Tommy Parry Tommy Parry

Jacek's M3: In Good Hands

By leaving some of the tough questions to the talented guys at R-Crew, Jacek’s been able to enjoy four stress-free years of regular tracking with this E46 workhorse. Simple, clean, seriously quick, and always willing to turn another lap—this car has it all.

Indoor karting lay the foundation, then construction gigs throughout college gave Jacek Kozubek the chance to scrape enough money together to buy himself a two-stroke kart. He flipped a few cars on the side, too. It seemed there was never enough money to fund his new habit back then.

Frustrated though he might’ve been, he kept going with his entrepreneurial pursuits, and these put him in touch with more experienced racers who could make his transition into racing full-sized cars even easier.

Once out of school and making a little more, he started scanning his surroundings for the right track car. It was R-Crew Inc. who helped guide Jacek through this often frustrating process, and after an introductory period with a healthy DC2 Integra, Jacek followed R-Crew’s advice and picked up two of the more popular platforms in today’s track scene.

After the end of this trial period, he decided he preferred his E46 M3 to his S2000. “The S was great, but I felt a little disappointed with the straightline performance. It was better than the BMW stock-for-stock, but when I got to drive Don’s M3, I could see how good an M3 could be with the right modifications.”

Wisely for a man buried in work and family obligations, Jacek handed the car over to R-Crew for modification and maintenance. The first order of business was the typical set of wheels, brakes, and coilovers, though he saw no sense in half-assing it. Fancy footwork it would be, and after adding AP Racing 5000R brakes, JRZ 11-series coilovers, and a set of 18x10” Volk TE37s, the M3 was no longer the plush and porky thing it was in stock trim. It was now a riveting street-track car, but far from perfect.

There was still some sponginess to the car, as well as a notable lack of traction in hairpins. R-Crew replaced the poly bushings with heim joints, then fitted a 1.5-way OS Giken diff to minimize inner tire fire. The resulting surefootedness provided the platform upon which Jacek could add some aero grip; a Bimmerworld splitter and full-carbon wing only helped the car—there were no slow-speed shortcomings from the wings.

Since Jacek handed the car to R-Crew for transportation to and from the track, he didn’t see any reason for keeping the car even remotely streetable—it would be a full-on track build. Out went the interior and in went a Tony Colicchio cage. Additional weight shedders included a set of lexan panels to replace the rear quarter glass, Bimmerworld fiberglass doors, and R-Crew’s full exhaust. After the dieting measures, the M3 weighed in at a respectable 2,850 pounds with driver.

That full exhaust was the only modification made to the motor, and that simple recipe made it into a dependable lump. The S54 sometimes gets a bad rap, but with the right sort of maintenance, it’s a workhorse—Jacek’s record is testament to that.

In four years, he’s run roughly thirty-five faultless track days with this particular engine. These aren’t standard track days either; Jacek typically runs multiple run groups on the same day. Sometimes, he’ll drive two consecutive twenty-minute sessions, and after missing the first few laps of the third session to fill up at the pump, he’ll finish out was is nearly a sixty-minute sprint.

With all the big boxes ticked, there’s not much more that the car needs. For Jacek, a driver who prioritizes seat time, he’s absolutely fine with that. However, the car could go from welterweight to lightweight with the two big jobs on the horizon. After fitting a carbon dash, the guys at R-Crew plan to pull the entire wiring harness and install an AiM PDM32: a solid state power distribution module that allows them to pull the fusebox and all relays. With some luck, these two mods might shed another two-hundred pounds.

Hoosier A7s have been his choice for a long time now.

Over the last fifteen years, from scrounging cents to run karts to spending big dollars at the track, Jacek’s enjoyed good luck with his hobby. When money was tight, he focused on getting the most track time in the way that was feasible: through karting. Now, after making some money, he’s learned to spend it wisely. With all the newfound freedom it’s brought, he’s come to value his time more, and rather than spend it wrenching, he’ll happily hire those who do this stuff better than any hobbyist would.

By leaving the car to R-Crew, he’s been able to ensure his time at the track is spent as efficiently as possible. The car runs without hiccup, it’s set up to suit his driving preferences, and if ever he’s got a question about a change he could make, he has an experienced crew to consult. He’s gone from frugal to experience-focused. If an ambitious driver has the means to leave maintenance and transportation to the professionals, why not? It’s always better to be in the best hands possible.

The money’s been spent, and now all that has to be done is drive, really—drive it into the ground. “I use my iPhones until they’re so cracked I have to replace ‘em, and I’ll drive this car until I put it into a wall.”

It’s amazing how he’s been on the money the whole time.





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Johnson's RX-7: Refreshingly Reliable

After taking on the daunting task of road racing a turbo RX-7, Johnson dealt with the teething pains of a force-fed rotary, but his dedication to the platform has taught him what needs to be done to keep the particular powerplant happy.

Title photo: @Yunnizhai

Misc. photo: CaliPhotography

Running through the spec lists of the boxy cars which caught his eye, he found one member of the Gran Turismo garage with an unusual engine configuration.

Two-rotor, 1300 cc.

That was when the seed was sown. A ten-year-old Johnson Mac had found a car that piqued his boyish interest in machinery. Little did he know that this quirky Mazda would influence the direction of his career, and that, twenty years later, he’d still be tinkering on a rotary-powered car with the same sort of enthusiasm he had at the onset.

Things didn’t take off like he would’ve liked, but perhaps those years of dreaming served to build a foundation he could later build upon. It was the white FC3S from Initial D that got him to scour the local classifieds for an affordable RX-7, but he was a high schooler then without the funds to get one of his own.

First Stage

It wasn’t until a few years passed that he could have one for himself. The primered exterior and stained burgundy interior of his first FC didn’t impress many, but the reliability of the naturally-aspirated 13B engine surprised its new owner. Despite the reputation these rotaries had, Johnson learned that proper maintenance could make one fairly dependable.


That foray with an atmospheric motor encouraged him to venture into turbo territory. With the help of Fris from Lucky 7 Racing, his friend Allen, and the rest of his FAFSA money, Johnson bought an ’87 Turbo II shell, fitted a turbo powertrain, upgraded the footwork, and went autocrossing.

It was only a matter of time before he graduated to track days. After his first time on a road course, he knew he’d found the hobby he’d spend the rest of his days doing. Two frightening crashes and countless nights working in his driveway didn’t deter him from pursuing his passion, but common decency did—temporarily, anyways.

After crashing his second FC, he didn’t want to burden his roomate with another project crowding the driveway, so he parked his rebuild while saving for a house of his own. Johnson had graduated and gotten an engineering job, so the money was coming in, but he was still stretched thin.

Third Stage

Three years passed before he could acquire a house, a grip on things, and, finally, another FC. Right as he was beginning to revive his car habit, his friend from Lucky 7 Racing called about a car that might interest him: a race-ready FD3S that the customer had sold back to the shop. Money was tight, but the timing could not have been better, so Johnson took a leap of faith.

The car had been built to run in NASA TT2 and built to a high standard. In fact, it was mostly complete, save for some paint and wiring issues. It even had a running engine making twice the power of his previous Turbo II’s. He sold off the salvageable bits from the crashed cars crowding his garage and made space for his third-gen.

That was the summer of 2016. Four months and three track days later, the engine blew. “I’d had some issues with breakup at the higher revs—I knew it was wiring-related, but I never found the source of the problem until it blew. “The OE reluctors were used with connectors retrieved from an OE harness, a weakened connection which may cause erratic spark timing when vibration is introduced.  We believe this may have caused detonation flattening the side seals on a rotor face of the first engine.”

Fortunately, Fris was willing to help him install a new motor, and over the winter, the two were able to give the FD another shot at life. “I rebuilt the harness from scratch that time, made sure all the connections were reliable, and upgraded to a Haltech ECU with improved engine safeguards. The tune was and is still managed by Nelson Siverio. He is a wealth of knowledge and the reason I’m interested in tuning as well.”

With the new turbo and an E85 tune, the 13B-REW makes 484 horsepower and 400 lb-ft at the wheels.

Making sure the engine ran well within a set range of parameters was the next goal. “You need to perfect ignition timing—that’s a non-negotiable, and then ensure fueling is appropriate at all times. These engines don’t work well outside of a pretty narrow operational window, so Nelson programmed several failsafes into the Haltech 1500 to keep the engine safe.

For example, if AFRs reach 11.8 at full load—11.2 is ideal—then the ECU triggers limp mode (in several stages) and drops the limiter to 3,000 rpm. I also have several different sensors installed throughout the fuel system to ensure I’m getting more-than-adequate pressure at all times. Monitoring the differential fuel pressure has been the best way to get a sense of what’s happening on the fuel delivery side of things.”

The Haltech did more than make his powerplant dependable—it made it tractable, too. Functions like boost-by-gear and boost-by-throttle position help to limit excessive torque and outline a semi-intuitive power delivery. Despite the big single turbocharger’s rapid onset, Johnson’s grown comfortable with the way the car squirms under power—it’s predictable.

“On the mechanical side of things, I installed an OS Giken 1.5-way differential and had it tuned to suit my torque curve. The lock-up is progressive, and the 295-width tires can handle the power if I’m careful rolling on the throttle. Out of hairpins, I still drive it like a turbo car from the ’80s, though.”

Even the modern Garrett GTX3582R isn’t quite as responsive as he’d like. Well, that may be due to the fact that an old-school HKS cast manifold is causing a bottleneck, but he has more pressing concerns before he can address a slightly lumpy power delivery.

The FD3S’ weakpoint, aside from the obvious engine issues, has been the flimsy five-speed—Johnson’s been through a few. His current answer to this persistent problem is not another h-pattern, but a dual-clutch sourced from an F80 M3. As the factory BMW clutch packs can withstand 600 lb-ft of torque, they should be more than stout enough for his purposes. Additionally, the advantage of seven gears and negligible shift times may help keep him in the meat of the powerband more often—thus solving his problems in slow corners.

It’s a tall order that will require the assistance of some transmission specialists who can mate modern BMW with modern-classic Mazda, but Johnson’s engineering insights and passion for this platform should carry him through the frustrating pioneering period. His commitment to the rotary sports car over the last two decades had made him into more than a mere tinkerer. He’s almost a qualified technician now, and his last forty track days all on the same motor stand as evidence to his understanding of this lovable, finicky oddball.

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Alex's RUSH SR: Turning The Page

A formative karting experience stayed with Alex through his early trackday afternoons, and after growing tired of his heavyset GT car, he decided to go and buy something lighter, purer, and much more exhilarating.

Alex Chang’s foray to North American track days with a track-prepped Z4M was fun, but it’s odd how, now, after trying a single-purpose open-topped racing car, he’s thinking about parting ways with it.

Alex’s upbringing in Brazil gave him a chance to get some karting miles underneath him before purchasing a Civic Si and running a few pricey lapping days at Sao Paulo’s Interlagos. That was a bit of a tease as the hobby was then out of reach financially, but his karting experience and the greater speeds of the bigger tracks had left an indelible mark on his young mind.

By the time he moved to Los Angeles, Alex had made a little more dough and started looking for another way to get his speed fix. Urged along by Sam Kim and Ed Kim, he decided to try the North American style of lapping days at one third the cost of the Brazilian alternative.

Inspired by his BMW-loving brethren, Alex bought an E92 M, but he couldn’t connect with it in the way he hoped he would. The desire for an unadulterated driving experience pushed Alex to purchase another front-engine production car from the same family, albeit one both smaller and lighter. With some luck, it would feel a little more like an extension of himself.

He didn’t hesitate to pick up his Z4M Coupe, which had plenty of promise. With the venerable S54 and a wheelbase ten inches shorter than the E92’s, the potential for an involving on-track experience was there, and for the first year, the rapid breakaway kept him entertained. “You must have quick hands to drive this car!”

And so the foundation was set. There wasn’t much hope for outright lap records in this car, but it scratched some of the itch and, if he could look past the steep price of aftermarket parts, was a solid car with moderate-to-low running costs.

Bigger brakes, tires, and eventually power mods helped generate some extra excitement on his monthly outings at the track, but the addition of aero had the opposite effect—the Z4 became too planted.

Without any nervousness to keep him on the edge of his seat, Alex decided to shelve the trackday hobby for a while; he’d just become a father and had more pressing concerns than getting his adrenaline fix. Getting to wake up in the middle of the night to a baby’s cries did that just fine.

But it’s hard to put the helmet down forever, and after his brief sabbatical, Alex sought out something else to give him a purer thrill. He toyed with the idea of a Radical SR8, but its reliability issues scared him off. Still, a short test in one helped him recognize that an open-top/single-seater sports racer was what truly appealed to him. After stumbling upon a Facebook advertisement for a new open-top car called a RUSH SR, he acted without much deliberation and put in an order with Jeff Schneider from Fresno Powersport.

The 1,100-pound sports racer has a tube frame construction, a GSX-1000 motor that revs to 11,800 rpm, easily removable bodywork, and a moderate amount of aerodynamic grip.

After stepping into the RUSH, Alex found himself in a wildly different environment. The car was bare, raw, and responsive in a way anything over 3,000 pounds can never be. Its attitude was so easy to adjust, which pushed him to focus on altering his driving inputs much more than he ever had with the BMWs. “I might’ve been relying on modifications to go faster before, but, to be fair, that might’ve been because I never really had another similarly-modified Z4 to measure myself against—and so my driving has never received as much attention as it does now.”

The driving experience was undeniably pure, and the operational costs more than justified the entry price. A set of Nankang AR-1s run him $700 a set, and they last him eight-ten track days; they begin to fall off after around twenty heat cycles. A set of brake pads and rotors run him $30 and $70, respectively. Reduced operational expenses and a sense of support from the surrounding community gave him a way to evolve quickly.

Not many vehicles make a Z4 look enormous.

More than the driving experience, it was the community of RUSH enthusiasts on the West Coast that made him feel he’d made the right step forward.

The tight-knit group is growing fast, though still relatively small. Nevertheless, their competitive nature and the mechanical parity of their cars has pushed them all to develop quite quickly as drivers. “I actually was never considering wheel-to-wheel, but the other guys were getting their competition licenses and encouraged me to join them. It’s like having a second family at the track.”

With the cars all being equal, it all comes down to who drives the best that day and regardless of who wins, they all celebrate. “If it wasn’t for the RUSH SR and its community, I would’ve quit”

They’re all glad Alex didn’t stuck with it. He’s just returned from events at Sonoma and Laguna Seca this last October, where out of a field of twenty-four RUSH cars from California, Texas, and Canada, he was a top-five contender both weekends. With a little more seat time and a little help from his new RUSH family, Alex might be a front-runner in the upcoming season.

What’s certain is that he won’t regret his decision to follow his gut.






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Blake's M4: Friendly Firepower

While the F82 still lacks the tuning support some of its predecessors enjoy, the long-wheelbase platform has served Blake Titus as he’s learned the basics of track driving. A satisfying platform that’s “always on the verge of killing you,” as he puts it.

Lead photo credit: @danielbooty

He could look past one letting go, but when the second EJ motor blew, Blake Titus’ honeymoon phase with his WRX officially ended. Though there was an opportunity to rebuild for the third time, Blake sensed a better platform might help him make an easier transition from autocrossing into track days. He was half-right. 

The Subaru’s successor, an S52-swapped E30, held some promise, and for a while, it seemed like he’d found a way to get his jollies with half the headaches. That wasn’t to last.

As it turned out, the S52’s head had cracked somewhere on the way to his first track day at Thunderhill West. After pulling his oil pan’s plug, a milkshake poured out, and Blake considered throwing in his helmet. 

Thankfully, there was another car sitting in Blake’s garage. His F82 M4 was far from track-ready, and the predicted running costs made him wince, but it was operational and still covered under warranty.

His first outing at Laguna was successful; a 1:42.10 is an encouraging time for a heavyset grand tourer with more torque than traction. Sure, it floundered around on stock springs, but that time in an intermediate’s hands proved beyond a doubt that the F82 platform had potential. He knew it wouldn’t be easy on his wallet, but out-of-the-box performance like that can make people do silly things.

Curious where he could start tweaking the car to find some more cornering speed, he got underneath it and studied the intricately arranged layers of structural stiffeners meant to help the big BMW belie its weight.

“You just have to look around and marvel at how much structural bracing there is. After a while, you start to ask yourself, ‘How could I improve upon this?’”

Thankfully, not much is needed to get this car ready for the racetrack. The first round of basic bolt-ons consisted of a staggered set of Apex EC7s wrapped in Toyo R888Rs, GLoc R18 and R10 pads, Castrol SRF fluid, and a set of Girodisc two-pieces—the factory rotors would warp after a few track days.

That simple setup served him well for the first year of tracking the car, but after he’d gotten properly acquainted with the M4, he sensed the weight wasn’t being managed as well as it should be. 

To hasten weight transfer and provide a little more body control, Blake picked a set of Swift Spec R springs measuring 5K and 13K front and rear, respectively. These were a grand compromise; they were chosen so that he could retain some semblance of comfort on his drives to and from the track. Mainly, they allowed him to keep using the factory EDC dampers.

“I’ve kept it full weight for now. I thinks it’s pretty easy to turn a nice dual-duty car into an uncomfortable POS,” Blake admitted. 

The rubber began to feel like the limiting factor after some time, so Blake bought a new set of tires that promised more consistency. The Nankang AR-1s delivered in that respect, and they helped him chop two seconds off most of his best times. 

They would fade fast, though no faster than any other tire he’d tried. Its heft was undeniable and, unfortunately, virtually unmovable. Most of the strippable weight sits around the rear axle, which shouldn’t be removed. Even in stock trim, the M4 needs more weight over the driven wheels; it always struggles to administer the S55’s power without wheelspin. 

In the name of improving traction, he decided to try to force the rear into the pavement with Bimmerworld’s GTMore wing. It made a considerable difference—he chopped his time at Buttonwillow 13CW by four seconds the first time out. However, the front hadn’t been balanced aerodynamically and the resulting understeer made it even easier to fry the fronts. Bimmerworld’s rep recommended he try a track-oriented set of shocks, so Blake bought a set of MCS two-ways and turned a few knobs.

Few things have helped settle the rear like Bimmerworld’s dry carbon GTMore wing.

He might not’ve known precisely what he was doing, but he was relieved to see the rep had Blake’s best interests in mind. The resulting compliance made a world of difference—particularly at the bumpier tracks he frequented. At Buttonwillow 13CW, Blake could drop his best time by nearly three seconds—a 1:55.8. Quite an improvement from a set of shocks adjusted and an educated guess. 

He figured that then would be as good as any time to throw a front splitter into the mix, so he tried cutting his own Alumalite piece and bolting it to his front, but it folded at the end of Thunderhill’s front straight. The replacement, Turner Motorsports’ MC2P splitter proved more resilient and effective, though it still cannot match the downforce generated at the hinteraxel. To find an agreeable balance, Blake had to reduce the wing’s angle of attack.

By this stage, Blake was pushing the car hard enough to test the powertrain’s thermal resilience. After one frustrating leak from the charge air cooler, he replaced the factory item with one of CSF’s, and swapped the standard heat exchanger with a Koyo unit. Since then, it hasn’t been fazed by August heat.

A square set of Yokohama A055 slicks mounted on narrower APEX VS5-RS wheels gave him the grip and neutrality he’d been seeking for some time, and with the elements cooperating, Blake went back to Buttonwillow and logged a 1:54.3—his best yet.

Blake’s still searching for a 52, but he feels that the M4 needs to diet or get its footwork finely tuned by a master before that’s possible. As mentioned earlier, pulling weight isn’t his idea of a good time, so he’s decided instead to buy the every one of Turner’s adjustable suspension arms as well as their differential bushings for perfected body control. If all goes to plan, he won’t have as much difficulty putting down the power—which he’s recently increased with a Bootmode BM3 CS tune. As much.

While the F82 M4 doesn’t change direction like a true sports car can, it compensates with unbelievable power—enough to spin at seventy in a straight line. Where it’s at its best is in the longer, faster corners; the long wheelbase and accompanying stability make it easier to trust in these bends. At this point, it’ll just take a little bit of tweaking to make it a nimble thing in the sections where traction and rotation take precedence.

Credit: @ariesphoto7

If Blake’s experiences have taught him anything at this point, it’s that “the torque is always trying to kill you, so you have to be very quick with your hands and be confident in your skills; you have to drive with all the nannies off. MDM will kill your lap times and too many people rely on these systems. Then the first time they turn the traction control off they send the car to Copart.

The F82 is an amazing platform that still lacks in some of the aftermarket support that have made the E92, E46, and E36 such appealing track cars. Still, the potential is there to make the F82 a real contender once the rest of the world catch on. I can’t wait to see what other companies offer in the future to keep improving on the platform.” 

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Legend's Supra: Big Brain Move

Legend wisely picked a platform he could grow into. Rather than dump big dough on mods, he did the bare minimum with setup and spent his time in the seat, not underneath the car.

Legend Brandenburg’s ND Miata served him well during his track day foray, but he quickly got serious about the business of turning quick laps and decided he wanted to build his skills with a platform with more tuning potential. Mainly, he wanted more motor.

Not that the ND’s engine is anemic, but it’s not what you’d call a rocketship. He considered the E92 M3, but its ~350 horsepower at the wheels couldn’t compare to what some of the modern turbo cars could offer. After running the numbers, he concluded a 2021 GR Supra’s value, especially when considering the potential for power gains with minor bolt-ons, was unbeatable.

Fast enough to fly.

The chassis felt fun enough for the time being, too. Wisely, rather than opt for a whole catalog of suspension parts before he’d really spent much time driving it, Legend left the Supra semi-stock for the first year. Aside from adding CSG brake pads, Motul RBF fluid, and a set of SPL front control arms for more camber, he didn’t alter the car in his first twelve months of ownership. Instead, he spent his money on learning to drive it. Wise man.

First, he enrolled in a FastSideways course to hone his car control skills. Then he picked a competitive time trials category to put some fire under his ass. Without a hare to chase after, it’s very hard to push beyond what’s comfortable.

You’ve gotta get the bit between your teeth before you worry about setup-related tenths.

His approach proved effective; after just one year of fighting in the S3 class of Speed SF Challenge, he finished fourth; just barely missing out on third. Considering he’d been fighting better-prepped cars on his stock rubber, his first-year effort deserved praise. He’d learned his Supra fairly well, and now was time for the next set of performance modifications.

His goals for 2022 changed with a change in the SF Challenge ruleset that allowed him to remain is S3 with a set of RC-1s a no-brainer. Wrapped around a set of Titan 7 T-S5 Wheels, and a set of HKS lowering springs to help fit the larger wheels and tires, he continued learning his occasionally-tricky Toyota.

“I recognize that there’s still a lot I can learn about the intricacies of this car, and maybe even more that I extract from myself as a driver.”

That year’s fraught S3 battle for second place with neck-and-neck with Joe McGuigan, who just edged Legend in the last event of the year.

So, after driving his Supra essentially stock trim for two years of S3 competition, what did he learn? “It requires a very delicate right foot—and quick hands!” he said. Provided you can keep up with the corrections, the middleweight rotates far better than its weight would suggest it could.

Only this season did he make a real step into track-only territory. “I’d always designated this car as a track-oriented build, but it’s been a strong street car up until I made this year’s modifications. I’ve driven it to and from the track every event without any issues whatsoever. Again, I don’t know if there’s another new platform on the market with the same sort of versatility, tuning potential, and performance.”

To get the heavyweight Supra to handle a little more to Legend’s liking, he installed a set of MCS 2-ways, the entire range of SPL arms—all fitted with spherical bearings. It’s crisper and more compliant now. “I don’t think any other change made as big a difference. The OEM suspension felt overdamped and undersprung, but now the car rides smoother, transitions faster and more confidently, and no longer feels like it’s reluctant to cooperate.”

Keeping all four in contact with the road surface has helped build trust between car and driver.

The car’s famously nervous rear was brought under control with the help of Elite Performance. The dynamic toe change was reined in with a set of SPL rear toe links that help keep settings within a narrower window. With additional static toe-in at the rear, power-down characteristics are improved and so is driver confidence.

Even though he’s felt the temptation to indulge in some easy power modifications, Legend’s keeping the powertrain factory for the moment. “I still have a lot to learn. Plus, it will run laps in 116F heat. Maybe it pulls a little timing, but it doesn’t overheat.”

The studious approach has paid off; in a short span he’s gone from noobie to front-runner. With the fundamentals understood, now he can take his analytical aptitude to the data-side of things, and begin making the myriad minor adjustments that will put him first in class. It’s only a matter of time.







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Buttonwillow: Where to Eat, Where to Stay, What to Avoid

Driving Buttonwillow is an experience that shouldn’t be missed, but it requires you prepare for the heat, pick a decent hotel, and endure the long drive.

“Just don’t think too much on the drive down,” says Elite Performance’s Gary Yeung.

It’s a long, dull drive to Buttonwillow, and the timing of the drive determines whether the drive is endurable or if it’s agonizing. Plan for construction on I5 if traveling after 8 PM in either direction.

Still, even though it’s the furthest track from San Francisco we visit, Buttonwillow still draws big crowds. Many are willing to make the trip south because Buttonwillow’s flow is unique and always challenging. Fast in places, technical in others, with all sorts of minor nuances that take some time to learn, driving there is never dull. Plus, it’s where most of Southern California’s track drivers benchmark their cars—on the 13CW configuration, anyways. A good time at Buttonwillow carries some weight in the track day community.

Before you can think about setting a quick lap, you have to prepare for difficult weather. The ambient temperature varies wildly, and from March to October, it’s not uncommon to deal with temperatures in excess of 100°F. Do what you can to stay in the shade; the elements will start to slow you down before you notice any decline in performance.

And as the giant tumbleweeds in the vicinity will tell you, it’s not only the stagnant heat you have to worry about. There is usually one good daily gust that can send everything flying, so always tie down your easy-ups.

Most of those who’ve contributed to this article insist that you drive a little further to nearby Bakersfield if you’re insistent on staying the night. Some would rather wake up early and make the long drive south than deal with Buttonwillow’s fleabag hotels. However, you can enjoy a more casual morning if you’re willing to drive to nearby Bakersfield, which boasts better food and a Costco, among other things, to make finding those odds and ends easier.

If you can spend a little more, the garage spots are usually worth the price.

Forty-five to thirty minutes outside of the track, you’ll find some respite from the weather and the iffy lodging outside the track.


Lodging

Motel 6 North

5241 Olive Tree Ct, Bakersfield, CA 93308


Motel 6 Central

350 Oak St, Bakersfield, CA 93304


Bakersfield Marriott

801 Truxtun Ave, Bakersfield, CA 93301


Harris Ranch Resort

24505 W Dorris Ave, Coalinga, CA 93210


Food

Aside from the decent cafe at the track, there are several decent options for a bite.


Taste of India

20687 Tracy Ave, Buttonwillow, CA 93206

Frugatti's (661) 836-2000

600 Coffee Rd, Bakersfield, CA 93309


Hungry Hunter Steakhouse

3580 Rosedale Hwy, Bakersfield, CA 93308


Willow Ranch

27770 Lagoon Dr, Buttonwillow, CA 93206

*Note that this is a good place to fill-up because it’s the last stop before the Lerdo Highway exit for Buttonwillow.


Tita's Pupusería Lonchera (taco truck located near Motel 6 Central)

20645 Tracy Ave, Buttonwillow, CA 93206



The worries of the weather are justifiable, but not something that should keep you from visiting the track. Buttonwillow is not the most accommodating place for a weekend away—hence the reason some choose to drive down the morning of the event, but it is worth the slog. Its flow, complexity, and challenge aren’t rivaled by any other Northern Californian track. If you prepare carefully and stay hydrated, the day spent in the blazing desert sun is well worth it.





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Edson's E46: Quarter-Million and Counting

It may have 250+ on the clock, but this rough M3 has been Edson’s trusty track toy for the last year and a half, and he doesn’t plan on changing anything soon—it’s too fun and dependable to need anything.

He found his feet in the world of autocross, but a little bit of mockery from his track addict buddies made Edson Burgos ditch cone course carving and dive headfirst into road racing.

Edson remembers the moment fondly. “I got a ride around Sonoma in a friend’s Civic Si. Yeah — that’s when my life started to go downhill.”

The S2000 that had brought him so much pleasure in autocross was a sensational first track toy, but Edson, being a bigger fella, found the Honda to be less than ideal for daily duty. Only one parking space at the time mandated he have dual-purpose machine, so he sold the S2000 and picked up a mint E46 M3 ZCP. The performance out of the box wasn’t bad, but Edson knew he wanted to go all in modifying his street-track car., and this one, as he put it, “was just too pretty to chop up.”

Wisely, he made a bit of money selling that gem and decided that he’d look for an example a little rough ‘round the edges so that when it came time to strip and slice, he could do it with a clean conscience.

One well-worn example popped up on his radar. The odometer had just ticked past the quarter-million mark, but the annoyingly low price of five racks was fair and Edson swooped it up in thirty-six hours.

The previous owner had taken some pretty innovative approaches to quieting the creaks and rattles present in a 250,000-mile M3, including expanding foam. The paint was patinaed harshly, so even at twenty-feet it showed its age. However, the motor sounded healthy, and that was enough motivation to begin replacing every OEM bolt, nut, and bushing on the ol’ girl.

Along with the underbody overhaul, Edson dropped nearly twice the price of the car on every E46 M3 owner’s big gripe: rod bearings, VANOS, and subframe reinforcement. These are a must-fix on most of M3s of this generation, though the later cars aren’t cursed with the same rod bearings as the earlier cars. However, after dealing with these three, the E46 is a workhorse willing and able to take the abuse.

He wanted the weight of the car to take a dive, so he tossed the rear carpet and seats, put an Autopower bolt-in half-cage in their place, and a Sparco Evo XL in the place of the plush factory driver’s seat. There’s no sense in holding onto heft when the sunroof-equipped car is already meant to be a track toy, and since he and his wife had a reliable daily at this point, he could make this car as extreme as necessary. Accepting that approach made it easier to drop another couple thousand on a CSL carbon trunk.

Not that he wanted to go for a full-aero build with big power and composite panels. This build was meant to remain simple and reliable, so only the necessary performance modifications were made—and made in one fell swoop. There aren’t many, but the few he did make are quality. JRZ RS Pros, DO88 radiator and oil cooler, and a Ground Control front swaybar.

Being that the motor is as well-used as it is, Edson thought it wise keep all power modifications to a minimum. To get a reliable 300 wheel from the S54, all it took was Build Journal B-Spec tune and Myers Competition’s header and single-exit exhaust. Say what you will about the last atmospheric M-grade straight-six, but with a few mods for power and reliability, it is a glutton for punishment, even at a quarter-million miles.

With these goodies, the M3 was sorted, dependable, dailiable, and fun. That is, until he tried braking past the three-marker at the Andretti Hairpin. Laguna’s known to be hard on brakes, and Edson learned this the hard way when his stock brakes failed. He managed to keep it out of the wall, but this 120-mph scare drove him to buy some big brakes the second he got home that night.

Up front, he did not skimp. AP 5000Rs stuffed with Winmax W5s are perhaps some the best big-brake combinations for the car. At the rear, he opted for a set of the old school Porsche 996 Brembo “Big Reds” and fitted some of Hawk’s DTC-30 pads for a stable rear under deceleration.

Since Edson had his hands full adapting to the torquier motor, he appreciated the M3’s composed, predictable behavior under braking. “i had to be a lot more careful with the power; it was too easy to overdrive. Everything else was easier. Six years in the S2000 taught me a lot. I wouldn’t be as comfortable in the E46 if it weren’t for my previous car.”

He’s put in some impressive times in the meantime. He can lap Sonoma in the 1:49s and Laguna Seca in the 1:40s. For a 3,300-pound car (with driver and fuel) with stock bushings and no aero, that’s pretty dang quick.

“It took me a year to adjust to the platform, but I’m super comfy now. Without all that time in the S2000, I wouldn’t have adapted as quickly, but I’m here. That car was nervous—not that this one isn’t, but I don’t think I’d be able to catch the faster slides if I didn’t spend so much time spinning out in an S2000.”













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Lief Storer's GT-R: Big Dreams, Bigger Numbers

While Lief started out this ambitious build with a slightly different destination in mind, he ended up doing what so many GT-R tuners do: chase big numbers. In his case, however, he wasn’t after four-digit power figures; weight and lap times were the numbers he was preoccupied with.

Lief’s love for casual canyon carving, like so many track rats, set the stage for a serious foray into track days. Running the sinuous mountain roads near Oakland and sliding Tahoe powder in his 2009 WRX was enough to whet his whistle for a few years, but when the prices on his dream car entered the realm of attainability, he decided to take the leap and turn his cost-effective pastime into a full-time hobby. An Adobe-sponsored corporate track day at Sonoma made Lief absolutely certain he wanted to push a more powerful car in an environment where he could safely push the car’s limits.

His dream car was not a hardcore thoroughbred, nor was it super light, but Lief was convinced it was the ideal platform for an aspirational build. His 2009 GT-R had all the potential for quad-digit horsepower and a place at the top of any timesheet. He had grand dreams about turning this tech-heavy heavyweight into a standout.

Plus, much to Lief’s liking, the car was practical. “I could throw a set of race slicks in the back, drive it to the track, swap ‘em out, and then when I was done, drive home. It wasn’t just about the power or the grip—it was an everyday supercar I could live with.”

His aim of regularly competing in Speed SF Challenge and other time trials encouraged him to find that elusive happy medium: sharpening it while still retaining some streetability. For some time, Lief drove the car to and from the track without any problems other than a frightening tire bill. However, as the car kept getting faster, Lief eventually turned a corner and decided to change the car’s designation permanently.

Out of the box, the wet weight of the GT-R is over 3,900 pounds, so serious stripping was in order.

About three years into regularly tracking the car, he called on Tony Colicchio at TC Designs to weld in a full cage. “The night before sending it to TC, I got a little carried away. I stripped everything out of the car I could, and before I dropped it off the next morning, I realized that I was going to build this car solely for time attack.”

After a few more weight savers like polycarbonate windows and a titanium exhaust, he moved onto the fixes that a heavy, complicated sports car needs if it’s going to last longer runs. A Litchfield transmission cooler, a CSF radiator, and all the Trackspec venting to keep the VR38 and the braking system reasonably cool.

The next order of business was bringing the Nissan’s nose in-line. “Understeer out of the box is awful…it’s akin to a bulldozer plowing than a precision race vehicle,” Lief admits. “I wanted the car to follow my steering inputs, and so we went to town on the front end. Now, there’s a Nismo LSD up front, a set of widebody fenders, and custom Brypar knuckles that allow me to run a set of Advan GT 18x12” wheels and Yokohama A005 slicks set into perfect alignment with SPL arms. Paired with a large front splitter fabricated by Trackspec, the car can rotate in slow corners and still tuck the nose in for fast corners, too.

An Overtake rear LSD was added to reduce drivetrain temperatures, and it also improves rotation. Even after considerable weight savings measures, the heavy GT-R stopping distances aren’t the shortest, so Lief fitted 4-piston Brembo race calipers with endurance pads. The difference in pedal feel from the OEM Brembo 6-piston to the race-oriented 4-pistons is night and day. They also offer a much lower profile for improved cooling, and the 32mm pads that will run five track days without any noticeable fade

The car was pointy and precise, but the bump in front grip came at a cost. “I got a little carried away at Laguna one day and spun it through Turn 6 at about 90 miles an hour. The wall was about five feet away when I came to a stop.”

The need for a complementary rear end pushed Lief to buy the biggest chassis-mounted wing he could fit: a 78” APR GT-1000. The resulting balance put the car into a new performance window that helped him set a few of his best times. He’d found a consistent, capable car that wouldn’t bite his head off if he made a mistake. Even better: the motor wouldn’t overheat in the course of a fifteen-minute session. Its oil circulation was not as strong, however.

“In my opinion, Speed SF Challenge offers enthusiasts a unique balance of risk and fun, while ensuring competition among a range of participants of varying budgets. The feeling of the grid is racey and competitive, but you’re not overly concerned with swapping paint.”

After an auspicious Sonoma session in which Lief set a 1:42.4, the motor let go. “I hadn’t been checking the oil frequently enough, and I believe I starved it in Turn 11 and threw a rod. The motor had seen around 30,000 miles, 20,000 of which were track miles. Every dog has its day.”

The cost of consumables with this heavyweight had been hard enough to swallow, but an engine rebuild gave him a reason to panic. With the price of a VR38 long block pushing $25,000, he had to get creative with his financing and find a shop that could pencil him in without emptying his bank account.

The cost was so extravagant that cross-country shipping the entire car was a worthwhile endeavor. Check6ix offered him the most appealing deal of the notable GT-R shops he’d contacted, and that meant sticking it on a hauler en route to Georgia.

Eighteen months later, he flew out to Atlanta to pick up his rebuilt baby. Cicio Performance had fitted the head with upgraded valve springs and cams, then filled the block with forged Manley rods and pistons. The cam change had bumped torque to a respectable 630 lb-ft, and that’s with the factory turbochargers still in place. Retaining the stock snails is not something that someone who’s just fitted a MoTec C127 ECU to their motor usually does, but Lief felt they’d do the trick. “I just wanted it to run reliably and respond to my footwork. I also wanted to keep the car right at the limit for running in NASA’s TT1 class.”

Coincidentally, the completion of his new motor lined up with Global Time Attack at Road Atlanta, so he flew out East with his helmet and suit packed, and met with the Check6ix team in the pits.

The car, sitting on a set of old Yokohama A005s, was frighteningly fast out of the box. Lief clicked off a 1:29 in practice, and after a few setup changes and some familiarization with the course, he managed a 1:26.6. This was good enough for a 4th place in the Unlimited class, which was filled with builds boasting another 300 horsepower. Though he was outgunned from the get-go, Lief was forced to compete in Unlimited as the rules for the lesser classes require a dashboard of some sort, which was absent in this car.

Back on the West Coast, Lief’s been racking up the sort of lap times that make everyone purse their lips and nod. Best of all, he’s been doing it without chasing quad-digit power. Currently, with just 600 horsepower and a wet weight of 3,400 pounds, he’s been able to put a 1:27.8 in at Laguna Seca. He’s spent a pretty penny to get this far, and he’s debating whether it’s worthwhile spending more.

“I’m at a fork in the road where all I see are diminishing returns, and at some point I want to start another project. I keep saying that it’s done, but part of me thinks I’ll need to work a little harder to perfect it,” he says. “I still want to get some weight out of the car—I can try tubed subframes and some more carbon panels; weight reduction has made the car so lively. It’s been an amazing journey—both building the car and investing countless hours on the simulator. We’ve both come a long way.”

After going sub-30 at Laguna, Lief has his crosshairs on getting under the 1:40 mark at Sonoma and under 1:50 at Thunderhill East, “There’s something about those ten-second incremental milestones that makes every one of us track junkies completely elated. I hope there’ll be a few more on the horizon.”

He might not’ve gone for bigger turbos, but it’s clear Lief is a guy who likes big numbers—and he went about getting them in the smartest way possible.








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Thunderhill Logistics: Where to Stay, Where to Eat, How to Beat the Heat

With plenty of options for food and lodging, reasonable track fees, and plenty of ways to beat the summer heat, a successful trip to Thunderhill only requires a quick review of the information listed here.

If you’re not suited to warmer weather, the propect of spending a day in the sun at Thunderhill Raceway Park can be a little intimidating. True, there are the fair share of summer days in the mid-seventies, but they’re hard to pinpoint, and unless you’re willing to wait until the winter when the weather is wonderful, you might find Thunderhill a bit too hot for your liking. However, if you can brave the heat, the reward is worthwhile.

Covered spots are plentiful at both East and West tracks, but make sure to get one early.

With an interesting variety of corners, two separate tracks that are conjoined occasionally (not often enough), great sightlines, and plenty of runoff, there’s a lot to like about Thunderhill.

While it might not have the amenities of nearby Sonoma Raceway, Thunderhill is accommodating. The nearby town of Willows features several decent restaurants, a Walmart, reasonable gas prices, and a selection of mid-tier hotels that make it possible to spend a weekend there in comfort.

Walmart

470 Airport Rd, Willows, CA 95988

While gloom and doom isn’t the right tone to set the stage for one of Northern California’s most popular tracks, there are a few temperature-related concerns that should be considered—even if you’re as cool as a Bedouin. Always prepare for the heat. Bring a cooler and lots of water. You can buy ice at the track. You want to stay hydrated,.

Stay and enjoy a solid lunch at the Thunderhill Grill.

Though a quick trip back into Willows isn’t ideal after you’ve arrived at the track, it’s only a ten-minute drive—not that there are too many reasons why you’d need to.

Food at the Thunderhill Grill is good, there are many covered parking spaces (as long as you arrive early), and the track seems intent on expanding the covered area. Thankfully, there’s an air-conditioned clubhouse to beat the heat on the worst days. Outside of the hottest months, camping at the track is an appealing alternative to the sometimes pricey hotels.


Lodging

In town, the lodging is concentrated within a couple blocks. Most consider the Holiday Inn Express to be best, though there are a half dozen alternatives when it fills, which is typical on the busier track weekends. If you’re on a tighter budget, the Super 8 offers a pleasant place to lay your head. Expect prices to nearly double on the busiest weekends.

Holiday Inn Express & Suites

545 N Humboldt Ave, Willows, CA 95988

Super 8

457 N Humboldt Ave, Willows, CA 95988

The rolling hills around Willows are a wonderful sight, especially in the spring.

Dining

For variety and ease, dining in Willows is your best bet. The Black Bear Diner has hearty fare, plenty of fast food, a Round Table Pizza, and, for a slightly nicer dinner, Casa Ramos is the preferred restaurant. It’s not a proper Thunderhill trip without a few margaritas at Casa.

While sound isn’t as stringent as it is at Laguna Seca., there is a 105dB limit in place most days. We would suggest bringing a backup muffler if you’re worried your exhaust isn’t compliant.

For those who want something more upscale, there are a few upscale options outside of Willows. Nearby Orland has two interesting spots: Farwood and The Hive. The former’s bar is definitely worth a visit. Thirty minutes away in Williams is a renowned restaurant called Granzella’s, as well as La Fortuna Bakery, which has exceptional burritos.

Casa Ramos

247 N Humboldt Ave, Willows, CA 95988

Black Bear Diner

246 N Humboldt Ave, Willows, CA 95988

Farwood Bar and Grill

705 5th Street @, CA-32, Orland, CA 95963

General Amenities

Being out in the country has its perks. Willows is relatively quiet and very safe. However, it does get quite dark early at night, and the lights turn off earlier than some expect them to, so if you’re planning on changing your wheels for the drive home, don’t wait too long.

For basic auto parts, there are two places to try in town: O’Reilly’s and NAPA. However, their in-stock selection is limited. Gas is slightly cheaper in town—a Chevron and an ARCO are popular spots—but a portion of the price paid at Thunderhill’s pump goes towards maintaining and expanding the circuit. In fact, the management has done an exceptional job in making sure the track is healthy and thriving, which is why it’s no surprise that its become one of the most popular circuits in the area with far more track days booked by any outfit than any other track.

Chevron

1250 W Wood St. Willows, CA 95988

Whether you’re going for a spartan day trip or a luxurious weekend, there are several approaches to take to suit your needs. As one of the more accommodating tracks in Northern California, Thunderhill Raceway Park is one that is easily enjoyed, and despite the warning about weather, visiting is rarely exhausting. Just make sure to bring a few gallons of water, and, on particularly hot days, some higher octane fuel (available at the track pump) might keep your car from pulling timing as hard.




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Speed SF Challenge Laguna Seca: New Surface, New Records

New pavement and stellar weather meant our fastest drivers pushed harder than ever before at our latest Speed SF Challenge event.

Ideal weather and a massive turnout of thirty competitors at the last round of the Speed SF Challenge guaranteed some action. Sure enough, we saw new records in several categories. Though some of the newfound speed was due to the recent repave, our Challenge drivers were in stellar form that weekend, and their onboards prove that.

In S1, Steve Melson and his Audi R8 broke the S1 record that had been standing for five years, set back in 2018 by Andrie Hartanto in a C6 Z06. Steve took advantage of the stellar weather and logged a 1:34.081 — a new record that any driver should be proud of—in a car that looks nearly stock. Such is the performance of the second-generation R8.


In S2, Kai Anderson reset Peter Hsu’s Chevy Corvette record by seven tenths. Anderson ran a 1:34.8 to Hsu’s 1:35.7, but not before suffering through a few frustrating sessions. By the end of the day, he cooled his jets long enough to find a gap and avoid slower cars. “My main challenge was recovering from a poor qualifying. There was a good turnout for this event which was great, but it meant the morning sessions were a little crowded, so I ended up only qualifying 7th fastest overall. I recovered to 4th fastest overall in the Challenge session, so mission accomplished, but my fastest lap didn't come until lap 5 because I kept having to abort laps due to catching traffic.

I didn't really have any specific goals for the weekend; mostly just evaluating what is still a relatively new car to me on a newly resurfaced racetrack. Overall, I was impressed with both. I think the changes to Laguna really inspire confidence to push for that optimal lap without creating a different line that requires total abuse of track limits.

The Camaro is perfect for Laguna, with prodigious power, cooling, and brakes to match. There is definitely still some laptime to come from this pair. Crossing my fingers December is dry!”

In S3, Spencer Kimball put in a serious effort to try and beat Kevin Schweigert’s S3 record of 1:36.0.

“I went into this event with some reservations knowing that my M3, with limited torque, was not at its best on Laguna’s straights. Laguna is also the one local track that I drive the least, but I made sure to try and get some practice in before the Challenge weekend. I lucked out and a friend lent me his pass for an event the weekend before, where I ran a low 1:37 after a year-long Laguna hiatus. I looked over my data and saw that a mid-35.xx would be possible, but I went into the Challenge event with the goal of breaking into the 36s. 

I knew that I had my work cut out for me as my main competition, Legend Brandenburg in his A90 Supra, benefits from ~200 more ft/lbs more than my E92 has. Luckily I was able to run a mid 1:36 during sessions 1 and 2, which put giving me a good spot for the challenge session. I studied my data to figure out where I needed to commit, and it was clear that the faster corners were where I could push harder to find somet time. I ended up running a 1:36.5 in the Challenge by carrying more speed through T5, T6, and T8, which was enough to make me the fastest in S3.”

In the end, Kimball was just 1/2s off of Schweigert’s lap, which Schweigert set in a car weighing 500 pounds less with comparable power levels. Not too shabby.

Gary Wong still has a little bit of work to do in the Supra to find the second between him and Dave Colbert’s 1:31.5 Group X record. The infamous purple Supra had its engine tweaked slightly to reduce power cuts, but heat is still an issue which Wong has to deal with. Thankfully, the team has a solution—though they won’t be able to use it until the next weekend.

“It was a fun weekend. I mainly wanted to sample the new track surface and see where I could push more than before. Because of how bad the stupid bump at T1 is, I wasn’t able to hit our sub-30 target times, although that had something to do with to traffic and some electrical gremlins. Because of some overheating issues, we had to lower the power level to complete the full lap. Thankfully, we know the issues and the solutions and we’ll come back stronger.”

Gunning for the S4 record, Nate Hackman’s put in an incredible 1:39.7, less than one-tenth off of Sean Yepez’s record, in what appears to be a very mildly modified car without any aerodynamic goodies. The primo parts are under the skin, though: his Ohlins TTX coilovers help his S2000 handle better than most. A last-minute setup change reduced some of the oversteer in the car, so Hackman could commit to the faster corners easily.

“Up until that weekend, I had only mustered high 41s at Laguna. With the repave running faster and a few changes to the car I figured I'd run a second or two faster, but tried not to overthink it with goals and just go have fun. Luckily, I was able to cook off a number of 39s with some definite room for improvement. I was still a tenth off Sean's pre-repave lap record which was a little disappointing, but I knew he'd come back and crush any record I set, and was still very happy to crack into the 39s with no aero and take home a win with an underbuilt car.”

In S5, Tony Rodriguez’s 1:45.2 record seems untouchable. Maybe we need another all-out MR2 to chase Rodriguez’s old S2000 down. In the meantime, we’ll have to tip our hats to our talented drivers taking advantage of the new pavement and pushing themselves hard enough to keep all the Speed SF Challenge competitors on their toes. When times continue to tumble like they have been, none of the Challenge competitors can coast, boast, or rest on their laurels.

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Spencer's E92 M3: In Defense of Feel

After Spencer discovered that power is only part of the package, he set his turbocharged 135i to the side and picked up an M car with a much more tractable motor. After a short list of important modifications, his E92 M3 has become one of the fastest cars in S3, and with a supercharger on the horizon, it might soon become the fastest.

From an early age, it was clear tinkering was in Spencer’s nature. High school autoshop was where he put together his first build, a B5 A4, and that natural inclination followed him to college, where he was able to pay some of his tuition with a little on-the-side engine tuning. His mechanical engineering studies  led him into a career in data analysis, and the fastidious approach he developed in that time served him well when he began his all-absorbing hobby a few years later. 

A few years out of school, Spencer decided to take the plunge and enter the world of time attack. Already a steep learning curve for a tuner with limited experience on track, Spencer’s task wasn’t simplified when he picked a BMW 135i as his project car. Regular overheating made it hard to stay in the seat, and the torque onset of the turbo motor, combined with the short wheelbase, made it feel like it was trying to murder Spencer at most corners.

Thrilled with competition of time attack, Spencer decided to plow forward with his build, despite the regular headaches the 135i posed. An F80 M3 followed, and while that car had plenty of potential, its consumable cost gave his pause. He needed something a little better suited to the track.

The E92 M3 caught his eye. Being a bit lighter than the F80 and, importantly, naturally-aspirated, it seemed like a more involving car with the potential to put down some respectable times with minimal work.

Despite having two kids and a regular job, Spencer performed most of the work on the E92 in his garage.

With the maintenance basics and a few bolt-ons, his DCT-equipped slicktop was capable of a 1:55 at CW13, which confirmed to him that this generation of M3 was the right choice. He could lean on its longer wheelbase, and the motor, though it lacked the torque of the turbo motors, had a powerband and a way of building to a crescendo that always left him grinning.

First and foremost, Spencer wanted it to be dependable. The necessary transmission cooler and oil cooler, the beefy rod bearings, and the throttle actuators were really all that this more robust generation needed to be totally ready at all times. The downside to this sturdier construction was weight, and even with some mild interior stripping, it was still too heavy.

An 8,600 rpm-redline courtesy of an Epic Motorsports tune gave Spencer tingly sensations that the blunt turbo cars never could.

No matter—its performance with a couple more additions could help him forget about its porkiness. Version 1 was completed with TC Designs-supplied MCS 1-ways, Stoptech ST40 brakes, a Pinnacle half-cage, and the standard GT4 wing-splitter combination.

The first iteration was satisfying, but with plenty of time to plan and tinker while on his maternity leave last year, he decided it was wise to put phase two in motion. He returned to his car’s weight loss plan; this time stripping the door cars, speakers, the radio, and basically anything besides the front carpet, the dash, and the air-conditioning. If you live east of the Oakland Hills as he does, you need to have cool air in the summertime.

Along with that, he added an Akrapovic titanium exhaust and fiberglass door cards, which helped shed a considerable amount of weight. Currently, the car weighs ~3,450 with Spencer and half a tank onboard.

CAPTION: Swapping the Stoptechs for a set of lighter AP Racing Pro5000R — a better feel his main reason for changing — helped trim a little unsprung weight, get rid of knockback, and, essentially, let him avoid thinking of braking problems. 

An air filter, a catless x-pipe, a set of smaller 285/30-18 tires, and a 3.45 final drive helped spice up the acceleration some. It’s still a revvy motor without much under 4,000 revs, but with 380 horsepower and 275 lb-ft at the rear wheels, it makes more than enough jam spin the wheels in slower corners.

CAPTION: Since the engine lacks much torque, Spencer has to trim the rear wing out as much as he can.

However, the addition of an APR GT-250 wing and Bridgestone RE-71S tires make it very hard to unstick the rear in fourth, fifth, and sixth-gear corners. Some of that has to do with the longer wheelbase and the stability it brings, some is due to outright grip, and some of that is due to suppleness from the properly valved set of custom-valved MCS 2-way dampers courtesy of TC Designs.

The car still chews up front tires, and the motor’s thirst is remarkable, but those are two relatively small shortcomings for a reliable, hair-raising track machine which laps Buttonwillow 13CW in 1:51.8 and a 1:44.8 at Sonoma.

It’s been rock-solid, though some of that has to be attributed to his anal tendencies; he bolt-tests the car after every single track day. He street drives it, he sits in some semblance of comfort cruising around Walnut Creek on a July afternoon, and he still stares at it after a long work week. It gives him a sense of satisfaction that none of his other possessions do.

Being a bit of a perfectionist, Spencer still has some issues with the car as it sits. The weight, namely, is something that he wants to address, but he’s reached the point of diminishing returns. To put it on a carbon diet, as is necessary now, would cost big bucks. However, he might be able to nip at the heels of the Supras and the other current hot tickets if could pull another 200 pounds from the Bimmer.

He could bypass the diet plan and strap on a supercharger, but he fears that forced induction would move him further from the original M.O. that’s helped him put in dozens of faultless track days—some with double and triple sessions.

If there are two things that have enabled him to lap so quickly in a short timeframe, they’re his pragmatism and a fondness for analysis. His data analysis day job gives him the tools to make hours pouring over data fruitful, but his intimate understanding of the compromises at play also make him somewhat indecisive; knowing more makes it all the harder to make a choice. For example: while a blower might compromise the reliability of the near-bulletproof S65, it might be the most cost-effective way to put in a GTA-worthy lap time.

So, blower or carbon panels? Either way, the E92 is destined for some serious modifications in the near future, but before he signs another big check, he’s got to sit and mull over the information first.

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Speed SF at the Nurburgring: Podium Performance at NLS Six-Hour Enduro

Patrick Chio wasted no time getting ready after Andrie Hartanto invited him to partner him in a six-hour RCN enduro at the Nurburging. However, the mountain of paperwork, broken cars, and technical problems didn’t fully prepare them for the dramatic end to their impressive debut.

It didn’t take much to persuade Patrick, but the workload required to get all the way to the Nurburgring and race a six-hour enduro had him wondering if it was all worth it.

The challenge prior to getting on the plane to Germany had been monumental, and it wasn’t going to get any easier once they touched down.

Five years earlier, Andrie had competed in a handful of VLN races at the Nurburgring, and, being a bucket-list item for Patrick, the two decided to partner for a six-hour race in the NLS Endurance Series. With a friend who knew the European racing landscape and a renowned team to join, Patrick could feel optimistic about this next step in his racing career, but before he could start to think about driving the course, he had to make his way through the long checklist that every eager American must complete before racing at the Ring.

“I’d only driven it on Gran Turismo before. Never on a real simulator,” Patrick said.

Applying for an FIA license as an American requires a calm, patient temperament. As is requested, “ten races completed in the last two years” sounds simple enough initially, but it can get more complicated. For whatever reason, the FIA doesn’t consider NASA a legitimate sanctioning body, so Patrick’s two full seasons of WERC and his two 25 Hours of Thunderhill did not count towards his total—initially, anyways. Luckily, due to the pandemic allowing older races to count, his SCCA Spec Miata races in 2020 could count towards his total. He was granted his FIA license, but he still had to prove himself for the Nurburgring for a separate test, another permit, and a few headaches.

Once at the Nurburgring, Patrick and Andrie linked with their team, Adrenalin Motorsport, and Patrick jumped into the car to drive his first real laps of the Nurburgring.

Patrick partook in the DPN test, which judges drivers on theory first, then has them run eight laps with an instructor, as well as eight laps alone. No passing under yellows, no offs, no holding up faster traffic, and none of the tentative driving that any driver, even a seasoned driver, would exhibit during their first few laps of the track. For the test, Adrenaline lent Patrick a race-prepped F82, which kept him alert. On a push lap, the car jumps and skips over the track, which is much bumpier than any Playstation rendering conveys. “There are a few places where the car is flying through the air,” Patrick laughed. “Narrow, fast, and many blind corners—it’s pretty intimidating in a fast car.”

The car had its issues. Mainly, the windows had to be kept up for the majority of the lap so as not to blow out the rear plexiglass when the car reaches over 250 kph down the Dottinger Hohe front straight. Thankfully, the rolling sauna session didn’t last long, on the third lap, the car lost power and stalled. The vehicle had to be towed back to the paddock.

There, they had an M4 GT4 ready for him, which lifted his spirits a bit. “A factory race car is just a different animal. Going through the compression, it gets sucked to the road by the massive aero. The motorsport ABS is incredible. The F82 was moving around everywhere over the bumps, but the M4 was so stable. It had really good air conditioning, too!” he exclaimed.

After another thirteen restrained laps, he rolled in and reported to DMSB, the licensing unit, and awaited their decision. He’d passed. Now, his DPN B-level permit entitled him to race at the ‘Ring, albeit in a certain range of cars.

With all the different nuances present, Patrick wasn’t certain they would do so well against the local drivers. Between the Nordschliefe and the GP track, there are over 154 corners, and twenty laps is not enough to learn them all. At least he had six hours ahead to learn them all.

CAPTION: To complicate matters, the team engineers expected him to learn the corner names so he could relay data back and forth more easily.

The following morning, they returned to the track, now swarming with a throng of spectators. There were 130 cars on the grid, and a few thousand spectators ambling in between them. During morning practice, the team would stick the interested fan in the passenger seat as Andrie or Patrick got to terms with their new racing car.

Patrick and Andrie would be driving an M240iR in the M240iR Cup class. Friendly, progressive, and a little oversteery, the M240iR, as Patrick said, “drives a lot like an E46 M3, but at factory level performance.” The extra weight and power wasn’t really a hindrance, as the team swapped tires after every 1.5-hour stint.

They threw a set of stickers on before qualifying, which all drivers must participate in. The format is fair and straightforward: they don’t take the averages, they just take the fastest of the two laps every driver is mandated to run. They weren’t too worried about being at the front of the grid, because the Nurburgring always has yellows, but they still pushed the little two-series as quickly as they could.

“One of the most difficult aspects of this race is that we have to share the track with the faster GT3 and GT4 cars. These factory race cars are so fast in every aspect, when most corners of Nurburging are blind, it’s really hard to see them coming up behind or next to you” Andrie said.

Andrie qualified fifth, and at the start he made it up to third, but it wouldn’t last. Due to an ambient temperature of 90°F and a lack of cooling from following closely behind in the dirty air, the M240i’s turbocharged motor went flat after half a lap.

“I lost power! I lost power!” Andrie screamed over the radio. The team issued orders to short-shift at 5,000 revs, and Andrie obeyed, but fell back to tenth in the process. By the time the car had cooled, he started to charge again and brought the car back to sixth, then handed it off to Patrick, who climbed into fifth and stayed on the same lap with the leader.

After his steady session, Patrick brought it back to the pits, where they lost only one position. Things were starting to look up. The race wasn’t halfway over and the two were starting to feel at home at the neverending circuit.

Andrie got back in for the third stint and started flying; lapping faster than the third and fourth-place cars and dragging it up to fifth. He was eyeing fourth place by the end of his stint.

As the stint progressed, Andrie was making his way towards Fuchsröhre, a steep downhill chicane section with a frightening compression at the very bottom, where they were going over 240kmh. He noticed a dot in his mirrors growing larger. “He’s gonna catch me sometime after the compression,” Andrie assured himself after seeing the GT3 flashing its lights. Andrie focused on the technical section ahead; getting his line right, straightening the car before the bump, and braking hard as he shot uphill, thinking he had more time to handle the GT3.

“I figured he was going to pass me after the corner, but he didn’t. I was startled to see him next to me at the turn-in point. We were both doing about 240 km/h.

When Andrie started to turn, he could see the lights from his peripheral vision – the AMG GT3 driver was already beside him. Andrie wanted to slow the car, but because of the crest, he released the brake and tried to scrub some speed through the middle of the corner. Unfortunately, he was going way too fast at the wrong trajectory, so his front right grazed over the grass. At over 200 km/h, dropping a wheel mid-corner can be costly, and Andrie slid into the barrier. He hit it front-first at about 45 degrees, then the rear contacted, and then he ping-ponged across the track, somehow without flipping.

Shaken but steady enough to walk, Andrie got out of the car himself and walked over to the marshal’s stand, where they called a doctor. The doctor determined that, because Andrie had crashed at over 180 km/h, they would airlift him to the hospital.

At Koblenz, the CT scan showed an uninjured brain, but the doctors were reluctant to let Andrie attend the barbeque he had been invited to. Both parties bickered for a bit, then the doctors capitulated. “You’re free to go as long as you have some friends accompanying you,” they said. He signed the waiver and left to bury his frustrations in pork.












Patrick and Andrie weren’t the only duo which didn’t finish. “I was a real shame — we had a chance of a podium here. At first, we didn’t think we’d do so well against the people with more experience here, but we had a very good team behind us who gave us lots of confidence,” Andrie lamented.


Still, that was a minor ache for all the good that came from this trip. For Patrick, it was a seminal accomplishment. To fly across the Atlantic, earn another license, and leave with podium promise is not something that happens to often.

More than that, it gave him some insight into the world of professional European motorsport. “Getting to meet professional racers, talk, and see how we compared, plus being close to all these big manufacturers—it seemed like a dream. Also, Nurburg is small and filled with people enthusiastic for the sport. You can make friends with other racers in the parking lots, in the restaurants, everywhere!”


For track day hobbyists back in California, sometimes getting to the Nurburgring can seem like a dream, but, as Patrick learned, it’s not too difficult for someone looking to turn a few laps. “There are so many rental agencies around. You can just rent a car and go. It turns out it’s really convenient—you don’t even need to book a trackday on the touristenfahrten days. You just pay for the car, pay for a certain number of laps, and you swipe your card at the gate, and drive as hard as you can.”

When he puts it that way, it makes the journey seem less daunting. It always helps to have someone pave the way for you.











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Tommy Parry Tommy Parry

Shan's S2000: Hitting the Books

After Shan spent his college years as a test driver for his Formula FSAE team, he started tracking an E92. The heavyweight M3 didn’t give him much joy, so, eager to get back into a pointy car, he picked up an AP2. With his engineering expertise, he’s been able to get the most from a modest assortment of modifications and turn this into a capable, dependable track scalpel.

When you’ve had so many formative driving experiences in something as light as a kart, or as purposeful as a Formula SAE, many production cars feel a little cumbersome. This was Shan’s perspective and the impetus to sell his E92 M3 for something responsive, svelte, and raw.

While a college student, Shan was both powertrain lead and test driver on his Formula SAE team. As part of getting the most from their bike-powered spaceframe car, the test drivers – he was one of several – were expected to refine their driving techniques through go-karting. As his own development as a driver dovetailed nicely with his expanding understanding of chassis setup, he developed an unshakable confidence that, years later, would enable a rapid ascent in the world of time attack.

Before he could put himself in a car which would benefit from his years of racing experience, he took a left turn – one that was unpredictable, yet understandable.

He had his foray into time trials with a heavyset production car unlike the other machinery he’d grown accustomed to: an E92 M3. “There were some cars I was considering, but this one was the most versatile.”

Its heft and plush GT-designation left him feeling a little lukewarm, and after five track days, he recognized his need for something with a bit of that single-seater urgency he missed.

First kiss

Rather than go full-180° and buy another spaceframed car, a trailer, and a tow rig, he decided to compromise in the name of practicality. For him, the S2000 was the only fendered car in his price range that had the pointiness he was after. Plus, he didn’t mind hacking one up.

He found an AP2 that, while a little rough around the edges, was a suitable candidate for a track build. A little patina and some missing interior panels didn’t upset him, but the blown Konis certainly made the trek from Los Angeles back to San Francisco less than comfortable. Thankfully, he knows a good chiropractor.

However, those minor annoyances faded when he took the car to Laguna. There, he was reacquainted with all those familiar feelings from his college days — plus a new form of fear.

“I don’t think I’d ever driven something with so much lift-off oversteer before, though that was due to the setup in some part.”

The Honda had teeth; its mystery alignment kept Shan guessing when it would slide. However, even on ancient RS4s and a comically snappy setup, the car was eagerly responding to his subtler inputs. It kept him alert and, with a little time to learn its habits, it raised his confidence.

After adding the first round of track-day bolt-ons – brakes, wider wheels, and a set of forgiving NT01s – he could start exercising his old approach to finding speed. Shan had a few areas of focus:

Ergonomics

Ensuring everything is easily reached was paramount. As he learned from FSAE, the more comfortable one is, the harder they can push. For this reason, he added a very bright shift light directly in his line of sight.

Chassis first

Aside from a Hondata piggyback and a testpipe, the motor would remain stock; the gains would be made in cornering speeds.


No more than necessary

Only parts that had proven to cause a bottleneck or had failed would be replaced. This was done to save, but also to ensure his engineering abilities would be put to good use making the most of what he had.

After accepting the limitations of his Konis, he splurged on a set of JRZ RS Pros. They’d been vetted by his car-crazy colleagues. Raised to an appropriate ride height and aligned correctly, he started putting in the seat time.

The car stayed as it was for some time as Shan delved into the data and refined his technique. “I analyze my laps through RaceStudio and take very detailed setup notes after a session to make sure I'm aware of what's going on, what changes i'm making, how the car responded to those changes, etc.,” he stated.


Complex, but simplifying

When it came time to add some aerodynamic pieces, he used his analytical mind and his engineering ability to make the most of the new alterations.

“My first laps with aero weren’t much faster than my previous best,” he started. “I was still driving the car like I had been before the wings; tentative at corner entry, braking somewhat gently. The aero changed that. I used to worry about oversteering too much at turn-in, but I can throw the car into the corner now. If it needs to scrub some speed, it’ll just understeer.”

He could start changing some parts to make use of the additional aero loading. “Previously I was running a less aggressive compound in the rear because the car was prone to entry oversteer, which would only get worse if the pad compound in the rear could cause momentary locking. With the aero grip, that’s no longer an issue, so I have a high-torque pad at the rear.

Clearly, the right sort of aero helps not only with outright cornering speeds, but stability as well.

Drag bad, grip good

However, this all comes at a price; drag cannot be overlooked in a low-powered car like the S2000. Trimming the wings was vital to find a net improvement in speed, and after using the suggested window for optimal wing angles from 9LivesRacing, he timed every subsequent alteration until he found the fastest settings.

“One thing I did after the first aero day was try to visualize the corner speed increase and drag increase around Laguna. I made plots to understand the behavior better. I could reach out to people with more racing/motorsports experience too, to see if this aligned with what they would consider a car with properly functioning aero, so it was decent validation.”

Shan had to increase his spring rates by 100lb/in to handle the aerodynamic load.

Shan’s taken a studious, resourceful approach to building this gleaming AP2. It might not sport top-shelf parts in every area, but those used have been tweaked and fettled to get the most from them.

An ideal setup is only possible if one has the ability to run the necessary calculations. Shan’s background in racing a clean-sheet kind of car has helped him see what’s vital to speed, and that alone gives him an edge that primo parts alone cannot trump.

He’s clearly passionate about the engineering side of things, too. In fact, he’s used his engineering expertise to build new bits to improve the overall package. They might not be obvious, shiny, or expensive, but, in aggregate, they make a major difference.

“When I have the time, I’ve been using some of the 3D printers at work to build some basic parts to help. For example, I put together some supports to prevent the trunk from flexing at higher speeds.”

Though the car is fast and forgiving, Shan’s still seeking a sharper edge. “The front is much less effective than the rear, and, for now, I just deal with the understeer. I’ll try increasing the rear spring rates to encourage some rotation. It’s not a normal way of dealing with an aero problem, but it might work.”

He’ll find a solution — even if it keeps him in the garage all weekend. For Shan, staring at plots all Sunday to find a few tenths is time well spent.

Parts List

  • Sakebomb rear sway bar, Eibach front sway bar

  • Bump steer + roll center correction kits

  • Recaro Profi SPG driver's seat

  • JRZ RS Pro (900lb/in front, 800lb/in rear spring rate)

  • Racebred Components front splitter kit

  • 9LivesRacing rear wing

  • Wilwood Superlite front BBK w/ Carbotech XP12 brake pads all around

  • Hasport polyurethane engine and differential mounts

  • Maxxis RC1 255/40-17

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Tommy Parry Tommy Parry

Tailai's Supra: Keep it Simple, Keep it Sane

After blowing up an M3’s engine, Tailai Lihe realized power wasn’t everything. With this car, he kept the B58 stock, and instead prioritized seat time and cornering speeds.

Started tracking in 2018 after moving to the States to study at UC Davis. Being an undergrad student, Tailai time was booked solid. Even so, he had an image of Sonoma Raceway, an image he’d had in his mind since playing Gran Turismo in his early teens, and he knew he’d have to find a way to experience it.

With no real knowledge of the trackday landscape, he booked a three-day advanced driving course at the Simraceway Performance Driving Center, where he was able sample the circuit and the strengths of his daily, an E92 M3. “I didn’t know anything then, so I kept the stock pads and went to drive. The only thing I added was a big wing, because it was cool.

The car was stable and forgiving, and the classes went off without a hitch. The subsequent visits to the track weren’t always failure-free, though. “Whenever I tried to push, something broke.” He endured the bills and, without much of a racing education, he started modding the car to make more power — something entirely predictable. He slapped on a VF supercharger and, after it was installed incorrectly, he blew the motor.

Disappointed, he sought out something reliable with more tuning potential. He didn’t like how American cars drove, so no Camaro. The atmospheric BMW engines weren’t all that interesting to him, but the potential of some of the turbo cars caught his eye.

“I first bought the Verus full aero, which I now see was foolish. I should’ve started with suspension, but the aero kit was too cool to ignore,” he laughed.

He didn’t exactly settle on another car from the same marque, but he wasn’t far off. After finding an impressive deal on a 2021 Supra, he pulled the trigger.

The first outing in it, he left it completely stock. Very capable already—capable of lapping Sonoma in the 1:53s. By this time, he’d started studying what would keep his ass in the seat and what would drop times the fastest.” I wanted the car to be reliable, so I didn’t touch the powerplant. There were more important things to change.”

Maybe the pleasure of seeing the car kitted out was the right move, because it wouldn’t let him down like his first set of coilovers would. The first set of KW Clubsports broke after a few days. Fortunately, his growing social media presence helped him secure a more track-oriented setup; KW reached out and offered him a set of Competition coilovers.

Then, seeing how easily he was squeezing noticeable performance from the package, he got a little smarter with his tuning approach. He hit the books hard and called on his years of building soccer robots for RoboCup Junior. With his analytical mind whirring away, Tailai could not ignore the way Supra’s weight was working against him. “Weight savings starts out cheap, but it gets pricey pretty quickly,” he admitted. Just by pulling the carpets, seats, adding a cheap Chinese fiberglass hood, and changing the battery, he trimmed an impressive 200 pounds from the car, and only spent an afternoon a few hundred dollars.

Less mass saves some strain on the binders, which don’t need too much help. Pads from CSG, stock rotors and calipers, a basic ducting kit, and even with Goodyear Supercar 3Rs and the aero loading, the brakes last an entire session without fade.

Mods were kept minimal. A set of SPL control arms for more camber and toe adjustment, a Sparco bucket seat, and a chopped exhaust rounded out the short list. Fortunately, the A90 just doesn’t need much help from the factory — just a sportier alignment:

With Jackie Ding’s advice, he increased front camber to -3 degrees, increased the rear to -2.8, set the front toe at 0, and, to minimize some of the bump steering, a smidge of rear toe-in. About 0.3 degrees, actually.

Tuning took some time to understand, but like his choice in modifications, he fumbled his way through it until he could learn enough to make the right decisions. “At first, I had the rear wing angle turned up to the max before adding the splitter, so at 8 at Thunderhill East, the car just went straight. That scared me. After that, I started to read up on aero balance.”

After adding a splitter and trimming out the rear wing, he found a sweet spot that gives him some reassuring push in faster corners. Combine that with a car that is easily rotated on throttle in the slower corners, and it’s not hard to see why he’s gone so much faster in the span of a year.

“As soon as I touch the throttle, I like it to rotate a little,” he explained.

And with that, he had a platform he could take to the track and run lap after lap. It’s super reliable. After forty-minute sessions at Thunderhill in 100F weather, the brakes and the engine remain cool. The Supra is happy to take the abuse.

His dedication to the craft, complemented by his studious approach and background in robotics helped him go from a total novice to someone fighting at the front of Speed SF Challenge’s S2 class in just two years. You don’t make that progress without cracking the books and being a little ingenious. Now pursuing his PHD in electrical engineering, he is confident he took the right path. “If you don’t have a budget to hire an engineer, you have to learn to do it yourself.”

Tailai has done most of the work in his garage. “From chassis tuning, I gained probably two seconds.”

And although he sees the importance in building a dependable, approachable, reliable car, he knows that racing is not just an engineering exercise. It takes practice, physical fitness, and coordination. So, after he adds the new Spage aero, the rest will come down to him. “There’s still a lot more potential there that I’m not getting. Honestly, I’m still a pretty bad driver,” he said.

For someone who’s currently lapping Sonoma in the 1:45s, but had no idea what an apex was a few years ago, that is a masterpiece of self-effacement. Not everyone advances this quickly in the sport, but Tailai’s taken the sensible approach and put track time first. If that isn’t a compelling case for reliability, I don’t know what is.











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Tommy Parry Tommy Parry

Sonoma Logistics: Where to Stay, What to Eat, What to Wear

With a unique rhythm, great amenities, and amazing food and lodging nearby, Sonoma Raceway is one of the most popular destination tracks on our calendar.

Being my home track, Sonoma Raceway elicits many fond memories. Back when it was called Infineon, I got to see real racing cars in action for the first time, and with the sun setting at the end of the day, I realized just how special this place and this sport are.

For both the driver and the observer, it’s an amazing place to be. The variety of fast and slow corners, all tinged with a little fear from little runoff area, promotes a rhythm that is hard to experience at any other American tracks. It’s not an easy track to master, however. The morning fob can render the curbs slippery, and there are track undulations that can upset the weight balance of the car. Combine those with minimal runoff, and you realize how important it is to be careful exploring the limits there. “Take your time learning the track,” George Koustoumbardis warns.

Plus, the ambiance is special. The views from the top of the hill are remarkable; it’s not often you get to see most of the track from a single vantage point. The weather, too, is fantastic—outside the hottest summer months, anyways.

Navigating Turn 1 at ~100+ with the walls on either side takes some courage.

The onsite amenities deserve some praise. The onsite Wine Country Motorsports provides all the gear necessary, and the wide range of fuel available — 91, 96, 100, 112, 114, & 116 — make easy refills with exotic racing engines easy. Plenty of garage spaces help keep people out of the sometimes-oppressive sun, and with a moderately small footprint, the track is not too tough to navigate. However, with a small lot comes competition for parking spaces, so make sure to get there early if you’re trailering a car.

An airy paddock and small parking lot makes Sonoma nice to wander around.

It’s also located in a fantastic area. Whether you’re taking a quick day trip to the track or looking to spend an entire weekend basking in the Napa Valley glow, there are plenty of things to keep in mind.

First and foremost: try to avoid San Francisco if at all possible. Yes, early morning traffic on the weekends isn’t too heavy, but even so, it’s difficult to get to Sonoma in under forty-five minutes on the best of days. Instead, try staying in nearby Marin or Sonoma, where the food is fantastic and the atmosphere is far more relaxing.










Recommended Hotels

MARIN COUNTY

  • Best Western PLUS, Novato Oaks Inn 215 Alameda del Prado Novato, CA, 94949 (800) 625-7466

  • Best Western PLUS, Corte Madera Inn 56 Madera Blvd Corte Madera, CA 94928 (800) 777-9670

  • Courtyard Novato Marin Sonoma 1400 Hamilton Pkwy Novato, CA 94949 (415) 883-8950

  • Four Points by Sheraton San Rafael 1010 Northgate Drive San Rafael, CA, 94903 (415) 479-8800

SONOMA COUNTY

  • Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa 100 Boyes Blvd Sonoma, CA 95476 (707) 938-9000

  • The Lodge at Sonoma Renaissance Resort & Spa 1325 Broadway Sonoma, CA 95476 (800) 777-9670

  • Quality Inn Petaluma 5100 Montero Way Petaluma, CA 95476 (707) 664-1155

  • Cambria Hotel Sonoma Wine Country 5870 Labath Avenue Rohnert Park, CA 94928 (707) 206-7514

  • MacArthur Place 29 East MacArthur Street Sonoma, CA 95476 (707) 938-2929

  • Inn at Sonoma. 630 Broadway, Sonoma, CA 95476 (707) 934-1340

Nearby Eats

Though the onsite cafeteria is quite good as far as racetrack grub goes, the surrounding areas provide a staggering number of options for incredible food. Unlike so many Californian tracks, Sonoma offers drivers and their families the chance to eat extremely well if they’re willing to drive a short distance.

  • -Pig and a Pickle. 341 Corte Madera Town Center, Corte Madera, CA 94925.

    Fantastic barbeque, although probably better for dinner; it’s heavy.

  • -Angelo’s Wine Country Deli. 23400 Arnold Dr, Sonoma, CA 95476.

    For lunch, this established nearby deli is hard to beat.

  • Left Bank Brasserie. 507 Magnolia Ave, Larkspur, CA 94939.

    Fine french food for reasonable money.

  • Lagunitas Brewing Company. 1280 N McDowell Blvd, Petaluma, CA 94954.

    Fantastic brewery upstairs.

WEATHER

Weather in the summer months can reach 100°F, so wear light clothing and do not underestimate the need for hydration. Though it’s a dry heat in Sonoma, it’s not hard to get dehydrated spending too much time in the sun. If the budget allows for it, a garage space in the summer is well worth it.

The morning fog is a real thing there, and it still lingers around in the summer months. For that reason, pant bottoms are recommended. So are a hoodie or a windbreaker for cooler weather. Bring sunglasses for the afternoon.

The exit of the Carousel is both fast and technical, and triple-digit oversteer at the exit is always exciting. Photo credit: APEX Staff Photographer @victorgiang

Though daunting at first, Sonoma is one of those tracks that is always satisfying and somewhat relaxing to visit. Spend some time appreciating the scenery, stay safe on the track, and give yourself enough time to avoid the bottleneck where HWY 37 and 121 meet during the morning and evening commute, and you’ll be sure to have a memorable day.

Watch Christian Fernandez’s onboard to get a sense of Sonoma’s interesting flow:

Thanks to Nik, Justin, Roger, Matt, George, Ken, and Reto.


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Tommy Parry Tommy Parry

Andy's NC Miata: How To Make 300 Horsepower In 3 Not-So-Easy Steps

Intent on keeping costs low, Andy Boskovic started tinkering on a third-gen Mazda Miata. The need for more power was clear from the start, so he first tried to swap in a 2.5-liter engine from a Ford Fusion.

Then he turbocharged it.

“After five years of ownership, I’ve learned these cars only last when they’re basically stock,” Andy began.

Some of Andy Boskovic’s friend suggested he keep tracking his E92 M3, but it just wasn’t exciting him any longer. “I’d tried a few light cars, and I liked how playful they were,” he recalled. “No matter how much power a car has, if it’s lightweight, it will always be fun,” he said. Plus, the cost of consumables and its heft kept him from relaxing. Careful not to break the bank, he started looking for something svelte, simple, and reliable.

Because of his size and his cost constraints, he bought a mildly prepped third-generation (NC) Mazda Miata. For a third-gen Miata with Megan Racing coilovers, Hotchkis swaybars, and a factory hardtop, a mere five thousand was money well spent.

If there was one unforeseen problem at this point, it was that Andy did not know quite how limited the NC aftermarket was back in 2018, but, thankfully, this car was quick and reliable enough to not need to. The car ran well in stockish trim, and no real changes were necessary for the first two years of tracking.

The factory NC brakes are stellar: Castrol fluid, RB 2-piece rotors, and Hawk DTC-70 pads provided stable, reassuring confidence.

After getting to terms with the car, he could diagnose its few weak points. More confidence on the brakes meant harder laps and more aggressive corner entries, and those highlighted the one glaring handling issue.

Though fun, the car was a little too loose to be truly quick, and this was clearest in the faster corners. “The short wheelbase makes this car oversteer in Riverside,” he started. He first softened the rear bar, then removed it entirely. “I picked up a little understeer when I removed the rear bar, but I gained 1.3 seconds the next session on the same tires,” Andy added.

Another Half-Liter Can’t Hurt

After two years of trouble-free track days, the engine began to knock. Intent on keeping his costs low, he decided to try the 2.5-liter MZR alternative. This particular motor came from a Ford Fusion — a $200 find at his local junkyard that swapped into his car with minimal modification.

Swapping the 2.5 into the NC’s engine bay requires transferring oil pan and valve cover from the 2.0-liter to the 2.5-liter, grinding the front cover engine mount plate to allow the belt to spin without rubbing, and changing one pigtail for camshaft position sensor. Everything else stays the same; the whole harness, ECU, engine mounts work. What’s more, the transmission is direct fit.

It’s a good thing the swap was simple, because the excitement didn’t last long. After just three track days, the engine blew. Andy believes it was a lousy online tune which caused the engine to run too rich. Because he hadn’t installed any A/F meters, he’d been totally unaware of his pistons were getting washed over the first few months.

This setback didn’t deter him. In just a few weeks, Andy grabbed a new motor — one with which he would try a different approach.

Being designed for an SUV, the 2.5 MZR was never really designed to rev. The motor feels genuinely torquey—almost VQ-like—in the midrange, and calling the top-end lackluster would be generous. Extra cubes do help the car feel livelier in slower corners, but the disappointing final few thousand revs warranted a major change — even if the motor was never intended to buzz too high. With a set of Esslinger camshafts and a little headwork to enable 7,500 revs, he extended that top end to a point where things felt S2000-ish.

Another half-liter makes makes life significantly easier.

The 190 horsepower the new lump came along with a few complimentary additions to turn a mild street car into something focused and trailered. Version 2.0 sported a stiff set of Feals, a full cage, and a lot of unsightly bare metal. The stripping process brought the Miata’s weight down to 2,330 pounds, which is not much heavier than a Spec Miata, but with an additional 70 horsepower and 100 lb-ft of torque, those power improvements made the Miata much more versatile.

Compliance is Key in Southern California

The 13K/10K spring rates didn’t suit the bumpier tracks he frequented, so he consulted Karcepts, who tuned the NC cars which ran in the Playboy Cup from 2008-2013, suggested he try a softer setup. They supplied him with some MCS 1-ways, which came along with 10K and 7K springs. The improved compliance netted him a whole second on the same set of tires. Clearly, he was on the right track, though the setup was far from perfect.

In an attempt to try and minimize some of the car’s tendency to oversteer in high-speed corners, Andy cranked the front dampers and left the rears on the softer side. “It rotated when you wanted it to and the rear stayed stable. Still, when the rear finally let go, it was not very progressive.”

“I was never that interested in running aero because I didn’t like that Fast and Furious-look, but I couldn’t accept the snappiness at the rear, so I tried a wing.”

Following the first on-track session with Racebred Component’s 4” front splitter kit and their GT rear wing, Andy forgot entirely about looking like an attention-seeker. The aero bump immediately chopped 2.4 seconds off his previous best at Buttonwillow. Other than adding the wings, nothing else had been done to the car.

The unfortunate byproduct of greater stability in the fast stuff was a smidgen of push. Not so much to keep him from attacking, but just enough to feel the Miata was no longer the playful, adjustable thing it used to be. Cleverly, Andy chopped two holes in his front fenders and topped them with a set of Cockroach Concept louvers. These relieved pressure from the fender wells, improved front downforce, and helped the car regain its natural pointiness — now tempered by the rear wing. It’s extremely neutral in both fast and slow corners, and it’s still soft enough to soak up big bumps.

The performance of the front relative to the rear encouraged Andy to see if he could further strengthen the car at turn-in. With a five-inch splitter and front spats from Racebred, the front end was electric, but more importantly, he could still keep the car balanced aerodynamically, though that required doing something many Miata owners might be hesitant to do.

Trim Fast

Without much torque, Miatas have to avoid as much drag as possible, hence the preference among many owners to run only as much wing angle as necessary. He was conscious of overslowing the car on the straights, but he needed a more neutral balance to push hard. By increasing the angle of attack at the rear wing, he found a confidence-inspiring aero balance that, as he learned, improved the car’s cornering performance enough to incur a little drag.

For someone accustomed to trimming his Miata out as much as necessary, this was a shock finding. “I was losing about three miles an hour on the straights, but the car was so much faster in the corners that I saw a net benefit to this high-downforce configuration.”

Content with the aerodynamic and suspension settings, Andy started on the one area he was reluctant to try. Between a bad tune and his habit of revving the tits off his motors, he went through three engines —one 2.0 and two 2.5s — in the four years he’d had the car. Still, seeing a Mustang or Porsche walk away towards Sunset was a source of real irritation, so he decided to turbocharge his MZR.

Unfortunately, the aftermarket hasn’t provided NC owners with many different turbocharging methods to try. Yes, the MZR has been turbocharged for competition use, but the AER-built motor found in IMSA prototypes and Indy Lights cars is a far cry from the factory 2.5-liter.

Long story short, the turbocharging process has been, as Andy put it, “a world of shit.” The problems with overheating and oil starvation killed one motor quickly, and the current engine, built to maximize torque and keep the revs reasonably low, is still getting the bugs worked out.



However, parking lot tests have demonstrated real grunt, tractability, and promise. With a standalone ECU, a reinforced gear hub in the fragile gearbox, and a smaller wastegate spring, he plans to have a dependable 260 horsepower from 3,500 - 6,500 revs.

“I believe revving the 2.5-liter engine to 7,500 shortens the lifespan to forty track days or so. The turbocharged engine doesn’t need the same revs to make power. If you cap the revs at 6,500 and power around 260, I think it could last. I’m not betting anything on it, though,” he laughed.









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Nate's AP2 S2000: Carefully Peeling The Layers

Just a few choice mods make this AP2 S2000 very capable, but the driver still remains integral in extracting a good time. Without a doubt, this complex, layered car requires a delicate touch, but once that narrow operating window is located, it eradicates any and all boredom.

It takes balls and a certain level of comfort with high-speed oversteer, but Nate Hackman can wrestle his understated S2000 around Buttonwillow 13CW in 1:56.7 if all his stars align. No big wings, no major weight reduction, not even a hardtop — the car just works wonderfully in semi-stock trim.

Simple and largely untouched, but it has the right parts: Ohlins TTX, 17x10” Apex VS-5RS, AP Racing 5000Rs up front, and Stoptech C42s in the rear. Because Nate picked a minty low-mile car, he’s been able to avoid replacing a lot of timed-out parts.

Nate aimed to keep it as basic as possible; building upon the car’s natural strengths, like its willingness to rotate, and minimizing its factory flaws, like its narrow powerband.

“The S2000 is the first car i've owned that legitimately makes me feel clumsy sometimes,” Nate admits.

Unless you’re singing at the top all the time, the shift into the next gear can drop you out of the F22’s powerband. Nate addressed this by taking advantage of the late model F22C’s drive-by-wire system. With a dyno tune by Blacktrax and lowering the VTEC engagement point to 3,600 revs, it’s torquier and more usable at lower revs. Though by no means a stump puller, having a slightly wider powerband makes it possible to keep the car on the pipe, even after a misshift or an overslowed corner.

A tune and a test pipe help lift the curve a little in the higher revs, but it’s still no more powerful than 220-odd horsepower at the wheels and won’t feel lightning quick unless the car is kept singing. But to keep it on the pipe through the faster stuff takes a little commitment. If you can pick the line to stay flat through Club Corner, which means avoid pinching the car off, and then navigate Bus Stop without upsetting the car upon landing, the speedometer will read 100 before Riverside, with a minimum speed in the mid-90s on a healthy set of RE-71RS.

After Tony Rodgriguez’s MR-S, this S2000 is the closest thing to a two-stroke kart in roadcar form I’ve driven. Not only does the engine need to be pinned in the high revs to gather much speed, but it just continues to turn in an exhilarating way that doesn’t always breed confidence. It always keeps you on your toes, though.

It never rolls over and plows, even if the front’s been working hard through long corners, and that means that you’ve gotta be quick with your hands when it decides to finally oversteers. That transition into oversteer happens without a huge amount of warning, unfortunately. It takes a good set of eyes and an internal gyrometer to keep the car from spinning, since the steering does not load in a way that warns of an impending slide.

Pole Positions help keep Nate and his passenger stay snug; a must when so little feel comes through the wheel.

“It's very demanding of the driver, which I love, but you need fast hands to stay on top of it. While the steering is razor sharp and responsive, the steering feel is dogshit, so you have to rely more on the rest of your senses to tell when the car's going to let go, and you have to react very quickly,” Nate describes.

More than urgency and exhilaration, the car offers the driver options. Being front-mid-engine, it does dance around quite noticeably, and the aim is to get it to rotate through the middle of the corner, but doing so correctly requires some delicate balancing.

It still moves around at the rear through the quick transitions, but his setup has helped the car from biting your head off should you make most mistakes. Some it will seriously punish, but it keeps the car driveable in the right hands.

“I have the big Karcepts front bar and a tiny NC Miata rear bar, which means you can chuck it into the faster stuff with a little more confidence. The downside with this setup is that it's less playful in lower speed corners, so it requires more finesse in hairpins to drive around the push. It will rotate if you're on the brakes or on the throttle, although you have to play with braking and gas to maintain that rotation.”

Demonstration of this fine line can be seen in his navigation of Cotton Corner in the footage below:


Though adding some aero bits might help lean on the rear in the faster sections, Nate’s decided it’s better to refrain from adding a wing; that would be de-clawing it and, ironically, removing a little of that feral quality that makes this car so thrilling.

Amidst nervous laughter, I gained a little confidence in the car with every session; it reveals itself to you in stages, like peeling an onion reveals a new layer. The exacting nature of the car can be written about in greater detail, but suffice to say that the slightest change in brake release or steering application can have a drastic impact on the car’s balance. This forces a very careful analysis of your technique. That can be frustrating, but it makes it all the more satisfying when you get it just right.

It’s a complex, demanding car with sharp edges and a way of scaring off the idiots, but it doesn’t feel all that unfriendly once you get to know it. Like a stray cat, it’s best if you approach this car with some caution initially, but it should become your friend with a little time and patience.






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Laguna Seca Logistics: Where to Stay, Where to Eat, What to Wear

Make sure to bring a jacket, because Laguna Seca can be chilly first thing in the morning. Thankfully, there are plenty of accommodations available for those who aren’t interested in camping.

Photo credit: CNCPics/The Genteman Racer

California’s internationally famous track is Laguna Seca, and it’s known so well for good reason. Nestled in the rolling Monterey hills, this 2.2-mile track incorporates a memorable combination of fast, flowing sections and tricky, technical parts combined with spectacular scenery and temperate weather. The camber changes, blind entries, and heavy braking zones make Laguna Seca hard to master, but that doesn’t matter—any visit to the track, even if the corners are confusing you, is enjoyable.

It can be slippery in the morning.

Its serious elevation changes make for a challenging drive, but also offer some scenic vistas that the observer should take advantage of; few tracks in California can be seen in near-entirety from one vantage point. However, if you want to reach the Corkscrew and peer down on this spectacular circuit, you’ll want to drive—unless you’re in the mood to burn some calories.

Being stuck in the middle of some rolling hills and so near to the ocean, the basin which the track is built in can collect fog in the morning that takes some time to burn off. Even if the weather report says it'll be warm, the fog lingers early, so bring a jacket. If you’re in one of the first run groups to run on a foggier morning, it’s best to treat it as a warm up/wet session and give the tires plenty of time to heat up before pushing.

Also, the proximity to the ocean and warm inland temperatures also attract some wind, so if you’re looking to keep your belongings from blowing away, renting a garage space is worthwhile.

Being a track with some cachet, it features plenty of amenities for those looking to get away for a special weekend. It’s also accessible enough to warrant a day trip. Nearby downtown Monterey has no shortage of restaurants and hotels, though they’re not too cheap.

That status comes at a price. With the high cost of high-DB days at Laguna Seca, some are looking to cut costs in the ways the can. The track does provide gas (91, 100, and 110-octane), but it’s significantly cheaper to get gas in town. One conveniently located station is the 7-11 on Canyon Del Rey Road. In addition to cheap gas, it has a digital tire inflating machine and a Starbucks on-site.

425 Canyon Del Rey Blvd, Del Rey Oaks, CA 93940

However, if you’re driving one of the bigger rigs, you will need to plan your fuel stop early. A two-car trailer will only fit in the truck stops in nearby Salinas.

One way people try to keep their weekend from breaking the bank is camping. There are 380 spots to park a trailer, and the costs are very reasonable. Showers are available by the T5 sound booth, and the numerous vantage points make the event casual and comfortable for friends and family. Staff can also accommodate leaving a car overnight for a small fee; the on-site security staff are great.

However, the sites can’t accommodate trailers of all sizes. Anything larger than a single car trailer is pushing it, and even a thirty-footer is going to be snug it. Also, make sure to prep for wet weather as the fog and mist collects between the hills and takes time to disperse.

For camping information, call (831) 242-8200.

Being a well-traveled area, there are plenty of nicely appointed hotels and restaurants—especially in the safer Seaside area. We tend to avoid some of the cheaper hotels in nearby Salinas.

The hotels we’d recommend are:

Holiday Inn Express Monterey Bay

1400 Del Monte Blvd, Seaside, CA 93955

Discovery Inn

1106 Fremont Blvd, Seaside, CA 93955

The track’s on-site cafe makes good barbeque, teriyaki, burgers, and so on. If someone wants a little more than track food, there’s plenty of restaurants, ranging from Two nearby restaurants within twenty minutes of the track are:

Tarpy’s. Located near the track and able to accommodate larger parties.

2999 Monterey Salinas Hwy, Monterey, CA 93940

Turn 12. Situated a little nearer to the center of town, this motorsports-themed restaurant is casual, but classier than most racing-inspired restaurants.

400 Tyler St, Monterey, CA 93940

Monterey Cookhouse. Not often discussed, but tasty and affordable.

2149 N Fremont St, Monterey, CA 93940

Since a weekend at Laguna can be costly, some opt to buy their food at the grocery store. Thankfully, there are plenty nearby.

Safeway

815 Canyon Del Rey Blvd, Del Rey Oaks, CA 93940

Nob Hill Foods

1320 S Main St, Salinas, CA 93901















Unlike so many of the tracks in California, the surrounding environment makes it easy to relax and make a real weekend out of a trackday; friends and family not doing any driving can still find numerous ways to entertain themselves outside of the circuit.


Final Few

  • Bring a helmet—there are no rentals available.

  • Make sure your car isn’t too loud—there is a 95 db sound limit on most track days.

  • Because traffic at the end of the weekend is almost inevitable, make sure to stock up on snacks before heading home on Sunday. It’s unfortunate, but a couple hours in traffic is a small price to pay for a fun weekend at this fantastic track.




Thanks to Peter Jones, Jess Harmon, Sean Win-Yepez, Gary Wong, Adam Swan, Justin Ross, Eric Preciado, and Justin Ross for their contributions. 




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Alessandro's Ten-Speed Mustang: Meteoric Rise

From no experience to time trials champion in four short years, Alessandro Sensoli has ridden a wave of elation in trying to restructure his life after a rugby accident sidelined him momentarily. During this period, he’s taken a basic Mustang and shaped it into what is considered to be the fastest production S550 on the West Coast.

It’s funny how often a track car, if it’s a true passion project, complements the personality of its owner. Alessandro Sensoli, a former pro rugby player, was forced to hang up his cleats and find a safer source of excitement after suffering a back injury five years ago. The natural alternative to bashing skulls on the rugby field was destroying brakes and tires on the track.

And to ensure he destroyed the most in terms of consumables, he decided to buy a heavy muscle car. In just four years, this stock S550 went from being heavy, prone to overheating, and nervous at higher speeds to a lightened, stripped, stiffened, and wing-clad car that “inspires total confidence in sixth-gear corners.” Few pony cars on the West Coast can compete.

After a half-hearted attempt at building a Dodge Challenger ended when it was stolen, Alessandro took the opportunity to buy something better suited to the track—but did not stray far from the muscle car formula. His friends suggested he avoid forced induction, so he skipped past the Shelby GT500 and picked up a Mustang GT, but not an ordinary one.

For Alessandro, this 2018 GT’s biggest draw was its ten-speed automatic gearbox. Though it’s proven to be fragile and heavy, the drivetrain helps it out-accelerate much lighter, more focused cars.

Being a heavy car, he couldn’t skimp on rubber. After trying a series of wheels which were never quite perfect, he worked closely with APEX to put together the perfect set for his application. Now, Alessandro wraps his 18×11” APEX EC7-RS wheels on 315-section Hoosier A7s.

Quid pro quo: APEX tested clearances of this new model on this car.

This footprint, plus the Cortex-tuned JRi DA coilovers helped give the car the sense of nimbleness he’d been after, as did a set of DCT70 pads and DOT4 fluid. Ale was astounded by the way this big car belied its weight and stopped so reassuringly for the full session. For a car that once weighed nearly two tons, that’s not bad.

More consecutive hot laps pushed the gearbox to overheat more and more. Alessandro added a Setrab 934 transmission cooler, which helped somewhat, and while he was at it, he added radiator ducting, an aluminum pan, and a water spray system to help the motor run cooler. They didn’t quite make the car Toyota-reliable, but they helped him avoid running into limp mode.

Pushing longer helped him recognize the shortcomings in the suspension setup. The Mustang’s sponginess kept him from getting the sort of responses needed to improve his lap times, so he added a BMR sway bar in front and a stock GT350R sway bar in the rear. The car was reassuring in the slow and medium-speed stuff, but it still needed some help in the fast stuff.

After adding his own splitter, painted like the Tricolore, and an APR 250 rear wing, Alessandro changed realized where the Mustang’s strengths were. The gearbox kept the car accelerating at higher speeds, and the newfound aero grip helped him navigate the quick stuff much more confidently. If he was going to find more speed, it would be in the high-speed sections.

Eager to improve upon the car’s forte, he ordered AJ Hartman front tunnels to flank his splitter. The resulting increase in front downforce altered the aero balance enough to make the car pretty nervous in the sixth-gear corners, so he reached out to AJ Hartman to find a rear wing that would help settle the rear. Their Fulcrum 14 rear biased the car towards a mild understeer, but that’s fine with Alessandro. “I feel comfortable pushing the car in places where you cannot afford to make a big mistake.” Check his commitment through Thunderhill’s Turn 8 in the footage below for evidence:

After increasing the downforce, he had to increase the spring rate, which helped keep the car off the ground, but reduced compliance in the slower sections. To find some needed give, he switched to a Mustang convertible rear swaybar—the tiniest bar he could find. At the front, he has an adjustable Eibach bar, which mitigates the push he felt immediately after adding the rear wing.

The added aerodynamic grip began to test the brakes, so he fortified the factory setup with a set of Girodisc two-piece rotors at all four corners, Counterspace Garage C2 pads, and a little homemade ducting. Brakes no longer limit his performance over a session.

The strength of the powerplant out of the box allowed him to prioritize the aforementioned modifications, but he had to make a few tweaks to the engine eventually. With LTH headers, an OZ tune, and a tank full of E85, he has 474 horsepower to spread across all ten ratios.

While it’s more than enough power for most West Coast tracks, adding power might be the last area where the car could be improved without incurring huge costs. He might add a flat floor or a set of cams for more mid-range, but since the motor’s working so beautifully at the moment, he’s hesitant to open it.

The weight of the car—now 3,700 pounds with 180 pounds of driver inside—could be reduced if he wanted to thin the harness and strip the last bits of sound deadening out, but he’s recognized that from hereon, every improvement would cost more and offer less. A man with a mortgage and a family like Alessandro has to recognize diminishing returns.

It’s near complete, but the perennial problem of gearbox reliability still bothers him. Temps are now under control after adding a homebuilt thermal bypass system, but the clutches begin to slip towards the end of a session. He may try to upgrade the clutches to help dissipate the forces, or he might even replace the finicky ten-speed with a BMW DCT. Time will tell.

Because leaping to the next step would require a massive check, he’s decided to focus on seat time for the time being. In no way should that be considered throwing in the towel. Alessandro currently holds many of the S550 records on the West Coast—only Benjamin Sloss’ Mustang GT4 is consistently quicker.

He’s taken a basic car to a focused track toy in just five years and restructured his life after an injury that would’ve left milder men depressed. In addition to finding that sporting family he’d missed after quitting rugby, he’s found the respect and admiration of many drivers on both coasts. He might take the occasional knock, but Alessandro is a resilient character who always finds a way to get back on his feet—and a way to get his kicks. Somehow, the car shares the same spirit.

2018 Mustang GT

Weight: 3,700 pounds with driver

Power: 474 wheel horsepower

Transmission: 10R80

Suspension : CORTEX JRi DA, tuned by Cortex

Louvers : Race Louvers

Wheels : 18x11” APEX EC7 -RS

Aero : AJ Hartman Fulcrum 14 rear wing, custom “Italia” splitter

Engine : OZ Tuning E85 tune, JLT headers

Brake pads: CSG C2

Brake discs: Girodisc

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Dustin's Supercharged M3: A Lesson in Applied Economics

With a full plate and a desperate need to go fast, Dustin managed to keep his head, get the right car, get the right coaching, make the right upgrades, and put prove just how quickly he could develop the established E46 into a 500-horsepower time attack machine.

He wasn’t intimidated at the prospect of buying and tracking an E46 M3, but Dustin Furseth felt some pressure to build one in a way that would allow him to balance his checkbook. That’s a normal concern, but with a baby on the way, he couldn’t afford to get in over his head.

But with the car’s reputation and its strong aftermarket support, as well as his knack for finding a little sponsorship here and there, he turned this basic road car into a approachable, reassuring, and still-somehow-comfortable track toy in only a few years. It also makes 500 and change.

For the first few seasons of track work, Dustin was known to leave a child’s car seat by his parking spot at the track; sometimes he’d drop his boy off at daycare before putting in four or five sessions. He wanted to make the best use of his time, clearly. For that reason, after adding MCS one-ways and Ground Control arms, he hired a coach for several weekends and refined his driving style.

His approach was an intelligent one. After one impressed coach suggested he try a more competitive form of motorsport. Dustin finally had the confidence to step up, and after a friend recommended Global Time Attack, Dustin entered his modest M3 in Street Class.

In time attack, he found a sparring partner in Karl Taht, whose S2000 was, on average, a hair faster at technical tracks. Dustin’s M3 usually had the upper hand at faster tracks, but the two were trading tenths regularly and pushed to get the most from themselves and their cars.

Not interested in mega power or hiring someone to fabricate piping, Dustin picked this easily-installed kit.





When Karl decided to turbocharge his F20C, he inadvertently dropped the gauntlet. Dustin responded by modifying his S54 with a trick head and some big Shrick cams, but it was no longer a reliable motor. After a year and a half, it popped.

When it came time to rebuild, he considered another attempt at a highly-strung engine, or, as his friend had, he could try forced induction. A little research convinced him he could bring power up by 200 and still save some money over another strung-out S54 if he could bring himself to boost a stock engine.

With an ESS G540 supercharger kit, he had to upgrade the clutch to a Clutchmasters FX725, beef up the cooling system with a Mishimoto rad and oil cooler, and add a little ducting to ensure air flows through the right channels and isn’t recirculated at the backside of the radiator.

Now, the boosted S54 is a real powerhouse—legitimately GT3 RS-strong, distinctive, and resilient. Even though the blower makes a peak of 515 at the wheels, it doesn’t change the delivery or the driving experience that much from when the engine made 300 at the wheels.

The blower doesn’t really change the shape of the curve, it just elevates the curve a few hash marks higher on the dyno chart. It feels intuitive. What is most different about the new powerplant is that there is appreciable torque where there once was none. It’s not peakier than the engine was originally, it feels like there are a few more cubes available.


An RS Future splitter helps encourage a neutral balance at speed.



The power was easily transferred into propulsion before the blower, but the new grunt alters the way Dustin has to depress the pedal. With eight pounds of boost at his disposal, he can spin the wheels for a hundred feet after a second-gear chicane if he’s out to impress a passenger.

However, the car’s grip and poise means it still takes a lot of provocation to do so. In other words, car can still be leaned on mid-corner and generate strong drive off the corner, provided he’s not using the wrong gear.

There is the matter of gear selection. The hairpins which rewarded a second-gear exit now have to be taken in third; the power delays throttle application in sections where the car is traction-limited. Not everyone considers it, but if a bump in power means it takes longer to deploy it, is it worth the addition?

Going from a 275-square setup to widening the rears with 295s has made the car border on high-speed understeer.

The answer is yes. Even when it does light up the driven wheels, the rear remains planted. Maybe that’s the APR GT250 wing imparting some stability, but even in slow hairpins, the factory LSD does a stellar job.

This staggered setup promotes a little understeer, but it’s a minimal amount of push and it’s really only noticeable in faster corners if he’s hasty putting the power down. Yes, there is an iron lump up front, but the big motor doesn’t make itself noticeable unless the throttle’s stabbed mid-corner. Line things up after a committed flick into the corner, then power out with encouraging neutrality.

For all this fun, he’s had to pay another fee on top of the supercharger’s purchase price. The oil breather, after enduring high revs, would mist onto the belts, which would underdrive the water pump and overheat the engine. After a quick fix involving a rag and some hair ties, the engine hasn’t given him any other headaches.

“The brakes have been a great addition. When I put something on my car that I believe in, I try to explain it to people as best as I can.”

The added strain on the brakes from a middleweight with serious power made it necessary to go for a big brake kit. However, he wasn’t keen on spending the money needed to buy the AP Racing kit he had his eyes on, so he found an affordable alternative.

Underneath his Apex VS-5RS, he opted for PB brakes front and rear. The fronts use eight-piston calipers and 380mm rotors, and the rears use six-piston calipers with 356mm rotors. Complete with the motorsport-grade bobbins, knockback springs, and floating rotors, the kit has proven itself track-worthy. The calipers are finished in a subtle shade of silver that blends in beautifully, too.

By milling down used pads bought from endurance teams, he’s saved himself money and time. The rotors rarely need replacing, the pads last thirty-odd sessions, and even with the old Mk20 ABS, the car inspired a lot of confidence in the braking zones. Higher speeds and ~3,000 pounds put some real strain on the binders, but the PBs have handled that well.

And despite all that focus and performance, it’s still very much the sleek machine Dustin bought seven years ago. Yes, the wing and RSFuture splitter, and N15 vents leave nobody doubting its role as a track toy, but Dustin’s insistence on leather-wrapped Recaro Pole Position NGs and the retention of most of the interior prove he’s after a little more than speed alone.

It doesn’t come as a surprise that Dustin is an architect—he has to weigh aesthetics and functionality as part of his job. The soft shape of the car, the silver and carbon-black scheme, and the simple execution make it a stunner that you can sit and drink in for minutes, even if it doesn’t call your name from across the paddock.

In other words, it’s a complete car—and not many cars built on a careful budget are truly complete. Dustin did his homework, though, and even with a full plate, he got where he wanted to be quickly. Stay in school, kids.




Modifications

  • EE G540 Supercharger Kit

  • Rogue Engineering section 1 and 2

  • Agency Power section 3

  • Epic Motorsports tune

  • Naturally Agitated Stage3 VANOS (ported for higher oil pressure)

  • SAP delete

  • Electric fan conversion

  • Turner power pulleys

  • Sachs clutch

  • Mason pedal box

  • APR GT250 wing

  • CSL carbon roof

  • CSL trunk

  • CSL diffuser

  • Hard Motorsports splitter, upper canards , and carbon door cards

  • MCS 1-way coilovers

  • Apex VS-5RS 18x10”

  • PB BBK with 8-piston 380mm fronts and 6-piston 356mm rears

  • Hawk DTC30 pads

  • Sparco Seat

  • Schroth harnesses

  • Custom 4-point cage




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