Darkside

Always like to think the best of other competitors... (I was one of the gullible f**ks that thought Lance Armstrong might have been clean... ) i reckon it seems they are relative new comers to the sport. (as I am) I reckon you definitely find more speed as you get a better handle on where to find the speed easily and where it isn't worth trying for it. Maybe just finding their mojo a bit. Seems they had some good pace on seasoned campaigners like Todd and Garwood. No doubt it must be a nice bit of gear as well. Be interesting to see if Rex comes back for TT.

And re the event, only managed to follow in the virtual world, but hats off to Rickards for what looked like an epic drive. And the captain for putting away all but the lambo. Farkin allright for a hairdressers car. Seems this fella in the 240z in classic can pedal as well. Pretty dominant drive.

^^^^ Hearing you. Just not the area you want to cut corners on. Bolt ins just should be an option for tarmac rally. Similarly, would not run without a HANS and side supporting seats. Unrelated, but I remember getting both front teeth knocked out as a kid playing hockey cause I took my mouth guard out for 5 mins cause it was pissing me off. Be gutted if you ran without your HANS and busted your neck or had massive head trauma. Bit like feeling like a tool for wearing your race suit at less than big events.....but would be a proper muppet if that was the event your car decided to burst into flames in.

^^^^ Nice tip. Thanks. That will be the next thing to chase once the studs are sorted. Seems i cant get a press fit stud to suit the mazda hub (shoulders are too big or knurl dia to big making the holes get dangerously close to the outside edge. Looks like I will stick with 12x1.5 on the front but goa longer quick start nose cro mo jobbie and change the rear hubs to match. If that stud size is good enough for gazzilion horsepower GTRs it should be sweet for me.

^^^^ Cheers all. Was looking at the ARP Cro Mo studs. Figure they should be up to the task. Similarly woo was going to go a bit longer and get the quick start nose on them for nascar spec wheel changes

Thanks Mr "unf**kingsubscribed" Definitely dumber from reading that thread,. EDIT: And best of luck to all those having a crack at TWP this weekend. Have a fast, fun safe one.

Fellas, little tech question. I have a minor issue where the front studs on the mazda are 12x1.5 thread and the studs on the floater rear are .5" unf. Ideally I would like to run the same thread/wheelnut front and rear. I guess the preference would be to go for the larger .5" stud all round. Have looked around and there aren't any studs I can find with the right sized knurl to be a press in option for the front hub in the .5" thread. Am guessing its not possible to get the knurling on the hub remachined to a bigger size (havent really looked into it) so my other option was to tap a thread through and go a screw in (loctite) .5" cro mo stud on the front. Any downsides to screw in? Any thoughts edit: seems you can drill new holes to the correct size (.007" undersize of the knurl) and press in new studs. Probably the answer.

Really need to drive a GT3 so I can decide if its something i should continue to lust after or can move on. Hate it to be a situation like finally snagging the unobtainable girl only to discover she didnt deliver Often here the comment on the "typical porsche front end" Had a quick blat in a 996 TT and it seemed fine but it is the AWD platform. I quite like the adventure of getting on the spirit and having a few frothies marking the start of the "adventure" but it certainly does add some cost. Could never have come at the rape they dish out for cars and trailers though.

^^^ and much friendlier cops

^^^ Cost is always a killer Dan. Try doing it from Perth That tassie run is a killer but we did it on the bones of our arse and just drove the car on to the ferry and down to Hobart with no support vehiucle or trailer. Thats seems to be where the proper rape is. Hearing you about missing the crew. If I dont get myself back to THC in a car will definitely consider a weekend over there on the sauce. I am hearing though. If I was melbs or Sydney based, I would be hitting up the weekend events that MM do along with THC. Kind of like the two days of madness and then on the piss. The effort for the full targa tas event is pretty huge. The time required to recci and run the event plus the financial side makes it a pretty big undertaking.

Shame to see you pulling the pin Scott. Focussing on track based stuff or hanging up the gloves for a while? Farkin GT3 RS. One day I will at least get a ride in one if not drive one. So much want.

Happy new year all. Hope everyone had a good break. So what do we have planned for 2013?? At my end I am hoping to have this chook cooker hiding to nothing built by mid year in time to shake it down and if all goes well be at THC. Long road though as the chassis work has just started. What is everyone else planning to get up to?

^^^ Some great info there. Are you guys running E85? Am looking to run single lift to surge tank to dual 044 to feed the chook cooker. Plan was to do the standard plumb the return line into the surge tank to ensure it stays full, but preferenec would be to avoid fuel warming issues.

Sounds like you are on the right track Dan. Just be weary that if your fuel system ends up in the boot, you need to enclose the rear firewall to separate it from the main cabin of the car. Not hard to do. A thin sheet of ali will do it. I did it on my emo as I had that 20l supp tank in the boot for E85 range. I think its the same if you have a surge tank and pumps in there. Can always get them under the rear of the car pretty easy though. Am definitely learning from your drama. Will definitely be looking to have any fuel system anomalies talking to the motec in the new car.

Ah Dan, thats shit luck. I never replaced the pump in my emo, although that said, I started off with new ones and i never really kept it long enough to need to I guess. I went the walbro intank and then an external 044 to keep the fuel up for the E85. But if either one failed I would have found myself in the same situation. Definitely something I will be more onto in future. Hope the build isnt too painful. And seems you ran the perfect pace. Dont want to be out pacing the missus on debut. What would be the prevention in future? Knock meter? Fuel pressure sensor? Do what you can to sort the E85. A mate had a similar thing happen at the track but with E85 det resistance the power fell off without the engine detting and killing itself. Was able to sort the fuel system and get back out there.

^^^^ Great write up Tim. The timesheets never give a feel for the drama that is going on in the background. Excellent result on its own but even better given the dramas. Good to get all these bugs shaken out prior to a targa tas assault. Sorry to hear about Dan/Sammy s fuel pump problem. That bites that such a relatively inexpensive part can cause such dramas.... Hmmm fuel pressure sensor on the new car for me maybe?

Sorry to hear about the fail Dan. Sounds like you guys were smokin up until that point. Great debut drive. Shame to get let down mechanically. So are you guessing the new tune was a bit too angry or was it unrelated to the tune?? Has Matt Lowth ever tuned the car? He would be my pick on the east coast for an EMO....especially reflashed stock ECU. Dont think he touches standalones. ....not sure what you guys are running.

Cold start not a prob in Perth, but it also started well at Buller and in Tassie. Glad to hear you are finding good people. It makes all the difference. Not much difference in cost between the pretender muppets and those who actually know what they are doing, but the results are very different

Dan, on the E85 stuff, dont be afraid of giving it another whirl. As Ben and others have said its an epic fuel. I really rated it and the evo engines love it...as do GTR's apparently. Only downside is consumption is a little more. But great upsides of being detonation proof and running cooler. As Ben found, my tuner has cranked more and more timing into an engine they they will not det, the power curve just dips. So i would be surprised if the tune killed the engine, well at least too much timing killing it, possibly more the build of it? The higher combustion pressures of E85 will stress it more in that regard. If you can get the cold start right (we found dumping in heaps of fuel worked) I reckon its the way forward. The chook cooker will be running it for sure. Fark me that is going to be some fuel bill... but cheaper that the other gucci stuff at circa $10/litre. Gonna need a pretty big tank too to get through arrowsmith.... Enjoy your DRIVE at lake Mountain.

I'm confused..... Might go and drink some bundy rums and improve my queenslander speak and see if it makes more sense.....

Nice. Perfect rally car. Put 4 seats and harnesses in it and put the hat round 4 mates and rotate round the car stage by stage???? ...all the while munching down rumple scrumple.....

What flavour pork chop you thinkin woo?

Cheers Woo, and speaking of which (OT) my new favourite thing is once inside the heads, through the 8 knot zone and back into the open speed zone on the river, opening the taps (and the captains call) and passing other vessels who may have not cared about the 8 knot zone so much and come past us. Full trim....fulll noise...and heaps of air as we launch off their wake passing them. The missus questions whether its good for the boat.....I guess we will find out... Might have to get a go pro on board...... Highly amusing, although I am easily amused. Hopefully is doesn't end up like this..... http://youtu.be/AgXy0EcCcOQ

After seeing some of the retro group A stuff at WTAC (nissan bluebird and 32 GTR) keen to see the DR30 out there. As Woo said, love to see some updates. And good to hear the 34 is getting back out there.Such an awesome car. And Woo, do you mind if I use that line??

Musttt...get...back....in....shed..... Best of luck to all those actually racing.....to those hangers on showboating.....ahhh...I'm just jelly arse. Such a good event. Am soooo over spectating... But such a long way from this..... to this.....