Art of Rally

< Back to Home

General Update, 1/24/06

It feels like it's been forever since I last said something up here. Just this month I passed 11,000 miles (yes, after 1 1/2 years of driving this car -- love the San Francisco Bay Area, everything is close!). I've done a handful of backroads runs, including one where I was actually pushing it hard enough to get my adrenaline fully pumping. Most of my abuse of the car has been on regular city streets and freeways, though.

The biggest news is that I finally got some new tires! Look at what was left of the stockers:

Oh yeah, that's a thing of beauty right there. Wheel Works in Hayward told me I have a massive alignment problem, pointing to the abnormal wear on the outer edge. I had to casually explain that the problem is not in the suspension, but the driver. I simply drive on the sidwalls -- trail braking and weight transfer management aren't things I have to even consciously think about anymore. Now of course, the stock tires do make it *quite* easy to run on the 'walls thanks to their craptacular compound and craptastical wall (lack of) stiffness, with that moderately tall profile sprinkled on just for good measure. They've done me well, though, but at last I have bid them farewell, up front at least. The rears are fine!

The new front treads are BF Goodrich Traction T/A's, V-speed rated (149mph, should be good given that the fastest I've ever driven any car was 146), stock replacement size. Have a look here and see if you can guess why I picked them. Aggressive, deep, blocky thread, that's right, thems be my SCCA Showroom Stock 2WD RallyCross-legal gravel tires right there! Finally this year she's going to touch dirt in the way I've planned all along -- fast as possible while dicing through cones in mini time attack fashion.

In other news, it looks like a few folks on EvolutionM.net are still enjoying the "Hittin' the Twisties" video. I guess I owe them some new footage. I'll have to get to work on that ASAP. I picked up a hefty ChaseCam Ultra Mount last year, and it's just dying to get some use.

Ah, and I almost forgot, just over a year ago I got into a fender bender! Some yahoo decided to make a sudden right turn into a parking lot from the lane to my left. I had no choice but to spin him around and shove him a bit, but unfortunately the RA got a black eye from doing the head-butt a bit off center.

Ah, well. I'll do better next time. Yes, it was ruled an at-fault for the Z driver.