TurninConcepts' Say What We Want Blog

Rain At englishtown

2009-08-29T08:12:00.001-07:00

Lots of it. Morning sessions were just cancelled due to standing water on the track. We went out for one session and learned the track a bit without issue. Being a new track there is much grip available even in the rain. Hopefully the tropical storm will stop dumping on us so we can get out and have some fun later.

Tony

GAH! Transmissions

2009-07-23T14:40:00.000-07:00

So, in the course of 24 hours here's what we had happen with the time attack car -

Spare 6MT of Clint's went in TA car.
Found center diff to be dead dead dead.
Spare 6MT comes out.
08 STi goes into garage.
Tranny from 08 STi comes out of 08 STi.
Seals for axles get changed
Stubs go into 08 Tranny
08 Tranny goes into TA car
08 STi sits outside
Discover that speed sensor NEEDS to send a signal
08 tranny has no speed sender as 08 the 08 it reads off the ABS
Fake a speed signal by hooking up electic motor to turn sender off spare tranny
Watch sender spin at 1800 rpm
Watch speedo register all the way past 160mph to come around to almost 0 again.
Watch odometer tick off 2.5 miles in mere seconds

One Lap Video Posted

2009-06-25T08:28:00.000-07:00

Motor Trend has released the first part of the One Lap video. It's about 9 minutes long and very well done. We got a nice spot light for the autox with lots of video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7M8kvP3WgC0&feature=channel_page

Redline Time Attack Video

2009-06-23T19:05:00.001-07:00

Video was just posted.
http://videos.streetfire.net/video/Redline-Time-Attack-Round_691102.htm

TiC dominates Redline Time Attack street class

2009-06-22T16:02:00.000-07:00

Monday, June 22, 2009 (Joliet, IL) – Competing in their first Redline Time Attack at Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, IL on June 21st, TiC completely dominated the Street class in both All Wheel Drive categories and overall Street class with an almost four second lead over the 2nd place overall Street class competitor.

Running the same 2004 WRX that recently placed First in Class and Fourth Overall at The Tire Rack’s One Lap of America, TiC has quickly become a team to watch in performance driving by consistently surprising event spectators, and competitors time and again.

Team member, and TiC Co-founder, Tony Barber had this to say, “The car is very well set up with a nice balance between power and handling. We know there’s some more time in it with a few small changes. Right now the biggest thing is tires.”

The car, as it competed on Sunday, was running the same Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Spec tires that were used for the One Lap event with the general consensus being they were worn out.

Team driver Tony Weisenhahn told us the by the afternoon session the tires were feeling a bit on the weak side and gave up a lot of grip in the corners. Tony W. also stated, “One of the things we have to do before the next event is work on the brakes some more. I know that with some better brakes that can handle the heat we can get another 50 feet into the corner before we have to slow down.”

Team member and the other TiC Co-founder, Clint Boggess, had this to say on the subject. “We’re looking at a new setup on the brakes right now. As the car stands they are phenomenal before they overheat. We need to figure out a good combination that will take the heat, yet still offer a very nice balance. Something similar to what we have now, only more ‘whoa’ overall.”

When asked about future plans for the series Tony B. and Tony W. informed us that originally TiC had only planned on attending a few of the events, but after the showing yesterday that has changed and indicated they will try to make it to all the Redline Time Attack east coast events for the season.

When asked about current classing plans Tony Barber responded, “We talked about moving up a class, but after some discussion with the rest of the team we’ve decided to stick with Street class this season, and apply what we’ve learned for next year.”

“We like to move in baby steps.” Said Tony Weisenhahn. “We work with what we know, and use it as a learning experience to move forward. Right now, we have a few things to sort out before moving to the next class; biggest thing being the brakes followed by fine tuning the engine management and power output. We’ve already started talking with our tuner, Jorge Carrillo of P&L Motorsports, about what we would like to do, and they had some great input going forward. We’ll be working with them to make the power and tuning changes quickly so we can have the new system working in time for the event at the end of July. Once we have that figured out we need to look at the aero treatment of the car. As for the suspension, we’ve been pretty happy with it. We may change spring rates when going to a stickier tire, but we’ll need to test that. As it is, the new AST dampers are working great and we’ll probably stick with them for a while.”

For those not aware, TiC cracked a rear damper during the second to last event during One Lap. They knew they couldn’t get them fixed in time for this event so when Clint wasn’t looking the two Tony’s jacked up Clint’s own personal car, and “borrowed” the AST based dampers with TiC’s valving specification. Clint wasn’t too pleased.

When pressed for further developments Clint said, “Well, we’ve been thinking quite a bit about the aero. After all, we’re out there running in what appears to be a mostly stock car. We know a front splitter is going to help overall corner grip and speed, but Tony W. informed me yesterday that we have to do at least a splitter and rear wing at the same time. Right now the car is so incredibly balanced that doing just a splitter for now is going to hurt our performance. So, we’ll be spending some time soon looking at rear wing setup along with the splitter to see if we can come up with a setup that keeps the balance, but improves grip.”

Tony Barber made some closing comments on the entire effort by the TiC team.
“It’s been a lot of fun and very interesting. We keep surprising people at these events, and what’s even more surprising is that there’s really nothing special or exotic about the car. Most of the critical parts on the car are the exact same thing that we sell every day. We don’t do anything special for the cars we race as we have that much faith in the parts we sell.”

Set up for the TiC car, while extensive isn’t anything exotic or unachievable by the normal person as you can tell from the list below.

2004 Subaru WRX

• 2.5 liter short block with CP forged pistons, ACL race bearings, and STi cams

• P&L Motorsports GT30 rotated mount turbo

• Spearco top mount intercooler

• TiC Air/Oil separator

• STi control arms

• Whiteline Plus forward control arm front bushings

• Whiteline forward control arm rear bushings

• Group N engine and transmission mounts

• Kartboy shifter stay bushings

• TiC shifter bushings

• TiC tranny Xmember bushings

• PPG straight cut 1 and 2 and helical cut 3 and 4 transmission

• PPG front LSD

• Cusco rear diff

• TiC hardened R160 ring and pinion

• Kartboy outrigger bushings

• MSI rear subframe• Kartboy endlinks

• Whiteline front and rear anti-roll bars

• Whiteline roll center adjustment kit

Out of the blue post!!!

2009-06-09T19:17:00.001-07:00

Couple of small updates -

One of the things that we ran into during One Lap was cooling problems. The temp would just shoot up rather quickly on the track, and Tony had to keep one eye on the temp gauge (a real gauge, not that useless stock one) and pull back when it got too hot.

Well, we've been doing a few things and it seems the cooling is no longer an issue after some testing at Putnam last weekend.

The other small update is this - we sent out the KW's that were on the car for a rebuild since they took a pretty good beating. In the mean time we stole Clint's AST dampers. Now, these weren't some that were sitting around on a shelf. They are literally Clint's dampers. When he wasn't looking we jacked up the blue car, and stole them. Clint is starting to think that he won't get them back. Clint is sad about this.

Also, we've been talking about doing some aero on the car as it could use it. First up is a front splitter. We're going to try and get that done before the Redline event in Chicago, but time is running out...

Trophies

2009-05-09T17:31:00.000-07:00

We got 4th place overall, 1st place in Mid-priced sedan and Rookie of the Year.

It's all over

2009-05-09T16:59:00.000-07:00

I don't even know how to start this post. I guess I can't believe it's over. It feels like it was just yesterday that we started off on the journey of The One Lap and yet now I find myself back at home on the kitchen computer. It was definitely a memorable event with lots of laughs and sweat and when it's all over we were able to pull out a fourth place finish. A finish no one thought was possible before the start of the event. I guess Brock knows what he's doing though as #4 was our assigned number and out destined placement.

Today was tough. 25-30 constant winds with an on-again off-again drizzle that sometimes turned to rain. The "dry" skidpad was the last event of the competition and by the time it was our turn was actually more of a wet skidpad. This proved to be our undoing as we finished 6th with our main competition, Catesby Jones (M3), coming in at 2nd. That was just enough of a difference for him to knock us out of 3rd and into 4th by five points overall. But as they say, that's the One Lap.

Most interesting to us is the number of eyes we opened over the week. We consistently hung in the top 10 of just about every event which shocked some. Many people came up to us with a questioning look as they tried to figure out the reason for the car's speed. We were fortunate enough to have few break downs and none that couldn't be quickly and easily repaired allowing us to finish every contest. Thanks go out to all those One Lappers and spectators who helped keep the car running and who offerred their sound advice. You guys know who you are.

Congratulations go out to our driver, Tony Wiesenhahn. He proved to conquer all fear (well other than the Daytona oval at 150 with four flat spotted tires) and was able to attack each and every track with hunger and verocity. He has an uncanny ability to drive very fast on his first lap out and lets nothing stand in his way of wringing every last ounce of speed out of the car. He is the main reason the car placed as high as it did and we at TurninConcepts want to thank him for all his time and hard work. Thanks Tony!!

All we can do now is focus on the future. We are definitely going to be competing in the One Lap next year. It has bitten us and drawn us in to the excitement the event creates. All that is left is to figure out how to make the car faster as I have a feeling next year will be even more difficult for us. Keep an eye out for the car as it goes through its transformation over the next year. We have learned the weak areas and are going to address them in typical TiC fashion. We have also decided that we will be competing in the Redline Time Attach series this summer starting with our first outting at Autobahn.

I'll leave you with some pictures I took over the course of the event. Just a few choice examples I found interesting.

Tony Barber
TurninConcepts

Ah nuts...

2009-05-09T08:31:00.000-07:00

Someone was able to sneak in between the M3 and us. We drop from 3rd overall to 4th.

No podium finish for us.

Talk about tension!

2009-05-09T08:18:00.000-07:00

I just got a call from Tony as they just completed the final event for One Lap of America.

First, they ran in reverse order so the leading cars had to go last.

Second, it rained in the morning, track dried out, looked to be a dry run, then just as the top 7 cars entered the staging it started to rain.

The M3 and Tony were able to get a mostly dry run though.

We believe we did 4th on the skid pad pulling a .99 something, but the M3 pulled just over 1g and we believe he's in 2nd.

We also believe that the Ultima GTR snuck in between the two of us so if we pull off a 3rd overall it'll be by just 5 points. Hopefully nobody else snuck in there.

One thing we MUST do for next year's event is wider tires. Sure we did pretty good on the rinky dink 245's, but when everyone else is running a 295 to a 315 it's a bit like bringing a knife to a gun fight. Still, not too bad for running on our "skinny" tires.

Killin' Time

2009-05-08T20:05:00.000-07:00

It's been a long week. Since driving from BeaveRun to South Bend took us right by Toledo, my home town, we decided to stop by my parents' house for some much needed R&R. My step dad cooked us a great Italian dinner and we got to hang around with my brothers. Then Tony found my stepdad's Segway. Here's a little video of him playing around with it. Of course he had to use the fast key. I think we may bring this to One Lap next year instead of the bikes. Much more fun.

Tony B

Results are up!

2009-05-08T19:49:00.001-07:00

Well, results are up. We're still ahead of the M3, but not as much as before as they did quite well today.

We're ahead by 15 pts for 3rd overall, and it all comes down to the skidpad tomorrow.

It's supposed to be the dry setup, but given the rain predicted in the morning we have no idea if it'll be dry or wet.

Oh, and we've also heard that they run the last event in reverse order just to build the tension with the top running cars.

Still waiting...

2009-05-08T15:54:00.003-07:00

Official results are STILL not up. I wonder if they are doing this to build the suspense...

Coming Down the Wire

2009-05-08T10:55:00.001-07:00

The race for 3rd is getting tight!!! Catesby Jones in the M3 made up 15 points on us in the morning session and, unofficially, another 5 in the afternoon session to come within 15 points overall of 3rd. The only event left is the "dry" skid pad tomorrow. (I quote dry as it's supposed to rain) If we finish like we started at the wet skid pad we will end up tied! The race is definitely on.

Session went alright today. We are very tired and it is having an affect on our performance. We were forced to change front rotors this morning as some pretty severe cracks had formed. We have been suffering from a problem the last day or so as well with heat soak. Seems like the car was losing quite a bit of power after the first lap. Today we found out why; we had lost two bolts on the DP to the turbo and exhaust gasses were blowing out onto the TMIC. After installing a couple replacement bolts the car was back to full power after the first lap and pulled hard easily through the third. Wish we would have figured that out yesterday as it really could have helped us.

As of now, we are back in our home state of Ohio on I-80 heading towards South Bend. We are going to make a stop in Toledo to visit my family for a bit and get some food, then it's on to our final destination.

Tony B

DBA4000's

2009-05-08T10:38:00.000-07:00

They held up great, and gave their all.

Beaverun round 1 - More info

2009-05-08T08:13:00.000-07:00

Word is the M3 took 3rd, and we came out at 6th. That gives the M3 a gain of 15 points. We're still ahead though, and we'll see what happens this afternoon.

One advantage that we have with this afternoon is that Tony now knows the track a little better, whereas this morning he had never even seen it before.

Beaverun round 1

2009-05-08T06:44:00.000-07:00

After a very long and grueling drive the guys made it to PA. I received a text from Tony at 1:37 AM that they had made it.

The weather was predicting rain for the start of the day, and worsening as time went on. Sadly, that was not the case, and the track was dry upon start of the first round.

Couple that with some lost bolts and an exhaust leak causing us to be down on power, and this morning wasn't so good. Rough estimate puts us about 4 seconds behind the M3.

BMW was a success

2009-05-07T17:30:00.001-07:00

We posted the third fastest raw time, but since Ian hit two cones at 10+ penalty each, he was knocked pretty far back and we took second place. There were 3 cars between us and the M3 which gives us 20 points on him. We are now 35 ahead and the best part is the forecast is calling for rain all day tomorrow at Beaverun. Being Subaru drivers in competition against faster RWD cars, we pray for rain.

Right now we are enjoy a wonderful downpour in the mountains of Virginia. We are just going into the Big Walker Mountain Tunnel....Kelly would be jealous.

No video from today's sessions. We are having some problems with the camera. I think we just need new batteries, but don't really have time to get any. If I can grab some though for tomorrow I will.

We do have one picture though. This was taken by a local Subaru owner at CMP. I wish the gaurdrail wasn't there so we could see the entire rotor glowing.

Tony B

BMW test track

2009-05-07T14:05:00.001-07:00

Just heard from TiC Tony that we did great at the BMW test track, and were about 6 seconds ahead of the M3 due to the M3 having trouble getting into gear at one point.

Hopefully some folks can wedge in there between us to give us more of a buffer for 3rd overall position.

-Clint

CMP afternoon results

2009-05-07T12:04:00.000-07:00

Results have been posted for the second session at CMP.

We fell to the M3 this time around.

Our time: 5:20.882
M3:5:18.424

Nobody was in between so they gained 5 points on us. That means we're still in 3rd overall, but with the slimmest of leads by 15 points.

This afternoon is the BMW test track which we have been told is small, and very tight. Almost like an autocross. Well, we excel at this type of setup so we'll see how that turns out.

2009-05-07T11:07:00.001-07:00

It seems that Tony and Tony decided it would be funny to tell me that thinking that I would call immediately.

Thing is I didn't call as I was giving them time to work on the car. Now they are getting phone calls directly to them to make sure they are ok. It serves them right.

All is well. They did NOT hit a wall. Did ok, but lost a little ground to the M3, and they are on their way to the BMW test track.

Upon their return I will be welcoming them with a swift kick.

-Clint

2009-05-07T09:53:00.000-07:00

Just rec'd text from Tony when asking for update. Text message was "I'm busy. Hit wall"

Much like you I just felt a stone drop into my stomach. I will get details when I can.

-Clint

2009-05-07T09:16:00.001-07:00

Results are up for the morning session at CMP. We were indeed able to hold off the M3 by the slimmest of margins.

Our time: 5:51.225
M3 time: 5:51.871

This was good for a 5 point gain over the M3 increasing the spread of points from 15 to 20.

The upper field was filled with many of the higher powered cars including Covettes, and the GT3 Porsche.

With a dry track this afternoon it should prove to be interesting, but Tony is studying the track, and thinking through the lines to figure out where he can go faster. The blown gasket on the third lap in the morning certainly didn't help, but that has been fixed, and we should be ready to go again in just a few minutes.

CMP - first report

2009-05-07T06:15:00.000-07:00

CMP was this morning, a tight track with lots of corners where we really excelled with the car. Top that off with rain, and we were able to hold off the M3 in the first session.

Tony blew a crosspipe gasket on his third lap. Fortunately, we had the foresight to bring spare gaskets with us.

Word is that the Cannonball GT-R destroyed the Porsche GT2 times in the morning session.

Weather prediction is dry for this afternoon so times should be faster, and the racing closer.

Ok - that's a bit loud

2009-05-07T06:04:00.000-07:00

Quick video shot at CMP of the lead cars going by:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8jvxz1Mo_Q

The Tire Rack Rules!!

2009-05-06T14:53:00.000-07:00

After the spin at Daytona, we noticed at least one of the tires was badly flat spotted. The Tire Rack fascility in GA was on our way to our next destination. We had instructions to call them and stop by if we needed any tire help....so we called them. Talked to Buck at the Tire Rack who told us to come by to see what they could do.

We were greeted at the door and told to pull around back since it was raining. We pulled in around back, unloaded the jack and took off two tires and got the spare out of the trunk. Mike from The Tire Rack threw them on a cart and hauled them over to the work area. Long story short, they mounted the spare and balanced all four in record time. They didn't even charge us!

Buck, Mike, Matt - THANK YOU!!!

Video from Daytona

2009-05-06T13:14:00.003-07:00

Here's the video from Daytona. You'll see the brake issues and resultant slide.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfuG31jCV-0

Finished with Daytona....Thankfully

2009-05-06T11:21:00.000-07:00

And frankly, wouldn't want to run it again without at least a roll cage in the car. There is something to be said about the crazy banking at the turns. The first time you go into it a feeling of disorientation is overwhelming. It's as if the car is going to slide down the hill or roll over. Once the car gets up to speed though it's rather normal feeling. Don't even have to turn the wheel much.

The banking really helps top end as well. The GTR's and GT2 were hitting around 170 mph down the front straight. We were going easy on the car and was able to more the max out the speedometer (140 limit). We would estimate our speeds to be aroundf 150 on the front straight. The affects of the lack of aero on the car could definitely be felt at these speeds and the car was a bit unstable under braking going into turn one.

About turn one....that leads us to today's issues. One the first lap of the first session, some debris from the track took out the wire on the front right wheel speed sensor. Tony didn't realize it at the time, but this disabled the ABS system. When he got the car to turn one he started to brake down from 150; very lightly at first to make sure the car was settled, then with increasing pressure. All of a suddend, the rear brakes locked (at 130 mph) and the car spun. Thankfully, Tony, with his masterful driving skills, was able to control the spin well and avoided the tire wall. He finished out the session and still ended up 12 overall. Without the spin, we would have been 6th.

Got the car back in the pits and started looking for issues. Found the problem with the wire and also found that one of our CV boots had a hole in it. Grease was everywhere. We replaced the axle with a spare we had brought along, then found the broken wire and went at it fixing it. Ironically, the 10th place finisher last year (Steve Rankin driving the GTR this year) had sold his car (06 STI) to someone who was spectating at Daytona. We were able "borrow" his wheel speed sensor which got the car up and running again with ABS. We are enternally thankful to him, GreenmarineSVX on the baoards for those who know him, for letting us have the part.

Second session was a bit scary though. We developed a flat spot in the front left tire during the spin in the first session. We found it when fixing the ABS sensor issue and rotated the tire to the rear. We did some parade laps at lunch time and noticed a slight vibration over 100. When Tony got out in the car for the second session the vibration got pretty severe over 110. He still ran it up to 140 or so, but said the dash was shaking so badly he couldn't read the gauges. Luckily, this is the portion of the trip that contains a stop at Tire Rack in GA. We are going to pay them a visit and have them rebalance the wheel for us. We would switch to our spare, but since the spin was our fault and it's not really a safety issue, we can't swap tires.For the second session, someone said we were still running 2:11's or so which should put us close to 5th or 6th for the session.

TB

Back together and ready

2009-05-06T07:59:00.000-07:00

Car is back together, and ready for the next round.

HUGE thank you to the Cannonball GT-R team for their help with wrenches, and HUGE thank you to Chris for the ABS sensor.

If you guys want to track the progress of the Cannonball GT-R you can follow their blog over at http://cannonballgtr.com

ABS update

2009-05-06T07:35:00.000-07:00

News from the guys at Daytona. It looks like the car picked up some debris, and the victims were an axle and the wire leading to the ABS sensor. About 6" of the wire is just gone.

Fortunately, we brought along some spare axles, and a local Subie nut, Chris, let us steal his ABS sensor. HUGE thank you to Chris, and the next time I see him he's getting a hug.

Now, for the irony of all this. Chris bought Rankin's old STi (the source for our sensor). This is the same STi that's seen One Lap in the past. You might know the name Rankin because he's piloting the Nissan GT-R that's currently battling for first against the Porsche GT2.

Hopefully the heritage of this ABS sensor brings us some luck!

Daytona Round One

2009-05-06T06:39:00.000-07:00

Drama for TiC team this morning. Seems that something about Daytona really screws with the ABS on the car. Current theory is that it's the high banking.

Talking to Brock he noted that his ABS did the same thing on his morning recon run.

Tony spun the car on his first lap at 100+ mph due to the ABS freaking out, and the rear wheels locking up. Fortunately, no contact, no damage, and he was able to recover (not sure we can say that about his underwear). He completed the last two runs quite well though so we're still in it.

Yes, we got the spin on video, and we'll be posting that up. :)

There was also the concerns about cooling as we saw temps really start to go up yesterday at Sebring. After some quick pit modifications this morning cooling seems to be under better control.

Knowing what will happen with the ABS, and knowing that cooling is better this afternoon should make for better runs. Although, we expect today to look much like yesterday with the big power cars out in front. That's ok as we have planned for this, and we'll make it up on the upcoming short tracks.

Sebring Video

2009-05-05T14:11:00.001-07:00

Pay attention to turn 1 of lap 3. Little sideways action. Probably cost us two seconds. ehh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYbf_fwup78

TB

Done with Sebring...on to Gainesville

2009-05-05T11:47:00.000-07:00

Just finished up with Sebring. What an awesome track! Wide, fast, grippy and good food. :)

We did admirably in the first session. We knew we would have some issues as Sebring is a very fast track and we just don't have the power to keep up with some of the Vette's, GTR's and GT2's. It was also a very hot day which caused some cooling issues. More on that in a bit. We finished out the first session in 6th, which is fine by us. We were still in 3rd overall, but the #6 M3 is getting closer. We need to hold on through tomorrow and put in good showings. If we can stay high enough in the standings we can really make a run at it come Thursday at CMP and beyond. The remaining events after Daytona are all smaller and tighter; the purpose for which this car was built.

As for the cooling issues, we could have run probably 5-7 seconds faster overall, but couldn't get through three laps at Sebring without the coolant temps rising. We were forced to pedal it down the back straight to keep temps in check. We still did rather well, but definitely could have posted better times. The white 07 STI of Van Cleef had major cooling issues which caused them to withdrawl from the competition. Going down the back straight on their second lap of the first session, coolant temps spike and pressurized the system enough that the upper radiator hose burst. They had been having issues with the engine drinking coolant recently and feel it is a headgasket issue. Walking the pit, cooling was the main topic of conversation.

Working on a video now and will hopefully have it up soon.

TB

Made it to Sebring

2009-05-04T21:26:00.001-07:00

Took about 10 hours to get down here, but made it just fine. Had a couple beers and we're not getting ready for tomorrow. Have some work to do on the car tomorrow morning before the event, but nothing we can't get down. Just regular maintenance stuff.

Placed 4th in the second head at TGPR. Keeps us in 3rd overall. The next couple days will be challenging for us as the faster cars will really have an advantage at Sebring and Daytona. we should still do well at the drag strip tomorrow night though.

Night everyone.

TB

Talladega Grand Prix

2009-05-04T13:16:00.000-07:00

Successful day at TGPR. It was wet all day with some serious downpours in the late morning. Placed 5th in the morning session and only .075 sec out of 4th behind the Active Autowerke M3. Not sure on the results of the afternoon session, but I'll get them up sometime today. We are currently on the way to Sebring, FL for our run tomorrow.

Video of our second session at TGPR.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uYofIy3D9Y

Talladega Grand Prix today

2009-05-04T08:17:00.000-07:00

Raining today. It let up just about as we got here for a couple hours. We are in the first run group out, so the track was wet, but still had lots of grip. Tony seemed to drive well and drove faster than the 07 widebody STI, but was a bit slower than the GT2 and GTR's. We'll see how the times pan out as we get through the day.

Braking: We figured the track was going to be wet enough and slow enough today that we could leave the Hawk DTC30's on the front of the car. Nope. While the pedal never went away they didn't have the bite of the DTC70's. We have swapped the fronts to the 70's for the second session of the day. Hopefully the rain will cease and the track dries off.

Video will be posted later. We got the camera working after a day's break and got the sound figured out. You can really hear the Subie's rumble now!

TB

Welcome to Alabama

2009-05-03T20:53:00.000-07:00

The One Lap has brought me to a state I have never visited, Alabama. I would say it's nice, but all we have seen so far while here is rain and darkness. Hopefully tomorrow will be brighter.
Results are in for the autox this morning. We placed 2nd overall behind Rankins/Taylor in the GTR. That helped us move up to third overall. For the Cincy locals, Tony W was interviewed by Fox 19 News and appeared on the nightly sports show this evening. If any of you caught it, let us know how it went since we obviously missed it.
Car is now fixed and running better than before it seems. We wonder how long the crack has been there?
Tomorrow's event at Talladega Grand Prix should be good for us. It's a smaller circuit with tighter corners that should lend itself well to the Subie and way it puts down power. Unfortunately, it will also lend it self well to the GTR's. It is definitely going to be a competitive race so stay tuned.
A pic from the autox action earlier today.

Back up and running

2009-05-03T14:09:00.000-07:00

Took 4 hours, but we got the car back up and running. Had to remove the up pipe and weld it up where it had cracked. Hopefully the welds will hold for the rest of the week as we do not want to have to swap that up pipe out right now. Big thanks go out to Kevin for his expert welding and for spending his Sunday afternoon helping us. Thanks to Jeremy as well for his shop and help.

P&L had a fabricator come in on Sunday to weld up a special schedule 40 pipe for us that should withstand the abuse. TiC Clint is on his way us to Chicago as we speak to pick it and tomorrow he'll ship it down to the hotel in Florida we are staying at.

Right now we are somewhere in Southern Kentucky about 75 miles from Brierwood and the next event. We should make it in plenty of time.

Tony

Good and Bad Day for us

2009-05-03T10:08:00.001-07:00

Ran the autocross this morning in the car and did well. Unofficial results when we left had us in 2nd place behind Steve Rankin in the GTR. That should move us up to 3rd overall.

Now the bad news. Our up pipe has a cracked weld at the external wastegate mounting flange. We are at Performance Alignment in Blue Ash welding it back together. Hopefully this will get us through the next few days. Clint is going to meet the guys from P&L tonight to grab a spare.

Tony

4th Overall After Autobahn

2009-05-02T15:49:00.001-07:00

Autobahn was a success. We posted a time good enough for 4th place at the event and 4th place overall for the One Lap. Car seemed to perform well on track, but was very loose. The track was quite dirty in spots and being in the second run group didn't help. Overall though, can't complain.

Got some video on the GoPro camera that turned out alright. Sound is kinda wonky so turn your speakers down a bit before watching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaXkVb-GoSI

Random pics from this morning

2009-05-02T11:32:00.000-07:00

Wet Skid Pad Complete!!!

2009-05-02T07:43:00.000-07:00

We finished the wet skid pad and the car felt great. Made some last minute changes to the setup which seemed to have paid off. We managed to pull .885 G's in the skid pad. Seemed to be a good time but as more people continued to run our score got better and better. After about 50 cars had run we were in a good position. After all cars had run, our attempt was good enough for 5th in the event and overall.

We're now on the way to Autobahn where we will run the South Course. Wish us luck!!!

Tony W.

We made it to the beginning

2009-05-01T11:13:00.001-07:00

The car is all ready to go. Stickers are on, car has been inspected and final details have been checked.

Been checking out the competition and I must say, there are some nice cars here. Crazy GTR's using active aero and making 700 hp. A very nice old school Porsche with a HUGE whale tail. A few very nice E92's M3's sporting wide Dunlops.

The Tire Rack facility is very nice. There are a ton of bays, racks with tires as far as can be seen and a really nice showroom with a couple hundred wheels on display. If you are ever in the area I would check it out.

On to the pictures.

Car is all stickered up and ready to go. Right down to the paint on the tires. No turning back now.

A very nice car. Running 315's all around with what have to be 12" wide wheels.

The Journey has Begun

2009-05-01T05:05:00.000-07:00

It's 8am and we are on our way....barely. In Indiana right now...in the rain...and fog. Wonderful weather for racing, doncha think?

So far we have been playing around with all the "support systems". Got the laptop connected at 3G speed through me old ATT Tilt. Even on EDGE it's pretty quick and very fast on 3G. Just wish the cell service in Indiana was more robust.

Played with the GoPro and got it all setup (definitely need to get one when I get back!). It's extremely easy to use and transfer video to a computer. It's badass! The suction mount is rated to 140 mph and is damn solid.

I will leave you with a picture of "the rat's nest". In the rat's nest can be found the following:
- GPS
- Three cell phones
- Laptop
- Radar Detector
- Two power inverters
- Camera
- GoPro video camera

Hope the car doesn't catch on fire....I guess that's what the fire extinguisher in front of my seat is for.
Later

The History of The One Lap

2009-04-30T04:48:00.000-07:00

A very interesting read. Talks about its roots in the Cannonball run and how it has evolved over the years into what it is now. Check it out if you get a chance.

http://onelapofamerica.com/about/index.shtml

But TiC, why One Lap?

2009-04-29T09:32:00.000-07:00

Good question.

For a few years now we have been avid followers of the One Lap of America. It's grueling test of driver ability, car setup and reliability as well as endurance. There is however, only so much excitement that can be gained from spectating.

Our Goals

To win, of course! That being said there is much competition this year and teams with more One Lap experience than us. We would be pleased with with a top finish in our class, Mid-priced Sedan and are willing to do everything necessary to accomplish this goal. We have built a powerfully well rounded car that is at home on any number of circuits from road racing to autocross and even drag racing. With that balance and a driver who seemingly can handle anything thrown at him, we stand a great chance at a high finish.

Concerns

Reliability is our main concern. In order to place well at the One Lap a team must finish. All the horse power and expensive suspension mods in the world don't mean a thing if the car breaks down. Our greatest fear is the health of the transmission. It is a fully built PPG 5MT trans with straight cut 1st and 2nd as well as helical 3rd and 4th. It also has billet shift forks and an upgraded Quaife front LSD. It was just refreshed towards the beginning of the year, so we hope it's up to the task of putting down power.

The rest of the car is strong and ready. We have repalced all wheel bearings and hubs along with the seals, revalved the KW dampers, made new brake setup using Willwood calipers and upgraded the cooling capacity with a custom brake duct system cut into the frame rail of the car.

Here's to hoping all goes well!

Driver Experience: Tony Wiesenhahn

2009-04-29T09:26:00.000-07:00

2008 SUBARU CHALLENGE EVENT, GREAT LAKES REGION
Fastest Time of the Day
1st place X Prepared

2007 SUBARU CHALLENGE EVENT, GREAT LAKES REGION
Fastest Time of the Day
1st place Street Modified
1st place overall; advanced to National Subaru Run-Off Competition
Event later cancelled by Subaru.

AUTOCROSS RACES
2008 1st place, X Prepared, SCCA Cincinnati Region
1st place, X Prepared, SCCA Ohio Valley Region
1st place - every event attended
1st place, Formula 125, Cincinnati Sports Car Club

2007 1st place, Street Modified, SCCA Cincinnati Region
1st place - every event attended
1st place, Street Modified, Cincinnati Sports Car Club
1st place - all 6 events
1st place - PAX in 4 of 6 events; top 3 - PAX in all 6 events

2006 1st place, Street Modified, SCCA Cincinnati Region
1st place, Street Modified, Cincinnati Sports Car Club

2005 1st place, Street Touring, SCCA Cincinnati Region
1st place, Street Touring, Cincinnati Sports Car Club

INSTRUCTIONAL EXPERIENCE
2008 Driving instructor for 10/10ths Motorsports (4 events)
Driving Instructor for the Sportscar Driving Experience (1 event)

SPORTBIKE RACING, 1999 & 2001
WERA North Central Region, 2001 Season, 2nd Place Overall, B Superbike Expert
WERA North Central Region, 1999 Season, 2nd Place Overall, Heavyweight Twins
Invited to Grand Nationals, Road Atlanta, both years of racing

MOTOCROSS, 1989 - 1998 & 2000
Raced at Loretta Lynn’s Amateur Nationals, 1993 & 1996
Action Sports Arenacross Champion 250 C, 1993-94 season
Raced 250 Pro Am for four years

TiC's WRX

2009-04-29T07:52:00.000-07:00

Brief rundown of the car we have entered this year. It is a 2004 Subaru Impreza WRX that looks pretty plain from the outside, but under the skin is highly modded. The car is owned by Tony Wiesenhahn, the driver for the event, and was purchased new in 2005. It has lived its life for racing and has seen many seasons of autox as well as many hours of track time. Throughout it all, it has been a fun, while not wholey reliable, ride.

The mod list is as follows:

Engine
o 2.5L EJ257 Block w/100mm CP Coated Pistons
o STI Camshafts
o Brian Crower Valve Springs and Retainers
o P&L Motorsports Rotated GT3071R Turbo Kit
o Prodrive Cat Back Exhaust
o Tial 44mm External Wastegate
o Tial Blow off Valve
o Deatchwerks 850cc Injectors
o Spearco TMIC
o Cobb Accessport V2.0
o Tune by Jorge Carillo
o Koyo Radiator
o Group N Motor Mounts
o Custom Air/Oil Separator

Suspension
o Custom Valved KW V3 Coilovers
o Swift Springs 9K/8K
o Noltec Front Camber Plates
o Vorshlag Motorsports Rear Camber Plates
o Kartboy Front and Rear Endlinks
o Whiteline 27mm Front and Rear Sway Bars
o Whiteline Roll Center Adjusters
o Whiteline Steering Rack Bushings
o Whiteline Front Control Arm Bushings
o Whiteline Offset Caster Bushing
o Whiteline Rear Trailing Arm Bushings
o Noltec Lateral Link Bushings
o Noltec Rear Knuckle Bushings
o STI Aluminum Front Control Arms

Drivetrain
o PPG 5spd transmission
o Quaife LSD front differential
o Cusco LSD rear differential
o ACT 6 Puck Clutch
o Fidanza Flywheel
o TiC Linkage Update
o TiC Pivot bushings
o SPT Short Shifter
o Kartboy Shift Knob
o Kartboy front stay bushing
o Kartboy rear stay bushing
o Kartboy Transmission Crossmember Bushings
o Kartboy Botox Bolts
o TiC rear differential bushings
o TiC Cowl Stays
o Kartboy outrigger bushings
o Group N Transmission Mount

Brakes
o Wilwood Superlite Front Calipers
o DBA4000 Rotors Front and Rear
o Hawk DTC70 Pads (track)
o Hawk DTC30 Pads (autox)
o Custom SS Brake Lines
o Custom Brake Ducts
o ATE Super Blue Brake Fluid