2014 Goodguys 22nd Lone Star Nationals @ Texas Motor Speedway 10/3 - 10/5

[Grey 65]

It is time for the semi annual Goodguys event at TMS. I will be there participating in the autocross event. I would love to see a few guys come out and watch me pound resto-mod Camaros into the ground.

If you want to run in the autocross event is you must have treadwear 200 or greater tires to have your times count. You can run with less the treadwear 200 tires but your times will not count.

Kevin.....

[Cobra #3170]

Originally Posted by Grey 65

It is time for the semi annual Goodguys event at TMS. I will be there participating in the autocross event. I would love to see a few guys come out and watch me pound resto-mod Camaros into the ground.

If you want to run in the autocross event is you must have treadwear 200 or greater tires to have your times count. You can run with less the treadwear 200 tires but your times will not count.

Kevin.....

Let us know how you fare against Mike Dusold's twin Turbo LS powered Camaro
He is pretty fast in autox competition

[Grey 65]

Originally Posted by Cobra #3170

Let us know how you fare against Mike Dusold's twin Turbo LS powered Camaro
He is pretty fast in autox competition

Bruce,

Yes, Mike is pretty quick. We run against each other all the time as we are members of the same local clubs. He normally beats me by 0.350 to 2.9 seconds depending on the course layout and surface. Which isn't bad for my non-LSD equipped BDR running 17x10.5's in the back verses his 1,000+ hp purpose built Camaro running 315's all the way around... But wait until next year, over the winter I am installing a Quaife LSD and will have Vintage Wheels machine me a pair of 18x12's so I can run 335's. Then we will see.....

So let me quantify my original statement. "I would love to see a few guys come out and watch me pound NON_Pro Class resto-mod Camaros into the ground.

Kevin.....

[Cobra #3170]

Originally Posted by Grey 65

Bruce,

Yes, Mike is pretty quick. We run against each other all the time as we are members of the same local clubs. He normally beats me by 0.350 to 2.9 seconds depending on the course layout and surface. Which isn't bad for my non-LSD equipped BDR running 17x10.5's in the back verses his 1,000+ hp purpose built Camaro running 315's all the way around... But wait until next year, over the winter I am installing a Quaife LSD and will have Vintage Wheels machine me a pair of 18x12's so I can run 335's. Then we will see.....

So let me quantify my original statement. "I would love to see a few guys come out and watch me pound NON_Pro Class resto-mod Camaros into the ground.

Kevin.....

What tires are you running, Falken 615's in 275x17 would be good for autox with your current rims. If you go 335x18 you will most likely have to run Rivals which are not so good cold especially in a light car. We use Falken 615's 315x18 on 11 x 18 which works well. You probably know this but Mike has been doing some suspension tuning lately and has gotten faster yet.
I think there will be a lot more tire choices in 200 TW in 2015 because of SCCA adopting the 200 TW standard. There are much better tires than Falken and Goodrich but not in our sizes yet. Rival will also have a new autox compound so they might be great next year, hard to tell though.

[Grey 65]

Originally Posted by Cobra #3170

What tires are you running, Falken 615's in 275x17 would be good for autox with your current rims. If you go 335x18 you will most likely have to run Rivals which are not so good cold especially in a light car. We use Falken 615's 315x18 on 11 x 18 which works well. You probably know this but Mike has been doing some suspension tuning lately and has gotten faster yet.
I think there will be a lot more tire choices in 200 TW in 2015 because of SCCA adopting the 200 TW standard. There are much better tires than Falken and Goodrich but not in our sizes yet. Rival will also have a new autox compound so they might be great next year, hard to tell though.

Bruce,

In the front I am running BFG Rivals 255/40/17 on 17x8.5's and out back I am running Nitto NT05's 315/35/17 on 17x10.5's.

Yes, the Rivals suck when cold, but the Falkins suck when hot and it is normally HOT in Texas...

BFG has been teasing me with release dates on 275/40/17's for my fronts and 315/35/17's for my rears for a year now, every time I call them they push the dates back a little bit...

I will end up with 275/40/17's on 17x9.5's in the front and 335/30/18's on 18x12's on the back next year.

I heard rumor that Kumho was going to restamp their Ecsta XS from 180 to 200.

Yes I know Mike is playing with his suspension, two weeks ago I was 0.7 behind Mike, this past Sunday he beat me by 2.6. He has a setup now where he can swap out springs between runs.... My biggest detractor is my open diff, but I am working on that...

Mike is chasing Brian Hobaugh and I am chasing Mike....


Kevin.....

[Cobra #3170]

Originally Posted by Grey 65

Bruce,

In the front I am running BFG Rivals 255/40/17 on 17x8.5's and out back I am running Nitto NT05's 315/35/17 on 17x10.5's.

Yes, the Rivals suck when cold, but the Falkins suck when hot and it is normally HOT in Texas...

BFG has been teasing me with release dates on 275/40/17's for my fronts and 315/35/17's for my rears for a year now, every time I call them they push the dates back a little bit...

I will end up with 275/40/17's on 17x9.5's in the front and 335/30/18's on 18x12's on the back next year.

I heard rumor that Kumho was going to restamp their Ecsta XS from 180 to 200.

Yes I know Mike is playing with his suspension, two weeks ago I was 0.7 behind Mike, this past Sunday he beat me by 2.6. He has a setup now where he can swap out springs between runs.... My biggest detractor is my open diff, but I am working on that...

Mike is chasing Brian Hobaugh and I am chasing Mike....


Kevin.....

You are right, that open diff is killing you of course your set up will change after you put the torsen in. You have a huge weight advantage and as soon as you get competitive tire sizes and the locker you should be able to beat him. You are right about Falkens, we put wet towels on them between runs because as soon as you spin them they are gone for the rest of the run.
I tried Rivals in the heat here (100+) and did not get as much grip on asphalt as the Falkens gave but really have to be careful not to spin Falkens. Mike has been pretty close to Danny Popp too and Danny runs Rivals while Mike is on Falkens with a longer wheel base. I hear you on Rivals, I wanted to give them another shot and they kept moving dates on me till I gave up and bought Falkens. Next year will be great with lots of tires to choose from.

[Grey 65]

Here is another shameless plug to hold Octobers monthly first Saturday get together at the Good-Guys event at Texas Motor Speedway....

Kevin.....

[bwcobra15]

I will be there on Friday volunteering at the Roush Performance booth selling tickets for the Ohio Cobra Club's 2015 raffle car - a 20th Anniversary Superformance Mk III ... gonna be great!

London Cobra Show - The Ohio Cobra Club

[Grey 65]

Good Guys Press release.

"The celebrities keep on comin’ for this weekend’s 22nd Lone Star Nationals at Texas Motor Speedway! Renowned racer Robby Unser will make his Goodguys AutoCross debut this weekend in Texas.

Unser’s appearance represents Speedway Motors’ first foray into Goodguys AutoCross competition. He will pilot the Speedway Motors G-Comp ’65 Nova, outfitted with Speedway’s new G-Comp Front Suspension Kit and a full complement of AFCO coil-over shocks. The Nova is powered by a BluePrint 454ci Pro Series small-block engine backed by a Tremec 5-Speed transmission, and features a host of aftermarket performance parts from Billet Specialties, Dynatech, MSD, ProCar and Weld Racing.

Unser hails from one of America’s most storied racing families. The son of Indianapolis 500 champ Bobby Unser and nephew of Al Unser (another Indy 500 winner), Robby began go-kart racing at age 8, and by his teens was racing stock cars, sprint cars and Formula Fords. Unser won the American IndyCar Series title in 1989 and has raced in the Indianapolis 500 twice, earning the IRL’s Rookie of the Year honor in 1998. He has won the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb nine times, competed in Formula D drifting events, and also worked as a driving coach."

Kevin.....

[Grey 65]

I don't have the times in front of me, but Robby Unser won the Street Machine class beating me by about a half a second. His best time over two days was 38.1XX and mine was 38.6XX....

He is a pretty nice guy, we were pitted side by side on Friday....

[Cobra #3170]

Originally Posted by Grey 65

I don't have the times in front of me, but Robby Unser won the Street Machine class beating me by about a half a second. His best time over two days was 38.1XX and mine was 38.6XX....

He is a pretty nice guy, we were pitted side by side on Friday....

You need at least 1.5 degrees more static camber in front, 1 degree more in the rear and a much faster steering gear so that you don't have to cross your hands. 10% increase in spring or bar rate would help too. I heard that Robby was hitting cones on most of his runs. How did you compare to Mike Dusold, heard he was having big under steer problems.

[Grey 65]

Originally Posted by Cobra #3170

You need at least 1.5 degrees more static camber in front, 1 degree more in the rear and a much faster steering gear so that you don't have to cross your hands. 10% increase in spring or bar rate would help too. I heard that Robby was hitting cones on most of his runs. How did you compare to Mike Dusold, heard he was having big under steer problems.

Bruce,

I'm currently running -1.5 up front and -1.0 in the rear now. I can't get more than about -1.25 in the rear without major modifications, but the front is totally adjustable.

I just changed the steering rack from the standard BDR 4.0 turn lock to lock manual rack to a 2.7 turn lock to lock BMW Z3 rack. My hands are crossed because this was basically a u-turn (170 degree turn).

As far as messing with the bars and/or springs I was planning on waiting until the winter when I have to pull the diff out to install the LSD.... But yes, suspension will be stiffer come the spring.

On Friday Robby was clean, Saturday once he pulled away from me and knew he was going to win the Street Machine class he went all out to try to get FTD from Josh and that is when he started coning... his quickest coned run was a 37.9XX, but Josh ran quicker clean....

Mike ended up running a 38.0XX very late on Saturday as did Terry Neuville.... I think Bret was also at 38.0XX...

Kevin...

[Cobra #3170]

Originally Posted by Grey 65

Bruce,

I'm currently running -1.5 up front and -1.0 in the rear now. I can't get more than about -1.25 in the rear without major modifications, but the front is totally adjustable.

I just changed the steering rack from the standard BDR 4.0 turn lock to lock manual rack to a 2.7 turn lock to lock BMW Z3 rack. My hands are crossed because this was basically a u-turn (170 degree turn).

As far as messing with the bars and/or springs I was planning on waiting until the winter when I have to pull the diff out to install the LSD.... But yes, suspension will be stiffer come the spring.

On Friday Robby was clean, Saturday once he pulled away from me and knew he was going to win the Street Machine class he went all out to try to get FTD from Josh and that is when he started coning... his quickest coned run was a 37.9XX, but Josh ran quicker clean....

Mike ended up running a 38.0XX very late on Saturday as did Terry Neuville.... I think Bret was also at 38.0XX...

Kevin...

Kevin,

Thanks for the update it is really hard to get info before they post on Sunday PM. The tires move on the rims so you need lots of negative camber.
We are running -4.0 front and -2.8 rear. Lock to lock steering is 1 turn with a 28 degree inside angle because of those Goodguys U turns. I know those camber angles sound excessive but autox tire wear indicates they are good settings. You will really need the negative front when you get your locker or you will have dump truck level push.

[dallas_]

Originally Posted by Grey 65

I don't have the times in front of me, but Robby Unser won the Street Machine class beating me by about a half a second. His best time over two days was 38.1XX and mine was 38.6XX....

Way to go Kevin!
That's really impressive!
john