malloy got the large wall clock in appreciation from our Club.  

Lance - I am BLOWN away by your craftsmanship.  I don't know where you found the time to crank out ALL those beautiful hand-crafted clocks (not to mention the DVD and everything else you did for this party)!  Thank you for your incredible generosity in time and talent!

Ken

I'll try to get a list of mods and pics together... but it is 2am and I have to get up in 4 hours to trailer out to Spring Mountain.  I do have the Corsa 3" exhaust with hi-flo cats and Bellinger exhaust headers and a K&N hi-flo filter box and filter.  I find it funny that you are trying to make yours louder; when Lena and I go on long trips with the club (Utah, Vegas, etc.) everyone tells me how fun it was to crank up the tunes while on the road while Lena and I have to keep saying "huh, what'd you say" when trying to carry on a conversation even though we are right next to each other - and forget trying to hear the radio over my exhaust.  I often end up with a mild headache and stiff eardrums by the end of a trip.  Maybe we should just trade cars... :-)

Welcome, Derek.  I too bought a 1996 blue and white GTS with 16K miles on it, but that was in June, 2008.  I now have over 31K on it - joining the club means putting that car to good (and proper) use.  Looking forward to meeting you in person at the next event.

Ken

Happy belated!  Your birthday is ALMOST as cool as mine ;-) <v

Jay,

On your list (and Dan's), the only two things I had when I did my first event about three years ago was a helmet (which was probably not an approved one, and might have even been a motorcycle helmet - but they let me use it - I got lucky), and driving shoes.  I have accidentally hit the gas when trying to brake while driving around town, and it scared me so badly that my wife bought me driving shoes, which I wore (for a while) even when driving around town!  If you are on a budget, you can probably find some sneakers that will work, but they've got to have narrow soles (not soles that stick out as wide as the body of the shoe).  My wife found some for herself, so maybe they can only be found in women's sizes (dunno).

All the other things mentioned are things you should get over time, and would be ideal for your first time out, but don't let those scare you off (except maybe the roll bar - I'm in a coupe, so that wasn't something I was thinking about).  I still don't wear gloves and it doesn't seem to be a problem (for me).

It might also be handy to bring an air pressure gauge, a watch (carrying a cell phone around can be a drag), a collapsing chair, and some blue painters tape to protect your car (although, don't get too carried away, especially if you aren't overly concerned).

Keep in mind that every track event will have slightly different requirements so be sure that, at a minimum, you've got what the event host requires you to have (anything extra just makes it safer).  If you have further questions, feel free to email me or call; I've made some lists and have gotten lots of input from other members and would love to return the favor and share.

Ken

Thanx, everyone!  Just saw this (10 days late), but very appreciated.  I didn't know a 45-year-old could smile like that (ohhh - I wasn't 45 yet in that shot ;-)

Ken

Art - I forgot about the 1.5 day misadventure-you have an even better memory than I!  Although, you forgot about the one where I had to get towed from the gas station only two blocks from home after getting back from Vegas due to the oxygen sensor wiring short (hmmm... maybe that was the same trip..).  Fortunately, none of them have ended up being a big deal - I have not gotten stranded yet or needed to be towed more than a mile.  Still fun and a great learning experience!

Dan - thanks for the suggestions, as always.

Thank you for the info.  Too bad the V700's seem to be a unavailable!  I believe I've only got a couple of weekends on mine - very unfortunate.  I got them at tire-easy.com in May, 2010 for a great price ($150?) maybe because they knew they were getting discontinued - I see that they don't have them now.  I even drove from Goleta to Long Beach to get them shaved.  I'm in Washington State for the week (amazing in today's age how we can be racing around the track one day, and in another state for totally different reasons the next; I obviously don't travel much) so I don't have any way to look things up right now to verify all this.  I'll probably be contacting you guys about used ones before Spring Mountain!  Then I'll have to decide what I want to try next; probably Toyos, although I hear they are not as predictable.  I don't know anything about the V710's - thoughts?  I REALLY liked the V700's (although I don't have any experience on anything else but 10-year-old Michelin PS2's ;-)

Oh - and I nearly went through a front set of Brakeman III pads on this event (nearly, but not all the way).  I usually get 3-4 track events on a set of these and this was only my second event (per memory) on this pair.  I guess slowing for turn 1 really eats them up.  Wow.

Attached are some more pictures of our misadventure.  It was much more complex than just switching to the pizza-cutter as one of the lug nuts was bonded to the wheel stud and it snapped when I tried to take it off (second picture).  I don't think it was cross threaded; strange!  Perhaps it is time for new studs and lug nuts all the way around as they look rusty.  Also, after putting on the pizza cutter, the only way out of the gas station was so goofy that I nearly high-sided the Viper and somehow managed to break the bead of the spare tire and let all the air out (fifth picture).  The aweful scraping sounds eminating from under the Viper when backing it up made my hair stand on end (apparently, some explicatives escaped as well).  I was sure I had ripped the exhaust system apart until I got the Viper jacked up (yet, again) and saw that huge skid plate down there (forgot about that) - thank you Dodge.

I was suprised Lena was able to get everything back into the trunk, especially after I dumped that that HUGE tire in there (third and fourth pictures).  The last picture is just to show off those huge meats up front ;-).

So I figured out how to get 18+ MPG in a Viper.....  flat spot a tire at Willow Springs, drive home until you feel unsafe, swap for your match-box size spare, then drive the rest of the way home at 50MPH in 6th gear.  You'll be amazed at your gas mileage after swapping to the spare ;-)

But, all jesting aside (although everything above is true), check out the pictures I've posted here and tell me - is this what one refers to as a "flat spot"?  At some point while racing around Willow Springs yesterday, I managed to cord my tire.  Note that I did it in two separate places on the tire.  The first picture shows one of the spots, while the second picture shows the other.  The final two pictures are just more shots of the second spot.

When thinking back about my day, I might know when this happened.  I recall an incident when I braked hard and got a little loose and then felt a bit of a "flop flop" as the tire went around.  I figured I'd "flat spotted" the tire, based upon having done this once before at a previous event.  The last time, however, the flat spot went away after a few more aggressive laps, as it seemed to this time (or so I thought!).

I noticed that turn two seemed much "rougher" my last two sessions but I was also going faster than I had the rest of the weekend, so I assumed I was just feeling the aggregate in the asphalt a little more.

Now I'm really wondering if perhaps what I see in the pictures has nothing to do with the flat spot I thought I had, or if what ultimately happened to the tire started out with the flat spot and perhaps I was supposed to do something special to keep the tire from cording.

I first noticed that I'd corded the tire after packing up to go home while I was setting my Moton shocks for a softer ride home.  I may not have even realized that I'd corded the tire if it weren't for this.  I'm shocked I had just been going 125mph+ on these and I didn't get in big trouble (and had not felt something seriously wrong).  After Ben managed to drive home from Streets of Willow on a corded tire (successfully) in March, I decided to give it a shot.  However, when I pulled over at the 76 in Castaic for gasoline (70+ miles from Willow Springs) I noticed the second area had gotten worse.  I probably would not have left Willow Springs if it had been this bad at the track.  I really wonder if I could have made it home on that tire.

One final question: Can I just buy two more Kumhos for the front, and continue using the back ones even though those now have several sessions on them?

Lena and I had a great time!  Rod Bean was a fantastic instructor and Lena was all-smiles.  He gave Lena an incredible amount of one-on-one time; what a great event and very well run.  I would have enjoyed being over with the rest of the gang, but sharing a car across run-groups got pretty hectic so we were in the pit area the entire time.

I'll be there, and Lena is even thinking of trying it out with an instructor in the green group!  Anyone know who the instructors will be and if any are particularly good with a first-timer (no track experience, other than watching) driving a Viper?

Ken

Scott,

Thanks for the response!  Lena woke up with some bad back problems and it's looking like we probably aren't going to make it after all.  Have fun everyone!

Ken